Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

         It has been a month since Nova was brought onto the Rescue Corps team. She really hasn’t done much, just on-planet chores the others don’t have time for or want to do. It’s fine, being the backup for the Rescue Corps is all she really needs to be happy. Most Rescue Corps groups at the Karut base hate her, mostly for her race. She also doesn’t mind getting harassed by others, she understands. A lot of Karutates suck, so she can handle this for them. Plus, this has been her dream job ever since she was young. She wanted to help others the same way the people who found her did. All she has to do is wait for her training to be done and to earn the approval of all of the others on the Rescue Corps team that she’s mainly assigned to, then she can maybe just start doing just that.

         At first, she thought the Rescue Corps was just the one ship, but it turns out to not be the case. It’s actually one of the most popular company in Karut, and honestly around the galaxy too, resulting in having tons of ships stretching out to all corners of the known galaxy. One of their bases of operations just so happens to be on the planet she lives on, the other main base is on Giya. Nova knew she had no shot of getting into the Giyan sector, so she gave it a shot for the Karutate sector and applied for the backup role. After several stressful interviews, Nova was hired. She met the current team very briefly when the President of the Rescue Corps introduced her. First impressions, at least for Nova, did not go over well. 

         Out of the entire crew, Nova finds Shepherd to be the nicest of them all. Perhaps because it’s just her job, or because her boss was right in front of her at the time of meeting and disrespecting your boss is how to get fired day one, but no matter what she was the nicest one. At least, on a first impression, as Nova isn’t sure she’d be the same person out on missions. After all, she is part Giyan, so her niceness has to be taken with a grain of salt. 

         The man next to her was Collin, the comms operator. Nova really wants to trust him, but she’s never had great experiences when it comes to any man. Well, aside from Pom and Aero, but that's besides the point. He seems nice… maybe if he got to know him more, then maybe things could work out, but for now, Nova wasn’t sure how to feel.  

         Out of all the Rescue Corps, Nova finds Russ to be the creepiest. It doesn’t help that his reputation on Karut was “The FIRST crazy one.” Nova can’t even see his eyes, just those spiraling glasses. Plus, his laugh is just that of nightmare fuel. Nova made a mental note to stay away from that guy unless absolutely necessary.

         The further down the line, the worse it got, at least in Nova and most other Karutation’s opinions. Standing next to each other was Bernard and Dingo. Nova knew she wasn’t going to like Dingo from the beginning, and the stories of him and his ego didn’t help. It’s surprising that Bernard was able to handle him, but he does on a regular basis. Dingo did get a bit too harsh to Nova, but Bernard got him to back off. It’s astonishing how Dingo, the Solo Ranger, the man that saved the Rescue Corps from hourds Ravious Space Rabbits, is defeated with one warning from Bernard. Though for the time being, both of them are on Nova’s “Stay the hell away” list.

         Finally there is Yonny, the SECOND known-crazy in the Rescue Corps. Nova only knew about how Yonny managed to cure a major sickness affecting space dogs, along with his creepy laugh. He seemed a bit tense during this meeting, but that is most likely because his boss was right in front of him. Even though they didn’t really get to interact, Nova knows she has to avoid him at all costs.

         Which is all to say, she is going to have a “great” time after she gets assigned to the group for good. After that day, Nova didn’t see much of them, aside from passing by them in the Rescue Corps hallways.

         Nova sits down on a nearby chair and checks her phone. She smiles, seeing her two best friends, Pom and Aero, messing with each other. Pom is waiting to see his interview results for the Rescue Corps, and Aero is applying today. Nova just decides to check in on her friends, and shoots the two a message. 

Yo nerd 1 and nerd 2 what the hell are you texting about

Aero

OH HEY LOOKS ITS BACKUP! 

NOVES HAD RETURNED TO US!

Pom

Just about our days. And the Rescue Corps. Have they sent a message that they made it yet?

Aero

Don’t think so PomPom

Pom                                                                                

Shouldn’t they have made it there by now? It’s less than 1 day of space travel.

Aero

I…yeah, actually that’s true. By the way, Pompom! You had that interview a couple of weeks ago, how did it go?

Pom                                                                                

Dude, that was like two weeks ago- you know what I’ll humor you. It went…okay… I think…. It was between me and the Captain, online. Bernard and Yonny popped in for a few minutes too, and I think I did okay…

Aero

Yo guys wanna go to the cafe we went to last time? I’ll pay!!!!!!!!

Pom                                                                             

Sure… I’m nearby.

Yeah, It’ll be a little bit tho

 Sent 11:58am

         Nova chuckles to herself. “Those idiots .” She thinks as she puts away her phone. Heading outside her apartment complex, she hops on the next bus heading out and starts making her way to the cafe. The bus system is crazy complex on Karut, because apparently they can fix the economic problems, but not the transportation issues. Not that she minds it anymore, it’s just hard for first timers. The cafe is the one of great significance to the trio, as it has been the first place Nova had taken both Pom and Aero when she met them in person. The bus gets her there in under ten minutes, a new record, though it might have been faster to run to the cafe. Waiting for her outside was Pom and Aero, who are talking about the Rescue Corps. Mainly, about Dingo and Bernard thanks to Aero, but Pom doesn’t really mind. As long as Aero is having fun, that’s all that matters to him. Nova is surprised to see the two there before her. Most times they go here, Aero is the last one to arrive.

         Aero notices Nova first, putting his hand on his hip. “Oh, look who finally made it!”

         Aero gets lightly smacked by Pom. “Shut it, blue boy.” He turns to Nova. “Come on Nova, let’s get something.” The trio enter the cafe, ordering some food and drink before settling down. More specifically, Nova gets a cake pop, Aero gets a breakfast sandwich, and Pom gets a drink called the Sleeper. It’s a drink designed to taste like coffee, while not having caffeine in it. Neither Aero or Nova understood appeal, but they never really questioned Pom for his choices after the first time. To Pom, it tastes good while also not giving him an unnecessary burst of energy. It costs a bit more than it would anywhere else, due to the Luottamus tax, but as a religious person herself, she doesn’t mind the extra bucks it costs. The three sit down at a nearby table, just to chat and catch up. It has been awhile since they have had a chance to talk to each other, just the three of them.

         Pom and Nova watch as Aero eats his sandwich. Nova sighs. “Are you ever going to get anything different?”

         Aero stops eating for a moment. “Nope…” they reply, digging back into their sandwich after answering.

         Pom turns to Nova, looking confused and a bit disgusted. “Why does he like that again?”

         “Because it was the first “real good food” he ate after being kicked out of his parent’s house.” Nova said, biting into her cake pop.

         “Oh. That explains it.” Pom takes another sip and looks at Nova. He still finds it difficult to look people directly in the eyes, but he's been trying to improve that. “Well, now that we both have kinda met them… well you in person, mine… not… Nova what did you think of the Officers?”

         Nova cocks her head. “Uh, not sure? I mean, they seemed nice, but I’ve heard the rumors! I–”

         Pom just looks at her, waiting a few seconds to interrupt her. “Nova, Nova. Stop, you’re doing it again.”

         “What?”

         “The whole “trusting the planet’s word” again.”

         “OH! Right, sorry.” Karutates, like Nova, are very well known for four traits, those being their absolute harshness, their devotion to their religion, luottamus, their bluntness, and their trust in any word or rumor coming from someone who lives on the planet. Nova had grown up with this attitude, and after meeting Aero and Pom, was working on fixing that way of thinking. It just isn’t healthy to be that negative.

         Pom sighs. “Nova, it’s going to take time, but… try to give them a second chance. They won’t be as bad as you're expecting.”

         Aero finishes his sandwich, looking up with a sparkle in his eyes. “Plus, you have the legends of Bernard and Dingo on your side, nothing will stand in any of y’alls way!”

         Nova facepalms. “And there he goes… Ready for another hour long rant about Dingo?”

         Pom nearly bursts into laughter remembering the last time one of them dared to mention Dingo. “Oh god…” Pom just gently puts a hand on Aero’s mouth as he attempts to start the spiel for the eighth time today. “Aero not now.”

         “Hey!” He exclaims, removing Pom’s hand from his face. “They are heroes, how fricking dare you!”

         Nova looks at him, absolutely ready to play devil's advocate. “And none of the rest are?”

         “No, they are… but… Bernard and Dingo….”

         Pom takes another sip out of his drink. “OhmyfreakinggoshAero….” He mutters, his running catchphrase for whenever Aero was doing or about to do something stupid, which is a lot. It’s always used when Aero is being either an idiot, or just too much. Sometimes, it’s both. 

         The three pause for a moment, then quietly laugh. This is it, the feeling of a normal life. It’s something Nova had wished for long ago, when her life was a lot simpler. Nowadays though, she wishes for an adventure, no matter the type. Her life needs the spice.

         That’s when an alarm went off, coming from Nova’s phone. She doesn’t even need to look at it to know what it was about. It’s a new alarm, one made specifically for her, just in case something happened to the Rescue Corps team she was assigned to. “Oh crap…”

         Pom jumps a bit at the sudden alarm. Aero however, just looks over at the alarm, and understands immediately. Aero gestures to Nova. “Go. You have a job to do, right?” Nova nods and runs to the Rescue Corps HQ. It’s quite the long run, but she manages to cut a ten minute walk into a five and half minute run. Nova rushes up to the boss' office before knocking.

         The voice on the other side sounds both panicked and stressed. “Come in.” 

         Nova quickly comes in, closing the door along the way and sitting down in a nearby chair. The President is one of the odder Karuts Nova has ever met. For most Karuts, the most defining trait of their body is their body type, which most times is really small. The President, however, looks more like Collin, in terms of body type. With his gray-ish brown hair, it really made him an outcast, as most Karuts have colored hair. But now, he’s just like everyone else in the Karut Rescue Corps base, stressed to all mighty hell. “Nova, we have some devastating news.” The President takes a moment before continuing. “One of the Rescue Corps has crash landed on the planet they’re currently stationed on. Crew number forty two.”

         Nova felt her blood run cold. “Excuse me, they what? But… wait what planet? And how, wasn’t the ship built for taking hits?”

         The President remembers that aside from telling her they lifted off, she was completely in the dark. “That’s what we thought. None of us are sure what exactly took place, but Collin sent out a SOS signal a few hours ago. As for the mission, it was to go to an undiscovered planet we dubbed PNF-404 to rescue Captain Olimar, who was stranded there around a month ago.” 

         “Wait,” Nova knew of at least the name, as it was not that long ago that she got the SOS Signal too. Turns out that Captain Olimar was in some danger, but she wasn’t sure exactly how much danger as the alert was quickly taken care of by the Karutation government. They didn’t want ANYONE going after him, so Nova just shook this event off for the time. “THE Captain Olimar? That guy? Isn’t he the guy that had an alert a few days ago?” 

         “Yes, he is.” The President sighs, putting his hand on his desk and covering his eyes. “I’ll get to the point, we need you to get in the S.S. Beagle and go save the Rescue Corps on PNF-404. Take as much time as you need, but don’t be slow about it.”

         “O-Of course sir.”

         “I’m trusting you with this, don’t let us down.” The President says, gesturing outside. “The S.S Beagle is in the loading zone, please get in and lift off as soon as you can.”

         “Yes sir.” The President flashes her a quick smile and nods as Nova runs over to the loading zone, sending a quick text to her friends letting them know about her departure. She gets in, secures her items, and takes off into the sky, to the planet of PNF-404.

Chapter Text

        The ride isn’t that pleasant, but it will do for the time being. Nova swears that she sees the lights flash red for a few seconds when entering the planet’s atmosphere. She lands in a green land of leaves, big, big, leaves. The biggest leaves she has ever seen were back at the orphanage. One of the caretakers liked those kinds of plants, the ones with tiny stems but big leaves. “Though there is no comparing the two, they are nothing like these ones!” Nova’s attention turns away from the huge foliage by the sounds of whimpering. She cautiously walks down the dirt path, seeing a yellow space dog whimpering on the floor. 

         “If only I brought Scrummy Bones…” Nova thinks. She approaches the space dog, holding out her hand. The dog rubs up against her arm, and barks. It seems happy, at least. Nova sits down next to the dog and checks around its body. Nothing appears to be broken, but that is just on a surface level. The dog licks Nova’s helmet, and she notices the collar around its neck. Oatchi.

         “Huh, odd name… I wonder if this is one of the Rescue Corps Officer’s dogs?” She thought as Oatchi jumps up, and runs over by a root stuck in a giant pot. It barks a lot, and gets a small groan as a response. “Wait, someone else was over there?!”  

         Nova tries to call out to the dog. “Oatchi! Oatchi!” but the dog just kept barking. Then, Nova tries to whistle them, and it manages to get its attention. Oatchi runs over and waits for an order. Nova looks over at the root and points at it. “Get…uh…the root?” Oatchi runs over and tugs on the root, pulling it away bit by bit. It took a few seconds, but Oatchi managed to pull the root out, opening the path.

         Oatchi runs over to Nova. “That’s a good boy.” She pets the dog on the head and smiles, her attention soon turning over to the clearing. Lying on the ground just beyond where the root once lay was Collin, his SOS signal still faintly going off. The two walk over to Collin, Nova peering over at him, while Oatchi licks his helmet. As if on command, his SOS signal stops going off and he wakes up. 

         “Urgh… Hrm… Huh? Is that you, Oatchi?” Collin sits up as Oatchi barks over at Nova. Collin fully stands up, and smiles. “Thank the stars! I wasn’t sure my SOS signal had reached HQ!”

         “Yeah…just…doing my job.” Nova looks down at Oatchi, who is trying to catch their own tail.

         “Wait…” Collin looks a bit shocked, confused even. “You and Oatchi found and rescued me…together?”

         Nova puts a hand behind her head. “Well, it was mostly Oatchi, but pretty much, yeah.”

         “That’s actually quite surprising. I’ve never known Oatchi to listen to anyone other than our Captain.”

         Nova stares at Collin for longer than she would've wanted. “Wait, Oatchi is the Captain's dog?”

         “Yep! She’s had him for a while, and just started training him recently! You’re our backup right? It’s… Nova, correct?”

         “Uh, yeah.” Nova gives him an awkward thumbs up. “That’s me.”

         “I know we’ve briefly met before, but I am Collin, communications operator for the Rescue Corps.” He flashes a smile at Nova. It put her more at ease. 

         “Yeah, this guys okay…”

         Collin brushes the dirt off his spacesuit. “I couldn’t be more grateful to you for rescuing me.”

         “Might I ask what happened? During landing, not the whole trip.”

         “We entered the planet’s atmosphere and lost control of the ship. Bernard tried his hardest to make the landing a soft one, but it was no use. I have no idea where the others are…”

         “Well we won’t find them if we just stay here,” Nova moves forward on the path, looking back. “You coming?”

         Collin looks down at Oatchi with worry, before snapping back up to reality. “Yeah, sorry.” The two move forward. Collin makes sure not to outpace Nova, as she seems to be struggling to keep up with him. Collin stops Nova, pointing over a cliff. They can’t go down it, as it’s blocked by rocks and they are too tiny to hop over, but they do see the S.S Shepherd.

         It looks fine, aside from the dirt and dents all over the ship. There was a large dent near the engine. “ That must have been where they got hit, probably with a meteor.” Nova thinks, deciding to move forward, as there is no way they could make it above that cliff. Collin runs over, attempting to catch up to Nova. Collin wasn’t expecting her to move down that fast. The three get down to the end of the path, seeing a sort of cave exit on the other side of another cliff. This one is just too tall to climb up, even with Oatchi’s help. Looking over to the right, there was a mound of dirt on what seemed to be the cave’s entrance. 

         “Oatchi, go…dig up the dirt.” Nova thought it’s still weird commanding a space dog, but it’s starting to get easier. Oatchi runs over and starts tossing dirt aside.

         Collin cheers on the space pup. “Good pup Oachi! You’re making easy work of all that dirt!” The pile of dirt was getting lower and lower. “Almost there…” The last bit of dirt was removed and the cave popped open. Oatchi turned around and barked at Nova, as if to say “I’m done!”

         “Well done Oatchi!” Collin gave Oatchi a thumbs up. He peers over the hole. “It looks pretty deep. We’re just going to have to dive right in.”

         “Let’s do it!”

         “That’s the spirit!” He calls out, the three of them hopping into the hole soon after. 

         All three immediately regret that decision, flailing their arms and legs around like that was somehow going to slow them down. The landing hurt a bit, but they are all relatively safe. Oatchi whimpers in pain, and Collin runs over to their side.

         “Oatchi!”

         Nova stood back, letting Collin do his thing. “Oatchi was whimpering before I found you, sir.”

         “You can just call me Collin, no need for the sir talk.”

         “Oh, sorry C-Collin.”

         “There is no need to be sorry Nova. You just need to get used to it. It’ll take no time, I’m sure.” Collin feels around Oatchi’s legs. “I think he sprained one of his legs… oh the Captain is going to freak out when she hears about this. We should get out of here as fast as possible, we have medical supplies in the S.S Shepherd.”

         Nova nods, quickly responding. “Alright si- Collin.” Collin chuckles at Nova. The three get up, and walk forward. In front of them, is a dead end, and to the left, is a path upwards. Collin and Nova look at each other before nodding, walking the rocky terrain, and hear a feminine voice. They get to the top of the slope to find the captain hanging onto a wood pole for dear life, surrounded by three creatures. They are tiny, squishy, white-ish large tick-like creatures….

         “Oh my… What a place to find the Captain! That terrified individual you see over there is the captain of our Rescue Corps team. Look sharp Nova! The captain comes from a long line of Rescue Officers back ge–” 

         Shepherd turns her head as much as she can, yelling at the two Officers. “This is not the time for a history lesson! Hurry up and do something!” Nova whistles Oatchi commanding them to attack the creatures. Oatchi bites down on one of the creatures, killing it instantly. Oatchi goes for the second one, attempting to bite down on the creature’s body. The creature dodges out of the way, and bites down on Oatchi’s injured leg. Oatchi whimpers in pain, and flicks off the creature. The creature splats onto the wall, and dies.

         Shepherd looks down at Oatchi, terrified. “O-Oatchi!”

         Collin runs over to Oatchi, sitting the pup down. Collin takes a moment to inspect the bitten leg. Collin eventually breathes a sigh of relief. “He’s fine, we’re good.”

         Shepherd also breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the stars.”

         Nova looks over at the last creature, and gets a wicked smile on her face. She runs over to the last creature, and attempts to kick it into the wall. Nova’s foot hits the creature, and it pauses, looking up at the Officer. Nova thought it’d go flying, but no, it’s still on the floor. “Oh. Hi?” It bites her leg. Nova quickly punches the creature, killing it instantly. Nova looks at her goop covered hand. “Ew, ew, ewwww!” She wipes her hand on the ground, shaking the creature’s corpse off of her leg.

         Collin sighs. “Phew, now we can relax a bit. Captain, we took care of the creatures down here. Can you get down?”

         “I hope so.” Shepherd says. “My arms are almost numb, I’ve been hanging for so long,” The Captain sighs. “Ok, I can do this.” She slides down the wooden pole, staggering a couple of times before falling to the ground. She hops up and runs over to Collin. “What’s your status, Collin? Are you okay?”

         “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Collin sighs. “I’m just relieved that you’re alright.”

         “Oh– you!” Shepherd says, pointing at Nova. “I haven’t talked to you since your first day here. I’m Captain Shepherd of the Rescue Corps, in case you’ve forgotten.”

         Nova, now sweating bullets, replies quickly. “I could never forget you ma’am. You're my boss after all.”

         Shepherd chuckles. “Of course. Your name is Nova, correct?”

         “Yes.”

         “Well it’s nice to meet you again.” Shepherd looks down at Oatchi. “Did you command Oatchi to fight the creatures below me?”

         “Yeah. Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean for Oatchi to get hurt even more.”

         “It’s alright, we’ll get that looked at tonight. Oh right! Collin, do you have an extra tablet?”

         “Yes I do Captain!”

         “Alright, can I see it?” Collin hands the tablet over to Shepherd, who fiddles with it for a bit, before handing it to Nova. “Nova, this is your own personal tablet.” Shepherd leans over Nova’s shoulder, pointing at the various new apps on the tablet. “You can view the missions here, and ID’s here.”

         Nova opens the ID’s and reads through the ones that are available. “Wait, Oatchi’s a boy?”

         “A very good boy.” Shepherd notes, petting the space dog’s head.

         Nova puts away the tablet. “Alright, I can look at this later,” She points towards the pots. “We need to get a move on!”

         “I agree, let’s get back to the S.S. Shepherd!”

         Collin did the Rescue Corp’s salute. “Copy that!”

         “C-Copy that.” 

         Shepherd excitedly claps her hands. “Wow, you remembered that little tid-bit from our only meeting?”

         “Yes ma’am.”

         “Excellent response… Now,” Shepherd looks over at the pots, “How do we get past that?”

         Nova thinks for a bit. “What if we rush Oatchi at them?”

         Shepherd looked concerned, mainly for her space pup. “I’m not sure if he'll be up for that… Oatchi?” The pup barks and charges up, ramming his face into the pots, breaking them all.

         Shepherd beams with pride, watching as her space pup returns to Nova's side. “Great job Oatchi! As soon as we get back to the S.S. Shepherd, you’ll get so many Scrummy Bones!” Rounding up the hill, they find a light shining from above.

         Collin looks up. “How are we supposed to climb up there?” He asks, looking up at the light above. Searching the ground, Nova, notices a metal circle on the floor.

         Nova walks on top of it, the others hesitantly following. “Maybe we don’t have to….” She stomps on the metal, and it opens, creating a large gust of wind that propels all three captains plus Oatchi up towards the light. They land on the other side of the wall. They’ve finally made it to the surface.

         Shepherd catches her breath, looking up at Nova with some slight anger. “Excuse me, Nova…. I suggest you exercise more caution when encountering something unfamiliar. Maybe don’t just… touch it.”

         Collin chimes in. “I completely agree! Though in this case, your impulsive behavior did get us out of that cave.” 

         Nova looks down at the floor, now entirely embarrassed. “Alright, sorry.”

         Shepherd smiles. “It’s okay Nova. You’re new, you’re going to make mistakes. Now, how are gonna mark the cave as complete? We don’t want to accidentally go down it again, right?”

         “I can use these flags!” Collin brings out a tiny red flag, which grows in size the moment it comes out of his pocket.

         Nova’s mouth nearly drops wide open. “How–”

         Collin smiles at the flag, proud of what they managed to accomplish in such a short amount of time. “Isn't the technology of Giya just amazing?”

         “Huh.” Nova did read that both of them were from Giya. “ Perhaps it’s just normal for them…” Nova turns back to the S.S. Shepherd, looks at it for a few seconds, and turns back.

         “Uh, Collin, you might want to turn around…” 

         “What’s wro–” Collin goes pale.

         Shepherd gasps. “Is that… smoke pouring out of the S.S. Shepherd?”

         “I’ll investigate it right away!” Collin runs over, and for a few minutes, all hope seems to be lost. Again. But, the S.S. Shepherd stops smoking, and Collin emerges back out. “Status report! Upon investigating the interior of the ship, I had discovered that the engine had overheated, and that the spaceship was seconds away from total destruction.”

         “What? Oh no! Will it be okay?” Shepherd almost sounds desperate. 

         “To be fair, this IS our only ride that can fly out of this planet’s atmosphere.” Nova thinks to herself. 

         Collin quickly responds. “It will. I initiated an emergency shutdown, and everything’s stable. Thankfully, even with the hit we took on our way down, the engine can be repaired. However, the ship's energy stores are now completely empty.”

         Shepherd now sounds completely dejected. “So we have no way of getting off this planet, let alone searching for Captain Olimar.”

         Collin looks down at his tablet. “Not necessarily… I think I saw something in Captain Olimar’s Voyage Log that may prove useful….” After a few seconds of silence, Collin smiles. “Here it is! Take a look at this!”

         “#31. I Found Treasure!

         After Thorough investigation into the shiny objects found on this planet, I have deduced that they must contain sparklium. I feel giddy to have found real-life treasure, but my focus must remain on my main objective—finding the missing parts of the S.S. Dolphin. -Captain Olimar”

         The picture simply shows an error message. Nova looks over at Collin. “What happened to the picture, Collin?”

         “All of his logs are like this… I guess the files must have corrupted on their way here, or on their way to us.”

         Nova pouts. “Man, those could have been so helpful!”

         Shepherd pats Nova’s back. “I know, but we have to work with what we got. Now, what are we waiting for, lets get some treasure!” 

         Collin interjects. “Wait, Shepherd… we need somewhere to transfer the treasure too, perhaps the S.S. Beagle could work?”

         Shepherd pauses for a moment, before patting Collin at the back. “Great thinking Collin! But there is another issue with that, where would it land?” The three captains look around, before Nova points to some shiny red-ish rocks on the ground.

         “How about here?”

         Collin smiles. “That works great Nova! Just call the S.S. Beagle over!” The S.S. Beagle came zooming over, ready to take the nearby treasure into its haul.

         “Alright! Let's find that treasure! For real this time!” Oatchi barks in response. It doesn't take long to find the first treasure. They find it near the new base, buried in the ground. Nova sends Oatchi over to unbury the object, and have him drag it over to the S.S. Beagle.

         Shepherd looks at the treasure sitting under the S.S. Beagle. “This treasure is quite large. How can we physically collect something this big?”

         Collin happily explains. “The ship uses a special type of light ray that minimizes objects during collection, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll examine it with the sensors on the S.S. Beagle right away. Let’s hope it contains the type of energy we need.” The treasure is sucked into the S.S. Beagle, and Collin go from an anxious mess, to a prideful happy man. “It’s worth 50 sparklium!”

         Shepherd was starting to get back that ray of hope. “Yes! Great job guys! All we need is 250 more! Let's get looking.” The crew walks over to a blue object. Nova decides to have Oatchi try and knock it down. When Oatchi hits the blue wall, the object tilts over and the crew has to act fast. They run out of the way, and the blue object opens up, revealing another side of it, with some odd language on the screen.

         “That was close…too close.” Collin mutters to himself.  Nova hears some high pitched noises and looks behind her. 

         She sees a red treasure. “Maybe that is worth something.” Nova calls over the Captain and Collin.

         Collin glares at it. “What’s this?”

         Shepherd was more interested in treasure hunting. “Is it a treasure?”

         Nova just wanted to see what it was. “Oatchi, try and–”

         A high pitched voice rang out as two red pik-pik carrots jumped down from the bricks above. “Get away!”

         Collin jumps back. “WOAH! What are those… things?”

         One of them makes a growling noise. “What are you planning to do, hurt Mother? Well, we won’t let you!”

         Collin looks behind him, seeing Shepherd hiding. “Captain, what do we do?”

         Shepherd “I… don’t know!”

         Amidst the chaos, Nova steps forward, kneeling down to the two pik-pik carrots. “Hello, uh, pik-pik carrot-looking things. My crew and I mean you no harm. I am Rescue Officer Nova, well actually, I’m a Backup Officer, but I’m getting off track. What was I saying? Oh right, I am here on a mission to save Captain Olimar, as he sent out a signal around a month ago. Have you seen him?”

         “Pik… wait, you know of those things?”

         “Uh… yeah? It’s a common food for Karutations… and other races too I guess.” 

         It just stares at Nova, unsure about what to say. “Okay. Right cool… Wait, did you just say that Leader isn’t here?”

         Nova gets up, looking around. She doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary, nor does she see anything that can even constitute as these creature’s supposed leader. She gets back on their level again. “Not that we’ve seen.”

         The red creature that was talking turns to the other small red creature, talking to it in a language that Nova can’t understand. It looks back up at her after a couple of seconds. “Oh. Well, we are so dead the next time we see the others, Steve.”

         “Others? Wait, no, don’t answer that. Sorry I just…” Nova looks beyond them. “Um… is that your nest? I can help get it out there.” 

         The two Reds look at each other, before the one that is mainly talking sighs. “Fine….” The two dig it out and grab hold. 

         Nova looks at Oatchi. “Alright boy, be careful with this one, alright?” Oatchi just barks, and helps drag it over to the base. It rolls over when close and sprouts three yellow legs. The two reds cheer.

         That’s when it hits Collin. “These must be the Pikmin in Olimar’s notes!” He pulls out his tablet, pulling up the Voyage Log.

         “#2. Pikmin:

         A fascinating creature emerged when I plucked the sprout! I tried to put some distance between us, but it followed me close behind. It seems quite friendly and looks similar to a Pikpik Carrot, my favorite vegetable. I'll call it a "Pikmin. -Captain Olimar”

         The talkative one sees the log, recognizing the entry. “Yeah… so you need help finding Leader? We can help, just make sure to protect us.”

         “Wait, hold on, give me that.” Nova takes the pad from Collin’s hands, and pulls over the Red Pikmin that has been talking with them. She looks between the picture and the real life thing. 

         “What? What’s wrong with me?”

         “You’re different. You’re like… a shade darker.”

         The Red Pikmin looks down at itself, and then over at Steve. “Oh, right. That’s…” The Pikmin looks at her, with a mix of amusement and confusion. “You’re an observant one. Not many of your kind notice that detail, most notice the burnt flower first.”

         “The what?”

         “Nevermind, take back what I said.” The Pikmin laughs, or at least makes a sound close to laughing. Honestly, for Nova, it’s hard to tell due to the pitched up voice. “Yeah I have one. Here, just look.” The Pikmin leans over, pulling its own stem forward. It’s just as it said, the flower is burnt, almost looking black in most places. “Most Red Pikmin don’t have this, and even though I hate it, Leader said it made me special.” It stands back up looking up at the sky, muttering. “If only he was special too.”

         Nova stares at the Pikmin. She didn’t hear what it said, but assumed it’s something that she doesn’t need to hear at all. “Huh. That’s neat. Well, anyway, I promise that we’ll at least attempt to protect you. I can’t guarantee that we can protect all of you, but I can try! What… What should I call you? Do you have a name or…?”

         “Leader just called me Red. You can too.” Red points at a nearby tall flower. It has white flower petals and a red pellet in it. “Throw us at those, and we’ll take care of the rest.” Nova aims and knocks down two of those pellets. They carry them back to the Onion and it creates more sprouts. Red points at the sprouts, gesturing wildly before sighing and saying, “Ground, get out of.”

         Shepherd leans over Collin’s shoulder at the creature. “You mean… pluck?”

         “Yeah, that. Look, I’m almost perfect at the Leader’s language. Almost.”

         Collin laughs. “That’s alright, it’s just… a bit jarring, you know? I thought you’d be a bit more… animalistic….”

         “I thought so too….” Red looks up at the Onion. “I guess Mother must have had trouble creating me after the last extinction left it on its wits end….” Red notices the three Captain’s gloomy faces. “Oh, but I’m fine with it. It’s a bit weird for me too, but knowing there are others like me makes me feel better. Now come on, there are still more of these things around for the harvesting.”

         Following Red's orders, Nova soon had a small army of thirteen Red Pikmin following behind her. Collin, who is following close behind Nova, turns to Red before asking his question. “You said earlier that there were others like you. What do you mean by that and where would we find them?”

         Red and the other Pikmin are thrown up to the next treasure, a round gold-ish one. “I meant that there are other “defective” Pikmin like me. If I remember correctly, there were six of us that I know about, but I could be easily forgetting someone. As for where they are, I’m not sure, we all split up to try and preserve the population after the Leader left. I’m sure we’ll find them eventually.” 

         “I can’t wait to meet them,” Collin says with a warm smile. Red didn’t seem too fond of him, though. The golden treasure went to the S.S. Beagle shortly after the blue rectangle thing. They had done it, 300 sparklium, and just as the sun was setting too!

         Collin jumps up in joy. “Great work everyone! Now it’s time to extract the energy from the treasure.” The S.S. Beagle hovered over the S.S. Shepherd's Stadulate hole, and the energy is transferred inside. The S.S. Shepherd jitters and powers up again, standing in its side position. “We still don’t have enough energy to fly, but now we can use the radar to look for our missing Rescue Officers!”

         Shepherd pats Collin on the back. “Excellent Collin! Boot it up, and see if we pick up any signals.”

         Collin fires the radar up. “....” The saturate outside starts to search for any signals, making a sound that Nova hates. “I’m picking up multiple SOS signals! They could be coming from our lost Rescue Officers and even Captain Olimar!”

         Shepherd is now fully confident that this adventure isn’t over, and made sure to show it. “Then we don’t have a moment to lose. Time to get rescuing!”

         “I hope you don’t mean right now….” Nova and Collin are shocked to see Red at the entrance of the ship.

         Shepherd nearly jumps out of her spacesuit. “AAAAAAAAAA!”

         Collin looks at Red, amazed. “You can breathe in here?”

         “It’s a bit hard, but yes.”

         It isn’t the answer Collin expected, but it’s for sure welcome. “Huh. Neat. Welcome on board Red!”

         Red turns to Shepherd. “Sorry lady, I have to stay here now. The wildlife out there would hunt me down and Mother has already launched into the sky. So I’m stuck here. Don’t worry, I won’t do much, Leader hated it when we messed with his stuff.” Red walks past all of them and hops on a pile of blankets. Its checks flare a slightly brighter red as it quickly fell asleep.

         “Well, I’m locking my door tonight, see you all tomorrow.” Shepherd walks away, getting a goodnight from the other two on board.

         Nova looks around. “Where do I–”

         “Oh come with me!” Collin leads Nova down several rooms before landing at one.“Here is where you’ll be, sharing a room with Oatchi.”

         “Okay, thank you Collin!” 

         “Of course, just doing my job! Goodnight Nova!”

         “Goodnight!” Nova smiles to herself. Maybe everything will be okay here. They’ll find Captain Olimar in no time, she is so sure of it.

Chapter Text

        Waking up isn’t great. Most times it isn’t, but today is slightly worse. Nova sits up though, there’s work that has to be done. Nova looks down at Oatchi, noticing the new bandages around his leg. “I guess one of them must have treated his wounds during the night.” She thinks as she gets up, puts on her spacesuit in the bathroom. Nova takes a quick look at herself in the mirror. “Heh, I knew this odd pink side cut looks nice. Take that random person on the street who said I looked like I came from Neechki! Me; one, random people; zero!” Nova, smiling, hops off the stool she has to use to see herself in the mirror due to her shortness, runs to the lobby, and jumps outside. Waiting for her outside is Captain Shepherd and Collin.

         “Alright, I guess that’s everyone. I call this strategy meeting to order!”

         “Copy that!” Both Collin and Nova speak at the same time.

         Shepherd smiles. “It’s like I’m with the whole crew again, despite the current numbers…”

         Collin starts talking first. “Here’s the latest status report. As of today, two Rescue Officers and one Rescue Pup have been recovered, thanks to the efforts of Nova, however the whereabouts of the other four Rescue Officers remain unknown, and the S.S. Shepherd is out of commission. All things considered, our primary mission, the rescue of Captain Olimar, has run into some roadblocks.”

         Shepherd nods at all the information presented. “Our first priority is now the search and rescue of our fellow Rescue Officers. I’ll leave that to you Nova. And Oatchi of course.”

         “Really? You trust me to do this?”

         Shepherd sighs. “I wish we could go with you, I really do, but unfortunately, someone’s got to stay behind and make sure everything is safe here.”

         “Ah, that makes sense. Then we won’t let you down Captain!” 

         “I call this Strategy meeting to a close!”

         “Copy that!” Nova pretty much runs over to the Onion and lets out the Pikmin. Nova looks at the many eyes watching her. “They look so cute… and horrifying.” Red hobbles out of the S.S. Shepherd, looking over at Nova. It sighs, before joining the group. Nova goes around, giving the Onion more nutrients until it stops spitting out seeds.

         Collin looks up in confusion. “Huh? The Onion stopped spitting out seeds,” Collin pulls out his tablet. “Based on the life signs from inside the Onion, there are clearly more Pikmin in there. Ah, here’s the Voyage log about this!”

         ‘“#5. Preservation Instincts

         The Onion stopped releasing seeds! I went to check on it and saw that the Pikmin will only propagate inside the Onion once a certain number are out on the surface. Could Limiting the number of active Pikmin be a strategy to avoid extinction? -Captain Olimar”

         Red looks up at the Onion. “Mother doesn’t want another extinction event to happen. It needs far more nutrients to sustain itself in order to let more of us out.” Red is hugged by Steve, in which they slightly hug back.

         Nova goes over and plucks the new Pikmin and runs over to talk to Collin. “We’re all set over here! The S.S. Beagle can take off whenever you are ready!”

         “I’m ready to go!”

         “Well we only have one place right now, Sun-Speckled Terrance.”
“Alright, you ready Oatchi?” The dog barks in response, and the Pikmin army runs back into the Onion. Oatchi and Nova enter the S.S. Beagle and a couple of seconds later, both the S.S. Beagle and the Onion head towards new lands.

         The land is gorgeous. It's also large and scary, but it’s still gorgeous. They land in a patch of green, and as soon as Nova gets out, she gets a call. “Come in… Come in… This is Collin. Looks like you made it there in one piece! Hang on, I’ll have the Captain explain how today’s rescue operation will work. You see that clock on the tablet? It’s set up so that the hand will reach the right-most edge at the area's local sunset time. Search for our Rescue Officers during the day, but hustle back to the Rescue Command Post before dark.”

         “Copy that!”

         Shepherd’s voice came over the speakers. “We’re counting on you!” Nova smiles and heads over to the Onion, calling out 20 Red Pikmin. She runs over to a creature. It was similar to that white thing from yesterday, but it’s red, spotted, and has two little legs. One Pikmin makes great work of the creature, killing it by just landing on its back. Nova sends that back with two other Pikmin, and moves up the path. She finds a pile of blue crystals. One of the Pikmin picks it up.

         Collin’s voice blares through the speaker. “That’s a pretty rock, isn’t it?”

         “ACK!”

         “Oh sorry. We can still talk with you. And hear you.”

         Nova lowers the volume on the speaker. “No, you're good!”

         “It doesn’t seem like treasure, but it might be useful. I’ll check Olimar’s Voyage Log… there we go!”

         “#32. Raw Materials:

         One could mistake this raw material for a simple stone, but it has more in common with amber and other fossilized biological matter. When heated, it melts down into a brown clay and becomes malleable. I should be able to find many applications for it. -Captain Olimar ”

         “I’m a fair hand with machines, but I don’t know much about materials science. If we had our scientist back, I bet he’d be able to make good use of this. Collect it for now. He’ll be excited to have something to work with after we find him.”

         “Oh right.” Nova thinks. “Russ. Creepy guy number one….” Nova collects the twenty Pikmin at the S.S. Beagle, and goes down the path. Killing another one of those red spotted creatures, Nova comes across a big brown wall. She throws her Pikmin army at the wall and also rushes Oatchi into it. After a few seconds, the wall breaks down. There, in front of them is a cave.

         Collin sounds surprised. “Look! There is a cave here too!”

         Shepherd adds onto Collin. “This area is crawling with creatures. Our Rescue Officers could have retreated into the cave in order to get away from them.”

         Collin sounds a bit quieter, a bit scared of what lies below. “Well, we should probably take a look inside,” Nova walks up to the cave and looks down. It’s a far drop. “I wonder if there might be a Voyage Log entry related to these coordinates. Yep, here it is!”

         “#40. Last-Frost Cave: 

         I entered a cave to look for S.S Dolphin parts and found a creature that defies the logic of space! It further surprised me by expelling frigid-cold air. Imagine if there were Pikmin that had been acclimatized to that cold air... This planet's ecosystem is full of mysteries. -Captain Olimar ”

         Shepherd is a little shocked that Captain Olimar was able to do this much alone, but she brushes it aside. “That Captain Olimar certainly is thorough, isn’t he?” A preview for the cave loads up on the tablet. 

         “Looks good to me.” Nova thinks, and jumps inside, bringing along Oatchi and 20 reds. They fall down, landing on the decently cold floor. Oatchi sniffs the air and barks.

         Shepherd smiles. “Good job Oatchi! He’s picked up a castaway’s scent!”

         “Alright, let’s go boy!” Nova and the group run forward, fighting some very light-ish pink-ish slugs. They get down a treasure and break some more pots. Then Nova sees some sort of light blue-ish grey big bag. At least Nova assumes it is one, as it looks quite similar to the big bags found in stores on Karut. It breathes icey air at some wild Pikmin, ones that seem to be made out of ice. She sicks the Reds onto the icey bag and after a few cycles of throw, whistle, throw, it falls over, dead. Nova whistles her army and notices the tiniest one of them all, spinning in a circle on the floor.

         Collin buzzes in, feeling the cold through the screen. “Are these Pikmin too? Lets see, the Voyage Log says….”

         “#18. The Ice Pikmin

         I always thought of Pikmin as plantlike creatures, so I never dreamed I'd come across an ice variant! Ice Pikmin can use their icy bodies to freeze water and creatures, but they also float like ice in the water. Don't spray them with water though. They really don't like it. -Captain Olimar ”

         “Their bodies are made of ice?” Nova can hear the captain’s fear from all the way over here. “Who knew that something frozen could move around like that? It’s incredible.” Or maybe it is just curiosity. The more Nova thinks on it, the more it’s probably fear. That one tiny Ice Pikmin just keeps spinning, and spinning. Nova whistles it, but it doesn’t pay any attention to it. It is just busy spinning. That’s when Red walks up to it, and forcefully stops it from spinning. Red says something in the Pikmin language, and the Ice just tilts its head. Then, its eyes light up, and it runs up and attaches itself to Red. After a few seconds of struggling, Red becomes frozen solid.

         Collin panics, just a bit though. “Gah?! Is the poor thing frozen?” Red suddenly breaks out of its ice prison and just looks at that ice. Tiny body, tiny limbs, and a bud with a section bitten out of it.

         “No… oh you poor thing. Mother messed up with you too….” It just goes in for another hug, but Red pushes it away. “Not again, I’m not getting frozen, alright?”

         Nova whistles her army over, now having an extra 5 Pikmin. It is quite nice having more than 20 little Oatchis. Entering the next room is more of those tiny light-ish pink-ish slugs, this time with two purple ones with pincers. The purple ones try to eat some Pikmin but Nova doesn’t let that happen. She sends ten Pikmin to push down the bag, and sees some jello blocking her way. Very bouncy jello. The Ice Pikmin, which Nova decides to just call Icey from now on, walks up to the Jello and points at itself, and then the jello.

         “You want me to throw ice Pikmin at it?” It tilts its head in confusion.

         “Right, can’t understand me…” Nova does the motion of throwing and it nods. “ Alright then…” Nova picks up an Ice Pikmin, and she can feel the coldness of these guys just from the stem alone. Icey skates out of the way as the 4 other ice Pikmin start to hit the jello. Icey just stood next to it, hugging it. 

         Collin is quietly talking with Shepherd, and eventually takes Shepherd's question to Nova. “Nova, what is that one doing? Why isn’t it attacking like the others?”

         Nova looks closer at Icey. Its bulb was rotten in some places, and chunks were just… gone. “Collin, do you see its bulb?”

         “Yeah– oh wait, I think I get it now.” 

         Nova looks at Icey with sympathy. “It must not be able to attack, and in exchange the onion made it just way colder than most.” Right as Nova says that, the Jello turns frozen solid.

         Collin goes from slightly sad, to happy. “There we go! Frozen solid! I bet you can break it if you hit it now. Give the order to the Pikmin or Oatchi!”

         “Alright!” Nova throws some Pikmin onto the now frozen jello and watches as Icey slide over and hit a nearby treasure! 

         “How did I not see that… Jumala, I’m blind.” Nova thinks to herself before realizing something. She’s out of Pikmin. Nova quickly whistles the paper bag Pikmin, and sets them on the new treasure. She then has Oatchi break some nearby pots, relieving an onion of sorts. It looks more like garlic, if Nova is telling the truth.

         Collin is a bit odded out. “Does it look like it’s… sputtering? It looks pretty pale for an onion.”

         “Eh, let's just take it, why not?” Nova sends the last five Pikmin at the bulb onion thing, and turns around as the jello was broken. Perfect, and what was even more perfect was what she saw on the other side.

         Collin excitedly hops up. “We found a castaway!”

         Nova just looks at the castaway, then herself, then the castaway again. “Uh…Collin… isn’t that a Rescue Corps suit?”

         A moment of silence passes before a very loud, but audible gasp comes over the speaker. “Oh my stars! It is! I’d better check their vitals!” Some more shuffling can be heard on the other end. “Pulse, blood pressure, temperature… All within normal parameters. Looks like their life-support did its job. Nova, get them back as soon as possible!”

         “On it!” Nova throws three Ice Pikmin onto the passed out castaway. She can’t see inside the helmet. “Must be a life-support feature.” Nova waits by the entrance until she hears Collin’s voice.

         “Alright, let’s see who it is!”

         “Rescue Corps Officer: Russ

          Home Planet: Giya

         An inventor, material engineer, and lover of 

         all things science. He can develop all kinds of 

         useful gadgets with the right raw materials.”

         “Oh! Thank the stars he’s alright!” Shepherd lets go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

         Nova is a bit nervous now. “That’s crazy number one rescued.” 

         Shepherd perks up. “This is Russ, the scientist in charge of repairs and upgrades for our space suits and the S.S. Shepherd. His technical knowledge will be beyond helpful during this rescue mission.” With that Nova leaves the cave, with a newfound type of Pikmin, 190 sparklium, 1 onion bulb thing, and a 100%-ed cave. Nova and Oatchi hop out and notice at the base far behind them that the paler onion gets sucked into the red onion. The red onion seems to grow in size as it hops from the ground.

         Collin came over the radio again. “Hey! The onion sucked it up! The voyage log says that the white bulb is called “Flarlic.” If we bring Flarlic to the onion, it will increase the number of Pikmin it releases onto the surface at any one time by 10!” That is great news, it’s a huge difference to go from 20 mini Oatchis, to 30 mini Oatchis, 10 of which are ICE. Nova moves forward, noticing a very similar grey blow bag up ahead. The tip of its snout is red instead of light blue. Nova gets ready to throw, but Icey just runs up to it, and gets lit-a-flame by this thing.

         Nova panics. “AAAAAAAAAA!”

         Shepherd was also panicking, so it was up to Collin to be the level headed one again. “Nova! Try to whistle it! It might calm it down!” Through all the panic, Nova managed to whistle Icey back to her side. She can tell, her leg’s temperature drops to considerably dangerous levels. Nova throws all her reds at it, and they don’t mind the heat. “Huh, that’s good to know.” After around three cycles of attack, and throwing Pikmin off, it goes down. Icey peers over and skates over to the dead corpse. It kicks it, before hopping, holding its leg in pain. 

         “Hey, at least you can move the base over.”

         “Not now Collin….” Nova sighs and calls the base over and whistles all the Pikmin into one group again. Moving forward, she finds the adult version of the spotty red creatures. “Great, just what I need, more challenge.” Icey grabs her hand, pointing at the other Ice Pikmin and then the reds. “Ice first, Reds after?”  “Alright.” She whispers, and starts the assault on the creature. All 10 Ice Pikmin launch onto it, with many more Reds coming in for the assault on its back. Just as it was about to shake them all off it freezes, just like Red did.

         Shepherd just looks at the creature, a bit more terrified of these creatures now. “It…froze? Don’t just stand there! Now's your chance!” Within moments of it being frozen, it bursts into a yellow substance. The Pikmin run over to it, their leaves changing into a flower.

         Shepherd is quite shocked at the change. “Did you see that?! It bloomed into a flower! What’s going on here?”

         “Hmm… that substance is called nectar. When Pikmin consume it, it stimulates their growth, apparently. The Voyage Log says that the more they grow, the faster they move. They really are mysterious creatures….” 

         “There he goes again, Collin and the Voyage Log.” Nova thinks. Instead of saying what is on her mind, she says, “You can say that again….”

         Collin is silent for a moment, contemplating on what to say. He ends up concluding that Nova totally meant that literally. “They really are mysterious creatures.”

         Nova can’t help but laugh at Collin’s either smart aleck response or his denseness. “HAHAHAhaha… I didn’t mean literally Collin.”

         “Haha, I know. You just sounded so down, I just wanted to hear you laugh.”

         “Naw, thanks dude. That really helped.” Rounding the corner were two tiny red spotty creatures. Taking those out, Nova has two ways. Left, electric death in wall form, right, living. She chooses the right path. After murdering two more purple pincers, Nova spots five things. One, big red spotty creature, two, treasure, three, root, four, wall, and five, another flarlic! Nova takes care of the creature first, with the same tactic as before. It works, and she sends 10 Reds to fight the wall, and ten down to the root. The flarlic is far too high to get, so that’ll have to be a later problem. Then there is the problem of the treasure. It’s on the blue wall, and Nova is sure none of the Pikmin could pull it down. That’s when it hits her, and she rushes Oatchi into the wall, making the treasure fall down. “Jackpot!” Nova puts 7 Ice Pikmin on it and rushes Oatchi into the wall. With that rush, it breaks. Now with 13 Pikmin, Nova kept exploring, finding another treasure, a bag, and a buried cave! Ten Pikmin are used to push the bag down, Oatchi and one Pikmin is used to start to dig out the cave, while 2 go onto the treasure. Once the bag is down, the other ten are put on the treasure and it is sent to base. Nova pulls out her tablet to read about what she is about to jump down to.

         “#41. Crackling Cauldron

         I was feeling hotter than usual in my space suit, and when I looked down, the ground was on fire! I panicked, but a Red Pikmin just gave me a sidelong glance, totally unfazed even as the fire licked at them. They're clearly capable of more than just skillful attacks. -Captain Olimar”

         Shepherd reads the Log faster than anyone. “Hey Nova. Just a suggestion here, but don’t bring Ice Pikmin.”

         “Noted Captain. Noted.” “30 Reds would do.” Nova thinks as the last of the treasures made it to base. As soon as she gets that notification, she jumps right on into the Crackling Cauldron. Nova and her 30 Reds land on the ground, already hearing one of those fire grey bags nearby. The 30 Reds make quick work of the creature continuing down the path and to the left, seeing the green flying version of the purple pincer. “Oh Jumala, why do they fly?” With some misses here and there, Nova and the Reds manage to take down the flying pincers. Nova puts three Pikmin on the buried treasure and while doing that notices another treasure, quite a flat one. She also has 5 Pikmin bring that treasure back. Then Nova walks by and does a double take in one of the corners.  In it, are yellow sprouts. Nova walks up, and plucks one. The Pikmin backflips in the air, and then looks at Nova, curiosity consuming the creature. Nova could see the electricity radiating off of the Pikmin.

         Collin sounds a bit shocked seeing a new Pikmin this early on into the adventure. “Is this a new type of Pikmin? I should check to see if Captain Olimar’s log says anything about them!”

         “#16 The Yellow Pikmin

         “I've decided to call the yellow-colored Pikmin with large earlike appendages "Yellow Pikmin." I liked that name a lot more than Ear Pikmin. They're resistant to electricity, and they fly high when thrown. Plus, they're good at digging! -Captain Olimar ”

         Shepherd seems more interested in these ones compared to the others. “Resistant to electricity? How unusual. What in the world are they made out of? That sounds like a potentially useful quality though! Just be careful how you deploy them. There aren’t many.”

         “Will do.” Nova plucks the rest out and continues onward to fight another fire grey bag creature. With reds, though, it becomes an easy task. Nova notices a treasure in the air, and runs over to it, getting jump scared by another flying pincer. After killing two of them, Nova lowers a bag, collects the raw materials, and realizes that she doesn’t have enough Pikmin to lower the treasure. Nova turns around to think, only to be met with another Yellow, one very different from the rest. It’s stem and ears are burnt, and it's right ear had a huge chunk taken off of it. It looks at her with amusement.

         Its voice is a higher pitch than the Reds. “Captain?”

         Nova isn’t sure what to say. “UHHHHH yeah?”

         “Captain. Lead. Safety. Onion.”

         Nova doesn’t even know what in the Pikmin-ing heck it means. “UUUUUUUUUUH–”

         Luckily, she doesn’t have to decipher its attempted Galactic language for long. “ABDUL!” Red runs over and for the first time, Nova sees Red shed what she believes to be a tear. “You’re okay! Oh thank the Mothership…”

         “Okay! Am okay. You okay?”

         “Yeah… I’m good. Where are the rest of ya?”

         Abdul points at a high up can stuck in the ground. “Rest of… yellow.”

         Red just stares, before sighing. “Oh… heh, I’m blind.”

         “Oh yes you are… and so am I.” Nova whistles the rest of the yellows to her, and with the ten, they are able to weigh down the treasure. She has them take it back. She walks with it, as she has to use the yellows to break down an electrical wall after all. Once the wall was broken down, Nova bolts to the next sublevel.

         As soon as they land, Oatchi barks, informing Nova and the other two Officers that there is another castaway nearby. Nova decides to go right, breaking a coal of fire with the Reds. Not even fifty steps ahead, are three more, surrounding a buried treasure. Nova sicks around 15 reds on it and goes forward to explore. She found a pancake-like creature. “A snail pancake? Eh shouldn’t be a problem.” Nova throws about 9 Pikmin and the pancake goes on its side? “What in the world is it–” It slams into the ground, dying, but killing the 9 Pikmin still attached to it.

         “Oh.” Is all that escapes Nova’s mouth. She just let them die. She just killed 9 of her loyal Pikmin, all to open up a base… Nova is too overwhelmed to think clearly, instead collapsing to the ground, trying not to cry. That’s when she feels it, a tiny hand on her back. She looks up to see Red looking at her.

         Red stares back. “How many?”

         “N-nine….”

         “Alright, well that’s okay. Just remember you can always grow more.”

         “It’s not okay though! I let them die… I….”

         “Leader,” Red gets down at her level. “We are born into this world by wonderful Leaders. We carry, we fight, we multiply, we die. That’s just how it is in this world.”

         “But I–”

         “As long as you're the one who plucked them, they will be loyal to you forever.” Red knows that it’s a white lie, but if it makes her feel better, then it’s worth it.

         Nova smiles. “Thanks.” Then quietly mutters. “I’m still gonna feel guilty about this.”

         Red doesn’t hear her. “Now come on, we need to recover the “castaway,” yes?”

         “Y-yeah!” Nova gets up and puts out the rest of the fire hazards nearby and gets jump scared by yet another flying pincer. After setting base nearby, Nova sends Pikmin after the wall, raw materials stack, and the two treasures up high. Once the raw materials are collected, she sends the Pikmin after the wall, and as she is throwing the last Pikmin, the wall collapses. Nova heads to the right, finding the castaway up on a high neat brick pile, with those hot coals on the floor nearby. And another jump scare flying pincer. 

         Nova looks at the castaway, the color draining from her face as soon as she does. “Collin. That’s not a Rescue Corps Officer. It’s not the suit.”

         “What? Oh my, you are right, that isn’t one of us. Who decided to come here anyway?”

         Shepherd adds onto Collin. “It doesn’t matter if they aren’t one of the officers, we have to save them too! Nova, get them back to the S.S. Beagle!”

         “Copy that!” Nova gets rid of the hot coals and starts to carry back the castaway, letting the 7 remaining yellows break down the electric gate while she plucks 5 more.

         Red looks at the girl. She is doing better than most, aside from the original leader and red leader. “Hey Leader?”

         “Yeah Red?”

         “You're doing alright so far, just letting you know.”

         "Uh, Thanks."

         Abdul sneaks up behind Red, scaring it when they speak. “Leader. Great. Yellow n…near buried.”

         “Thanks… Abdul.” The little one smiles with its eyes. The electric gate is broken down. Nova calls the Pikmin over to her, seeing down the hallway the starting base she was at.

         “Let’s see who this is!”

         Shepherd interjects, clearly a bit pissed that someone else came here too. “And who we’ll have to give a good talking to!”

         “Treasure Appraiser: Schnauz

         Home Planet: Siguray 

         An acclaimed treasure appraiser who's

         traveled extensively. His unique techniques

         were used to develop a leading appraisal AI.”

         “Who is this and how did they get here?”

         It hits Shepherd on why. “Olimar’s Voyage Logs.”

         Collin just looks at Shepherd. “What?”

         “Remember? His SOS came with his Voyage Logs, which could have attracted visitors here, who also all crash landed. Nova, we need to keep an eye out for any more civilian castaways, who knows how many got Olimar’s SOS signal!”

         “Copy that Captain.” Nova looks at the percent of the sublevel. 100%. Nice. Nova goes over to the location of the Yellows and plucks them. She then just leaves the Crackling Cauldron, escaping with only 9 less reds, and 20 new yellows.

         Hoping out of the cave, with a Pikmin spread of 10 of each type, there is one obvious place to go, and that is the electric gate behind her. She runs over and puts five yellows on it. Nova pulls out her tablet, realizing she forgot an entire section of the map. She runs over hoping to make it there. She manages, and fights two more red spotty creatures. She then charges Oatchi into some nearby pots, and finds more in the back. Once Oatchi is ready, she had him rush again and found another treasure. That one Oatchi can carry back. Then she goes to the other side, seeing a grey fire bag. She throws her Reds on it as a distraction and uses the five remaining Yellows to get down another treasure. The Reds kill the bag by then and she lets them carry it back. She also has the Ice Pikmin carry the two spotted creatures back. Once they get to the Onion, it created more reds than she lost.

         “Oh thank goodness.” Nova sighs in relief. Nova hears the sound of the electric wall breaking, and with her 25 Pikmin and Oatchi, she heads over to explore a bit more, instantly seeing a base. With little and big red spotted creatures. “Great.” She stealthily takes out the smaller one without waking the big creature. That’s when she unleashes the 10 Ice Pikmin and Reds onto it. It dissipates into more nectar for the Pikmin to drink. She moves the base over, an–

         Red blurts out. “Abdul, where are you going?” Nova turns around to Abdul running over to a corner of the map, stopping at a walled area and jumping. Nova runs over, seeing a paper bag in her path.

         “Onion! Onion!” Abdul chants. Nova throws around 12 Pikmin on the bag and they all slam on it at once, flattening it. There, on the other side, was a Yellow Onion.

         Collin was again amazed at this creature’s intuition. “Look at that! Another Onion! This one’s a different color from the first one we found. Will it also move on it’s own after we transport it?”

         “Welp. Only one way to find out.” Nova calls most of her army to carry it back to base.

         Around halfway there, Collin speaks up. “Oh, look at the time. An important part of any rescue mission is making sure you make your way back to the base before it gets dark. According to Captain Olimar’s Voyage Log, Pikmin will be safe as long as they make it back around their Onion.”

         Shepherd looks at Collin’s pad. “It seems like creatures get more aggressive at night. If any Pikmin are separated from the squad, you should collect them now.”

         “Yep! We’re almost there… and there we go!” The Yellow Onion gets sucked into the Red, the color becomes fully yellow before the Onion starts spinning and it becomes a 50/50 split of Red and Yellow.

         “It sucked up the other Onion! That was unexpected. You don’t think that’s going to be a problem, do you?” Collin looks over at Shepherd, who is simply amazed.

         “Unbelievable! The Onion fused, and now there’s just one with two colors. Wait! Do you think it will be able to propagate Pikmin of both types now?”

         “Probably, but,” Nova looks up at the sky. “I think I have to go, so we’ll test it tomorrow.”

         “Of course. Safe travels back to Nova!” Nova whistles hard, and the Pikmin all run back into the Onion as Oatchi and Nova get in the S.S. Beagle. Soon, they take off back to camp. When they get back, there is Collin and Shepherd waiting out in the dark.

         “What are you two doing out here?”

         Shepherd smiles. “Greeting you… and that yellow apparently.”

         Abdul, who had somehow managed to sneak on the ship, hugs Nova, and points at the two other officers. “Leader. More!”

         Collin is a bit scared of Abdul. It clearly can’t control its electricity and the last thing they need is the S.S. Shepherd out of repair. Again. Though for now, it does seem to be harmless. “Oh, it must have snuck on board.”

         Shepherd just stares at it before sighing. “It can stay onboard tonight.”

         “Yay!” It hops up, making Shepherd flinch back. 

         Collin gestures to the S.S. Shepherd. “Well come on, let’s get all the goods on board.” The day ended with 2 new Rescues, one of which was Russ, a total of 1370 sparklium, around 133 raw materials, 10 new ice Pikmin, 20 new yellows, 24 new reds, 9 reds lost, and the determination to keep going.

         Well, as long as she could survive meeting Russ again. He woke up in the S.S. Beagle not too long ago. Shepherd greets Russ as he walks into the lobby. “Welcome back Russ. Glad to see you made it here in one piece.”

         “Kee-hee-hee! Of course Captain. I had no doubts the emergency-escape system I developed would function perfectly!”

         Shepherd pouts a bit. “That may be, but it would’ve been helpful if you showed the rest of us how to actually use it. One would expect an emergency-escape device to be a bit more intuitive to use in the event of an emergency.”

         Collin, currently ignoring the situation, turns to Russ. “Anyhow… Now that you’ve back, Russ, can you tell us if you came across any rocks like this before we found you?” Collin hands over one of those blue crystals to Russ. His eyes light up… or at least his glasses do.

         “Kee-hee! Collin, Collin, Collin… Not only did I see them, I’ve already completed very thorough research on this material! I discovered that when heated, the rocks become soft and malleable, and can be shaped into any form you desire. Its base properties can even change when exposed to different stimuli. It’s quite a versatile raw material indeed!”

         “...Cool.” It is obvious to pretty much everyone that Nova is a bit uncomfortable around Russ. Pretty much everyone, except for Russ.

         “I know right! We can create so much with this, like new equipment for you and Oatchi!” No one speaks for a few seconds, just looking at Nova and Russ.

         Collin interrupts the awkward silence. “Starting tomorrow, I’m expecting our rescue operations to go even more smoothly than usual now that you’re here.”

         “We should be able to find our Rescue Officers more quickly, as well.”

         Abdul grabs Nova’s hand. “Leader. Who?” It points at Russ.

         “Uh, that’s Russ. He’s the Rescue Corp’s scientist.” Nova looks down at Abdul.

         “Leader too?”

         Nova looks back up at Russ, smirking. “You could say that.” 

         Abdul smiles at that response. “Leader, Follow.” Abdul grabs her hand, running over to Russ. “Leaders.” When neither really move towards each other, Abdul moves behind Nova and pushes her into Russ.

         “OH!” Nova gets up, fast. “I’m so sorry Russ. I’ll–”

         “Kee-hee-hee! It’s okay. It seems like it wants us to get along. Just as long as you have more raw material, then we can keep talking.”

         “Alright….”

         Abdul lightly hit Russ on the arm and he just sighs. “Just messing with you Kee-Hee-Hee!”

         Nova isn’t sure, and Collin is whispering something to Shepherd. After that, they all just go to their rooms. Nova sits on her bed, and sighs. “How many more? How many more will die for us?” Nova gets in bed and just closes her eyes. “It’ll be alright. Just remember, Pom and Aero will be there for you when you get home. It’ll all be okay.…”

Chapter Text

        Nova wakes up several times, due to Abdul moving around in their sleep. In fact, Nova almost accidentally oversleeps. She doesn’t due to Abdul shocking her awake. 

         “Jeez, I’m awake! I’m awake!” Nova gets up and stretches before noticing that her door was open. Oatchi must have escaped the room. “That’s fair, of course. Dogs have to be dogs, can’t keep them trapped forever.” Nova gets into her space suit and heads outside. Oatchi is waiting for her, and once she pops out, he runs over to her excitedly. 

         Nova just stands there, a bit shocked at Oatchi’s size. “Am I really tired or did Oatchi grow… a bunch?”

         “That’s actually quite typical for his breed. It’s a sign that he’s now fully grown and qualified for more rigorous activities.” Shepherd clears her throat. “Now that everyone is awake, I now call this strategy meeting to order! First things first. Russ, please update us on the improvements being made to the S.S. Beagle.”

         “Kee-hee! It would be my absolute pleasure, Captain Shepherd. Because they're done. The S.S. Beagle now has the ability to transform any raw material collected in the field into all-purpose clay. With this functionality, we should be able to easily build on location!”

         “Excellent. Of course, I’m not quite sure what we’ll be building, but good work nonetheless.”

         “One last thing! Bring me raw material, and I’ll be able to whip up exciting new gear and items for you in the lab. I have no doubt they’ll be useful to you while out in the field.” 

         Collin sighs, just another task to add to his long list. “Sounds like we’re not only collecting treasure now but raw material too.”

         “And don’t forget our missing Rescue Officers! We’re counting on you to find them Oatchi and Nova!”

         “Of course!”

         “By the way, Come talk to me later when you have a minute.” 

         Nova panics a bit. “Oh frick what did I do?”

         “I would like to discuss Oatchi’s training.” 

         “Oh thank Jumala….” Nova softly sighs of relief.

         “I hereby call this strategy meeting to a close!”

         “Copy that!” All three reply in unison. They all disperse, and Nova goes to talk with Shepherd. She has time. “Uh, Captain? I have time to talk now.”

         “Alright, its time to commence training! The journey will be long and arduous, but I have no doubts you two can handle it.” Shepherd pulls out her tablet, and displays the Rescue Corps Pup Training Curriculum™. “This Rescue Pup Training Curriculum has been passed down through many generations. If Oatchi’s Pup Drive has built up sufficiently, he can train and learn new skills without problem.”

         “Pup…Drive?”

         “Oh right, you aren’t a trainer. It’s like… his motivation. Rescue Pups get more Pup Drive, or motivation the more people rescue.”

         “Oh! Thanks Captain.”

         “Of course. If you have more questions, please ask.” Shepherd clears her throat. “As for what skills to learn and when to learn them… that depends on the rescue approach you two want to take.”

         “Alright, let’s just max out buff!”

         “Alright then let's get started.” And for the next few hours, they teach Oatchi how to carry heavier objects. He is doing pretty good, aside from the last object, as he is struggling to pick it up, and seems really sad. Thinking fast, Nova pulls out 10 Pikmin and sends them after the object.

         “Nova, what are you doing?”

         “Making Oatchi feel better! If he’s feeling bad, he’ll do worse!” It’s something Nova learned when she met Pom. She had to pretty much force him to move away from his home situation, and the most common reason Pom didn’t want to move was because he was feeling awful about his life and didn’t want it to make it worse. Once the Pikmin help Oatchi pick up the object, his eyes lit up and barks. Nova calls off the Pikmin and Oatchi manages to drag the object by himself.

         “Good boy Oatchi!” Oatchi runs over to Shepherd. “I’ve got just the reward for you!” She pulls out a Scrummy Bone and lets Oatchi go at it. “Ah, I should give you some of these, just in case something goes wrong.” Shepherd gives Nova two Scrummy Bones.

         “Thank you Captain.” Nova turns around to go talk to Russ, when she hears the door of the S.S. Shepherd open, and then close. Abdul has woken up, “Oh boy…” Abdul looks around, soon spotting its target. Abdul runs over to Russ and jumps onto his helmet.

         Russ just peers at them, looking at it with a lot of curiosity and what seems to be a hint of fear. “What an odd creature…” It’s the first time Nova has ever seen Russ so… off. She thinks that perhaps it’s because his curiosity doesn’t get followed up or start with “Kee-hee-hee” or the mad scientist vibe. And it looks like it must have been the first time, at least in a while, for Collin and Shepherd too. Abdul laughs at all the officer’s reactions, and with that laugh electricity shot off of them, hitting a few plants and almost hitting Schnauz, who is just looking at his tablet in the corner. The one person it did manage to hit is Russ, who has the most direct contact with electricity. Nova hasn’t seen someone getting hurt like that in a while, though it doesn’t really phase her seeing something get electrocuted, since Aero typically works with machines that would shock him all the time. Abdul stops laughing, looking down at Russ, curious of what his reaction would be. Russ was pretty much covered in a thin layer of burnt ash, kinda like in a cartoon.

         Collin just looks amazed at Abdul, and then that amazement quickly turns into concern. “Russ are you–”

         Russ coughs, before shaking off Abdul. “I’m fine Collin… In fact, I’m glad I witnessed this! It will for sure help create ideas for new inventions! Kee-hee-hee!” 

         “And there he is… back to himself…” Nova sighs in her mind. She then approaches Russ, preparing for the worst. “Hey, uh, Russ….” “Great start me, doing excellent here.”

         “Ahem…” 

         “Did he really just say “Ahem” out loud?”

         “Allow me to properly introduce myself again. I’m Russ, the resident brains of this Rescue Corps operation. I use the raw materials you find and my handmade components to create all kinds of items and gear for use in the field!”

         “W…What do you have?”

         Russ lights even more up than he was before, if that is even possible. “So much… uh…”

         “Nova.”

         “Yeah! So many items and trinkets! I can proudly state that all of my inventions have been perfectly perfected. You can even say I have it down to a… SCIENCE!” Collin groans.

         Russ ignores his audible disappointment. “In exchange for raw material, I provide you with new gear. Your contributions make it possible to continue my important work! I may run out of components from time to time. If that happens, just visit the lab the next day after I’ve restocked.”

         Nova looks at what he had in stock, and pays 70 raw materials for the Survey Drone, Charge Horn, and Treasure Gauge. Russ looks at Nova and just hands her three new prototypes, the Emergency Kit, A Pikpik Carrot, and a Scrummy Bone.

         “When you have the time, can you test these out for me?” He sounds a bit… desperate. It’s either that or he sounds crazy, though Nova can’t really tell the difference. 

         “Alright…don’t plan on dying soon, but I’ll try.” Nova feels a little better about Russ, he’s just only a bit-crazy about science. She thanks him for the free items and goes to go talk to their new castaway, Schnauz. 

         “Hello sir!”

         “Ah, it’s you! The person who saved me! Thank you so much for rescuing me the other day! I confess, I’m really quite flustered. I only came here because I heard there were rare treasures to be found. Getting stuck here was NOT on my agenda! Oh, my apologies… I’m Schnauz, a noted appraiser of treasures. I often compile my findings in a little log for prosperity’s sake.”

         “Woah! That’s so cool! Can I have a look?”

         Schnauz becomes way more animated at the idea of someone wanting to look at his pride and joy. “Ah, you’re interested in treasure, aren’t you? I’d love for you to take a gander at my pride and joy…my Treasure Catalog!” Schnauz suddenly becomes disappointed, mainly in himself. “Alas, I lost all my data when I was, well, lost myself. If you don’t mind, would you allow me to appraise any treasures you happen to collect?” Nova looks behind her to Shepherd. She nods in approval.

         “Yeah, we can accommodate that.”

         “Oh, thank you so much! I will reward you if you get 50 treasures, alright?”

         “O-okay! Well I have to get going, gotta continue this rescue thing. See you later Schnauz!” 

         He waves at her, still very excited. “Do drop by anytime you’d like to pursue the Treasure Catalog!” 

         Nova runs over to Collin. “I’m ready to go!”

         Collin doesn’t even have to look up. “Sun-Speckled Terrance?”

         “Sun-Speckled Terrance!”

         “Alright, good luck! Remember, we’ll be there to help you!” Nova and Oatchi get into the S.S. Beagle, and takes off to the Sun-Speckled Terrance. 

         Nova and Oatchi land, ready for the day. Nova gets out ten of each Pikmin type, and goes up a little spiral to the left of her base. After taking out the purple pincers and the no pincers, Oatchi barks at her, and leans down. Abdul jumps onto Oatchi, and that’s when Nova understands what Oatchi wants her to do. She can jump on his back now. She hops on, and all her Pikmin do too. They make it to the top, a sleeping big spotted creature is there, so Nova tries a new strategy. She rushes Oatchi into the creature, and it freezes. Oatchi has to help the Pikmin take it down, leaving behind its corpse.

         “Good job boy.” Nova looks behind her, and the speaker to her coms roars to life, with Russ’s voice buzzing from the other side.

         “I believe we can turn this partial construction into a vital asset! We’ll process raw materials into clay at the S.S. Beagle and use it as a building material to finish this structure. These raw materials are only valuable when brilliant minds give them a higher purpose, after all. Once you're at a construction site, simply direct your Pikmin and Oatchi to start building.”

         Nova sends 23 of her Pikmin to build a bridge, and they run back to the base. Standing under the S.S. Beagle, clay is dispensed, one for each Pikmin. They run back up, placing them in rows, until the bridge is eventually complete. Nova crosses the bridge, and looks around. To the left, is a weird looking Pikmin person, to the right is– “WAIT.”

         Nova looks back over, analyzing the thing. It’s like a captain, but the entirety of its face is covered in red leaves. It’s accompanied by a green spotted dog. It’s like a bigger greener Oatchi, with a castaway near them. Nova tries to approach them, but the cave opens up behind them and both the red captain and the dog, who was holding the castaway in its mouth, jump in.

         Shepherd nearly spit out her drink. “Hey! What’s going on here?! What are they planning on doing with that castaway?! We need to rescue them, and quick! Nova, Oatchi! Let’s go!” Nova nods and heads towards the cave. Pulling out the tablet, she gets a preview for what this is. 

         “Trial Run? Against… ???. Incredible, thank you tablet, very cool.” Nova sighs before hopping inside with Oatchi. The other Pikmin aren't allowed inside, sadly. Nova falls and lands on some sort of blue stuff. Kinda like the stuff you’d find in the children’s playground in place of concrete. Above her was a blue onion, well… Ice maybe? Nova isn’t sure.

         The others are in shock about the sudden change in atmosphere, with Collin speaking out first. “What IS this place? I guess we can figure that out later. For now, let’s focus on finding that castaway.” Nova looks over at the other side, with a pink-ish red onion. The dog drags the castaway under said Onion, and before anyone could really react, the castaway is sucked up and becomes just like the red leaf guy.

         Shepherd shockingly blurts out. “Wh-what in the world?”

         The red leaf guy begins to speak, his deep voice echoing throughout the area. “Those who do not embrace Dandori cannot survive on this planet… But if they grow the leaves…they will thrive.”

         “What the fri–”

         “You, Skin-having one–”

         “Me?”

         The red leaf guy looks at her for a few seconds, taken a bit off guard. “Who else?”

         Nova then remembers she’s alone. “...Right.”

         The red leaf guy regains his composure, going back to the speech he gives everyone who ends up in this challenge. “Do you believe you do not need the leaves?”

         “Uh, yeah. I’ve gotten by fine without them.”

         “Then I must test your abilities to see if this is true.” He sends the leafed castaway outside the area. “I invite you to face me in a Dandori battle. I–”

         “Hold on dude, slow down. What in the everlasting Pikmin-ing FFFFRICK is Dandori?”

         The red captain is a little taken aback. “You… don’t know what Dandori is?”

         Shepherd's voice loudly comes out of the speaker. “Oh shoot! We must have been so caught up with the mission that we forgot to explain Dandori to you! Sorry Nova.”

         “No, you’re good Shepherd, I just want an explanation…”

         Shepherd nods at Collin, as he starts to explain. “Alright, Nova. Dandori is the art of organizing your tasks strategically and working with maximum efficiency to execute your plans quickly and effectively.”

         “Ah, okay, nice….”

         “Those over your intercoms are correct. Dandori is an art.” It looks at Nova. 

         “Wow, he’s giving a sort of old dad vibe.”

         His deep voice snaps her out of her thoughts. “You understand now?”

         “Uh, yes. Thank you.”

         “Of course. As I was saying before, I have provided the Pikmin you will need to support you in the challenges ahead. Listen closely… Find objects, and transport them back to your base within the time limit. To win, collect the highest combined total weight. If you wish to receive your “castaway,” prove that your Dandori abilities are superior to mine. Now, the Dandori battle begins….”

         They both wait a moment, before an alarm of some sort goes off and both spring into action. The red captain is not really trying all too hard, in fact, he is more focused on watching his opponent. Many who have wandered near him didn’t have the Dandori to survive, but this one feels… different. He has been watching her ever since she landed, and it is a sight to see. She seems a bit more organized than most, and even when she didn't know what Dandori is, she is still pretty good at it, subconsciously. He goes out to collect a Dwarf Bulborb, and a Sunseed Berry. Checking the score, the red man is shocked to see how much of a lead she has on him. Looking over at the girl, she has Oatchi digging up the ten weight with some Pikmin, and the rest of her squad is on the wall. She really is better at this than most, so he has to try his hardest.

         “Charge my little children!” Nova charges her group at the pile of gold on the floor.

         Schnauz excitedly takes over the talking role from the other three Officers. “Oh you found some nuggets! Not worth much alone but numbers like that with that amount add up over time!” Schnauz had entered the ship awhile ago to look at some of the treasures Nova had found, but got distracted by the battle taking place.

         “Alright Mr. Wise guy, what is that?” Nova points at a large fruit. At least, that’s what she heard it is.

         “Ah, that’s a Sunseed Berry! It’s quite tasty!”

         “Nice, I’ma get that too!” Nova throws her Pikmin at it, and so does the red captain. It is a 3v3, and the Pikmin can’t choose which way to go. In response, Nova throws three more Pikmin, which let the Pikmin on her side break free from the tug-of-war they were having. The red captain took another red spotted fellow and Nova went back to base, collecting her 35 Pikmin, plus one Oatchi. She sends Oatchi to charge at a wall to knock down a green fruit.

         “...Schnauz?”

         “Oh that’s a Zest Bomb!”

         “Oh ni– Wait what? It explodes?”

         “In Zestiness.”

         “Ah, fair.” She gets it back to base and items and enemies just pop straight the hell out of nowhere. Including the grey fire bag. “Great….”

         “It’s not over yet!” Yells out the red captain, as he charges his army into the bag. Nova, wanting some competition, did the same, both sides collecting their respective prize. 

         It’s incredible, watching her go. He has never seen someone with this much Dandori power. Most people would at least fumble or give up by now but she is just running around, having a great time. 

         Around a minute left, another wave of stuff spawns in, this time with larger fruits. Nova doesn’t even need to ask as she collects the one closest to her. “Oh that’s an Insect Condo!”

         “Things live in this?” Nova knocks on the treasure.

         “They can!”

         “How interesting…” Nova then runs over to the other one, seeing the red captain trying to take it for itself. They have another power struggle that eventually ends with her side taking the victory. However, the red captain tries again, this time using its dog. Quickly reacting to this, Oatchi was sent after the Insect Condo and is able to make sure the red captain can't get it. The last few seconds tick by, and soon a slightly more piercing alarm runs throughout the area. The red captain runs over to Nova.

         “You have a tablet, yes? Pull it out, our scores are on there.” Nova reluctantly pulls it out to see the scores. “Nova:153  ???:52.” Nova is semi-shocked at the results. Being good at Dandori is something she knew, but… winning by over 100 points? “Was the red man even trying?” Nova asks herself. 

         The red captain seems to smile. At least under all those leaves. “The strength of your Dandori power is… magnificent. I will return this one to you.” He brings back the castaway, and looks back at his dog. It barks, and he jumps on and runs away.

         Collin just stares at the screen, unsure about what he just witnessed. “They just…left? Who in space and time WAS that? Well, whoever they are, they weren’t lying. Your Dandori talents were on full display. Now let’s get this castaway out of here!”

         “Why thanks Collin. Though I don’t think he was really trying.”

         Shepherd butts in. “Don’t put yourself down Nova! You did excellent out there! You for sure showed him who's boss!” Nova smiles at the Captain’s comment. It’s been a hot bit since she has been complimented like that. Nova blushes as Oatchi grabs the person. Both Oatchi and Nova hop out with what is essentially an unconscious person. Nova’s camera feed brightness up, clearly showing the leaves on the castaway. “Huh?! They really are growing leaves out of their head!” Collin states.

         Nova just looks at the castaway, confused. “You didn’t see?”

         “Sorry, the camera on your spacesuit isn’t the greatest.”

         “Yeah, that’s one word to use to describe this old dinky thing, haha!”

         Shepherd takes charge once again. “They seem to be suffering from the same condition as that left individual you just challenged… Transport them back to the S.S. Beagle right away!”

         “Copy that Captain!” Nova has her squad consisting of 20 Yellows and 10 Ice Pikmin. She sends 3 Ice Pikmin after the poor castaway and goes over to the right to lower a metal bridge. There is a giant orange fruit on the other side!

         Nova’s jaw nearly hits her helmet. “WOAH IT’S SO BIG!”

         “Oh my! It seems as if you found…” Nova can hear Schnauz flipping through a notebook. “A MYSTERIOUS CARRIAGE!”

         “Wow. Now that’s a cool name.”

         “Bring it back so I can get a closer look at it!”

         “And so we can use it to increase the radar!” Collin adds, making Nova chuckle to herself. She sticks all of her Pikmin plus Oatchi on the Mysterious Carriage. Looking back down at base, the castaway makes it to the S.S. Beagle. Collin pulls out the ID authenticator. “I just can’t get over the fact that they have leaves growing out of their head. And their faces is all…well, bushy. Let’s check their ID info.”

         “ERROR

         Home Planet: PNF-404

         Error. Unable to read data.”

         Collin just stares at the ID info for a good long minute, managing to sputter out. “What’s this? “Unable to read data?!” They should have biometric authentication but… This is definitely an issue. How are we supposed to find out who this is?”

         “Oh that’s not good.” Nova thinks, but she has to press on. Nova has to wait for the Mysterious Carriage to come back. When it does, Nova smiles and pulls out her tablet. They have finally reached 1520 sparklium.

         Collin’s ID crisis is put on hold, as he realizes that Nova and Oatchi reached the coveted goal. “You did it! Really great job, Oatchi and Nova! With all the energy you’ve collected, we can continue our restoration of the S.S. Shepherd's rader!”

         Nova then goes on a treasure spree. She gets one high up treasure, two in some pots, and a raw materials stack. Then, she travels down to the second base, placing it there. She goes and gets a Sunseed Berry, looking around from the vantage point. She then notices the flarlic she completely forgot about, so with the help of five yellows, she gets it down, and sends the rest of her Pikmin after a raw materials stack. After gathering all her Pikmin up, she hops on Oatchi and goes over to a cave, the one near the Sunseed Berry.

         “#43. Industrial Maze

         “The ground...it started moving! I groped for a way forward, but I couldn't make any progress on my own. I wonder if Moss may be able to help me out of this mess. -Captain Olimar”

         “Moss? Wait, Olimar had a dog? And people trusted him with it? With THAT bad of luck? Shocker.” With this new information learned, it isn’t really that necessary but it is nice, Nova, 20 reds, 20 yellows, and Oatchi jump down into the Industrial Maze.

         Somewhere in the descent Nova and Oatchi get separated, causing Oatchi to land in a higher place, blocked by rusty bars.

         Collin panics, looking up at Shepherd. “Oh no, This isn’t supposed to happen! Oatchi’s all the way over there! Captain, what's the protocol for a situation like this?”

         “You and Oatchi need to find a rendezvous point Nova.” Nova looks over at Oatchi as he passes over the conveyors to a controller of sorts. Nova and her army went across the conveyor, but can’t move forward anymore. Oatchi, prepares a rush down to them, and goes for it, fighting the direction and making it down.

         “Good boy…” Nova pats Oatchi’s head and hops on. She rushes over to the left, and after waiting for Oatchi to recover, breaks the pots to find a treasure behind them. She picks it up, and goes up a wind geyser of sorts. Nova finds five Yellow Pikmin to pluck and then goes where Oatchi first landed. There is a treasure higher up.

         Collin notices Nova’s hesitation. “Sounds like a job for Yell– Nova what are you doing?”

         Turns out, grabbing treasures the normal way is boring, so using Oatchi’s rush, she hits the side of one of the metal poles, which somehow plops the treasure on ground level.

         Nova throws 5 Reds on the treasure and goes back to the controls, waiting for the Reds to get stuck with the others. “Look, getting stuff the normal way gets boring after a while.” All parties are stuck in the right places, and she switches the conveyors directions. All the Pikmin make a b-line for the S.S. Beagle as Nova destroys a wall and sends back a raw material pile. The wall is destroyed and everything has been collected, so farther down they go.

         Lucky for sublevel two, Oatchi and Nova aren’t separated. They just have to jump up a few steps. Nova looks down at her Treasure Gauge. It’s going hirewire. “What could be setting it off?” Looking to the right, there are pots. “Oh, there.” She rushes into it, revealing a duck! It’s got the general shape of ducks on Karut, but much fatter, and yellow. “Odd color but okay.” Nova collects the duck and looks onwards. There are two paths, and Nova hops off Oatchi.

         “You take the Reds and go forward, and I’ll take the Yellows and go to the left, alright?” Oatchi barks. “Alright, good.” Oatchi gets on a floating platform, while Nova slips by the bars. She heads to the electric gate. Before Nova can react, Abdul, who has been very silent for the past sublevel, pushes her into the electric gate. She flys back, and suddenly finds that she can’t move.

         Collin quickly comes over the comms. “Nova! Are you good?”

         “No…Can’t move.” Nova sees Abdul above her, looking confused.

         Abdul speaks. “Why. Hurt?”

         Nova sighs. “My suit isn’t that well designed to handle this stuff.”

         “Oh. Sorry. Sorry.”

         “Just don’t do that again.” Nova sees the Survey Drone fly overhead, and just hover over her.

         “Uh, why is the Survey Drone out?” Nova hears laughing of the kee-hee variety.

         “Kee-hee-hee! That’s just me, checking in on you! I can control this invention remotely if I wanted to!”

         “That's a scary thought, Russ looking over me…” Nova feels her arms again, and with the amount of pain they are in, she wishes she doesn’t. “That’s great, but why bring it out now?”

         “I just wanted to test a feature I put on here…” Nova gets pleated in the face with a Pikpik Carrot. “Oh wonderful! The item dropping mechanic is working! Kee-hee-hee!” Nova hears the barking of Oatchi, who comes into vision just to lick her helmet. Only then does most of her body come back to her. She gets up and charges the Yellows at the wall, but none of them go. 

         “Something wrong guys? It’s alright, we just need to get past it!” They all nod and rush forward, all but Abdul. “Abdul?”

         “Absorb. Out of Control.” 

         “Oh, that’s valid. It doesn’t want to hurt me again. It just doesn’t understand what does and doesn’t hurt me.” Nova pats Abdul’s head. While waiting Nova checks the map. Oatchi, in Nova’s absence, managed to collect 15 raw materials, and a whole treasure.

         “Oh my gosh! Good boy Oatchi, you deserve one of these!” Nova throws a Scrummy Bone towards Oatchi, and he catches it. Finally the Yellows are done with the wall, and there is another base and a treasure. Nova puts the S.S. Beagle at the new base, has seven Yellows dig out the treasure and Oatchi rush to break some nearby pots. In those pots are 5 more yellows, and a castaway on a floating platform. It isn’t a rescue officer, but it is still fine. With three Yellows, Nova gets them back and down to the ship.

         “Checking ID info now…”

         “Florist: Kingsly

         Home Planet: Ooji

         He took his obsession with flowers to a whole new 

         level when he traveled alone to this remote 

         planet simply to see its unusual blossoms.”

         Collin sighs. “Nope, this is another civilian castaway. A florist out here on his own. But why?”

         Shepherd is again mad at this castaway too. “Well, that’s just ill-advised! It’s up to you to rescue any castaways you find, Nova and Oatchi!”

         “Will do!” All treasures have been collected, so the only thing left to do was leave. In the end, during the sparklium discovered screen on the tablet, a medal pops up.

         Nova just looks at a new icon near the treasures. “Great Adventure Series?”

         Shepherd confusedly looks over at Russ. “Oho? What is this star-shaped medal?”

         Collin calmly explains, “Russ tinkered with the appraisal AI. Now you’ll be able to see when you’ve collected all the treasures in a series.”

         “Kee-hee! There’s a resonance in the wave patterns for treasures of the same type that lets us extract even more sparklium.”

         Shepherd decides that it was okay to tinker with it this one time. “Can’t say that I get the science behind it, but it sounds like we should try to collect complete series.” Nova can hear Schnauz screaming in excitement in the background. Nova and Oatchi emerge from the cave, and head down towards the first base. Now, with the ability to jump, they gain another treasure and access to the next cave.

         “#44. Hectic Hollows

         Someone or something built a rough wall inside the cave. The Pikmin and I were able to scramble up, but Moss was unable to climb up the wall. I'll have to leave her behind for now and hope we can find a way or a place to meet up. -Captain Olimar”

         Nova is ready to just jump in, before realizing that she doesn’t have enough Reds or Ice Pikmin to fill up the max of fourty. So instead of just making two more Reds, she goes with two Yellows to fill the slots, and jumps down. It was going to be at least somewhat chaotic, with Abdul, Icey, Steve AND Red, but she just has to deal with reality sometimes. The first sublevel has those red spotty creatures, and Nova can hear a big one nearby. Taking out the two creatures, Nova spots some sprouts she can pluck. Flowered Ice Pikmin, perfect. She does need a few more. Nova then has another problem to face. There is a treasure surrounded by water. So, Nova, assuming the best, tries to swim over on Oatchi’s back. It doesn’t work, as Oatchi doesn’t know how to swim.

         Shepherd quickly comes over the speakers. “This is bad. Oatchi can’t swim, and neither can the Pikmin! Call them back to land with the whistle!” Nova does just that, and after the whole debacle is over, she sat there for a moment. She doesn’t know what to do.

         “Sorry…” Nova mutters.

         Even though Nova can’t see him, Collin tries to smile to make her feel better. “Oh, it’s alright Nova. You didn’t know. Maybe the Ice Pikmin can help somehow?” Nova throws one into the water, and it just floats there. It’s not drowning. So Nova throws as many as she has. Once ten Ice Pikmin are in the lake, it freezes over.

         While Shepherd is now even more horrified by the prospects of Ice Pikmin, Collin is amazed by their power. “Wow, how amazing is that?! The water froze almost instantaneously. Now you can travel right across the top!” Nova gets Oatchi back over, and hops up the ledge, grabbing that treasure. Once all the Pikmin are back at the base, Nova picks them up and sends 14 to finish the wall. It took a little bit, but it does get done. Climbing up the ledge, Nova has to leave Oatchi behind, and comes quite close to the big red spotted creature. She stealthily sneaks past it and turns right. Two tiny red spotted creatures are fighting three Ice Pikmin, so she took care of that. Then she helps two Ice Pikmin push down a bag. Oatchi comes running over and nearly tackles her to the ground.

         “Stop! Stop!” Nova gets Oatchi off of her, turns around, and realizes that she just accidentally woke up the red spotted creature. Nova has no choice but to fight, throwing most of the Ice Pikmin at it. It only manages to eat one Ice before it freezes. After that it goes down quickly. Nova sighs. “More Pikmin lost…”

         Nova then gets one raw material pile, finding five more Ice Pikmin in one of the blue jello things and goes to the next sublevel. It is a sort of arena. But there are pots to smash, so Oatchi rushes through the pots, hitting something. Well, it isn’t something for long, as it freezes and dies. 

         “That’s it? THAT WAS THE– you know what I’m just going to be grateful it wasn’t literal death.” Red snickers and translates Nova’s thinly veiled disappointment to Steve, who just laughs out loud. This gets Icey to chuckle, and then Abdul. This results in electricity to fly everywhere, managing to hit a suspended treasure. It falls to the ground, with a resounding thud.

         Red looks over at Abdul, amused. “Woah, Abdul. Have you gotten more…electric-ity? That’s pretty cool, right?”

         “No cool! No control… hurt captain…”

         "Hey, it’s alright. They’ll eventually get a suit, just like the last Leader!” Abdul just smiles with its eyes.

         Nova, in the meantime, has managed to knock down the castaway who was resting on a tall can. Nova looks at the castaway for a moment, before calling out to her crew. “COLLIN! I FOUND A RESCUE OFFICER!” Nova can hear scrambling, and someone spitting out a drink out of surprise.

         Shepherd was the first one to speak. “Get them back! Fast!”

         “Got it!” Nova gets three flowers to carry them back, and goes over to get the treasure. Then she moves towards the exit, and breaks the pots blocking the exit. 

         “Alright let’s check that ID!” Collin’s voice gets a bit more smug. “Well, look who we have here.”

         “Rescue Corps Officer: Dingo

         Home Planet: Ohri

         An officer who excels at solo missions. 

         He’s not a joiner by nature, but he’ll show up

         And lend his physical abilities when need be.”

         Shepherd excitedly jumps for joy. “I knew it! I knew he was tough enough to make it! Dingo is a skilled ranger, even though he doesn’t use a Rescue Pup. He specializes in solo missions, you see. One thing’s for certain: rescue missions should be a lot easier with his help.” Nova flies out of the cave, with one thought in mind. “I really need to increase my numbers.” So, for the rest of the day, Nova finds pellet posies and dead bodies and brings them back. At the end of the day, she ends up doing what she did yesterday, whistling and getting in the S.S. Beagle. She makes it back at night, greeted by Russ, Shepherd, Collin, and Schnauz. That night, Icey follows Nova on board, and the S.S. Shepherd gets the energy it needs and the rader finally increases. 

         Collin runs from the radar’s room to the map view. “This will expand our range and help us pick up distant SOS signals. Let's give it a spin.” The rader roars to life, searching in a circular motion. “Almost done… Huzzah! We’ve detected multiple SOS signals! I hope this gets us closer to finding our missing officers and Captain Olimar.”

         Shepherd smiles at the man. “Make a record of that area right away, Collin.” At the end of day three, Nova had gotten three rescues, one of which was a Rescue Officer, a total of 1559 new sparklium, increasing the total to 2929, 42 new reds, 47 new yellows, 20 new ices, one ice pikmin lost, a total of 159 raw materials, and a curiosity of what will be in the next area.

         A few hours later, Nova is hanging out, near the main lobby, eavesdropping, into the conversation at hand, which started with Collin. “Well Captain, we did it. We finally found our ranger, Dingo.”

         He almost sounds disappointed in himself. Almost. “Can’t believe I had to be saved by the Newbie… I’m losing my edge.”

         Shepherd puts her hand on Dingo’s back. “We’re just glad to see you made it back safe and sound Dingo. Are you hurt at all?”

         “Oh, uh, not at all, Captain. Heh! I’m just, uh, touched that you care…”

         Russ, in the meantime, was just fixing a table that Collin broke when Nova was exploring. “Hmm… This table does not seem to be structurally sound. It’s missing screws…”

         “But the science guy could stand to worry a little more. Um, uh…that reminds me, Captain, I have some information regarding our pilot.”

         Shepherd doesn’t let him elaborate. “Really? Do you know his whereabouts?! Great work Dingo!”

         “Wha?! Er, no, no…that’s not exactly….”

         “You must be exhausted from all that forced sleep you had. We’ll go over the details tomorrow. Go get some rest.”

         “Huh? Oh. Uh, you got it Captain!”

         Collin hands back Dingo’s tablet, with the newly downloaded Voyage Log. “Oh! Before you hit the hay, please be sure to review all the details related to our rescue mission so you’ve fully prepared!”

         “Is that really necessary?” At that moment, Icey runs out, and Nova tries to grab it before Dingo freaks out. She is too late. “WAH! WHAT IS THAT?”

         Nova picks Icey up, holding it far away from her body. Her arms turn to ice. “It’s a Pikmin. Ice Pikmin, this one is called Icey. They helped me rescue you.”

         He smugly smiled. “Ha, I could have done what you have alone!”

         Nova was blunt with her response, not even hesitating. “Clearly not, you did get into forced sleep mode.”

         “Why you little–”

         “Dingo, Nova, no fighting.”

         Dingo relents. “Yes Captain, sorry.”

         Nova just looks at the floor. “Y-yes Captain!” Icey laughs at them and slips out of Nova’s grasp. “Woah!” It makes its way over to the fridge, opens it, hops inside, and closes the door, “Huh, I guess it needs to keep cold at night.” Nova’s hands unfreeze, and she looks at Dingo, who is looking at her, with either concern, or jealousy. She can’t tell.

         Shepherd turns to Collin. “On another note Collin, do we have any updates on that castaway we picked up today? The one with all the leaves?”

         “Right now they’re sleeping in the back, but their condition remains unchanged. Don’t worry I’ll keep a close eye on them.”

         “Very well. Just make sure we get this castaway examined by the doctor as soon as possible. Now, I think we have all had hard days, so I’ll see you all tomorrow!” 

         A chorus of “Goodnight Captains” ring out on the ship. Shortly after that, Nova herself goes to bed. It isn’t that much to ask for an easy day tomorrow. Right?

Chapter Text

         Nova jumps out of her bed due to Dingo banging at her door. “ROOKIE! GET UP, WE ARE ABOUT TO HAVE A MORNING MEETING!”

         The banging continues for a couple of seconds before Nova sits up, pissed. “Alright alright, you can STOP!” The banging stops as Dingo goes back outside. Nova sighs, gets in her spacesuit, and manages to get Icey out of the fridge. As she goes outside, she catches the group in mid-conversation. It doesn’t take much to figure out where they are.

         Shepherd looks at Dingo, a bit startled by the present information. “Dingo, is it true that you encountered our pilot while stranded?” Icey hops out of the ship and back to the Onion.

         “Well uh…Yeah I ran into Bernard at some point, but then he got, like, snatched up by a leaf creature.”

         Collin is a bit taken aback. “Leaf… what?”

         “We saw the leaf creature pick up someone else and toss them onto a big pup. Bernard and I tried to follow but… We were too late. They dragged the castaway into a cave and suddenly they were growing leaves too! Then the leaf creature in charge spotted us! We got outta there as fast as we could…or at least that’s what I thought. When I turned around, Bernard was gone. Maybe he didn’t make it out. Or maybe he got turned into a leafling too. Hey what’s this leafling doing here anyway? And why are they unconscious? This your work comms guy?”

         “Obviously not. And I have no idea why they’re currently unconscious. It was Nova who recovered them. But based on what you’re saying, this leafling could potentially be Bernard?!”

         “Potentially.”

         “They can NOT be this stupid. I know it's morning… but…” Nova looks at Dingo, a mix of annoyance and disappointment forming in her face. “Dingo. We wear the Rescue Corps spacesuit. That one isn’t. Unless becoming a “leafling” makes your suit change, I don't think that's Bernard.”

         “I…uh… I know Rookie. I was just testing your knowledge of our suits and history!” Dingo clears his throat, putting his hands behind his helmet. “By the way, Bernard and I sort of coined the term “leafling.” We came up with it because they have all those leaves growing out of their heads. Pretty clever, I know.”

         Shepherd smiles at her crew, sorta getting along. “This castaway may not be our pilot, but we still have to save them. Still, even if he was our pilot, undoing his leafy state is beyond our expertise. We need to rescue these leaflings, but without a doctor, there’s not much else we can do. We need to find Yonny stat! Officers to your stations please!”

         “Copy that, Captain!”

         Now it’s time for the daily stuff. First of all, training Oatchi. Today Nova wants Oatchi to understand the idea of Go Here! It doesn’t take long, it is quite an easy skill to master. The other one is the first level of Super Buff. With the same strategy as last time, Oatchi is able to pick up objects with 20 weight or less. Next, Russ and his new inventions. Russ hands her a new prototype, this time of an Ice Blast. When it explodes, it freezes creatures and water, and after everything that happened yesterday, she gets the Headlamp, Idle Counter, and Anti-Electrifier for herself. She doesn’t have enough for Oatchi, unfortunately. Lastly, talking to the new castaways. First is Kingsly, who requests the simple task of flowering Pikmin. And then, Nova walks over to Dingo.

         “Here we go…” Nova nervously waves. “Heya Dingo…”

         “Well if it isn’t the Rookie! Ha! You can relax now! Dingo’s back! I don’t know how the Rescue Corps made it this long without me. Guess I’ll find out soon enough, since the captain’s making me rest up a bit before I get back into action.”

         Normally, Nova is not one to pick a fight, but Nova is already done with Dingo’s large ego. “It’s because I’m doing your job.”

         Dingo looks at Nova, already pissed she dared to say such slander. “Ok, tenderfoot, let’s see what you’re made of.” Nova doesn’t look amused. Dingo brushes her feelings aside. “Eh, don’t give me that look. You can handle some extra-credit work. Check out every inch of this planet until you’ve explored each area 100%!”

         “Alright, fine, freaking bet Dingo.” Dingo and Nova share a death stare before Nova decides to walk away. “How the hell does Aero even like him?” Nova thinks as she heads over to Collin.

         Collin looks up from his tablet, smiling. “I’m picking up some signals that may be coming from other castaways in the most recently discovered area. There could be a stranded Rescue Officer out there… We’re counting on you to rescue them. Preferably very soon.”

         “I’m ready to go now though, what's the place’s name?”

         “Blossoming Arcadia.”

         “OOOO… pretty sounding!”

         “From what Russ has surveyed with that dinky little drone, it is. Are you heading there?”

         “Yep. Let’s rock!” Nova and Oatchi get in the S.S. Beagle, and fly over to the new location. It's a bit farther from Sun-Speckled Terrace, but not far. Once they land, Nova hops on Oatchi and pulls out 20 Yellows and 20 Ice pikmin. She goes forward, setting the 20 Yellows on the bridge and getting jumpscared by literal walking leaves. 

         “I hate this planet sometimes.” Nova thinks as she goes forward, fighting a baby bird snake. “Cute.” She is able to freeze both and win the battle, grabbing a treasure with Oatchi and a raw material pile. Going back over to the bridge, Nova releases something. She doesn't have enough raw materials. By one. 

         “Jumala damn it….” Nova says, turning around, catching the glimpse of a green dog. “THE RED LEAFLING!” She has managed to find him, not even five minutes in the day. “Good job me!” She lets Oatchi get back to base and lets the Pikmin finish the bridge, but once they are done, she runs up to the guy. He has another castaway with him, not Bernard, unless of course, Bernard doesn’t wear the Rescue Corps space suit.

         Collin wasn’t expecting to see the Red Leafling this fast. “Aaah! It’s that leafling! Be careful! That could be the one who attacked Dingo!”

         “Yeah, that’s definitely them! Though, that isn't Bernard. He’d be wearing the Rescue Corps spacesuit and that one isn’t!”

         Shepherd chimes in. “Even still, we have to save them!” The leafling and its dog jump in the cave, just like last time. “After them Nova!” Nova and Oatchi jump in, no hesitation.

         This one is titled Battle in a Box, and she has to use Ice pikmin. It is made up of much more wooden blocks than the last one, but it still has that playground feel to it.

         “So, you have come again… Those who do not embrace Dandori cannot survive this planet… But if they grow the leaves…we can return them to life. I will determine if you still have the strength to save them with a Dandori Battle. But this time…there will be one more rule.”

         “Ooo spicing it up here, what is said rule?”

         The red leafling looks happy that she is excited to learn about Dandori. “One must be ready to change tactics at a moment’s notice. This round, an object, or creature’s value can increase for a brief window. These higher values make them Bonus Finds When you transport and collect the Bonus Finds, you earn double the points. Do you think you can out-Dandori me, even with this?”

         “Well there’s only one way to find out, Red Leaf Man.” The battle soon begins, with the first Bonus Find being a Portable Sunset, well, at least that’s what the treasure is called according to Schnauz. Nova starts by getting rid of the pellet posies, and then the nearby red spotted creatures. Then she runs around, doing basically what she did last time. She is starting to enjoy this more than ever, especially the nugget collecting. She does have to tactically freeze one big red spotted creature, but that is only to get it out of the way. The next, and last, Bonus Find is the tiny red spotted creatures. So all Nova does is collect those when they pop into existence, get the nuggets, and anything else she can sneak by the big red spotted creature. At the end of the battle, the Red leafling attempts to fight the red spotted creature when it picks up the leafling and bites down. Hard. The battle ends and the creature disappears, letting the Red leafling fall from the sky. He lays there for a few seconds before sitting up while holding his chest. 

         “Ah, if I just used a bit more Dandori…then maybe…” Nova comes running over, pulling out her Emergency Kit. “What are you–”

         “Shut it, that’s gotta hurt, and talking won’t necessarily help right now.” Nova pulls out a bunch of bandages and rags from the kit, and slowly, yet effectively patches the poor thing up. 

         After a few minutes, she gets done. The Red Leafling gets up, and just stares at her confused, “Why did you help me?”

         “Yeah Rookie! He was down for the count!”

         Nova just sighs, already annoyed by Dingo’s little comment. “The battle is over, and I’m not taking my chances of you healing over at that base. Plus, I had no real use for the Emergency Kit, not planning on dying, thanks.”

         It takes a few seconds for anyone to respond. The first person to do so was Collin. “Nova, that ignores the whole “Emergency” part of the title.”

         “At least she used it. Now I KNOW it works, Kee-hee-hee!”

         The Red Leafling bows. “Thank you.”

         “No need for thanks, it’s just the right thing to do! Now, let's look at how badly I bet you!” 

         “Nova: 159  ???: 39”

         Shepherd smiles at Nova’s score. “Wow, that’s even better than last time Nova!”

         Collin adds onto her comment. “Great job Nova, you sure showed him who's boss!”

         Dingo was just surprised at a score difference of that much. “Wha?! Rookie got that high of a score? Are you guys sure she’s new?”

         Collin looks at Dingo. “Yes, Dingo, she’s new.”

         The Red Leafling summons back the castaway. “Again you have shown mastery in the art of Dandori… I leave the rest to you.” Again, the Red Leafling and his dog run away, leaving the castaway behind.

         Collin looks at the screen, a bit disappointed they ran off. “Hmm… Off they go again. Thankfully we recovered the castaway safe and sound. Impressive victory!” Oatchi, Nova, and the castaway all hop out of the cave, and the castaway gets sent back with three Yellows. Nova goes back over to the now dead baby snake birds, and notices a wall. She breaks it down, fighting what can be only described as a hamster-like monstrosity. It’s taken down, barely evading the electric part of them. Nova sends back ten Pikmin who dug up raw materials, which leaves her alone with one Pikmin, who is able to carry a treasure. Up the path is another bag, and another yellow onion. 

         “Might as heck get it.” Nova thinks, putting yellows on the nearby wall and going to explore the left. There is another flying green bug. “Jumala damn it.” This one doesn’t seem to attack, just grab Pikmin and slam them into the ground. It takes a good few freezes but she gets it down. She then collects yet another raw material pile, and goes to the now broken electric wall. Dodging another hamster monstrosity, she gets another treasure and waits for everything to get back. Once it does get back, she and Oatchi jump into the cave with 20 Ice and Yellow Pikmin, without checking the log.

         This cave is more of a mix of beach and cave than any other. It’s kinda relaxing, but Nova can’t let her guard down. Going down the path, she finds three eggs. “Ooo. How lucky.” The first one she breaks open has something alive inside. Nova panics and throws everything she has at it. Luckily, it dies before it can kill anything. Nova opens up her tablet to check what the Logs have to say.

         “#46. Secluded Courtyard

         In the natural world, there are many example of strategic mimicry, where one lulls their prey into perceived safety…but I never thought I would witness it firsthand! I now know danger can lurk in even the jiggliest places. -Captain Olimar”

         “Are you kidding me? WELP NOT OPENING ANOTHER EGG IN HERE!” Nova then collects another treasure and sicks her Pikmin on a root. After they pull it out, Nova notices some sprouts in the water, and plucks one. Out comes a Blue Pikmin, it’s gills very much looking like a mouth. It hops around in the water, before shifting side to side, and just looking at Nova.

         While Shepherd looks horrified, Collin looks at the Pikmin with a little curiosity. “We haven’t seen Pikmin like these before. I wonder if Captain Olimar ever encountered anything like them.”

         “#17. The Blue Pikmin

          At a glance, the Blue Pikmin appear to have mouthlike gills and are notably able to function even underwater. Thanks to their water resistance and swimming talents, I can now transport things found in the water. -Captain Olimar”

         Shepherd decides to try and take a positive outlook of this instead of a negative one. “Now we can carry things in the water! Search the water thoroughly! I’m counting on you, Nova and Oatchi!”

         Nova goes down, pulling a treasure down. Going past it is some mushrooms, which is easy enough to get past, and someone or something, sulking. “That voice is far too high to be a castaway, so… another Pikmin?”

         “Curse that stupid wraith! We would have made it out if IT WASN’T FOR–” The Pikmin notices Nova, a little embarrassed that a captain heard her outburst. “Oh, you're not Olimar…”

         “Indeed. I’m actually looking for him.”

         “Ah…” The Pikmin thinks for a long moment, before coming up with an idea. “Hey, if you promise you’ll help me find my brother, I’ll help you find Olimar.”

         Nova thinks for a moment, before smiling. “Deal.”

         “Alright.” The Pikmin hops down the ledge it was sitting on, and walks over. It was so tiny, half of the size of an Ice Pikmin. “The names Mimic. My brother is in another area, but don’t worry I’ll show you when we get there. So, how's your Blue population looking?”

         “You’re looking at it.”

         It looks appalled. “There’s not even– you know what it’s fine. You’ll gain more, just don’t lose any.”

         “Wasn’t planning on it.” 

         “Still feels weird talking to something that is essentially just a sentient plant…” Nova thinks to herself, watching Mimic walk into the group. Grabbing the other four Blues, Nova goes up to get the last treasure, and gets jumped by ten alive leaves. “Jumala, I hate this planet sometimes.” After murdering them all, she got the treasure back and went down to the next sublevel.

         The next sublevel is worse. This time, there are frogs. Something about frogs has always freaked the heck out of Nova, and it doesn’t help that even Mimic is afraid of them. After they take out the frog, Nova takes out the ensuing water geysers. Nova sets two Pikmin on a stick in order to get a treasure. Then moving down the path, Nova and Co. meet the second worst thing ever. An electric Spider-like creature. It was not one, not two, not three, but FOUR of them. After getting the treasures Nova wants nothing more to do with the demons that dare call themselves creatures but she still has to kill one more in order to get the castaway back safely. 

         Collin checks in with an oddly silent Nova. “Uh Nova, you alright?”

         “Sure… no…”

         “Well we found Dalmo, he might help us with the whole “enemies” problem.”

         Nova doesn’t really care right now, she wants out, now. “That’s everything right?”

         “Yep.”

         “Cool, jumping down.”

         In the next sublevel, there are more leaves. But… evil ones this time. They kill Pikmin now. They almost do get an Ice Pikmin, but Nova doesn’t let that happen. Nova gets two more treasures, a pile of nuggets, and a flarlic. Nova just wants out of here.

         Finally, she makes it to Sublevel 4, the final sublevel. The big bad evil boss is… a pile of nectar.

         “That’s it? The cave’s final challenge… is NECTAR?”

         Mimic looks up at Nova. “Uh…Captain? That wasn’t here the last time I came here.”

         Nova just looks at the Nectar, and ponders out loud. “Then maybe one of those flying egg dudes died here.” 

         Mimic pouts. “Throw me.”

         “What? But–”

         “Trust me. Just do it.”

         “Alright…” Nova throws Mimic, and the Nectar roars to life, becoming a yellow blob, Mimic becoming trapped inside.

         “Its insides must be the weak point, but Pikmin can’t seem to attack inside its blobness there, but it does have a tail…”  Nova runs behind it and gets 15 Pikmin to tug at its tail. It’s unable to move and its jello liquid form split in five, freeing Mimic, and giving the crew an opportunity to attack. The Ice Pikmin managed to freeze it, but it breaks free, calling its pieces back to it. Then it charges at Nova, but with Oatchi on her side, she dodges out of the way. They repeat the cycle twice, and Nova finally manages to kill it. The castaway pops out of the creature, and Nova has some Pikmin carry them back. A metal door on the only other opening to the arena opens. A treasure and the exit layed on the other side, and Nova went for both.

         The castaway made it back at this point. “Let’s check the ID card!”

         “Research Task Force Recruit: François

          Home Planet: Ooji

         For years, this scholar has been working to 

         achieve his lifelong dream—reaching mutual 

         understanding with plant life.”

         Collin looks up at Shepherd, and then back to the feed. “The research task force… I had no idea there were researchers stranded here too.” A few seconds later the treasure is collected and Nova gets out of there quickly.

         Oatchi and Nova hop out of the cave, only to be met with the fact that the Onion isn’t letting over three types out.

         Collin looks at the Pikmin limit, and his tablet. “What? Why can’t these Pikmin come out? Ah According to the Voyage Log, only 3 types of Pikmin can be out on the surface at any given time. They really have developed a lot of protective traits to keep their species from getting totally wiped out.”

         “Yeah, trust me, we needed those measures…” Mimic looks so sad when she says that. But Nova has to move on, bringing 15 Yellows and Blues, and 20 Ice Pikmin. She puts 29 on a bridge that is near the Dandori battle, and runs over to the other base. She then finds quite an odd creature, having its weak point in the back and a retractable pincer in the front. Nova easily kills it, and then, going up a hill, she kills two more baby bird snakes, and waits for the bridge to be done. Once it was, she checks out the new cave.

         “#47. Sightless Passage

         A cave of utter darkness into which almost no light filters. I explored for a bit, relying on the glowing mushrooms to guide the way, but I turned back to avoid unnecessary risk. I wish I had a better Headlamp at my disposal. I’m starting to regret this bargain buy. -Captain Olimar”

         Nova hops on in, with 25 Reds and 25 Yellows. Falling down, Nova understands why Olimar wished he had bought a new Headlamp.

         “Kee-hee! It was wise to bring a Headlamp!” For once, Russ is right. Nova hops onto Oatchi and runs into a blue-ish purple blobfish that really needs chapstick. It’s quite easy to kill it, considering its size. Nova turns into an opening, finding a fire slug thing. She absolutely destroys it, and finds a treasure. She goes back to the dead blobfish and turns down another path. Running down the path, Nova sends Oatchi into some pots, and Oatchi gets jumped by another blobfish, which is easily killed. Once that is defeated, Nova turns left, taking out a fire geyser and finding a high up treasure. 

         Collin suddenly comes over the comms. “Fantastic! We accomplished our goal! With so much energy collected we can really expand the radar’s search area!”

         “And the hunt for that Leafling and Bernard!” Dingo adds.

         “Hell yeah.” Turning back, Nova goes the only other way she can go right now, finding a base protected by four electric beatles. Nova throws the Yellows, who lands on their backs, flipping them over. After doing this four times, Nova has successfully unlocked the base! Nova sets the base here, and goes down to the left, finding two fire slugs on top of a hot floor. Throwing the Reds at them, it almost eats three, but the Pikmin manage to kill it before it does. There is another one behind it, and that one was luckily taken down without any deaths.

         Nova laughs. “Oh there must be a buried treasure somewhere underground, the Treasure Gauge is going crazy.” Throwing Pikmin sporadically works, as five of them find the treasure. “Nice.” Going forward nets a way up high castaway, which is a problem for Oatchi. Oatchi bonks them down, and Nova sends them back to the S.S. Beagle. Then Nova sends her Yellows after an electric wall. 

         Abdul tugs Nova’s suit. She looks down, noticing it holding a flower. “Captain? Good?” 

         “Awww… thank you Abdul!” Nova takes the flower, and puts it in her item bag. “And yes, I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

         “Yay!” Abdul looks happy, and hugs Nova. Which electrocutes her. Abdul panics, backing away, but Nova remains unharmed.

         “Kee-hee-hee! I see that the Anti-Electrifier is doing its job.”

         “Wow, that’s incredible Russ!”

         “My inventions never fail!” Abdul loves this, hugging Nova until the wall is destroyed. On the other side, is another pancake. An electric one. Nova isn’t getting tricked this time. She throws around fifteen on there, and whistles them off before they can get crushed. It dies once it hits the floor, which unlocks the base. Nova waits for the castaway to get back to the S.S. Beagle before moving bases.

          “Ok! Let’s see that ID badge!”

         “Research Task Force Recruit: Petunia

         Home Planet: Ogura

         Highly focused and intelligent, she joined the

         team to investigate mysterious creatures 

         through her unconventional methods.”

         Collin reads off of the ID. “”To investigate mysterious creatures”... She must have come to study the Pikmin and other unusual wildlife here.” Nova then moves the base, and gets Oatchi to break some pots, finding a dog hole of sorts on the other side. Oatchi runs over and jumps in. Soon, Oatchi comes back down with a treasure. And with that, all treasures are collected. Nova builds a ramp up to the exit and leaves.

         Nova ends up in a new place, and she pushes down a bag and runs over to the bridge she built earlier. It is near sunset, and she wants to at least get this last cave done. She manages to reach it before sunset, and she checks the cave’s Log.

         “#45. Drafty Gallery

         Beneath the passage, all I can see is an interminable darkness. I tossed a pebble into the abyss but never heard it hit the ground. I must proceed with caution here. I don't want any Pikmin accidentally thrown to their demise, let alone shaken off by some creature. -Captain Olimar”

         “Oh Jumala, best not fall down then! Heh…” Thinks Nova, as she jumps in with 25 Reds and 25 Yellows.  The first sublevel is a metal circle, with a pathway up to the right of the base. And three baby snake birds. It is easy to deal with them, rushing with Oatchi and all. Nova collects three treasures, one jingley one, one glowing circle, and another odd piece of a puzzle. Nova double checks she got everything and jumps down to the next sublevel. 

         The next sublevel is a lot bigger. Nova heads right and murders a grey fire bag, collected a ball treasure. Then moving forward, Nova collects another pile of nuggets and breaks down a wall, finding quite an odd flower. 

         Shepherd watches as the flower opens up. “I can’t believe a flower that big is blooming underground…”

         Collin shows Shepherd the Log associated with the flower. “I believe it’s called a Candypop Bud. When you throw a Pikmin into it, they’re transformed into a Pikmin that matches the color of the flower!”

         “Unbelievable, They can even change color? Pikmin are the strangest creatures.”

         Nova throws 5 Yellows in, and then a thought hits her. “Uh, Red?”

         Red turns their gaze off of the Candypop. “Yes?”

         “Can a captain be thrown in there?”

         Red is completely taken off guard, and it takes a moment to answer. “Yes???”

         “What would happen?”

         It takes Red a good long minute to think of a response that wouldn’t either be a total lie, or the total truth. “...Uh… the Candypop feeds off of their nutrients and more times than not, doesn’t produce a Pikmin. If it does, it’s incomplete or just broken. Sometimes it just gives us just the stem. Then it dies.”

         “How do you–”

         “Jeremy told me.”

         Nova looks at Red, now even more confused. “Who?”

         “Oh, one of the two Blue Pikmin Siblings. We haven’t seen him yet.”

         Nova gives a smile. “Well we’ll find him soon. I betcha you!” Going down the path, there is an air geyser. Nova goes up it, and collects another treasure with Reds. Then she goes down and collects another treasure with Reds. Again. The only reason she’s using Reds is because there is a fire bag in the way and she really doesn’t feel like killing it. That is about all there is on this sublevel, and so she goes to the next.

         There is a bridge, right in front of them. Nova of course builds it, but decides to explore beyond this platform after getting a raw material pile. Nova comes face to face with the cooler pincer guy, and she freezes it so she won’t have to deal with its corpse. After moving the base down here, she starts heading down the path with more fire. 

         “I swear this place is just made of fire and voids…” Nova runs past a fire bag, and fights another cooler pincer guy, saving 5 Ice Pikmin from it. Jumping up a tiny cliff, Nova uses her 20 Yellows to weigh it down, gaining another treasure with Reds. Going down, she turns to the right, finding another treasure. Going even further down the path, Nova gets yet another raw material pack, weighs down a bag, and hops onto an air geyser again. Nova found 5 new Ice Pikmin, and hops down into the last sublevel.

         Once Nova lands, she looks up to see the boss. It's a purple floating air bag.

         “That’s it?”

         There is silence for a few seconds. “Uh Rookie? You good?”

         “I’m not mad, just a bit disappointed.” Nova is absolutely right in believing this thing to be a pushover, as she takes it down in under thirty seconds thanks to the Ice Pikmin. The creature flies up, dying in the air, its corpse falling from the sky, way tinier than Nova is expecting. Seconds later, castaway flies to the ground, landing quite harshly. 

         Nova immediately notices the spacesuit’s look and color. “Collin, we found another officer!”

         “Great work! Just bring them back!” 

         Nova looks over at the Officer, noticing some movement. “Wait… are you awake?”

         The Officer barely gets out what it wants to say. “Not… necessarily….”

         “Yeah, cool, gonna get you back with Pikmin, just don’t freak out.” Nova has three Reds carry them back.

         “Let’s see that ID info… Oh! You know who this is?!”

         “Bernard?!” Dingo can’t help it. He wants to make what he did up to him as fast as possible. That and he cares and all.

         Collin is as blunt as he could be. “Yonny.”

         Dingo sounds so sad over the radio. “Oh…”

         “Rescue Corps Officer: Yonny

         Home Planet: Ohri

         A doctor who lives for discovering and 

         solving unusual cases. He jumps at every

         chance to test his experimental medicines.”

         Shepherd is happy to see Yonny though, “Alright! We found another Rescue Officer! Yonny is a talented doctor with a wealth of knowledge. With his skills, he can treat any injuries or illnesses that come our way. I’ll bet he can even do something about the leafling castaways. That means our pilot is the only one of us still missing. Please continue your search.”

         “Copy that Captain!” Nova collects the last treasure, another ball, and exits the cave. The moment she gets out, she looks down at the countdown on her suit. It’s close to sunset. “Best to end the day now.” Nova runs back to base, whistles, and launches into the sky.

         Nova and Oatchi are surrounded when they return to base. Mimic also goes along, very overwhelmed by the amount of captains. Nova notices that Mimic seems… off. Like she doesn’t like the idea of them being safe here. 

         Later that night, the S.S. Beagle put in the power required to expand the radar’s range. Collin walks out of the radar’s room. “Energy replenishment complete! Now let’s switch on the radar…” The radar roars to life again. “It’s working…”

         “We know, comms boy. We can clearly hear it.” 

         Collin ignores the comment from Dingo. “Yes! Once again, we’ve detected more SOS signals in an unexplored area.”

         Shepherd is now really proud of her crew. They made it so far, without much help from herself. “I’m glad to hear our search radius has increased. Let’s not waste any more time. We need to get out there and find our missing Rescue Officer and Captain Olimar.”

         At the end of the day, Nova had saved 5 people, one of which was a leafling and another was Yonny. Nova had managed to get 2525 sparklium today, bringing them up to 5454 sparklium total. She has 76 raw materials and gained 20 new yellows, 15 new Blues, 15 new Ice Pikmin, and managed to not get anyone killed. Odd. 

         Collin comes out from the medical bay. “Yonny’s back, Captain! Seems like we’re making progress.”

         Shepherd pats Nova on the back, “Well done Nova!” 

         “Well that’s a first. She hasn’t just thanked me alone…” Nova smiles at Shepherd, a bit awkwardly. “Uh, you’re…welcome.”

         Shepherd looks around. “So where is he, then?” That is a valid question as he didn’t come to the night meeting. “We need to discuss the leafling situation as soon as possible.”

         Collin puts a hand behind his back. “Um… The thing is… After the forced-sleep mode was lifted, he kind of went right back to sleep. I think he’d been examining a plant that only appears at night, so he was pretty sleep-deprived.”

         “Seriously? He was out walking around at night? Here? It’s ridiculously dangerous! I suppose I should be grateful that he’s still alive.”

         Collin looks over at the table, noticing something missing. “Huh? That’s strange… I put a bottle right here. Where did it– Dingo! You didn't drink that liquid that was sitting right here, did you? Did you?!”

         “Hey! Don’t shout at me like that! But yeah. I was thirsty and it was right there, so I gave it a try. Who cares?”

         “Well… that was the medicinal ingredient that Yonny was using in his experiments.”

         Dingo goes pale. “And you never thought to mention that until now?! Uh…Why do I suddenly feel very hot?!”

         Shepherd genuinely is concerned for Dingo. “Are you alright?! Maybe you should go lie down too, Dingo.” Turning back to the others, Shepherd sighs. “I suggest we put this meeting on hold for the time being.” After that everyone disperses, Nova leads Mimic to her room, and she just lays in bed. Some part of her is anxious for the next day, like something awful was going to happen, but she knows it’s just a feeling. It is going to be okay.

Chapter Text

         “ROOKIE! GET UP, MORNING MEETING!” 

         Nova is startled awake again by Dingo. She sits up, feeling awful. “Of course I started now…” Nova looks over to where her suit is hung, seeing that Mimic is already awake. The Pikmin hands her suit to her. Nova goes to the bathroom and quickly gets dressed, heading outside soon after. Just like yesterday, she comes out at the tail end of a conversation.

         Shepherd has just finished her explanation of literally everything that has happened over the past four days. “You should be caught up on everything now, Yonny.”

         “Let me thiiink… The primary symptom is the growing of leaves, yes? If that is the case, then I believe we may be able to cure them. While stranded, I discovered a bewitching specimen calla Lumiknoll. It only appears in the dark of night. When dawn breaks, it releases a sap quite high in degradative enzymes. I believe I can make a medicine out of those secretions that can break down the newly grown leaves.”

         Dingo almost seems fascinated. “Uh, for real? I mean…cool.”

         “Alaaaas, our friend Dingo here consumed all the sap that I previously collected, eheh. So new blood?”

         Nova looks around, and when no one replies, she points at herself. “Me?”

         “Yeah, new blood.” 

         “Huh. What did I expect from crazy number two?”  

         “I will have to perform some night expeditions to harvest the medicinal ingredients for us.” Nova tenses up upon hearing this. “Oh, it’s nothing to lose sleep over. Except in the literal sense, eheheh. Find me later, and I’ll teach you all you need to know about night expeditions”

         Shepherd smiles. “Excellent. Thanks to Yonny, it sounds like we have a solution to our leafling dilemma. Now, everyone to your stations please!”

         “Copy that, Captain!” As everyone is going back, Dingo stops Nova in her tracks, holding her shoulder.

         “I’m coming with you.”

         “What? Bu–”

         Dingo puffs out his chest. “You need someone to help with the new area, I’m sure.”

         “I– ugh… you know what? Frick it, fine.”

         Nova walks away, and turns around, to find a new area cleared. Collin notices her confusion and shock and calls out. “Oh! I forgot to tell you! The Rescue Command Post was getting a bit crowded, so we started clearing a new area, when we came upon something odd…” Collin runs over to gesture grandly at the spaceship broken in the ground. “A spaceship in disrepair!”

         Shepherd looks sadly at the ship. “It’s clearly missing its captain. They’re probably out there somewhere, in need of rescue. We’ll do our best to find them.”

         Collin then runs back over to his post. “I almost forgot! We also found some raw materials while establishing the new area. Please put them to good use!”

         “Thanks guys, I really needed these!” Nova honestly does need them. It’s time for Nova’s regular routine. Talk to the new people, check in with rescues, and get some rewards. Then Nova heads to Shepherd to train Oatchi. Today is fully upgraded chomp and one level of pluck. Next is Russ and his crazy inventions. Russ gives her a Bomb Rock and a Mine to test. Nova actually buys 5 more Bomb Rocks, thinking they’d be useful, and Rush Boots, because who doesn’t want to get faster? Then finally, she approaches Collin, with Dingo lingering behind her.

         Collin is completely taken off guard seeing Dingo right behind her. “Dingo, what are you doing?”

         “I’m going with the Rookie! She’ll need some extra eyes out today, and I’m the guy to supply those!”

         Shepherd turns towards the three. “Are you sure Dingo? You don’t have to, I mean, weren’t you feeling not too great yesterday?”

         “That was yesterday, Captain. Now I’m good as new!”

         Shepherd sighs. “Alright, fine. But if you come back injured, you will be barred from expeditions for the next two weeks, got it?”

         “C-Copy that Captain…”

         Collin laughs. “We’re all set over here! The S.S. Beagle can take off whenever you two are ready.”

         “Oh, we are ready, comms boy.”

         Nova smiles at Collin, a bit scared of what she’s about to endure all day. “We’ll go to the new area, what’s the name?”

         “Serene Shores. A bit away, but you two can handle it.” Mimic’s eyes widen. Mimic knows that area name, after all, Olimar did name it that, which means one thing. It’s finally time to find her brother. 

         Dingo leans on Nova’s head. “Of course we can! We have me!”

         Nova pushes him off. “And the one who’s been doing all the exploring.” After a tiny glare between the two explorers, Dingo and Nova hop in the S.S. Beagle, and Mimic and Oatchi soon follow, launching off to Serene Shores.

         The two officers land, and look around. The place is beautiful. It really is just like a beach, with a giant sandcastle to the right of them. The first thing both notice once they land is that green dog. Dingo’s eyes go wide. “Rookie! There they are! Let’s get them now!” Dingo runs off, and looks behind him. Nova is getting out the Blues and Ice Pikmin, a bit slower than she normally would. Nova doesn’t want to strain her body right now, she’s in enough pain already, and also, she takes it as a sort of revenge. A way to get back to Dingo for how much he’s already pissed her off.

         Nova runs over to the area Dingo is in, and kills one new creature and the blobfish. Dingo waits by the bridge antsy, tapping his boot on the sand. He can just run over, but building the bridge is a good idea, and so is making sure the Rookie won’t die under his watch. Once the bridge is built however, he runs over, and sees his absolute worst nightmare. There he is, Bernard. He is unconscious, or at least he looks to be unconscious. 

         “BERNARD!” Dingo runs over and reaches out to him. The Red Leafling and the dog quickly jump in the cave. Dingo gets a glance at Bernard’s face, and he isn't fully unconscious yet. Key word, yet. Dingo jumps down after him immediately, followed by a panicking Nova and Oatchi.

         The arena is sort of like a castle, a shorter one than outside, but still a sandcastle. Nova lands, looking around. She sees Dingo, clearly angry, and perhaps a bit scared, and the Red Leafling. “I have been waiting… for you.”

         Dingo speaks up. “Give back Bernard you–”

         “Not you… redhead.”

         “But I–”

         Nova is already fed up with this guy. “Dingo if you don’t shut up I swear…”

         Dingo notices Nova behind him. “Rookie, please, I have to be the one to save Bernard! I–”

         Nova, with absolutely no hesitation, calls over to the Red Leafling. “Yo dude, if you win you can get me and Dingo to be leaflings.”

         “NOVA!” Both Collin and Shepard yell over the speakers.

         Dingo starts to panic, this is already not going to plan. “WHA– I NEVER–”

         The leafling doesn’t even hesitate. “Deal.”

         Collin tries to get answers from the little pink girl. “Nova, why did you–”

         Nova chuckles to herself. “Cause I’m gonna win, why not make it more interesting?” Nova walks up to Dingo, and pushes him back a bit. “Now sit in that corner Dingo, you came in here for like… no reason.”

         “I wanted to save Bernard! That’s a the reason Rookie!”

         Nova grabs Dingo by the collar, pulling him down to her level. “I was going to do that anyway.” Nova pushes Dingo behind her, landing the man in the corner. “Now stay in your freaking corner. We wouldn’t want you to come back with any injuries, or you know what would happen….” Nova smiles at Dingo, and he is horrified. She isn’t smiling because she’s happy, no, she’s smiling because she’s already won. If Dingo gets up, he’ll most likely get hurt from the battle, if doesn’t get hurt from battle, then Nova might purposely sabotage him, which with the look on her face, she’d 100% do to him. If he does get hurt, then the Captain wouldn’t let him out again, and he can’t have that. He’s their ranger after all. And if he doesn’t get up, then he’d be doing what she wants. After a moment of staring at her in absolute horror, Dingo decides to let Nova do her thing, and sinks into the corner.

         The other back on the S.S. Shepherds are at a loss for words. Never once did Nova ever seem like the type to threaten someone like that, and based on Dingo’s reaction, it's clear that he didn’t think so either. Yonny, who decided to watch today's exploration, mutters to himself. “Ehehe, new blood sure is cold….”

         Nova digs her boot into the plastic bucket she landed on. “Well when you have been here for five days you sure do get annoyed by people who think you’re bad at your job when you’re CLEARLY NOT!” Nova sighs. “I just want to go home man.”

         Silence fell over the arena for a few seconds. It even takes the Red Captain back, surprised at how hostile she is towards the others. It doesn’t matter to him, just odd behavior. “I now have a new rule that I will use to test you. I will explain it in time. Let us begin!”

         “Alright, let’s go.” The round starts as most Dandori Battles did. Nova creates new Pikmin from Pellet Posies. Then she comes across a new enemy. They are like the purple pincers, except a red-ish orange and also they can jump. Really high. After killing those three and getting a 5 Pellet, Nova goes for a crab. It was just a normal crab. Odd how that’s like the only normal creature on this planet. Suddenly, the Red Leafling calls a pause to the battle, hops out of the castle it’s base was in, and points at a circular capsule. 

         “This is a Mystery Capsule. As you now know, Dandori is part luck. This is an item of mystery, so you cannot know what will emerge from its depths. If you use these items, your Dandori will succeed. Pick up many, use many.”

         "Thanks…” The Red Leafling goes back up to where he was, and the Dandori Battle resumes. Nova collects a Portable Sunset after fighting the hamster monstrosity. Nova sets a few Pikmin on the nugget piles, and goes back for more Pikmin. That’s when the Red Leafling pauses the battle again, and comes down, leading her over to the corner of the map guarded by a bolder spitting slug.

         “This is a Golden Sniffer. It is heavy and its value is high. A rare treasure indeed. If you can collect this it will carry you closer to victory.” He goes back up to where he was, and the battle continues. Nova keeps collecting the stuff on the bottom of the field, and decides to take out the boulder slug. With the Spray she got from the Mystery Capsule, she is able to get the boulder slug, the Golden Sniffer, and two Sunseed Berrys. Then Nova, gathering her Pikmin, goes to steal two Zest Bombs from the Red Leafling. After a long battle, to Nova it feels like forever but it really lasts around fifteen seconds, Nova has successfully stolen both Zest Bombs, with the Battle ending shortly after. The Red Leafling makes its way over, and looks at her face. It was smug, he definitely lost, but by how much?

         “Nova: 191  ???: 72”

         “How in the world does she keep getting better at this?” The Red leafling thinks to himself, looking up at the pink captain.

         Nova nervously laughs at herself. “Sorry bud. I’ve always played games like this with my friends, and this is actually some of the first times I’ve won one. My best friends, Pom and Aero are so much better than me. I mean 300 to 30 kinds of scores….” Nova looks away from the red leafling. “And I’m the one getting the 30, haha….”

         He isn’t disappointed or mad that he keeps losing. In fact, he loves it. At first, it sucked, but watching her grow is so much more interesting than winning. “Again you have shown mastery in the art of Dandori… I leave the rest to you.” He looks back at the dog, hops on, and they flee.

         Dingo just sits there, shocked. “Nova… how did you…”

         “Dingo, like I said, I’ve had training.” The two stare at each other for what feels like forever, or at least it does for Dingo.

         “Why… am I here? She clearly doesn’t… need me…”

         Collin comes over the comms, interrupting the tension. “Hmm… Off they go again. Thankfully we recovered Bernard safe and sound. Impressive victory. Seriously. Almost 200 points?”

         “Yeah, trust me, that’s a new score for me!” Nova walks over to the Leafling Bernard, and has Oatchi pick him up. Dingo, Nova, Oatchi, and the Leafling Bernard get out of the cave, and Nova sends Bernard back to the base with blues. Nova then sets some Ice Pikmin on a nearby wall. Dingo and Nova somehow both ride Oatchi, and go to the right, passing by many underwater creatures. The three eventually end up at a new base, blocked by a mound of sand and a treasure. Nova lets the Pikmin dig it up and moves the base. She sets the rest of the Pikmin on another nearby wall and goes over to the sand castle. Going up the first entrance she sees, Nova finds a cave.

         Nova turns to Dingo, who has been silently trailing behind her the whole time. “Dingo, you want to come, or you want to kill some enemies up here?”

         Dingo mutes his mike and jesters for her to do the same. “You sure you need me?”

         “Uh yeah? I’d rather have the legend on my side.”

         Dingo pauses, taken aback from her sudden complaint. “L-Legend?”

         “Uh… yeah. At least, that’s what I’ve heard from friends.” Nova looks down, digging her boot into the sand. “And I’m sorry about the whole Dandori battle thing. I didn’t… uh, mean to kinda yell at you.” 

         “You better apol… uh….” Dingo notices how genuine she is being and decides to just let it go, for now. “Okay, just this once I’ll forgive you. But next time good luck earning my forgiveness.”

         “Alright cool. Come on, let's see what this cave is about.”

         “Oh, remember to unmute.”

         “Right….” Nova turns back on her mike and pulls out her tablet.

         “#49. Seafloor Resort

         What beautiful scenery! When I'm surrounded by water, I can't help but feel at one with the sea. Sadly, there aren't many places to land in here, so nonswimming Pikmin aren't able to do much. At least I got to pretend I was on vacation for a little while, right? -Captain Olimar”

         Dingo pats Nova on the back, and almost hits her down to the ground. “Alright, Let’s go Rookie!”

         Shepherd pauses for a moment, before turning to the montier. “Wait, you're going Dingo? You sure? Nova isn’t forcing you right?”

         “Nope, she needs someone to look after her after all.”

         “Yeah right!” Nova laughs at him, and bringing 15 Blues and 35 Ice Pikmin, she jumps in. Dingo follows after Oatchi jumps down.

         If Nova had someone ask how this place looked, she’d describe it as if they had been dunked in water, without the wet feeling of water. Dingo takes absolutely no time in pulling out several Bomb Rocks and going to town on the wildlife, managing to kill two blue flying jellyfish, and two grey bags.

         “Woah, Dingo what the hell was that?”

         “What do you mean Rookie? That’s how you deal with threats like these!”

         “Well at least you made my job a lot easier.” Nova goes to collect the nugget pile, and the two treasures on top of a cork. She also got 5 Blues from one of the Jellyfish, and 5 Ice Pikmin from a little island. The Treasure Gauge is going wild near a fishing line, so Nova sends five Pikmin to pull it up and it is relieved to be a treasure. Then moving up the wood tree structure thing she is met with something to build. Nova has the Pikmin build the odd thing, and the Pikmin pulls the creation until the sprinkler on the other side turns off. Nova also throws 7 Blues on a hanging treasure and gets that down. Dingo throws another bomb rock at the nearby floating jelly, killing it.

         Oatchi runs and gets a Sunseed Berry. Nova looks at Dingo for a few seconds. “How many of those do you have?”

         Oatchi finds some Blue Pikmin sprouts and plucks them. Dingo looks up at her, a bit taken off guard. “As many as Russ could make in a day, why?”

         Nova throws a few Ice Pikmin on the Jello containing a flarlic, and some on a nearby wall. “No reason….”

         Once the flarlic makes it back to base, the group moves on. Sublevel two isn’t that bad either. They kinda repeat the same pattern as before. Nova collects the treasure while Dingo goes ham on every enemy on the sublevel. To Dingo, this is the best adventure he had ever been on. Using the Bomb Rocks made him feel so powerful, like he could even beat that Red Leafling for even daring to hurt Bernard. For Nova, it is relaxing for once to not deal with enemies. She just runs around, taking care of the Jellos, hitting a button, breaking walls and bubbles, collecting raw material, and collecting treasures. Nova even found five more Ice Pikmin while Dingo manages to take care of a giant pink flying jellyfish. He looks at Nova, he is so proud of himself. Nova is just happy that he is finally showing his semi-true colors to someone. Within minutes the sublevel is cleared.

         “Well Let’s see that ID!”

         “Universal Stylist: Puddle

         Home Planet: Enohay

         “A stylist with clients all over the universe. 

         Just say the word, and he'll unleash his 

         fashionable skills at lightning speed.”

         Collin just looks at the ID, slightly regretting his life choices. “He must have had a reason for coming to this planet. Curious…Well, we’ll figure that out after you get him back here!” Dingo blows up another wall. “Wow! You two work well together!” 

         “What did I say Collin? She needed me!”

         “Yeah right! You just make treasure collection so much easier!” The two laugh at the banter as they go to the next sublevel. This time, Dingo and Nova split up the work. Dingo kills everything in the upper above water sections while Nova kills everything in the underwater sections. Nova has to lower a metal bridge for Dingo, but after that, he goes ham on the wildlife. Again. Once Dingo blows up the dirt wall blocking the underwater section, Nova starts to send things up. In under five minutes they have gotten all treasures, all raw material piles and five new Blues.

         Finally there is the final sublevel. The boss is a giant frog. Dingo runs forward, and gets immediately squished by the thing. It slowly hops back into position. 

         Shepherd yelled out in concern. “Dingo!”

         “Ouch…” The Frog goes for another squish, but Dingo is picked up by Nova, who puts him back at the S.S. Beagle, before Oatchi rushing the thing with 75 Pikmin. It would be an understatement saying that thing goes down in seconds. Dingo is so embarrassed. He is doing so well and he messed it up again. “Oh, what would the Rookie, or even the Captain say about my poor performance?”

         Nova looks over at Dingo, seeing him in an utter state of panic. “Dingo, you good?”

         “Eh? Yeah, why Rookie?”

         Nova knows that look, it’s the look of “ I’ve failed everyone” . “Because you looked really stressed. Like, really panicked…” The Pikmin pass by with a treasure. 

         The Pikmin pull out the castaway and carry them back to base. “No, no, no! Rookie, I’m fine!”

         Nova lowers her voice. She usually does this when Pom has panic attacks, and it helps him calm down. “Just letting you know Dingo, you were wonderful in here. Thank you.”

         Dingo stares at Nova. “She almost sounds like….” The thought of Bernard lets Dingo find his endless confidence again. “Of course Rookie! I really carried this cave!”

         Shepherd joins in on cheering Dingo up. “You did Dingo! Taking care of those enemies is really difficult! And Russ, great job on creating that many Bomb Rocks!”

         “Kee-hee-hee! I was glad to share my genius with someone else!”

         Collin waits for everyone to stop talking in order to tell some great news. “In other news, guys. We have reached over 7000 sparklium! We can fully restore the S.S. Shepherd now!” Cheers were heard in the cave and over the speakers. “And in some less good but still good news, it’s ID time!”

         “Uncharted Planet Tourist: Mika

         Home planet: Neechki

         A new teacher at Alayon Academy who's 

         putting her liberal-arts degree to good use 

         as adviser to the Planetary Science Club.”

         “A school teacher? Did she come here as a part of an educational field trip? Oh, but then… that means other teachers and students in front of the school could be stranded here too! We better get the whole story from her as soon as we can.”

         “Come on Dingo,” Nova holds out her hand. “Let’s get out of here. You can hang at the base while I do another cave, alright?”

         He takes it, shooting up and almost causing Nova to collapse. “Alright. You better be safe, or else I’ll be the one barring you from adventuring!”

         “Haha! Alright you dingus!” The army and the three Rescue Corps leave the cave. As soon as they land on the surface, Nova gets her suit tugged by Mimic.

         Mimic looks up at Nova, ready for what is about to happen. “I know what cave my sibling is in. Come on, follow.” Nova watches Dingo run back to base with some of the Pikmin, and nods at Mimic. Mimic leads her down to a cave past a yet to be built bridge, submerged in water. “Here. Only Blues can come inside. Are you ready?”

         “Yeah, I think I am. Well Collin, can I have the Voyage Log for this cave?”

         “Oh, yeah sure! Wait… huh? Nova, it’s not loading.” Nova looks down at her tablet, and well… he’s right.

         “#52. Engulfed Castle

         ERROR”

         Nova puts her tablet away. “Huh. Well that’s alright. We’ll just go without it.” Nova, 35 Blues, and Oatchi jump inside to the soon nightmare that is Engulfed Castle. Nova lands and feels… anxious. Like there is a sudden time limit. Nova looks around the area. The sublevel is filled with fire, somehow. 

         Nova squinted her eyes at a nearby fire geyser. “I thought this was…underwater? How–”

         Mimic interrupts her, fear completely consuming her voice. “Not a problem right now, just get us through this. And fast.” 

         That worries Nova even more. “And fast? What is Mimic scared of?” Nova goes through, having to lure the fire slug to the water. She accidentally sets her crew and herself on fire several times. She at least gains 10 Blues amidst all the madness. The treasures are all… odd. Especially the one stuck in the metal bars. Nova has to break down another wall before getting that treasure. Regrouping at the base, Nova heads towards the only place she hasn’t been, and gets knocked off of Oatchi by a fire bag, setting her suit’s health in the red. What’s worse is getting up and noticing her crew is on fire again. After calming them down, and killing another fire bag and slug, IT happens. Two giant thuds and an indescribable scream ring throughout the cave. 

         Collin yells, as it’s not just Nova who is on edge. “GAH! S-Something just dropped from above! What is that thing?! I can see it, but I’m not picking up on any signs of life. I hope this will all make sense after I check the log…”

         “#39. The Nonexistent Entity

         ERROR”

         “Wha?! This one isn’t showing either! I highly suggest you go with my favorite battle strategy and r-run away while you can!”

         Nova shakes off the indescribable amount of fear. “I’m almost done, I’ll just supervise these last two treasures, then I’ll go!” Nova does just that. She does accidentally lose five Pikmin due to carelessness, but she is able to make it to the next sublevel with all treasures.

         Nova has learnt her lesson. She has to go fast, or else it spawns and for her, it would be the worst thing to happen right now. As soon as she lands, Nova runs over to the left and breaks down a wall, allowing her to throw Pikmin to a buried treasure, plucking 5 Blues after. She runs over to the right side, and kills a bulborb with a bomb rock, accidentally catching 6 more Pikmin in the crossfire, then killing all its babies. She breaks the mushrooms, which releases spores she has never seen before, and runs down the broken pipe. She finds a clam holding the castaway hostage. Taking something out of Dingo’s book, she blows it up, getting the castaway back, killing two satin spiders along the way.

         “L-Let's see… Another ID to check.”

         “Research Task Force Recruit: Sy

         Home Planet: Ogura

         This environmental ecologist joined the team

         to research Pikmin ecology and decipher

         their mysterious relationship to whistles.”

         “Ah, the endless burden of the academic. Never s-satisfied unless they see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands.” Nova ignores Collin and jumps down as fast as she can. She manages to get by without spawning that thing.

         The next sublevel is electricity, and more mushrooms. And frogs. And spiders. And a balloon. Really weird combination, but Nova doesn’t have time to worry about the oddness of the combination, she just has to get by. She runs over to some sprouts and plucks them, then murders a slightly more difficult frog, sending back another raw material pile. She murders the cooler pincer, and another harder frog. She has the Pikmin dig out a treasure and goes to fight the balloon. It’s quite easy, and she tries to get another treasure, but a yellow spider falls from the sky. She kills it, and two hazards. Then she goes around to the top left, murdering another yellow spider, and a wall, and finally she gets the last treasure. She runs for the next sublevel. She went to another sublevel without summoning that thing.

         The sublevel was full of poison, and mushrooms. “What is it with mushrooms and this place?” Nova thinks. “And out of everything, why poison enemies and some geysers?” Nova brushes her thoughts away, and goes around, murdering everything she can. Eventually, she goes back to base, leaving Oatchi to get the last two treasures. Nova decides she is going to make a run for the next sublevel. Nova runs up a now complete ramp, and past two enemies. She tries to slip past the geysers, but she trips and falls into one. Nova stands up and tries to move out of the geyser, but finds her legs stuck as if they are weighted down by an invisible force. Nova then remembers a little flaw in her suit, it couldn’t filter out poisons like it could for the air on this planet. “Oh… Shit.” Nova’s lungs are filled with this odd poison gushing out of the geyser. Her heart feels heavy, and she falls to the ground, passing out in the small geyser of poison alone.

         The crew hasn’t been able to see much since the second sublevel. It looks and sounds as if Nova’s mic and camera died. Collin walks past the five monitors dedicated to different tasks, and does a double take at the health monitor. “Uh, Captain? Something is happening to Nova.”

         Shepherd pulls herself up from her lunch, space noodles yet again. “What’s wrong with Nova?”

         “Let me check on new blood.” Yonny pulls out his special monitor. It is meant to just be a life meter for all the Officers. “Now lets see here… There we… Oh… Oh my… Uh, Captain!”

         Shepherd comes over, a bit worried now. “Wh– OH MY STARS!”

         Oatchi does pretty well by himself. He manages to finally kill a shapeshifting mushroom creature, sadly losing ten Pikmin to it, but he’s able to get the last two treasures. Oatchi then hears something on the other side of the nearby dirt wall. He walks up, hearing Nova’s speaker going wild. “Nova? Nova? Nova! Nova please respond!” Oatchi recognizes the staticy voices as a mix of Shepherd and Collin. They are getting more panicked the more they call out for her. Then, Oatchi sees the Survey Drone come over to assess the situation.

         Russ looks through the dinky little camera the Survey Drone has, a little taken aback about where Nova is. “Oh that’s why she’s not responding. She’s stuck in a poison geyser. Shouldn’t her suit filter that out though?”

         Collin looks up, his fear growing far quicker than before. “Uh… Russ? What suit does she use?”

         “One of the old ones.” It takes a moment to register what he just said. “Oh, wait. I understand why now. Those needed an extra filter for anything that isn’t the planet’s air, right?” Collin nods, and the rest of the crew goes pale.

         Shepherd grabs a communication device that is used to communicate with Oatchi, turning it on. “Oatchi? Can you hear me?” Oatchi hears Shepherd through a speaker on his collar, and he barks. “Alright, good. I need you to break down that wall and get to the next sublevel. Russ has Nova under control!” Oatchi rushes into the wall, and is able to get to the other side. There, the Survey Drone is lifting a completely unconscious and sick looking Nova out of the nearby geyser using a hook that Russ installed a day ago. Oatchi runs over to the exit, breaking the mushrooms before hopping down.

         Down on the final sublevel, Oatchi takes a break to try and wake Nova up. He licks her helmet, but she doesn’t move. In fact, it looks like she gets just a bit worse. Shepherd can’t peel her eyes away from Survey Drone’s screen. Seeing Nova that hurt worries her so much. “Yonny, what's the status of Nova’s condition?”

         Yonny looks up at the Captain, very concerned. “Not good, Captain. Whatever is in her seems to be slowing her heart rate to a dangerous degree, along with a multitude of other effects. We need her back at base sooner rather than later.”

         “Oatchi, you have to beat this boss and get Nova the help she needs!”

         Mimic glances over at some Candypop Buds, and double takes, seeing two Pikmin. One Purple, and one Blue. “Wait… JEREMY!” Mimic runs over to a Purple Pikmin, which is holding a tall Blue with an injury on his pure white right eye. “He’s alright?” The Purple nods, and then looks over at the army and dog. “Oh, they are friends. Make some Purples Oatchi, you’ll need them.” Oatchi does just that, and plucks them all. The first Purple plucked stomped the ground twice, before doing a flip in the air and landing.

         Collin finds just a little bit of joy watching the Pikmin jump around like that. “T-These Pikmin certainly have some heft to them. Let's just s-see if the Logs will work…”

         “#21. The Purple Pikmin

         ERROR”

         “Nope… Don’t k-know what I expected…” Oatchi plucks them all, ending up with ten Purples. One of the Candypop Buds died at Pikmin number four, so they just have to deal with it. The ten Purples then lower the bag and there, in the middle of the arena, the monster lands. Oatchi dodges its approach, but isn’t sure what to do.

         Russ looks at the creature, and then gets an idea. “How about you try one of those Purple Pikmin? I mean, we didn’t have them before, so maybe….” Oatchi decides to try the suggestion, and throws a Purple at the monster, and it turns this oily color! Russ gloats. “A-HA! My intuition never fails!” 

         “Ehehe, such a monster, scared by the simplest of noises…” Oatchi rushes into it, and manages to break the rollers in one go. The thing gets up and runs from Oatchi, heading to Nova. The Purple Pikmin that is holding Jeremy stands in front of it, making it back away in fear, which allows Oatchi to scare it again with another purple. Now it’s the one cowering in fear. It finally laid dead, disappearing into nothing, leaving behind a treasure.

         Shepherd lets out a sigh of relief. “Wow. That was satisfying. Now, get the treasure and–”

         The Drone drops over to the corner of the arena. “And the buried one too! It’s over here Oatchi!” The Survey Drone put a pillar of light on the floor. “Actually, stand back,” Russ drops a Bomb Rock on the pillar of light and a treasure pops out. Oatchi sent it back with the max amount of Pikmin that could carry it. Getting both of those back, Oatchi goes for the castaway.

         “Let’s quickly check the ID.”

         “Uncharted Planet Tourist: Sheeba

         Home Planet: Enohee

         Founder of Alayon Academy's Planetary 

         Science Club. This student was determined 

         to see the stars along with her friends.” 

         “Judging from the name of the school and club, this has to be one of the students that came with the teacher we rescued. Imagine being stranded like this at such a young age. Poor thing must have been downright terrified.” Oatchi grabs Nova with his mouth, and goes up into the outside world.

         Dingo has been waiting for a while, and is starting to get antsy. “I mean, what was taking her so long? And not even an update from any of the other Rescue Corps? What was going on?” Dingo hears a bag being pushed down. Dingo turns around, ready to tease Nova for taking so damn long.

         “Oh finally your back I was waiting for–” Dingo saw Oatchi carrying a sick Nova in his mouth. It takes Dingo a moment to process the situation. “Wh– WHAT HAPPENED?”

         Shepherd finally gets in contact with Dingo. “Dingo! Get Nova back to base! Now! We are in an emergency situation!”

         “Huh?! I– Copy that!” Dingo jumps in the S.S. Shepherd with Nova and Oatchi, flying back early. The moment he lands, Oatchi runs into the S.S. Shepherd. Dingo follows inside, getting in just as Yonny wheels away Nova to the medical bay.

         Dingo stands there, pissed. “So… what happened? And why didn’t anyone tell me Nova was in danger?”

         Collin looks back towards the medical bay. “Nova got hurt, badly. Her suit is old and doesn’t have a great filter. We… don't have any newer suits either, so she just has to deal with it until Russ can create a new filter for that kind of suit. She’ll stay with Yonny, we promise!”

         Shepherd, however, responds strongly. “Because you’d try and run through the cave and the last thing needed was another injured officer!”

         Dingo pouts. “It would have been nice to be in the loop.”

         “I know Dingo, and I’m sorry, but with the condition Nova is in, I just…” Shepherd signs. “I couldn’t look away.”

         Dingo stares at Shepherd for a few seconds. “It’s… fine. I just… I don’t want the Rookie dead.” Dingo mutters the last part of his concern, but both Collin and Shepherd hear him. They decide to not aggravate him any further, as for the both of them, it’s just not worth it right now.

         Later that night, Collin finished the repairs on the S.S. Shepherd. Popping up, he loudly announced. “We’ve got enough energy stored up that we should have no problem starting the S.S. Shepherd’s engines! I’ll make sure the ignition is functioning properly.” The Ship rustles, activating its systems. “Yep, we’re good! We can take off at any time!”

         Shepherd sighs. “If we could only fix Bernard’s leafy-ness… Until then, the S.S. Shepherd remains grounded.” At the end of the day, Dingo and Nova got 5 castaways, one of which was the Leafling of Bernard. They got 2775 sparklium, now totaling 8229 sparklium. 45 new Blues, 21 Blues lost, 10 new Ice Pikmin, and 10 New Purples, with a total of 84 raw material. 

         After all the chaos, the only ones left in the main lobby are Shepherd, Collin, and Jeremy. Shepherd is curious if the logs that they had gotten while in the Engulfed Castle had started to work again.

         “Ah, here we go! Captain, they're working!” Collin pulls up the first one, turning the tablet around for Shepherd and Jeremy to see.

         “#52. Engulfed Castle

         Shortly into my explorations, a loud BANG echoed throughout the cave. My memory's been clouded by fear, but I do recall that there was nothing I could do with the Blue Pikmin I'd brought with me, and I ran away in desperation. The rest is a mystery… -Captain Olimar”

         Shepherd sighs. “Well doesn’t that sound familiar.”

         Jeremy quietly chuckles. “Yeah, that’s most creature’s experience with the Wraith in general. Most… usually don’t live to write a log about it though.” Collin pulls up the next one.

         “#39. The Nonexistent Entity

         Bomb Rocks show no signs of working against this creature, never mind Pikmin attacks! Does its body not actually exist in this dimension? Maybe if I hit it with a gravitational wave, the dimensions will converge and it will show itself. But is that possible? -Captain Olimar”

         “Excuse me, gravitational waves? Collin, what did Olimar say about the Purples?” Collin quickly pulls that log up too.

         “#21. Purple Pikmin

         One Purple Pikmin has the strength and weight of 10 regular Pikmin. What they lack in speed, they make up for in force! When thrown, their impact is powerful enough to emit gravitational waves. They're only found underground, so I must handle with care. -Captain Olimar”

         Shepherd stares at the screen for a good long while. “They have the power to do what?!”

         “Yep. It’s just normal Purple Pikmin things.”

         Shepherd looks at Jeremy in a state of awe. “So… the Wraith isn’t afraid of the noise they make, it’s just that it pulls it to a dimension where it can get hurt?”

         “Pretty much.” There is a noticeable silence between the three. “Hey, what does my log say about me?”

         Collin looks at the Pikmin, confused. “Your… log?”

         “Yeah, just search for Log number 17.2.” Collin hesitantly does as the Pikmin says, and a new log pops up on his screen.

         “#17.2. Jeremy, Blue Pikmin

         When I first found the Blue Pikmin, this one was the first to try and protect its Onion. I was taken aback by its appearance at first. One of its eyes seems to have been injured, making it completely white and leaving a scar there as proof. It seems to be just like Red, in the way it is able to communicate using the National Galactic Language. It’s a bit interesting and terrifying how good Jeremy is at talking with me. It’s almost as if I’m not the first… hmm. Perhaps I still have many things to learn about this planet. -Captain Olimar”

         “Woah! That’s a new log!”

         “By the way Collin, you can do this for all of the Pikmin types you have logs for, go ahead, try it.” Collin quickly enters another decimal log, which pulls up another one.

         “17.1. Mimic, Blue Pikmin

         When I first found the Blue Onion, this creature and what it calls its brother came out of their hiding spots. It was the one to convince Jeremy to calm down, that I might not be a threat. This Blue is way smaller than most other Blues, in fact, it’s half of the size of a normal Pikmin. This little Pikmin should not be judged for its size though, it can pack quite the punch! It seems to prefer talking in the National Galactic Language instead of the one that most other Pikmin talk in. Such an odd trait, though I am starting to get a little concerned over the fact that this is the third Pikmin that knows how to talk in our language. I am still curious about this creature’s past, as it often tells the other Pikmin about a “Puffstool Era”. I wonder, if I asked, would it tell me? -Captain Olimar”

         “18.1. Icey, Ice Pikmin

         This is such an odd type of Pikmin, especially for one like this one. This poor thing was found in a cave, alone. I decided to take it with me, as no one deserves to be alone. Though the moment I touched the creature, my hand turned ice cold, and even became icey too! It seems like this Pikmin can’t regulate itself like the other Ice Pikmin. It might come from its rotten bud. I’ve decided to name this one Icey. Oh and it seems to like getting sprayed with water, unlike the others. That and sliding around in the S.S. Dolphin’s bathtub. -Captain Olimar”

         "16.1. Abdul, Yellow Pikmin

         When exploring, I found this Pikmin sitting on top of the Yellow Onion, watching as Sheargrubs tried to reach it. From what Red tells me, this Pikmin is just like them. It tries to talk in the National Galactic Language, but it seems to only know a few words, so its sentences are very choppy. From what I could gather, it’s name is Abdul, and it seems to have been through some battles. Its ears are charred black, along with other parts of its body. It can absorb electricity into its body, and when it does, it’ll uncontrollably release electricity out of its body. That being said, I need to make something to protect myself from electricity. -Captain Olimar”

         “15.1. Red, Red Pikmin

         This little friend is one of the first two Pikmin I ever encountered. It and its friend, Steve, tried to fight when I first found the Red Onion. Red has a burnt flower, but it doesn’t seem to stop it much. In fact, Red was the more reasonable of the two, and even talked with me using National Galactic Language. I have no idea how it learned the language, but I suppose it’s just one of this planet’s many secrets. -Captain Olimar“

         “15.2. Steve, Red Pikmin

         This friend is one of the first two Pikmin I ever encountered. It and its friend, Red, tried to fight when I first found the Red Onion. Steve is just a normal Red Pikmin, though nectar has no effect on it. It can’t talk either. The only one who seems to understand anything the poor Pikmin is trying to communicate is Red. I wonder how though? If Steve can’t talk in either language, how does Red understand it? Perhaps this is just another one of the Pikmin’s many mysteries. -Captain Olimar”

         “21.1. Purple, Purple Pikmin

         Just when I was thinking that there was no way there would be a Purple Pikmin like Jeremy or Red, I was proven wrong. This little friend I found in a cave, just like Icey, all alone. It did look to recognize Jeremy and Mimic though, hugging the two tightly. Purple is a little thinner than most other Purples, and it doesn’t like to make any noise at all. I suppose it’s just shy. It can’t carry as much as other Purples, nor can it hit hard at all. However, a fun little tid-bit I found out about Purple is that it’s incredibly tolerant towards water. In fact, Purple seems to enjoy swimming. Though, spraying it with water is out of the question, unless you want to get a bruise. -Captain Olimar”

         “Well that explains how Purple got into the Engulfed Castle.” Shepherd takes a sip of her hot chocolate. “Eck, it's cold.”

         Collin goes back to Mimics log, reading through it again. “The Puffstool Era? Jeremy, do you know anything about this era?”

         “I do. Would you like me to tell you what I know?” The two officers look at each other before nodding. “Alright. This is the one era that single handedly changed life as a Pikmin forever. The planet was warm, incredibly so, getting warmer by the day. It was also raining more often, creating the perfect climate for any mushroom creatures to live. One of those was the Puffstool, a giant mushroom, very territorial at the time. Puffstools had the wonderful ability of releasing their spores onto unsuspecting creatures, turning them into… well… their slaves. Its prime target was the Pikmin, who were easy to find, as we had over-populated the planet. You were either a part of a Puffstool’s empire or you hid in fear. If you want details on what it was like hiding, then you should ask Mimic or Red.”

         Shepherd and Collin look at each other, before Collin asks the one question Jeremy is expecting. “What about you?”

         Jeremy’s eye dulled, just a bit. “I got infected. It’s why my eye is permanently white. It’s a scar. That’s not all too important to the overall story though. The Puffstools ruled over the planet for a good long while, until the Pikmin had evolved in two major ways. The first was the creation of White and Purple Pikmin, a direct consequence of the Puffstools. Whites were immune to the spores that the Puffstools released, and Purples had the might to stun and kill Puffstools, freeing thousands of Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin from their control. The other way was the sudden appearance of Lumiknolls. They just appeared, hosting the “spirits” of nearby dead Pikmin. The Lumiknolls of this time were orange, however most Lumiknolls nowadays are green. I think… haven’t seen one in a while. All I know is that the Orange Lumiknolls created this thick disgusting sap at dawn, that somehow was able to completely destroy the fungal infection. Because of these two evolutions, and the fact that the planet was getting drier and colder, almost every single Puffstool died out. The ones who did survive were ones that either no longer contained the controlling fungal infection, or weren’t very territorial, or both.”

         Shepherd is at a loss for words. This place is even more dangerous than she thought, and that Purple Pikmin is only made to counter those mushrooms? It is a lot to take in, but Shepherd still goes on. “Uh… thank you for sharing this information. We will for sure put it to good use.”

         “Of course Erma Shepherd. I’m glad to help.” 

         Meanwhile in the medbay, Yonny finally gets to take a break after all the hard work he’d just done. Nova is still unconscious, but now stable. Yonny had run several tests. There is nothing out of the ordinary, but she is still incredibly injured from the stitches he had to put on her after pumping out the poison in her body. There was just no other way to get the poison out. He really needs to keep her down tomorrow, even if that means putting himself in danger. 

Chapter Text

         “Your name is Nova, right?”

         “Uh, yeah. Sorry, I just… your face…”

         “I know, but I made it. She doesn’t know…”

         “Good, good. Now come on Pom. I’ve got just the guy who’ll cheer you up!”

         “Really?”

         “BOO!”

         “ACK! AERO!”

         “HAHA, scared you. Ah, wait you must be Pom. Nova’s been gushing about you all month. Nice to finally meet you!”

         “Nice to meet you too…Aero.”

         “Blue hair and any pronouns, before you ask. You?”

         “Uh, he, him.”

         "Great! Now come on! I wanted to take Nova out to the cafe!”

         “Nova?”

         “Nova?”

         Nova finally opens her eyes, seeing Collin and Shepherd above her. Collin calls out to Nova yet again. “Nova?” 

         Shepherd smiles. “Oh she’s awake!”

         Nova hears Yonny yell from across the room, as he almost spits out what he is drinking. “She’s already awake?!” Yonny runs over, looking concerned, and then just relieved. “Oh thank the stars… Good morning new blood! Welcome to the land of the awake, ehehehe.”

         “Y…Yonny? Shepherd? Collin? What… what's happening? Did we defeat the monster?”

         Shepherd’s smile turns to a frown, remembering yesterday. “Yeah, Oatchi finished the job. But you almost died! What were you thinking Nova?”

         “Sorry… I j…just wanted out… But we needed sparklium too. Best to ge-et everything in one trip….” Nova seems alright, despite the pain in her chest. 

         Shepherd softly smiles at Nova. She wants to make her feel better, but doesn’t know how. Collin remembers something and happily tells Nova. “Oh right! While you were out we once again, the Rescue Command Post was starting to feel a bit cramped so we’ve expanded into a new area!”

         Shepherd blushes just a little. “Collin and all the castaways joined forces and worked hard to make it happen.”

         “We put some raw material in your collection from what we dug up while clearing the new space. I’m sure you’ll find a use for it.” 

         “Wow… thanks guys. I could really use the extra raw materials.” Nova’s head hurts, not by much but it was still noteworthy. “So… night expedition today?”

         Silence fell over the room. “She…isn't serious, right?” Shepherd is the first to audibley react. “What? Nova, no! You’re too injured.”

         “Shepherd, I’m fine. I can handle one expedition!”

         “New blood. I had to open you up in order to pump the poison out! There is no way any of us will let you do an expedition at your current state!”

         “But I can move, that’s good enough, right?”

         Collin just looked at Nova with sympathy. He gets it. “Nova…”

         “Work has to get done, and I’ma be real, I don’t really trust Dingo to do a night expedition. At least, not right now.”

         Shepherd sighs, and looks over at Yonny. “Will you–”

         “Yes, Captain. She won’t go anywhere near the S.S. Beagle.”

         Shepherd and Collin decide that right now, Nova needs rest. She’ll be safe with Yonny. Shepherd gets up, smiling at Nova. “Thank you. I hope you get better Nova. We’ll see you later.”

         “Thanks, I do too! See you.” They exit the room. As soon as they leave, Nova tries to get up out of the bed.

         “NEW BLOOD! Stay down!”

         “Yonny, come on, I will never stay down. Captain Olimar must be either dead or hurt by now! I have to find him!”

         “But if that kills you then–”

         “That’s fine. I’ve got to get the job done somehow, right?” Yonny just sighs, before locking the door. He is going to force her to stay, whether she likes it or not. Her whole day is spent here, Yonny not daring to sleep, just in case she tries something. Around the beginning of the night, Yonny leaves, and doesn't come back for a good long while. After thirty minutes, Nova concludes he must have gone to sleep.

         “Perfect! I can get away!” Nova gets up and immediately her headache worsens. Nova walks over to the painkillers and takes two, she’ll need them if she wants to fly. Nova quickly finds where Yonny hid the key and opens the door, walking quietly to her room. Nova sneakily gets into her spacesuit from there, and quietly gets outside. There it is, the S.S. Beagle. Nova doesn’t even question the fact that it is night time and it is still out here, she just hops on in and goes to the first base in Sun-Speckled Terrance.

         Yonny knows he isn’t going to last long, at least, in his current state he isn’t. Eventually, Nova would be able to sneak away when he would have to eventually sleep. Which is why Yonny decided to agree with one of Russ’ plans. It not only would guarantee some glow sap, it would also make sure that if Nova did come out, she’d be under the careful watch of both Russ and himself. It’s not foolproof, but it’s the best that Russ and Yonny could make up at the time. Honestly Yonny isn’t expecting Russ’ trap to work, but he’s amazed as he watches the S.S. Beagle land nearby. “Guess someone as stubborn and currently hurt as she is wouldn’t really question much.” Yonny thinks to himself. 

         As soon as she can, Nova hops out, and looks around. It’s quite scary, but one thing catches her attention immediately. There is a giant mound of dirt, with glowing green holes in it. It’s kinda like an above ground ant hill. 

         Yonny notices her walk towards the Lumiknoll, and decides this is the best time to reveal himself. He walks around the Lumiknoll, nearly giving Nova a heart attack. “Really, new blood? Really? What part of “stay in bed” do you not understand?”

         “WHA– Yonny? Why are you out here?”

         “I should be asking you the same thing, new blood! I–”

         Both of their speakers suddenly roar to life, as Shepherd walks into the lobby to get water, and hears their argument. “What? Russ, what are you doing? It’s so late at night… Wait… NOVA? YONNY? Where are you? What are you doing?”

“I’m stopping the new blood from injuring herself even more than she already has.”

         Shepherd’s attention is now on Nova. “Nova, why did you go out there?”

         “Bernard and Captain Olimar are still in danger, so… you know….”

         Shepherd's tone goes from tired but worried, to just worried. “Nova… please, just get back to base…”

         Nova is starting to actually feel guilty. She sighs and turns around, being met face first with a flying green Pikmin ghost. “ACK!” Nova stumbles back, and Yonny has to catch her before she falls to the ground. The green ghost gets surrounded by nine more, each with an odd bit about them. Some has bite marks on their bodies, some have a missing eye, and most have a mushroom at the end of their stems. 

         Yonny stares at the creatures, studying them. “What strange creatures….”

         They look at Nova and Yonny confused, before looking absolutely  panicked. The main one pulls down its stem, frantically pointing at it. Nova stares at the main one, utterly confused. “Uh… yeah. That sure is a mushroom.” It looks unamused. It rushes over and grabs Nova’s antenna and points at its mushroom again. “I mean… I guess you could count that as a stem. But I don’t have any mushrooms at the end of mine….” It slaps its face, and before it could try again, the screams of creatures run in the air. It freezes, and looks at the Lumiknoll, and then the two captains. “The warnings would have to wait.” It supposes.

         Nova looks at Yonny. “Yonny, what was that?”

         “The creatures are more active at night, they react to the Lumiknoll’s sap. That sound was a sort of warning. They are going to come for this Lumiknoll ehehe.”

         Shepherd angrily semi-yells at Yonny. “And you didn’t think to warn anyone you’d be out here Yonny?”

         “If Nova didn’t come, that would be great. I could still get some glow sap. If she did, I could stop her.”

         Russ raises his hand in the air, grabbing the controller for the Survey Drone. “Captain, if it makes you feel better, I’ll be watching over via the Survey Drone. I’ve hooked it up with a lot of items, so there is no way they’ll get hurt.”

         “It’s not that I’m worried about them getting hurt, it's that they snuck off without telling us any of this!”

         Yonny just hunches down. “Sorry Captain…”

         Nova isn't having any of that. “Hey, to be fair, this would have happened anyway. I mean, Yonny can’t stay awake forever, you know? Imagine what it would be like if I snuck out during the night, and he wasn’t here to help? How dangerous would that be?” Shepherd is taken aback by her tone. Nova has only sounded like this when she was fed up with Dingo’s unnecessary harassment, but this has something different behind it. A sort of… malice. Though, even with that malice in consideration, she is right. Yonny wouldn’t have been able to stay awake forever.

         Yonny looks at Nova, now incredibly concerned. “Uh… new blood?”

         Nova turns to Yonny, looking annoyed as hell. “What? I’m right. No offense Captain, but you shouldn’t be taking Yonny for granted. He’s just one guy, try to help him out sometimes!” 

         “Again, she’s right.” Shepherd sighs. “Ugh… Look, I’m sorry. I just…”

         Yonny attempts to stop the Captain’s badgering of her own character. “Captain it’s fine…”

         A green ghost goes up to Nova and hands her a star thing. “No, it’s no– oh pretty colors… wait what is this?” It grabs it, and feeds it to the Lumiknoll. “OHHH. Okay. Don’t worry dear…uh… Glow Pikmin, I will protect your home!”

         “No, new blood, I’ll handle it, you're still injured after all.” Yonny attempts to whistle the Glow Pikmin over, but they stay around Nova. 

         “Heh, looks like you don’t get to! They like me too much I guess! ONWARDS AND UPWARDS GLOWING LADDIES!”

         Yonny watches her run away from him, and for a moment he’s stuck in place. Though it doesn’t take long for Yonny to run after her. “NOVA!” She murders any creatures that are way too close to the Lumiknoll, and collects a bunch of the star things. The Glow Pikmin keep looking at her like she is an injured dog. It’s really weird, but hey getting appreciated right now is a good thing. Yonny does eventually get a few Glow Pikmin, though he refuses to leave Nova’s side. Russ protects the Lumiknoll with the Survey Drone, so the two don’t have to worry that much about it getting attacked while they are gone. Nova finds something new. The mini less important Lumiknoll, or as Yonny calls it, “Tricknoll.” Nova just hops between the two Tricknolls, collecting star things and soon, it becomes eerily quiet.

         Yonny looks around, hearing no more creatures nearby. “I’m impressed you defeated all those creatures with your injuries…. But also, never do that again!”

         Nova ignores his last comment. “Of course I did, nothing can keep me down.” Nova stumbles a bit. “Aside from passing out from exhaustion.”

         “Eheheh, of course… this is your first all nighter, right?”

         “Yeah… I… OW MY HEAD!” Nova hunches down in pain, holding her helmet. She would have held her head, but it’s not like she can breathe this planet’s air. 

         “N-new blood!” Yonny goes to comfort her, and after a few seconds, she looks up.

         “Sorry… headache…”

         “Do you want me to look at that?”

         “Nah, it’s nothing bad, probably just side effects of the poison.”

         “Perhaps she’s like Dingo, getting random headaches.” Yonny decides to let it slide, at least for now. “Alright, now come on, we need to collect the glow sap.” Yonny and Nova walk back to the base, seeing a very large pile of glow sap. “That is a condensed Lumiknoll extract. It’s very high in degradative enzymes. It's a critical ingredient for the leafling cure. We need to gather it with care, new blood!”

         “Heck yeah…” Nova looks up at Yonny. “How do you want to do this?”

         “Move the S.S. Beagle over, and press the button titled, “containment”.” Nova gets in and does as said. The Glow Sap is sucked in and Nova popped out of the S.S. Beagle. “Good work new blood.” The Glow Pikmin surround the two captains.

         Shepherd smiles. “Look! The Glow Pikmin have come to see you off. How sweet!”

         Russ smiles too, but more in the mad scientist way. “Maybe they want to follow you two back? I could use them for some…tests for my inventions, Kee-hee!” The Glow Pikmin form into a ball, and several seeds fall to the ground, leaving one Glow Pikmin left. 

         “My, my, what’s this? Glow Pikmin turn into seeds? Eheheh, I need to study this up close. We should bring some back with us.” The last Glow Pikmin signs something in Galactic Sign Language, and disappears. 

         “Huh? How did it know that?” Nova thinks to herself. “Did… Did someone teach it that?!”

         Shepherd looks at the screen, and then out to the crowd of castaways that have gathered in the lobby. “Uh, did anyone who just saw that, know Galactic Sign Language?” There is a considerable silence before Mika speaks up.

         “It said “Good Luck…” and then something else. Not sure what it was.”

         “Good luck? Good luck…for what?” Nova thinks, panicking a bit. Everyone was thinking something along those lines. “What would I or Yonny even need luck for?” Yonny ushers Nova back into the S.S. Beagle, and the two head on back.

         The moment they get back, they are bombarded by everyone asking them questions. And Shepherd yelling at them for sneaking off. That too. Once everything dies down, it’s just the Rescue Officers left inside the lobby.

         Collin laughs. “What a surprise! You met a whole new kind of Pikmin.”

         Yonny watches Nova carefully, looking for any other signs that something is wrong. “Before you rescued me, I’d never seen a Glow Pikmin myself. I can only assume the Pikmin took a liking to you, new blood.”

         “I guess… They did act really odd though. I wonder what they were trying to say…” Nova almost looked sad saying that, before popping back to her usual self. “So, again? Tonight mayhaps?”

         Yonny just stares at her, disappointed. “...You won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

         “I will, it’s just I’ll ignore it.”

         Yonny lets out an exasperated sigh. “FINE. But only if I get to supervise you.”

         “YES! LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO!” And so, the day started with a the cure being given to one of the leaflings. Yonny wants to test the cure on two leaflings before doing Bernard, for safety.

         Shepherd calls out. “Right! Administer the cure at once!”

         “Yes Captain!” Yonny fed the pill the leafling, and the leaves just fell off of them, revealing a person!

         “Professional Spelunker: Dash

         Home Planet: Flukuey

         He's known for saying, "You can always find 

         me in the pits!" He'll take the leap into any 

         cave, no matter how dangerous it is.”

         Shepherd looks at her crew. “Our work doesn’t end here. It’s our duty to care for and protect anyone we’ve rescued and hear what they have to say.” 

         After that, Nova goes to sleep. She knocks out surprisingly quickly compared to every other time she’s tried to sleep. In the meantime, Shepherd and Yonny have a long talk, about what to do and how sorry Shepherd is about treating Yonny the way she has. Yonny doesn’t really mind, he honestly is happy he isn’t getting fired for pulling a stunt like that. Soon the night comes, and Oatchi, Yonny and Nova head out for the Rugged Scaffold. 

         Nova almost seems happier during the night, easily taking down the bulborbs around her. The Glow Pikmin do the same thing that night too, pointing at their stems, and then at Nova’s antenna. It’s odd, and Yonny just can’t figure out why they are doing that. Soon, all of the enemies are gone, and they get another Glow Sap and more glow seeds.

         They get to base, and they again get swarmed by the castaways. The same cycle happens, getting swarmed, and then curing the leafling.

         Shepherd calls out. “Right! Administer the cure at once!”

         “Yes Captain!” Yonny fed the pill the leafling, and the leaves just fell off of them, revealing a person!

         “General Contractor: Corgwin

         Home Planet: Moyama

         When it comes to work, he's thorough, fast,

         reckless, and presumptuous. Which also 

         describes his plan to build houses here. ”

         Shepherd looks out at her crew. “Our work doesn’t end here. It’s our duty to care for and protect anyone we’ve rescued and hear what they have to say.” 

         Nova wants to go to a double Lumiknoll that night, and Yonny lets her. Tonight, he is being forced to go to sleep by the Captain. He doesn’t fully trust Nova alone. The only reason he accepted this is because the Captain insisted she wouldn’t be alone. Dingo decides to go with her, and they do really well, managing to get two cures in one night. They get back, and Nova feels something new. It isn’t exhaustion, she isn’t tired, but she isn’t energized. Her headache has gotten worse, but she doesn’t want to tell anyone. If she does, then they’d force her to stay behind, and she has to find Captain Olimar! She just waits for Yonny to get up and make the cures, which to his credit, he wakes up soon after she gets back. It takes until the morning to get both cures done.

         Shepherd calls out. “Right! Administer the cure at once!”

         “Yes Captain!” Yonny fed the pill to Bernard, and the leaves just fell right off.

         “Rescue Corps Officer: Bernard

         Home Planet: Nijo

         A veteran pilot who started in the private 

         sector before joining the Rescue Corps. 

         He's always brimming with optimism.”

Chapter Text

         Collin yells out first. “Bernard!”

         Then Shepherd soon follows up. “Bernard! I’m pleased to see that you are back on your feet.”

         Dingo isn’t sure if he should run over, or just stay where he is. He decides to stay and give Bernard some space. “Um, are you sure it’s okay for you to be up and about already?”

         “I appreciate your concern, Dingo, but I am good to GO! It's strange. Since losing my leaves I feel as light as a feather! Now the NEXT time I get abandoned in a cave, I should be able to ESCAPE all on my own!” There is such passive aggressive malice in that last sentence.

         Dingo’s voice shakes as he attempts to keep his cool. “Ha… ha. What are you trying to say?”

         “Oh nothing. Just a little JOKE!” Nova can tell, it definitely is not.

         Shepherd finally feels a sense of normalcy, having her crew back together. “Good, good! Finally, all the members of the Rescue Corps are together again. I hereby reinstate our primary mission- the rescue of Captain Olimar!”

         Despite the pain, Nova responds as she usually does. “Copy that!”

         “Wowee! PERFECT response! You must be the secret weapon our captain’s been talking to me about. Thank you VERY much for saving me.” Bernard turns his attention over to Shepherd. “Excuse me Captain. This may pertain to the SUBJECT of a certain Captain Olimar’s whereabouts… I found a logbook entry that CAUGHT my interest.”

         “#73. The Last Push

         “At long last, my goal to collect all lost S.S. Dolphin parts is nearly complete. According to the ship's radar, the remaining pieces are inside a giant structure... My life support system is reaching its limit. One last push now. -Captain Olimar”

         Shepherd’s eyes widened. “Wait. Could that mean…?”

         Collin pulls out his tablet. “While searching using our newly restored radar, we received a very strong SOS signal from inside a large structure. It must be coming from Captain Olimar.”

         Shepherd smiles wide. “Commendable work! As always, the rest is up to you, Nova and Oatchi! Officers, to your stations please!”

         “Copy that!” Everyone returns to their own stations. Nova goes to train Oatchi first, fully upgrading Super Buff, learning Doggy-Paddle Level 2, and Pluck level 3. While training, Nova notices Bernard and Dingo having a very quiet yet harsh conversation. Something about “leaving him behind.” 

         “Dingo really did it now, huh?” After the training with Oatchi is done, Nova goes over to all the castaways, and checks in on them. She gets a bunch more side requests, and some more raw materials. Nova goes to talk to Bernard, and just waved at him at first, to get him to stop talking to Dingo. Seems like they made up, at least Nova hopes they did.

         “Hey, you’re that rookie I’ve been hearing aaall about, right? Hoo, am I thankful for YOU! I’m Bernard, pilot of the one and only S.S. Shepherd. And I am deeply PLEASED to meet you. I’m also relieved to see that you are just as BRIGHT as the captain said!”

         “THE CAPTAIN SAID I’M BRIGHT?! Damn, when did I earn such praise… haha.” Nova smiles, despite the pain. “It’s nice to meet you too, Bernard.”

         “Oh right! I have JUST the thing for you!” Bernard pulls out a picture of a man. “When you find castaways, SHOW them this photo. It’s of Captain Olimar and his FAMILY. We might get some CLUES from other outsiders on where he is now.” It’s honestly a nice photo. Olimar is holding one of his kids, and his wife is holding the other. They look like such a cute couple.

         “Oh, thank you! This will surely help! You got anything else I can help with?”

         “Oh yeah! When I had leaves on the brain, my head couldn’t STOP thinking about Dandori… So listen, I need your help. I need you to save EVERYONE who got leafifed like me. Seriously. Every last one! Hoo, it’s no small thing, I know. But there are rewards in it for you. Believe me, I’ve picked up a WHOLE lot of raw materials. I mean it. I’m counting on you, okay? Good LUCK, rookie!”

         “He takes after Dingo, with the whole Rookie thing it seems. At least he isn’t doing it to impose authority over me.” Nova gives him thumbs up, as the pain increases again. As she leaves Bernard looks up at Dingo and whispers to him.

         “Is she OKAY?”

         Dingo leans down to Bernard’s level, and whispers back. “I’m not sure, Bernard. She’s been acting odd ever since she got injured.”

         Then she goes to Russ, getting the Idler’s Alert, Sniffer Saver, and two new prototypes. One called Lightning Shock, and the other called Trackonator. She’ll hopefully put those to good use. Then Nova goes over to Collin, the headache getting worse and worse by the second.

         “Now that the Rescue Corps is properly reassembled, we can finally put our minds and efforts towards our main mission. Despite the delays, I’m confident our search for Captain Olimar will be nothing if not successful!”

         “I’m ready, Collin. What’s the place’s name?”

         “Hero’s Hideaway.”

         “Woah! Now that’s a cool name! Let’s go!” Nova and Oatchi get in the S.S. Beagle and heads off to the large structure.

         Collin turns to Yonny, who was watching as the S.S. Beagle flew away. “Yonny, are you sure she’s okay?”

         “Honestly, no. She’s just been acting so…”

         Red seems to pop straight out of nowhere. “Weird?”

         Yonny hops a bit away from Red. “AH! Wait, you’re not going with the group?”

         “Nope, staying here for now. Maybe tomorrow?”

         “Alright, just… don’t cause trouble.” Yonny goes inside the S.S. Shepherd to try and figure out what those Glow Pikmin meant. Yonny needs to find out what’s going on, but without proper evidence, he can’t prevent her from leaving. All he can do is hope the Glow Pikmin’s actions give him a clue to what’s going on.

         The S.S. Beagle lands on some cloth, and Nova gets a call from Collin. “Collin here. It looks like you’re safely inside the structure. Based on your current location, we were right to conclude that Captain Olimar is in this area. I found a log associated with your exact coordinates.”

         “#75. Unknown Area

         “I'm so close to fully repairing the S.S. Dolphin. The remaining parts should be somewhere inside this giant structure that I've never seen before. It's as if the rules of logic I've come to understand may not apply here. I'll have to explore carefully now… -Captain Olimar”

         “And we’ve got one MORE piece of surprising news! The SPACESHIP we found at the Rescue Command Post is Captain Olimar’s! After analyzing its flight logs, we can CONFIRM it came from Hocotate!”

         Shepherd sounds so proud. “Which means we can now track down Captain Olimar by scent! Before you set out, I had Oatchi memorize any smells associated with the ship so we might be able to find its castaways. So find Captain Olimar, Oatchi! We’re counting on you, Nova!”

         “Copy that!” As soon as she can, Nova mutes her mike to scream out in pain. It’s getting so much worse. Oatchi snuggles up against her, and the pain slowly dulls. “Why me…?” She unmutes and hops on Oatchi and pulls out 40 Ice, 10 Blues, and 10 Purples. Running forward is more jumping pincers, and a treasure stuck to the wall by another treasure. She knocks both of them down, and sends them back, and then goes into a dugout tunnel. Then the green dog wakes up, and jumps off of the giant grey coach.

         Collin yells out, somehow hurting Nova’s ears more than usual. “Look! Over there! It’s the dog that was running around with that leafling! It looks like it’s all alone at the moment. Let’s just try avoiding it for the time being.” Nova runs around, avoiding the green dog, and murdering enemies. She kills a sort of turtle. It is brown and has a gold shell, so Nova assumes it’s a messed up turtle at best. Then she passes by crystal throwing dudes, and then murders two more hamster monstrosities, unlocking a base. Then Nova sees another treasure, and also hears the dog run up behind her. She has no choice other than to fight it. It tries to whistle the Pikmin, but with sixty of them hitting it and 40 of those being Ice Pikmin, it goes down quickly. Now Nova has to get up to that treasure. 

         Another sting of pain rings in Nova’s head. “Well… maybe that treasure can wait.” Nova moves the base over and goes to go murder some more enemies. She kills a bunch of jumping pincers, and four rushing dudes that she hasn’t seen since Hectic Hollow’s final floor. Nova has to stop for minutes at a time, the pain getting worse and worse every time. Though she’s got this. She’s had worse pain before. “It’s probably just some odd period pain…right?” Nova thinks to herself as she presses onwards. 

         Yonny keeps trying to figure out the actions of the Glow Pikmin. Yonny just doesn’t know what they mean, and what something they are trying to warn him or Nova about. And if it’s for Nova, then he has to get her back as fast as possible. He also is rewatching the recording of the Glow Pikmin’s sign language. None of their actions make any sense.

         Nova runs over to a floating platform, and it rises upwards. Nova notices a grind rail to the right, and goes on it. On the other side, is the treasure! Nova finally decides to explore that fan, and it leads to a bunker of sorts. There is a code needed, three numbers between 0-9. “If those treasures mean anything… then it must be the code!”

         “Collin, what are the two numbers and signs of the treasures?”

         “Uh, we have 4 of diamonds and 8 of clubs. Why?” Nova enters the first two. “Oh! That’s why. Though we are one off….”

         “Not for long, I have to use my favorite tactic, GUESS-TA-MATING” Nova starts flicking through the numbers, and at the ninth one, all the numbers go green.

         9-4-8. The bunker unlocks, revealing the leafling just standing there. Collin goes from excited, to slightly less excited. “It’s that leafling again, isn’t it?”

         The red leafling turns around to face Nova. “You have done well to find this place… though you have used an odd Dandori idea to unlock this area…”

         “Guest-ta-mating is never a bad idea, plus it saves time!”

         The leafing smirks at her little comment. “No matter. The final test awaits. Come.” The Leafling hops inside, and the green dog quickly follows.

         Collin yells out. “Look! That dog!”

         Shepherd yells out after him. “Nova, Oatchi! It’s go time! Follow that leafling!” Nova sighs, and mutes the others. “They are just way too loud…” She jumps on into the Leafy Showdown. This is it, either she wins, or she becomes a leafling.

         The red leafling smiles at the girl. “I must admit, your abilities have impressed me. But let us settle once and for all who is the Dandori master. This will be your final Dandori Battle. Show me what you can achieve!” A new type of Pikmin spawns, and before the battle can start, Nova raises her hand. “Yes?”

         “Uh, not to be a downer, or weird, but what are these? I’ve never seen these before.” 

         “Oh. Poor thing.” The Red Leafling runs over, and picks one up. “This is a Rock Pikmin. It does major damage, but can’t latch onto anything. It can also break crystals and crystal walls. Understood?”

         “Yes, thank you sir.”

         “Of course, now let our battle begin.” At first, Nova is sucking, badly. The Red Leafling has noticed something different about her. It isn’t that her Dandori abilities are worse, well, they are, but that can be chalked up to the obvious pain she is in and the new Pikmin type. It seems like the pain is something else, rendering her motionless for seconds at a time. He vows that after this, he would check in with her. Maybe she’d listen to him.

         Nova is not really having fun. Not that Dandori isn’t fun, no, it is the soul splitting headaches every twenty or so seconds. After a minute of getting used to everything, Nova starts to make a great comeback. An Orange spotty creature spawns, and the Red Leafling accidentally lures it back to his own base. “Heh, nice going there genius.” 

         Russ enters the med bay, and looks at Yonny, who is hunched over the table. Yonny, not noticing Russ, yells out in frustration. “It just doesn’t make sense!”

         Russ puts his hand on Yonny’s back. “Yonny, you’ve been at this all day. What if they didn’t really mean anything?”

         “Then why did all of them do it? There has to be a reason!”

         Russ takes a moment to look at the information present. “Can I try to see if this has any meaning?”

         “Sure, if you can help, please do.”

         Nova is doing okay, and then the Sneak Bomb spawns. The Red Leafling pauses the battle to explain.

         “This is a Sneak Bomb. A forbidden bomb. Transport it to your opponent's Onion to lower their points. If you steal the Dandorium that results from the explosion, the tide of the battle might turn.” The battle resumes, and Nova sends Oatchi and a few Pikmin to take it over to the Red Leafling’s Onion. She then decides to safeguard it, and after feeling another spike of pain, she just rushes the Pikmin onto something in order to focus on not screaming in pain.

         She gets it in, and steals some Dandorium. The Red Leafling gets back a bunch of the Dandorium she can’t carry, though. After more scrambling, and suffering through headaches and now the added bonus of body aches, the battle ends.

         “Nova: 189 ???: 178” It’s close, but she did it.

         The Red Leafling is in shock, but he doesn’t faint. “Ah, I have been defeated. Incredible game.”

         “You too, thanks for letting me play… haha…” Nova remembers the picture, and why she was here. “Oh right! Ahem,” 

         “Did she really just say “Ahem” out loud?”

         “My name is Nova. I am part of the Rescue Corps, being a backup and all. We are out on a mission to find Mr. Captain Olimar, who sent out a call for help around a month and eight days ago. I have a picture of him, here you go.” Nova hands the picture to the Red Leafling. “If you find this man, please let any of the Rescue Officers know. Of course, you are stranded, and a leafling, so I do have to ask you to come with us so we can cure you and get you back to your family as fast as possible. Thank you for understanding.” Nova smiles through the pain. She did it, she got through the whole speech that she thought up that afternoon. It was one of the only ways to distract herself from the pain. Nova fist pumps in the air. “HELL YEAH!” Another headache splits her thoughts apart. “OW, OW, OW, NO, JUMALA DAMN IT!”

         The Red Leafling is speechless. He stares at the picture, and realizes what he’s been forgetting. His family, his wife, and children. He is going to escape, but Moss….

         The leaflings dog notices Nova’s pain, and comes over, putting its head under her arm. Nova notices the dog almost immediately, and starts to pet the leafling’s dog. As she does, it rubs up against her arm. “Naw… you're such a good doggie. Sir, what’s the name of this little dog?”

         Through the tears, the Red Leafling responds. “M…Moss.”

         “Aw that’s–” Nova stops petting Moss for a couple of seconds before blushing. “Oh. Now I feel stupid for asking.”

         Olimar wipes away his tears. “Don’t be. I’m… sorry. I lost sight of what I was searching for and… Oh my wife is never going to let me out again.”

         Nova ignores the pain, and somehow gets up, approaching the Captain. “So… uh… we got cures at base camp, made sure there was one for you, so I’ll have to escort you back to base, alright Captain Olimar?”

         Olimar smiles at Nova. “Olimar. Just call me Olimar.” Moss looks worried, and hearing the word cure doesn’t help. She runs off for the hills.

         Nova reaches out to Moss. “Ah, the dog–”

         “It’s alright… She’ll be okay here. Now let’s go.” Olimar, Nova, and Oatchi leave the cave. The moment they get on the surface, the pain spikes to an unbelievable degree. Nova just holds her helmet, and Olimar notices her obvious pain.

         Olimar reaches out to her. “Hey, are you–”

         She waves his hand away, attempting to smile. “I’m fine… I swear. Just a headache… N-Nothing too b-bad….” Nova looks around the area. She has done so much today. Her eyes soon land over near the grind rail. Her eyes widen, and she looks back at Oatchi. “Hey Oatchi? Can you guide Olimar back? I want to scout out an area alone.” Oatchi looks at her with pity. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Oatchi doesn’t fully trust her, but what choice does he have? He barks and picks up Olimar, and heads for the base.

         Russ has been staring at the motions and actions of the Glow Pikmin for nearly two hours now. He gets why Yonny thinks there is some deeper meaning, but right now, he can’t see much else other than Pikmin being cute. “Yeah, Yonny, I don’t see any sort of message. Let’s get some food, alright?”

         “Fine…” Yonny gets up, and follows Russ out to the chaos that was the main lobby. Shepherd is panicking, and Collin is reaching for the Comms deceive.

         Shepherd notices the two entering, running over. Yonny looks at the Captain, very confused. “What’s going on?”

         “Nova hasn’t been picking up anything! We can still hear her side, but I don’t think she can hear us!”

         “And she just wandered off to stars knows where.” Collin adds while fiddling with a broken Comms device

         Russ looks at the Captain. “Can’t we see her?”

         Shepherd wishes that is true still. “Her camera broke during the Dandori battle!”

         Russ gets an idea. “I can pull out the Survey Drone, and–”

         Yonny stops Russ from running off. “Russ, you brought it in yesterday, it’s not on board the S.S. Beagle.”

         “Oh. Right.”

         Nova looks out in the distance, standing on the ledge of the giant counter. It’s a kitchen, a large one at that. Pain stings through Nova’s body, and then she hears a noise. A creature of sorts, that’s for sure. Nova turns around, and gets hit hard by an elephant-like creature. She flies across the counter, and hits the wall of a sink, falling in the water. The impact must have cracked her helmet, as she feels it filling her helmet with water, but only the back of it. Suddenly, the pain goes away, and Nova feels unbelievably drowsy.

         Collin looks up hearing an alarm. He quickly reads it, eyes opening wide. “CAPTAIN! Nova’s helmet cracked open! She’s in danger!”

         Shepherd grabs the Comms device for Oatchi. “Oatchi! Do you come in?” Oatchi barks in response, and Shepherd smiles for just a moment. “We have an emergency! We need you to find Nova! She’s in danger!” Oatchi barks and tries to run over to where Nova was going.

         Jeremy looks at the Mut with a sudden fear. “Wait… it’s… happening… no, nonononoNO!” Jeremy runs over and holds Oatchi back by his tail. Mimic and Purple help him hold Oatchi back. Jeremy yells at Oatchi. “YOU IDIOT! If you go out there, you’ll die!”

         Yonny looks up at the Captain, panicking at this point too. “Her heart rate is slowing!”

         Shepherd tries to argue back with Jeremy. “Wha?! No, he can make it!”

         “Are you and I looking at the same time, Erma? It’s almost time to lift off! If this mut goes out there, they’ll die! Do you want another dead corpse in your hands?” Shepherd doesn’t respond. “Now get on the ship!” Oatchi is launched back, under the S.S. Beagle. Oatchi looks up, “Please…” and whimpers, going inside the S.S. Beagle. Olimar soon follows and Mimic and Jeremy get in the S.S. Beagle. The rest of the Pikmin flee to the Onion. 

         Looking through a nearby window, Nova sees the night sky. All she can do is stare at the pretty stars, and the cosmos. “All I want is for those two idiots to be safe. Jumala… Aero and Pom would have loved this view…. Stars were always there when we were together….” Nova looks up at the night sky, thinking of her friends as she slips into an eternal sleep.

Chapter Text

         The evening is an utter panic. Everyone is trying everything to save Nova, but all of the panic and hope dies when the piercing sound of her heart monitor going flat rings throughout the S.S. Shepherd. 

         The Rescue Corps stand there, all processing the turn of events differently. Yonny doesn’t believe it. Honestly, he thinks he is dreaming, or hoping he can rewind time somehow and try again. But he can’t. None of them can. Russ feels majorly guilty. He blames himself, mainly for the whole suit thing, assuming that has something to do with her death. That and the Survey Drone not being there when it is needed most. Bernard, despite not being that close to Nova, is still shocked. He isn’t doing great to say the least, loss doesn’t go great with optimists. Dingo is hurt badly. He is trying to act like he isn’t, but he is hurt. Big time. The person who called him a “legend” and supported him through his mistakes was just… gone. Done for. Collin is not taking any of this well. In fact, he’s frozen in place, trying to process the sound coming from the health monitor. He doesn’t understand, with only one thought running through his head. “Why now?” And finally there is Shepherd, who is completely devastated. She let her rookie, the one who saved her, and the entire Rescue Corp, die. Alone, with no one to comfort or help her. 

         Amidst all the grief and shock, Oatchi, Olimar, and the Blue Siblings get back, entering the S.S. Shepherd. No one dares to talk, it’s just too much for most of them. 

         But, Red has never been like most people. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU LOT?” Red points at Jeremy and Mimic.

         Jeremry looks offended. “What’s wrong with me? Are you kidding? Do you even understand the situation we were in?”

         “Of course I do, but you still could ha–”

         Jeremy cuts Red off. “No, we couldn’t. The Mut wouldn’t have made it back!”

         “Yes he would have!”

         “No he wouldn’t!”

         “How in the world would you know?”

         Jeremy’s emotions finally boil over. “BECAUSE I’VE SEEN THIS HAPPEN BEFORE WITH BLUE!” Jeremy covers his mouth. Mimic goes pale.

         “What do you mean… Wasn’t Blue… What…happened to Blue?”

         Jeremy looks scared, and star-struck. “...”

         “Jeremy, what happened to Blue? Why aren't you telling me?” Jeremy looks down at Mimic, who shakes its head no.

         Jeremy just looks at the floor. “I… can’t tell you.”

         The argument between the Pikmin snaps Collin out of his completely shocked state. “Blue?”

         Red, still a bit startled at their reactions, looks up at Collin. “He was the original leader of the Blues. A normal Blue Pikmin with a giant heart. He just… went missing after sunset one day. Jeremy and Mimic refused to let any of us go and find him… he’s been missing for years….”

         Collin glares over at the two Blues. “So whatever happened to him, happened to Nova.” Eyes now turn to Mimic and Jeremy. Mimic grabs Jeremy, and runs outside, hiding in a nearby plant.

         Red is close to tears. “I’ve always thought there was a possibility of them leaving him behind on purpose… but… would they do that to a Captain?”

         Collin looks at the Pikmin with sympathy, and then he looks up at Shepherd. “So… what do we do, Captain?”

         Shepherd has to mentally prepare herself to talk to the others without breaking out into tears. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow. Today has been a long day… Also, keep the opening of the S.S. Shepherd unlocked, they’ll come in eventually.” And with that everyone silently goes to bed. Shepherd bars any night expeditions, as it was too dangerous, especially with the mental state everyone is in. Outside the S.S. Shepherd, Jeremy holds Mimic close. They can’t tell them… not until it's confirmed. 

         That day, Nova had rescued Captain Olimar, got 210 sparklium, bringing the total to 8439 sparklium, gained no new Pikmin, lost no Pikmin, lost 4 raw materials, now with a total of 120, and lost her life. All for Captain Olimar. 

         In total, over the nine days Nova was alive on this planet, Nova rescued 18 people, lost 31 Pikmin, leaving 250 alive, got 8439 Sparklium, 8164 from treasures, and 275 of that from Nuggets, got a total of 934 raw materials, 70 entries of the Piklopedia, 87 treasures, 71% of Sun-Speckled Terrance, 52% of Blossoming Arcadia, 38% of Serene Shores, 19% of Hero’s Hideaway. She had a total of 79 Reds, losing 9 of them, 82 Yellows, losing none of them, 50 Blues, losing 21 of them, 60 Ice, losing one of them, and 10 Purples, losing none of them, coming for the grand total of 281 Pikmin found and born, and losing a total of 31 Pikmin. All in nine days. And now, she’s dead in a sink of warmth.

         Shepherd wakes up in a cold sweat. She had nightmares pretty much all night. Multiple about her crew getting killed, especially Nova. Shepherd sighs, getting out of her bed, putting on her suit, and walks out into the main lobby. She notices the two Blues near the big monitor they used to watch Nova’s adventures. They seem to have turned on the mic feed from Nova’s helmet. Instead of the water, like it was yesterday night, it’s now the sound of fire crackling. Shepherd turns it off. “The two must have fallen asleep listening to it.” Shepherd makes herself coffee, and after sitting down, stares at the two Blue siblings. Collin enters the lobby, noticing the sleep deprived Captain right away. 

         “Good morning Captain.”

         “Ah, Good morning Collin. How was your night?”

         Collin groans. “Awful, so many nightmares.”

         “Heh, same here.” Shepherd sits down, coffee in hand, and talks with Collin until all of the Rescue Officers wake up. In that time, the Blue Siblings have relocated to a pile of clothing to hide in. By the time it reaches eight am, the only officer they are waiting for is Yonny. 

         Shepherd, now in a slightly better mood than before, looks over at Collin, faking a smile. “Hey, Collin? Can you check to see if Yonny’s awake?”

         “Yes Captain!” Collin doesn’t even have to round the corner before coming face to face with Captain Olimar, who is no longer his leafling self. He’s quite panicked, almost as white as a sheet, and Yonny quickly comes out after him.

         Shepherd shoots up out of her seat. “Captain Olimar? What are you–”

         “Where is she? I have to find her!” Olimar tries to get past Collin, but fails.

         Collin grabs a hold of Olimar, trying to calm the man down. “Olimar, you can’t go out, it’s too dangerous, and your ship is a wreck!”

         “But she… I…” Olimar sighs in disappointment. “I’m just feeling really guilty. I mean, she saved me from my Dandori obsession and to return the favor, I left her to die alone.”

         Dingo mutters to himself. “Trust me, we are feeling the same way…” 

         Olimar looks around at the nearly filled table. “What are you all doing up this early?”

         “Figuring out what to do next. Want to join?” Shepherd takes a sip of her coffee. She had to make a second cup, she is that tired. 

         Olimar softly smiles, “I’d be glad to.” All seven of them sit at the table, bouncing off ideas. None of them are really that good, but that is okay. They just needed something to get their mind off of what happened yesterday. 

         The conversation finally dies down after an hour, and after a moment of silence, Dingo just decides to bite the bullet. “So, was it just me or did you guys have a nightmare?”

         Shepherd looks up at Dingo, a bit surprised he of all people is the one bringing this up. “Dingo?”

         “Look, I just thought that it’d be nice to at least talk about it. Ignoring yesterday’s events won't do us any good, it’ll only hurt us in the long run. Plus… it helps t-to talk about it.”

         “Yeah. I did, and… now that I think about it, I think that would be nice. Is it alright if I go first?” Dingo nods at the Captain, a bit happy that she complimented his idea. “I’m not sure how many times I had the same nightmare, but it was for sure over four. They all started the same, Nova, or sometimes Dingo, out on an expedition, with me following them. I’m not sure why, I think I was just thinking back to some of the job shadows I did with my father. Anyway, on these expeditions, they’d start off great, and then something goes wrong. Sometimes it was Nova making a mistake, or sometimes it was Dingo almost getting killed, but the outcome was always the same. I’d panic, attack whatever was trying to harm one of you, and end up hitting you or Nova. When I hit you, you smiled at me, and died instantly. For Nova, she just… looked at me, no emotion on her face. The only thing she said to me was “Why me?” And then she’d die.” Shepherd signs, looking away from her crew. “Collin, what about you?”

         “They weren’t as bad as yours, that's for sure. I think I had around… three? Each of them was basically the same, and each was equally terrifying. For all three, I was here, watching Nova go about her exploration. She was in… Serene Shores, but for some reason, there wasn’t any treasure nearby, or enemies for that matter. Well, aside from either a Pearly Clamclamp, or an Aristocrab Offspring. In two of the dreams it was a Clam, and in the other it was the crab. Anyway, that’s besides the point, Nova would try and fight one of the two, and a Pikmin, more specifically a Blue Pikmin would get caught in the line of fire, and was for sure going to die. Though, Nova wasn’t going to let that happen, and despite my begging her not to, she willingly gets in the line of fire, saving the Blue Pikmin but either getting bitten by the Clamclamp, or stabbed by the Aristocrab, both of which kill her on the spot. So yeah, not as bad as you, but still… terrifying. Especially when you can only watch it happen.” Collin turns to Russ. “I assume you had one too?”

         “Of course I did, kee-hee! I only got to go through it twice, though, so my memory may be a bit hazy. It goes along the same tracks as yours, Collin, watching Nova and all. Though, in my dream, Nova was just messing around, she wasn’t exploring much. That’s when I had the genius idea for her to test out one of the new prototypes I had made for her. She seemed happy to try one out, on a Horned Cannon Beetle of all things. She managed to get a Bomb Rock stuck inside its blowhole, but in turn she also got her entire hand stuck inside too. Which led to her entire hand getting blown up. Of course, she panics from this, and tries to run away. I ran to get the controller for the Survey Drone to help her out, but by the time I had gotten back, she was dead, more specifically, a squished pile of blue liquid. What about you Dingo? How many times?”

         “Take Shepherd's low ball number and multiply by two. That’s how many times. They were really short though, and were always the same exact thing. Nova and I would be exploring a cave, she’d go up ahead a bit, the cave would shake, rocks would fall, and one would land on the back of her head and kill her instantly. I tried everything to stop her. I tried to get in an argument with her, which only led to it happening faster. I tried to push her out of the way, which most times, got us both killed. I even tried to push ahead of her, and guess what, she’d see it as a competition and STILL get hit! I… I just wanted to stop watching her die right before my eyes.”

         “Stars… Dingo….”

         “I’m fine, Captain, just…disappointed I couldn’t do more.” Bernard puts his hand on Dingo’s which makes him feel just a bit better.

         “I think I had mine around THREE times, and each was… oddly different. The first version was the SIMPLEST, Nova would go into the Final Dandori battle, and never come out. The second one was where Dingo and Nova were ADVENTURING together, and both were fighting a Porquillion. The two would fight, but eventually both DIE to the thing. The final version was the scariest, at least to ME it was. I was being held back by several Pikmin, as an army of Pikmin DRAGS Nova’s what I can only assume lifeless body over to the Onion. It looked like she had died from exposure to this planet’s OXYGEN. No matter how much I PLEADED, the Pikmin didn’t let me go, and I had to WATCH her get turned into a Leafling. And… then I woke up. I know it’s Not as SCARY as your guys, but… I guess my mind was STILL hung up on the whole “Leafling” thing. Yonny, you got one, right?”

         Yonny nods. “Yeah. I only had one, but it lasted the whole night. I was stuck inside that nightmare for hours I just…” Yonny takes a deep breath before continuing. “I woke up in Blossoming Arcadia, alone. I was in front of the Missphan Pond base, on the bridge. Of course, there were Lumiknolls in front of me, and knowing how dangerous night time is, I ran towards them. But the Glow Pikmin stopped me, looking… afraid of me. I wasn’t sure why, at least, until I looked into my reflection. I was a leafling, a fully infected one at that. I looked down at my hands, as if I needed more proof, and found them bloody. I got scared, and looked behind me, only to find Nova right behind me. She had a bloody hole where her heart should be, and it didn’t take me long to figure out what I had done to her. It was also at that moment that I realized that it was a dream, and that I wanted out. 

        “The Glow Pikmin let me past once I had run over there, trying to get away from her. She just looked at me with glossy eyes as she just walked over to me. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at me. I could feel it though, the pit of guilt rising. I didn’t want to be near her, I didn’t want to feel the way I did. When I tried to run away again, she just asked me if I was, and I’m quoting here, ‘Going to ignore this problem just like you ignored my health?’ That stopped me. I think if I have to guess, my mind blames my inaction as the cause of her death, and therefore, what it decided to do was ridicule me, in my own dream.”

         “But it wasn’t your fault Yon. She was the one who insisted on getting up.”

         “Ehehe, I actually said that to her, and her response was ‘Dingo does that too and even gets worse injuries than me, and yet you took more action with him than you did me. You have no excuse. You took my life away because of your inaction.’”

         Dingo stares at Yonny, able to tell that it hurt him to say that. “Please tell me you actually fought back more.”

         “I did Dingo, but whatever I had to say was null and void because I was still blaming myself for her death. So eventually, I just gave up on fighting her, it wasn’t worth it anymore. I walked over to a wall, and sat down. Nova sat down next to me, and after a moment of silence, she asked, ‘Why me?’ And I couldn’t give her an answer. We sat there in pained silence until the sun rose. And once it did, she got up, and left. I didn’t go after her, I just didn’t have the energy to. The last thing I remember was her saying ‘I’ll never forgive you, and neither will the Karutation people, you know?’ and then I woke up in a cold sweat. So I think I win with the worst nightmare, ehehe!”

         “It wasn’t a competition Yon!” Yonny just laughs at Dingo, which seems to make him angrier. Then, their attention is turned away from each other once they hear Olimar laugh a bit. “Why are you laughing?”

         “Well, it’s just, I think these nightmares just tell a lot of Nova’s character, you know? The fact that you all had a different depiction of her really shows how close she was to you guys. For Shepherd and Collin, she was a reliable member of the team, for Russ, she was experimental and reckless, for Dingo, she was a rival, for Bernard, she was a new friend, and for Yonny, she was cold and calculated. It helps paint a picture of the person she was. How she died in each of your nightmares also–” Without any warning, a loud crash interrupts Olimar’s observations. The sound must have come from outside, judging on how the S.S. Shepherd hasn’t alerted the crew of any new damage to the ship.

         Collin nearly jumps out of his seat. “AAAHH! What was that?!”

         “Oatchi and I will go check it out!” Oatchi and Shepherd exit the S.S. Shepherd, making their way over to the area. They have to go through the Burrow of Beginnings again, but they make it over to the other side in record time. Shepherd and Oatchi travel all the way back to Nova’s first landing spot. What they find over there is something similar to the S.S. Beagle, currently on fire. Oatchi barks, and runs forward.

         Shepherd looks carefully from a distance. She notices a purple antenna sticking out of the pod. “There’s someone inside!” Shepherd reaches into the burning pod, pulling out a purple haired kid. He looks like Yonny, down to the eyes and hair type, but he’s incredibly pale, almost as pale as a vampire, and has, well, purple hair. He also has a backpack on, and is holding onto another bag tightly. Shepherd then notices that his helmet is cracked in multiple areas. Shepherd, not taking any chances, rushes back to the S.S. Shepherd, carrying the man back there herself with Oatchi by her side.

         Shepherd enters the S.S. Shepherd, and Russ notices her return first. “Ah, welcome back Cap– Wha? What in the–”

         “Someone else has crash landed here.” Shepherd places the boy on the table, and after a little bit of struggling, she pries the bag he is holding on to out of his hands. “Collin, can you open this?” Shepherd hands the bag over to Collin.

         “Of course!” Collin opens it and loudly gasps. “It’s from HQ!”

         Shepherd freezes for a moment. “It what?”

         “This… Hold on. I think we can talk to HQ now!” Collin runs over into the room with the radar and starts tinkering.

         Shepherd watches him run into the storage room. “Uh, Bernard, Dingo, anyone other than Yonny, can you help put out the fire in the back of the camp? Please?”

         “Copy that Captain!” All of them put on their helmets and run outside.

         “Yonny, he was in the burning pod, can you–”

         “Ehehe, do you even have to ask Captain? Of course.” Yonny takes the boy away, and something falls out of the unconscious man’s pocket. Shepherd picks it up.

         “Rescue Corps Backup Officer: Pom

         Home Planet: Ohri

         A shy man who lived on Ohri for 17 years. 

         He moved to Karut as soon as he could, and 

         has been living with his friends for the past 6 years.”

         “Oh well that’s news to me! I didn’t know we were getting another Backup Officer!” Shepherd thinks. Looking up she sees the Blue Siblings both peeking out of the pile of clothing and absolutely terrified. “What are you two looking at?”

         “Nothing…” Mimic looks away from the Captain.

         “That’s what I thought.” Shepherd goes to help the outsiders put out the fire.

         Pom’s landing didn’t go well. He crashed. Burning is most of what he can remember. That and his inner voice yelling at him for messing up again. He’s hired not even three days ago, and he’s already on the same expedition Nova is. He has to find her, who knows what she ended up doing to herself? Well, as soon as he wakes up, that is.

         Yonny finally puts the finishing touches on the poor man. He has been burnt pretty badly, but his personal belongings in his backpack are fine. Russ comes into the medical bay, and hisses his breath seeing the amount of bandages the guy has. “That bad, huh?”

         Yonny sighs. “Yeah. I swear this is why I’m still on board.”

         “Kee-hee-hee! That and you’re good at other jobs. I’ve just come to tell you that the bag the kid had allowed Collin to increase the radar’s range, not in this planet sense, but like… multi planet sense.”

         Yonny looks outside at the sky. “Can we talk to HQ now?”

         “Yep! The Captain wants you there, along with the kid there, you know, just in case.” Yonny looks back at the kid, and Russ notices his concern. “Can you take him with you?”

         Yonny thinks for a while. He believes he can reach the lobby, if he tries. “If I had an extra pair of hands, technically yes.”

         “Then let’s do this, Kee-hee-hee!” Russ helps Yonny painfully move the kid over to the main lobby. The President picks up the call right as Yonny puts everything down.

         “Ah, so it works! Hello Rescue Corps Group forty two, how’s it going? I see that Pom made it… in one piece… Uh… what happened to Pom?”

         Shepherd takes the lead. “His ship crashed and caught on fire. We have put out the fire and saved what we could, sir!”

         “Ah, good, good… My other question still stands, how is it going? And… where is Nova?” They just stand there, one question in the air. “Who’s gonna tell him?”

         Jeremy hops up from his hiding place, and walks towards the screen. “Good and not good, Mr. President of the Rescue Corps.”

         Collin tries to stop the Pikmin. “Huh, Jeremy what are you–”

         “Oh! Is that one of the Pikmin in the Voyage Logs?”

         “Yes, I am. I can explain everything to you…” Jeremry proceeds to explain every event that has happened, no matter how bad or good it makes the group look. Jeremry is meticulous, going over everything. Nova saving Shepherd and Collin, Nova finding the Pikmin, Nova collecting treasure, Dingo and Nova’s adventures, Nova getting hurt, night expeditions, leaflings, and finally ending with Nova’s sad death.

         Jeremy claps his little hands together. “So there you go. That’s how it’s going, Mr. President.”

         “She’s dead…?” The President does NOT sound happy with any of the last bits of information.

         “Not yet… hopefully.” Jeremry messes with the monitor, and turns back on Nova’s mic. It’s still crackling fire.

         Dingo is unamused. It’s clear to him that this Pikmin is just stalling for time. “What point is this proving? Wh–”

         A voice comes through, loud and clear. One high pitched, and excited. It isn’t as high pitched as a Pikmin’s or leafling’s, but it isn’t as low pitched as an average captain’s. It’s somewhere in the middle of the two, leaning towards the more Pikmin-y pitch though. “So Min, what do you think she’ll be like?” It doesn’t talk in the language of the Pikmin, instead it seems to opt for the National Galactic Language. The S.S. Shepherd falls silent, as Jeremy tenses up, and Mimic grabs onto Jeremy’s arm.

         Red is in shock, sputtering out their words. “Wait… is that….”

         Mimic mutters out. “Blue… He’s still alive after all this time.”

         “But how? He was left for dead.” Red holds himself, trying to calm himself down.

         There is a response, from a bulborb of all things, which the Pikmin seems to not like. “No shit, Min. I meant her personality. I’m thinking either excited idiot, or savage overlord.” The bulborb responds, still talking in a language unknown to the crew. “HAHAHA! Nice joke there. “Like the Glowmin” Ha! I hope not.” The bulborb’s tone changes to one of curiosity. “Min, you have no idea how many Lumiknolls I had to threaten to get them to shut the hell up! Those Glowmin kept trying to warn them, and well, that would have spoiled the surprise! Hahah!”

         “Those…Glowmin?” Yonny starts thinking back to what they did, and suddenly it clicks. “She’s… infected?”

         Russ looks at Yonny, a bit confused. “Infected? Infected with what Yonny?”

         Jeremy just looks behind him at Yonny. “I fear so, doc.”

         Red looks at Jeremy, confused as all mighty hell. “Jeremy, what's…”

         Jeremy sighs, they still can’t understand. “Red, the fungal infection didn’t die with the Puffstool’s near extinction. It found its new home in newer, wetter, warmer places, the most common of those are the fire geysers and enemies in the Engulfed Castle, and most if not all poison geysers on this planet. It happened to Blue, he went through the same thing, I just was so naive. And when it was too late, I went after him. I almost died that night. I couldn’t let Olimar and the Mut go through the same thing.”

         Bernard is baffled at the Pikmin’s words. “Why didn’t YOU mention ANY of THIS before?”

         “I thought it wasn’t true. I thought Starlights were immune, but again, when it was too late, I was relieved to be a naive fool.”

         The sound of glass shattering comes from the mic. “OH GOD! Ha, never going to get used to that. Min, why are you looking at me like that? Sprouting stems are seriously terrifying.” Yonny looks at the health monitor, horrified as Nova’s heart starts beating again.

         Nova’s voice comes over the speaker. “Ugh… ow… I… where am… who are… oh god, what is–”

         The other being attempts to calm her down. “Woah, woah, woah, calm down. I’m not gonna hurt you! Neither is the big dog thing.” Min huffs.

         “I….” Nova sounds even more confused than before.

         “I’ll answer your most burning questions that I know you’re going to ask. NUMBER UNO, you are in a kitchen of some sorts, not sure why you were just left here, but hey, it worked out in your favor. NUMBER DOS, I am what is known as a Puffmin, but I go by Puffy. The big dog thing behind me is a Bulbmin, or a Puffy Bulbmin. I call him Min. And for who you are… that’s something I’m pretty sure even you don’t know, right?”

         It takes a moment for Nova to respond. “...Yeah.”

         “Ah, don’t worry, when I first woke up, I remembered NOTHING. So… take this a new start for your life. Trust me, we have a lot of fun! But, wait you need a name… uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Min got any ideas?” Min responds quickly. “You like Mushy?”

         “Sure. That sounds nice. Wait… why isn’t he–”

         “One part of the hivemind doesn't hurt those in it. Basically he has the mushroom that you and I have!”

         “Mushroom?” There is some shuffling. “Oh. Wow, it’s… not that bad.”

         “I know right!? Now, we have one part left before you start your new life with us, and it’s to get rid of that helmet. You don’t need it anymore, you can breathe this planet’s air after all!”

         “Oh, right! Where should I leave it?”

         Min responds, harsher than before. “That’s cold… but it will work, come on! Get on the Min-Min Express!” Nova laughs quite hard at that joke, and they hop onto Min. Min starts to run, and after what seems like a long ride, they stop. “Just place it here. Then we can start to show you around this planet!” There is the sound of the helmet being taken off, and then the bulbmin’s steps getting further and further away. Once there are no more footsteps from the Min, Jeremy turns off the mic, covering his face with his tiny hands.

         “I…I’m so sorry… I just… thought it wasn’t true…”

         The President is just as shocked as everyone else. “So, Nova is–”

         Jeremy corrects the President. “No longer Nova. She’s Mushy now.”

         The President doesn’t look happy. In fact, he looks… mad. “Shepherd.”

         “Y-yes sir?”

         The President takes a moment to think of how to phrase what he wants to say without being unprofessional. “The blame isn’t solely on you. It’s on the entire crew, and you will all face the consequences.” The crew knows what that means. They are doomed the moment they get home.

         Shepherd lowers her head. “Y-yes Sir…”

         The purple boy starts to cough, and shakily raises his hand. “To…To b…be f…air s-sir, You di…d j-just al-alm…ost k-kill me-e… wh…ich m-make…s you… just as…b-ad as t…hey are… in yo…ur e-eyes… at… l…east….” 

         The President is taken completely off guard. “Wait… Pom is awake? And he’s talking back?!” He decides to entertain the idea. “How so?”

         Pom coughs, and tries to keep himself awake. “S…sending a… new… hi…re of three… d-days, one… w…ho st-t-ill ne…eds tra…in…ing… you… gaure…teed… to a planet kno…wn for crash l-landings… is h-how… s-sir….”

         Pretty much all of them are in shock at this guy's response. The first thing he does when he wakes up is tell off his boss? Dingo is more impressed than dumbfounded. “Uh, Newbie, that’s your boss you're talking to.”

         “It’s…d-different… wi-ith a sc-een….” 

         Shepherd tries to apologize, trying to save some face. “I’m so sorry sir–”

         “I-I’m n-not….”

         Shepherd turns around, muttering. “Kid, I’m trying to save you.”

         “I ju…st go-t-t the n…ews t-that my b…best friend… die…d and ca…me back… th…is i…s the lea…st of …my w…worries….”

         The President is in shock. Nova was absolutely right, this kid truly is something else. But, the more the President thinks about it, the more he realizes that Pom is right. He sighs. “It’s alright Shepherd. He’s new, he’ll learn. And well… he’s right. So I’ll cut you all a deal, if you guys save everyone stranded on that planet, then I guess we can sweep this incident under the rug, got it?”

         “C-Copy that!” Shepherd is not sure how in the world Pom managed to change the President’s mind, but she will take it.

         “Good. Now, I have a meeting to attend to, I trust you all. Good luck, Rescue Corps.”

         “Thank you sir!” The call ends and all eyes turn to Pom, who has just fallen unconscious again. 

         Bernard whispers to Dingo. “He is either really BRAVE or really stupid.”

         Dingo whispers back. “I’d say both.”

         “I’ll get him back to the med bay… Russ?” Yonny looks over at Russ, who has stopped fidgeting with his hands the moment his name is called.

         “Yes?”

         Yonny looks between him and Pom. “Please help me…”

         “Oh! Of course! Kee-hee-hee!” Russ and Yonny wheel Pom back to the medical bay, as the rest of the crew sits there in shock. 

         “So… WHAT do we do?”

         Collin looks at Bernard, who seems really worried about their new task. “We have no choice in rescuing everyone, but… how can we?”

         Shepherd speaks up, finding her voice. “We aren’t letting anyone go out alone. I propose a double or more system!”

         “Double or more?”

         “Yes Collin. More than one person per exploration. There will be some where all of us go, or some where only two of us go. With this, we can make sure something like Nova’s situation never happens again. And that is effective immediately.” 

         “Copy that Captain!”

         Dingo smiles. “Now, who should be first?”

         Shepherd thinks for a moment, before responding. “If we can get Pom used to the workflow here, then our lives will be significantly easier. So, when he is up for it, we’ll start missions. As for who's going first, I will, as the Captain, it’s just principle. Then, we can have–”

         Olimar, who is still sitting at the table and had just watched that entire confrontation and situation go down, raises his hand. “Shepherd, you don’t have to take him the first day, I should do it.”

         Shepherd tries to protest. “What? But Captain Olimar, you shouldn’t have to get stuck in our mess!”

         “I know the most out of everyone here about the Pikmin. Though Shepherd, I recommend tomorrow letting the boy rest up, he is still injured after all.”

         “Just like Nova huh?” Shepherd looks at Olimar, who is determined to get the yes. “Of course Captain Olimar, we’ll let him rest! But… are you sure?”

         “Yes, it’s the least I can do for you all.” Guilt clouds Olimar’s eyes.

         “Yep, just like Nova.” Shepherd nods. “Alright, then it’s decided. Now, we just have to find out what to do with our time for the rest of the day.” The rest of the day is full of organizing and planning. Shepherd plans for paths for them to take, Collin improves the communicators on the computer and the suits, Russ creates plenty of inventions and items for himself and the others, Dingo and Bernard hang out all day, trying to out nickname the other, Oatchi rests up in Nova’s room, still feeling guilty about leaving her behind, and Yonny is writing up another medical report.

         It becomes night before any of them know it. Most officers retire around ten, but Yonny stays up late, trying to finish what he needs to. Soon, it’s quite late at night, and last night did not treat Yonny well. In fact, it’s been awhile since Yonny got some good sleep. Though, right now, Yonny is trying not to fall asleep, as he still has work to do. Eventually, he thinks that he can rest his head on the desk, just for a moment. He puts his head on the desk, eyes falling as soon as his head meets the table. That moment turns into two, and then three. In a matter of seconds, Yonny is knocked completely out, pen still in hand.

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up in some pain. Not much, but still some. He sits up, and notices the doctor asleep on his desk, pen still in hand. Pom quietly chuckles to himself, before the door opens just a bit. Then, it slowly opens fully. On the other side is a man, which Pom thinks is Dingo. Though, it might be someone else, he’s not entirely sure. Aero was never good at describing physical appearances.

         Dingo attempts to keep his voice down for Yonny’s sake. “Oh you’re awake! Newbie, you want to come to our meeting?” Dingo sounds much harsher than he intended to be. It’s not like Dingo wants to disclude the newbie, it’s just he’s the one who was forced to get Pom, and honestly, he really doesn’t want to do this right now.

         Pom looks a bit worryingly at Dingo. Not many people invite him to meetings, and most times meetings don’t go great. Though, Pom just accepts he has to go to one, at least. “Uh, sure?”

         “Then get out here, we are waiting!” He says as he closes the door softly. Pom finds some nearby clothes and puts them on, before leaving the doctor to sleep. Pom goes to the main lobby, where a bunch of people are waiting. He doesn’t recognize most of them, which Pom chalks up to him being tired, and Aero not here to explain everything to him in great detail.

         “Oh, good morning Pom!” The only lady comes rushing over, holding out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again. I am your Captain and boss, Erma Shepherd… I- uh… kid?” Pom backs away from her. Normally, Pom can handle himself in front of people, but this time it is different. Yeah sure, this is the same person from his last interview, but that was over the internet, so he at least had a barrier there. Now that he is in person with her, and Pom is terrified. He notices his position and forces himself forward, trying to convince himself that this lady is nice and all those other lies adults usually tell.

         “Uh… sorry. I-it’s nice to meet you a-again.” He shakes her hand. Next came over a bigger man with grey hair.

         “It’s nice to meet you Pom, I am Collin, the communications operator.” Collin just smiles at him.

         For Pom, it’s a bit too forced. “N-nice to meet you too.”

         Bernard decides to go next. “I’m Bernard, pilot of the one and only S.S. Shepherd. And I am PLEASED to meet you.”

         Pom flinches back at the word “pleased” . “It’s nice to meet you too, sir.”

         Dingo gently pushes Bernard a bit back. “Please, you don’t need to sir him. Now me, on the other hand, the legendary Dingo, you should.”

         Pom shakes at his actions towards who he heard is his best friend. “Uh… alright s-sir.”

         Bernard smacks Dingo. “Pom, you don’t HAVE to sir Dingo. He’s just a BIT of a troublemaker.”

         Pom laughs to himself. “Heh, trust me, I’m u-used to t-troublemakers.” Pom sighs, letting his smile fade. “ When Aero gets here he will freak the hell out… hahah….”

         Russ stands up, but decides to stay where he is, which eases Pom a bit. “I’m Russ, the resident brains of this Rescue Corps operation. I use the raw materials people find and my handmade components to create all kinds of items and gear for use in the field.”

         Pom nods. “Nice… to meet you all.” He bows down to his superiors. “Thank you for the warm introduction. I guess my body still thinks it’s in danger.”

         Shepherd smiles at Pom, trying to make him feel better. “Oh you don’t need to bow! Don’t worry, we won’t let anything hurt you!” It doesn’t work, but at least she is trying.

         Collin looks over at the monitor, and then looks back at Shepherd. “Captain, pick up the call.”

         “Oh! Sorry!” Shepherd runs over and picks up the call with the President. 

         “Ah, good! None of you died! Well… maybe Yonny? Where is he?”

         Shepherd looks over at Dingo, who realizes that he’s the only one who’s seen Yonny today, well, aside from Pom. “He’s sleeping. He hasn’t slept in days, so…”

         “Oh yeah, that’s fair.”

         Pom starts panicking. He sort of remembers what happened yesterday, and from what he remembers, it wasn’t the best interaction. Pom starts to heavily apologize. “I’m sorry sir! About yesterday, whatever I said, I didn’t mean too! I’m so sorry!”

         Shepherd tries to calm the boy. “Pom, it’s alright!”

         “Pom,” the President clears his voice. “I’m over it. It’s okay, you’re new, you’ll have to make mistakes in order to learn from them.”

         “T-Thank you sir!” Pom feels the world around him dull, as the people around him just become a confusing blur of colors and noise. He can also feel something rise in his chest. Something that he’s known for years. He holds his arm up to his chest, trying to check his heart rate. He doesn’t even need to, he can already feel the blood pulsing in his hand, and he can already hear his heart pound in his ears. “Gods, not… why…?  D-dad… Aero… s-someone… s-save me….” Pom doesn’t know how long he stays in this moment of agony alone, but he finally feels someone take his hands. The person who took Pom’s hand guides him back to a quiet room. Pom’s not entirely sure where it is, but it’s good enough. The person manages to guide Pom all the way to one of the cots, where Pom lays down. 

         Then, and only then, does he finally hear someone’s voice. “I’ll leave you here, just come get one of us if you need anything.”

         The person leaves, and Pom just covers his face with the nearby pillow. “Why is Russ being so nice to me?” Pom sulks. “Probably just nothing big… I need to just sleep it off… yeah… if I can ever calm down that is.” Pom removes the pillow from his face, and lays there, slowly getting more tired by the minute. After ten long minutes, Pom finally manages to fall asleep.

         Russ walks back into the lobby, whispering what needs to be said about the kid's condition to the Captain. She nods, understanding that they might have accidentally overwhelmed the kid. “We’re good, Pom just became overwhelmed. He’ll be okay though!”

         “Alright, good. The poor kid has already been through enough.” The President looks down at his desk, and his eyes light up with excitement. “Speaking of Pom, I have a big undertaking relating to him, are you up for it?”

         Shepherd replies for the group. “Yes sir!”

         “Good, now listen closely….”

         It isn’t long until Pom wakes up again. He isn’t in pain or panic anymore, he just has energy to waste somehow. Pom grabs his backpack, which is conventionally next to the bed, and pulls out his 3rd diary, writing a new entry.

         Entry 48: Made it :)

         I have landed on the planet as intended. What wasn’t intended was the whole ship setting itself on fire mid flight. Curse this stupid planet… I have to find Aero soon, who knows what happened to his ship?

         -Pom

         Pom hears a knock on the door and quickly hides his only available comfort back inside his backpack.

         “May I come in?” From what Pom could tell, it’s a man. Or at least, born male, with a very deep voice.

         “Y-Yes, sir.”

         Olimar opens the door. “You can just call me Olimar.” He enters the room, leaving the door slightly open. “Tomorrow, if you’re feeling up for it, you and I are going on a test run through Blossoming Arcadia, but today, I thought I could introduce you to the Pikmin or at least the ones Nova had in the Onion.”

         Pom has already read the Logs that Olimar sent out, so it isn’t that hard to understand words like “Pikmin,” and “Onion.” Pom nods. “Oh that would be nice, thank you sir!”

         “Kid…”

         “Look, it just… feels wrong to call you anything other than sir."     

         Olimar just sighs. “There is really no convincing this kid.” He turns to the door, opening it a little more. “Alright, you can come in.” All five types enter the room, some more excited than others. Olimar has them line up, from Red to Ice. “These are Pikmin, helpful little fellows that helped Nova and many other captains collect treasures and ship parts, they are… uh kid?”

         Pom is freaking out, staring at the two Blues. He knows those Pikmin, he knows them. His father knew them… his father….

         “Pom?” Pom is paler than he has ever been, and Olimar quickly deduces the poor officer is currently having a panic attack. “Oh! Pom, come here! Breathe in, and out.” Olimar grabs Pom’s hands, and breathes with him. Pom slowly calms down. “You alright?”

         “Yeah, I’m… fine…” If Pom is being honest, no, he’s not. The odd sting in his chest is still there, and it still feels like one of his lungs just wants to give up, but he decides to shut up for once. He isn’t supposed to tell anyone anything, and he really doesn’t want the Captain to hate him.

         Olimar lets go of Pom’s hands. “Alright, if you need me to stop at any time, just tell me.”

         “Okay… t-thank you….”

         Olimar stands to the side, allowing Pom to see all the Pikmin lined up in a row. “The first one up is– Hey! Purple!” Purple walks up, jumps on the bed, and just hugs Pom. Olimar tries whistling him off, but Purple looks at Olimar, and face-plants into Pom. “Ugh, Purple! Sorry Pom, usually they behave more than this…”

         “Haha, no it’s okay sir.” Pom picks up the Pikmin, and holds it out. Purple just lets go of all the tension, kinda making it look like a cat. Pom chuckles. “Honestly, I think my father would have loved this one.” The Purple looks at Pom, wide eyed, before it suddenly just bursts into tears.

         “Oh!” Olimar is a bit taken aback. He has never seen a Pikmin cry.

         “Ack! Oh dear… I’m sorry little guy, don’t cry, don't cry… shhhhh… shhhh… oh god it’s like taking care of Nova all over again.” Pom puts the Purple down on the bed, and Purple runs over and buries its face in Pom’s chest. Pom hesitates, but ends up petting it, shhhhing it, and helping it calm down. 

         “Oh I’m so sorry Pom. I didn’t–”

         “Oh sir, it’s alright. If it’s alright with the doctor, I can keep him with me… wait, where is the doctor?”

         “Russ took him to his room to sleep.”

         “Oh, o-okay.”

         Olimar gestures over to the Pikmin. “Red, Steve, come here.” Red and Steve walk over, and introductions begin. Each of the Pikmin come over one type at a time, as Olimar greatly describes what each one of them does. For the Reds, them and Pom just kinda stare at each other, for the Yellow, he waves, for the Ice, he gets his arm frozen. The Blues are the only ones he feels uncomfortable around. Not because of their looks or anything, no, it’s because he knows they know. He knows that they know they have seen him before. Maybe they don’t know where, but they have to at least recognize him. They look like they do. Olimar doesn’t notice the tension though, he just keeps telling Pom about the two Blues.

         “And well… there are three other types, Winged, Rock, and White, but it seems like Nova didn’t find any of them in her travels.”

         “Well that’s fair, I guess…”

         “Are you comfortable with me taking most of the Pikmin tomorrow?”

         “Uh, yeah. I’ll just shadow you and maybe be at the base for a bit, if that’s okay. I don’t want to push my body that much.”

         “Of course Pom. Whatever makes you comfortable is fine with me.” Olimar smiles at the boy, making Pom feel just a tad bit better. “Well I better get going, your rest is important, I’ll see you at dinner kid.”

         “O-okay see you then!” Pom lays down, and snuggles with the Purple until he falls asleep again. When Pom wakes up, he smells something incredible. 

         “It must be dinner.” It dawns on Pom what he just said. “Wait… Oh god!” Pom rushes out of bed, and runs to the main lobby, to the surprise of everyone there.

         Bernard, who is sitting at the main dining table with Dingo and Russ, looks up from the conversation he is having with the two, quite startled by Pom’s sudden appearance. “What’s wrong, newbie? Did you FORGOT something?”

         “I…I’m sorry! I s-should be h-helping with–”

         Collin pops out of the kitchen to try and calm Pom down. “Woah, woah, Pom slow down. You don’t have to help.”

         “Wh– but–”

         “You still hurt Pom, you don’t have to help much.” 

         Poms just looks guilty and sighs. “Sorry.”

         Collin almost pats Pom, but he stops himself before touching the purple man. “Pom, you don’t need to apologize. You're fine.”

         “But I feel like I should. Back at…uh… my mom’s house, I had to make the food cause, “Boys do the cooking, girls do the cleaning.” Though, she never cleaned much….”

         “Well, here we just let anyone cook, unless they are Yonny or Bernard. In which case they are barred from cooking. Ever.”

         Bernard hits the table on accident. “Oh come ON! It was ONE time.” Bernard shakes his hand, trying to somehow numb the pain. Dingo laughs at him.

         Pom looks at Collin, confused. “I can see Yonny being barred, but… Bernard?”

         Dingo quietly laughs to himself recalling the day Bernard was banned from the kitchen. “He burnt water. Somehow. And nearly set the whole S.S. Shepherd on fire.” Pom can’t help but laugh at that.

         “I see where Aero gets it from…” He laughs a bit too hard, and starts coughing again. “TOO MUCH TOO MUCH OH GOD!”

         Collin has to stop himself again from touching Pom. “Oh! Pom are you–”

         Pom straightens himself, looking at Collin. “I’m alright, sorry!”

         Dingo gets a devilish smile, as he looks over at Bernard. “Oh, looks like our Newbie has a case of the Apology disease!”

         Pom is taken a bit aback. He’s heard that term from Aero, but Aero never explained what it meant. “Eh? What do you–”

         Bernard sighs. “We are not playing THAT game again Dingo.”

         “Wha?! Why? It was funny.”

         “You NEARLY scared Yonny off the team last time!”

         Collin looks at the two men, unamused. “Pom, just ignore them, come on.” Collin gets Pom a seat, in between Russ, and what would soon be Yonny. Collin runs back to the kitchen to help Shepherd as Pom pulls out a tiny little pencil and book, titled Mom’s Rules and crosses off Rule #45. 

         Pom bites on his pencil. “Another one wrong… I wonder if they are all wrong… only time will tell, I guess.” Pom puts away the book, and just sits there. It’s really awkward, at least to him it is.

         Russ decides to take a shot at getting this kid to be more open with the group. “Pom, do you have any best friends aside from Nova?”

         This takes Pom completely off guard. “Uh… y-yeah. His…His name is Aero…. Um… am I allowed to talk about him a bit more?”

         “There we go, that’s something new!” Russ smiles. “Please do, Kee-hee!”

         Pom looks at Russ, just for a moment, before laughing. “Haha, I know this is going to sound really weird, but I really like your laugh! It… suits you.”

         “Oh my! It seems I’m the favorite today! Thanks Pom. Most people say it’s creepy.”

         “It’s not. Trust me, I know creepy.” Russ is taken aback by that comment. Pom’s tone shifted in under ten words, to a more serious one. Then he just goes back to normal. “Anyway… right Aero. He’s been my friend ever since I arrived at Karut. He… might have had a troubled past, like Nova and me, but he’s a good person now! I think he applied for the Backup Officer job not long after I did, not sure if he got accepted. But anyway… wait… OH GOD!”

         Russ backs up a bit, trying to give Pom some room. “Pom?”

         Pom realizes that it’s been at least a day since he crashed, and if he crashed, then Aero must have too. And he’s somewhere on the planet, with no support, food, or worst case… air. “He’s here. Oh nonononono! He’s on this planet alone!”

         “He’s what?”

         “As soon as he found out I was coming here because of work, he hopped in his own pod and went after me. We had some communication before he entered the planet’s atmosphere, oh I hope he’s okay!”

         “So he’s reckless? SOUNDS familiar.” Bernard glares at Dingo.

         It takes a moment for Dingo to notice. “Hey! I wasn’t that reckless the first time I went on a Rescue Mission!”

         “You nearly DIED because, and I QUOTE, “I’ll handle all the fights, no need to help me, I’m not bleeding that BADLY.” whilst you were bleeding out on the floor of the S.S. Shepherd.”

         “I did win though, and plus that was one time!”

         Pom looks at Russ. “Do those two fight all the time?”

         “Kee-hee! Yes, they do. Don’t worry, it’s normal.”

         Shepherd yells out from the kitchen. “COMING OUT WITH HOT FOOD, PREPARE YOURSELVES!”

         Russ gets up from his seat. “I’ll go get Yonny, be right back…” Some sort of noodles are set down. It is with a red sauce.

         “Uh, newbie, are YOU okay?”

         “I’ve…never had this before… what is it?”

         Bernard blinks a few times before replying. “You’ve NEVER had spaghetti before?”

         The Purple Pikmin hops onto Pom’s lap. “I never knew how to make it, so no.”

         “Well, prepare yourself for the best meal of your LIFE!” Everyone gets their fillings that night. Pom isn’t entirely sure how to feel. It’s good, but with too little spices. “Guess I just make mom’s meals a bit differently….”

         During the dinner, Purple gets a few noodles, and eats them. It seems sad when it does, but it gives Collin and Shepherd a thumbs up.

         Dingo looks over at Pom. He eats quietly, at least compared to the rest of them. “So…how was it, Newbie?”

         “Uh…good. I’m used to far more spices in meals like this though.”

         “Spices, like–”

         Dingo doesn’t get to finish as Pom silently sighs. “Spicy.”

         Shepherd looks at Pom with curiosity. “Oh! Must be a thing from Ohri… is it?”

         “Not that I know of. I guess our backup makes dishes just a bit more spicily than any of us, ehehe.”

         The rest of the dinner is lively. Pom just listens to the others, rather than talk more. He finds it much more interesting, watching their every move, especially Russ. Russ is something Pom wasn’t expecting. “For all the talk about being the crazy guy on the ship, he sure doesn’t act like it!” Pom thinks. Once dinner is finished, Shepherd stands up. “Officers, we know the plan for tomorrow, correct?”

         “Yes Captain!”

         “Good, then let’s at least try and get a decent sleep!”

         “Copy that!”

         “Yes Ma’am!”

         Russ whispers to Pom. “Uh, Pom, your supposed to–”

         Pom blushes, embarrassed as hell. “Oh, sorry. Copy that!”

         “Excellent response Pom. Alright, you’re all dismissed.” Shepherd takes it upon herself to wash the dishes. Yonny helps Pom back to the medical bay. A few seconds after Pom is set down on the bed, he falls asleep with that Purple Pikmin in his hands. Yonny doesn’t mind, in fact, he leaves him there to go talk to Russ. Yonny opens the door to their shared room, startling Russ.

         “Ah! Yonny, maybe knock next time…”

         “Ehehe, sorry. Just need to talk to you about Pom.”

         Russ stops tinkering with the Survey Drone, only turning his head towards Yonny. “You noticed?”

         Yonny’s shoulders drop. “Yeah. Something’s wrong with that kid. You told me about how he flinched at everyone, no matter what we did or said, which was suspicious enough, but that little book in his pocket? That… that’s not normal, you agree?”

         Russ fully turns towards Yonny, clearly pissed off. “Yeah. Some of those rules were just ridiculous!”

         "Oh? You got a peek?”

         “For a few seconds. They were on a range from slightly weird, to outright ridiculous! Like for example, rule forty three is apparently that Pom is in charge of financially supporting his mother for the rest of his life, then forty four is to not waste money at the hospital and I quote “You’re expendable.” I mean, come on!”

         “Ehehe! Well that’s…” Yonny notices that Russ’ expression hasn’t changed once. “You’re… not joking?”

         “Does it look like I’m joking?”

         “Oh my stars… that’s… a lot worse than I was expecting….”

         “Worst part, he most likely won’t tell us anything due to rule thirty nine, which was “Don’t tell anyone anything. They’ll hate you if you do and leave you all alone”.”

         “Ehehehe well, we have to get this guy to trust us somehow.”

         Russ smiles, remembering Pom’s treatment towards himself. “Well, I already think he likes me, Kee-hee!”

         “And I think he’ll like you more with all those upgrades and items. Russ, I believe you are our only way in. Can–”

         “Do you even have to ask? Our jobs are on the line if we don't, of course I’ll help.”

         Yonny sighs in relief. “Oh thank the stars… Now, you rest up Russ. Big day tomorrow… I’ll be in the medical bay. See ya!”

         “Make sure to actually sleep in one of the beds this time!” Yonny laughs to himself. He will, this time at least.

         Mushy walks along the sandy area, looking around for any enemies. Most seem to be going up a structure, eyes glowing red. Mushy looks up, noticing something new. “What the hell is that?” Mushy points up at the sky.

         Puffy laughs at her. “You’ve never seen the moon before?”

         “I was just revived like, a day ago, no.” Puffy sighs, kicking the Cannon Beetle they managed to take down. Min is nearby, keeping watch for any Whiptongues for Dumples. 

         “Well, that’s the moon. It’s a planet, at least, I’ve been told it’s a planet by my old brother and sister.”

         “You had siblings?”

         “Yeah, but nowadays, we can’t talk to each other. They flee when it’s night, and we flee when it’s day. Plus, I’m sure they hate me for betraying the hive mind and everything.”

         Min comes back over to the two, and sits down. “Aww… how cute!”

         Puffy walks over, petting Min. “Yeah, he really is the cutest. Now come on, eat up. I know you need food to survive.” Mushy nods, and eats under the night sky.

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up when Purple starts to shake him around. He sits up, seeing the medical bay barren. No one is here, and Pom figures out that they must all be outside. Pom gets up, and finds a helmet, red suit, tablet, and note on the nearby table. 

         Thought you’d need these! -Captain Shepherd

         “How nice.” Pom thinks as he puts them on and opens the tablet. It’s just like the President said it’d be like, just with a bit more purple flare added. Pom heads outside, with Purple trailing behind him.

         Shepherd notices Pom come out of the S.S. Shepherd, and waves over at him. “There he is! Good morning Pom!”

         Pom shakily waves back. “G-Good morning Captain!”

         Olimar approaches Pom. Now seeing him in a suit, Pom swears his looks much more… formal? Captain like? He’s not sure. “You ready kid?”

         Purple hops on Pom’s back. “Yep. Ready when you are.”

         Shepherd pats Oatchi on the back, sending him over to Olimar. “By the way, Oatchi will be coming with you two, as a backup!”

         “Alright, thanks Shepherd.” Olimar turns to Pom. “I assume you know how the S.S. Beagle works?”

         “Generally.” Pom walks under it with Purple on his back, along with OIimar and Oatchi, and the four head for Blossoming Arcadia.

         They land at the first base of the area, and Olimar gets out the remaining nine Purples, along with 20 Yellows and 20 Blues. As soon as Abdul sees Olimar, it runs over and hugs him, which accidentally electrocutes him. “Missed you too Abdul.” Olimar smiles and looks over at Oatchi. “Can I…?” Oatchi barks and sits down. Olimar hops on with the Pikmin, “You want on Pom?”

         “No thanks. It’s not… really my thing.” It’s not that Pom hates Oatchi, it’s just that Pom, like Aero, doesn’t really like most dogs. 

         “Alright, Oatchi, make sure that Pom can keep up.” The group goes down the path, Olimar noticing that Nova didn’t get a flarlic that’s nearby. Olimar goes over to get the flarlic while Pom watches him, taking notes. After that Olimar catches up and goes across the bridge with Pom in order to move the base. They wait for the flarlic to get back. Once it does, Olimar pulls out 10 more yellows. The two go forward, collecting a raw material pile, and going past a broken electric gate. There are a few enemies, and a new treasure.

         “Those things in the ground are Joustmites. Its weak spot is in the back. And that over there is a Yellow Wollyhop. It hops into the air and crushes Pikmin. And that one near us is a Waddlepuff. It sucks items inside itself, and kills Pikmin in the same way.” Olimar then goes around, making the area safe for Pom to get a closer look at everything. Olimar collects a raw materials pile, finds a completely buried treasure, and tries to get the last treasure, but a bunch of Mites come out from under it. Luckily, Olimar gets the army together, and gets that treasure after that. Olimar even goes in the water, killing another Yellow Wollyhop and collecting another treasure. Then Olimar waits for everything to come back, and goes back to Pom.

         “You okay kid?”

         “Y-Yep. Let's k-keep going.” Going up the path, Olimar breaks some pots, and leaves some Pikmin to dig up a treasure. There is another already broken wall, this one an Ice one, and a Swooping Snitch Bug. It almost picks up Pom, but Olimar luckily knocks it down. Then they see the base, with a dead Creeping Chrysanthemum crushed under a crashed Pod. Pom instantly recognizes the model, and odd stickers along the sides. 

         Pom’s heart sinks. “That’s Aero’s… pod.” Pom runs over. “OH GOD AERO!” He looks inside and around the pod. It’s completely broken, with many sharp parts now poking out. One of the parts of the wreckage has a large bit of the wall of the pod, its side covered in dry blood, shards of glass surrounding it. “Aero… no. He’s not dead, hopefully.”

         In the meantime, Olimar moves the base, and goes up to build a rotating structure in order to turn off the sprinkler. He also has a Purple move the Creeping Chrysanthemum into the Onion. When Pom gets out, there are now two more dead Yellow Wollyhops.

         Olimar sends them back, along with a treasure. Then he puts the Pikmin on a bridge. “Hey kid, after I’m done, can you move the base down to the first one?”

         “Y-Yeah sure.” Pom runs over to first base, and as soon as he arrives Purple hops off his back. Pom looks around the area for a moment, taking in the beautiful scenery, when he hears something that doesn’t seem right. Pom looks around, and he hears the sound again. Pom’s eyes shoot wide open as he recognizes the noise as someone screaming. Pom runs over towards the screams, as Purple tries to get him to go back to the base. The screams led Pom to a cave, with an electric enemy nearby. Another scream, more panicked than the last, blasts through the cave’s entrance. “The screams were definitely coming from here!” Pom hops inside, to the horror of Purple. Purple stares at the cave for a moment, before running off to drag Olimar to the Courtyard.

         Olimar finally gets done with what he is doing, looking around for Pom. “Hmm… Is Pom okay? He hasn’t moved the base… maybe he doesn’t know how?”

         Collin decides to check in with Olimar and Pom. “Hey Captain Olimar! How’s it going?”

         Olimar jumps a bit at Collin’s sudden entrance. “Oh hello Collin. It’s going alright, though I don’t think I showed Pom how to move bases. I should go do that.”

         “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” Olimar is about to leave the current base, but he notices Purple running up to him. 

         “Oh, hello there little on–” Purple grabs a hold of Olimar’s hand and runs off. “Hey! Where are you taking me?!” Purple runs over to the cave, and points down.

         “What are you doing over there Captain Olimar?”

         “Is…Pom down there?” The Purple nods fast, as Olimar goes pale. “Why would–” Another scream pierces the outside world. “Oh. Oh no…” Olimar doesn’t want to believe it, though there is only one way to find out if his hunch is correct. “Collin, where is Pom?”

         It takes a moment for Collin to respond. “Wha?! Why is he in the Secluded Courtyard?”

         Olimar looks down the cave, now terrified for this kid’s safety. “He must have heard screams for help! What sublevel is he on?”

         “Currently, he’s on the third one!”

         “Thanks. I’m coming Pom.” Olimar hops down with 10 Purples, 30 Yellows and 30 Ice Pikmin.

         Pom goes through the entire cave without much trouble. The enemies are either all almost dead, or straight up dead. “Well that’s really odd. A bunch of dead enemies, such as the yellow frog and yellow creepy crawly death demons before I could even see them alive… I wonder what happened here?” Finally, Pom makes it to the final level, hearing the screams of someone he knows nearby. Pom runs up to see a yellow goop monster holding up his best friend of god knows how long up against the wall, trying to absorb him.

         The blue mohawked man looks past the monster, shocked and horrified his friend of all things is here. “POM?”

         “AERO?” The monster drops Aero, turning its attention over towards Pom.

         Aero hits the cold floor, quickly shooting up to his feet. “POM! MOVE YOU DUMBASS!” Pom does as he says, running around it and over to Aero. Aero’s suit is torn to shreds, with the most notable tear near a giant cut across his chest. The blood was dry at some parts, and fresh at others. His helmet is cracked, but it seems shallow and his leg looks all wrong. Pom feels pretty worried about Aero, but right now, he has to focus on the fight, or rather dodging the creature. Aero looks at Pom, still a bit shocked he’s about the whole finding each other thing. “Pom, what are you… d-doing here?”

         The two dodge to the left, avoiding the creature’s attempts to attack the two. “Training with Captain Olimar! What are–”

         Aero stops and yells at him. “NOVA FOUND HIM?”

         “Surprisingly, yes. But what are you doing here?”

         “Trying to escape this cave, but this thing just won’t die! How in the world did Nova find Olimar?”

         “Uh, look I’ll tell you later let’s just get out of here!” Pom turns to leave, but there is a door in the way of the exit. A boss door. “You’re kidding.”

         Aero grabs Pom’s arm. “Pom! Come on! Move!” Aero shakily runs over to the other side with Pom, before nearly collapsing onto the ground.

         “Aero! What the?! Are you okay?!”

         Aero sits there, and looks up at Pom, a little concerned. “This air isn’t breathable, is it?”

         Pom looks at Aero for a few seconds before responding. “Have you been breathing it?!”

         “Just little bits, and only for the past three days… I think it’s starting to get to me….” Pom looks up to see the monster stretching out towards the two. Pom knows that it’s either one of them gets out alive, or neither, and he prefers at least one of them surviving this. Pom grabs Aero’s arm, and throws Aero back into the boss entrance, getting absorbed into the being. Pom is expecting it to hurt, but instead, it feels so relaxing. Like he has some hugging him, like he isn’t alone anymore. Pom starts to hear his father’s voice as his mind and body completely shut down. Pom can’t help it. He closes his eyes, smiling, as the monster’s nucleus absorbs Pom inside.

         “POM!” Aero jumps up, pain spiking in his leg, and runs towards the yellow monster, yanking on its tail. “LET HIM OUT!” It tries to absorb him too, but Aero moves out of the way. Though with the condition Aero is in, he can’t keep this up forever, eventually collapsing from the pain his leg is putting him through and getting sucked inside too. For Aero too, it’s incredibly relaxing, but he won’t give in. He knows. He knows if he falls asleep, he’ll never wake up. He is way too injured for that. Aero fights with the temptation of sleep, hearing Nova and Pom on the other side. But he won’t do this to them, he can’t. Not when the real Nova is in danger. Maybe when they are safe again, he’ll follow the call of the void, but right now, death will not take him down. Suddenly, he is freed from the monster, scrambling away from it. He sees a familiar Captain of sorts lead an army of plant things to attack the monster. The creature calls back its yellow jello liquid thing, and rushes to absorb Aero again. Aero is too weak to move, but Captain Olimar grabs the boy, leading him to safety, before counting his assault on the Foolix. On the next cycle, Olimar freezes it twice, and kills it. 

         Pom pops out from the nucleus of the creature, unconscious. Olimar turns back to the blue castaway. “Hey are you okay? What were you doing down here?”

         Aero shakily gets up, looking at the red captain. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, just get Pom to safety.” Aero puts the tiniest pressure on his leg, and almost immediately falls down again. “Okay, maybe I need help too.” Aero moves his arm down to cover the giant wound on his chest. “As for what I was doing here? I just tried to find some shelter from the night. You got a base camp that I can go back to?”

         “Yes, I do. Let’s just get out of here, and then we’ll ride on Oatchi back to camp.”

         “Oatchi?” Oatchi barks, and Aero braces himself for the ride. Once they hop out of the cave, Aero, Olimar, and the Pikmin get onto Oatchi. Aero insists on holding Pom in his lap. Pom is smiling in his sleep, something Aero hasn't seen in awhile. In a matter of minutes, they reach the base. Olimar decides to keep the base where it is, for later’s sake.

         Olimar and Aero hop of Oatchi. “Alright, we just need to board the S.S. Beagle, can you give me Pom?”

         Aero eyes shoot up, looking at the Captain. “Oh… sure…” Olimar sends Pom up into the S.S. Beagle, and turns around to watch Aero nearly fall down to the ground again.

         “Ow…” Aero is still hearing things, and is still freaking out about that fact. But he hides it, he can’t burden the Captain with that.

         Olimar helps Aero up. “There we go… alright, we are heading to base now, try to stay awake just a little while longer.” All Aero can do is nod, he can’t find his voice at that moment. Olimar whistles the Pikmin to the Onion, and as he expects, the Purple goes inside the S.S. Beagle. He gets in with Aero and Oatchi, and heads back to base.

         Olimar calls back to the base. “Hey, can we have some help when we get back?”

         Collin quickly replies back to the Captain. “Of course Captain Olimar! If I may ask, why?”

         “Uh… something happened, look I’ll explain it when I get back.” Once Olimar lands, he is met with Collin, Dingo, Yonny, and Russ, who are waiting outside to help. Olimar gets Pom and Aero out, and Yonny nearly has a heart attack looking at Aero. If this is the friend Pom was talking about yesterday, then he has been exposed to the world’s air for three days maximum, and is still moving around. Yonny can also tell that his injuries aren’t much better, especially his leg. Yonny has the others help him take both Pom and Aero to the medical bay. With the help of the others, they get everyone on board.

         The training day ended with the rescue of Pom and Aero, with 650 sparklium found, totaling to 9089 sparklium, 40 Reds grown, 14 Yellows grown, and no deaths. 

         Collin sits across from Olimar. “So… what happened?”

         “Well… I sent Pom over to move the base to another point. I guess around then he heard someone calling for help, and went alone into the Secluded Courtyard. The Purple that was with him went over to find me, and dragged me over. I went into that cave, and by the time I had reached the final sublevel, Pom was nowhere to be seen, but there was another person struggling, stuck inside the Foolix. I fought the Foolix, finally killing it frozen, and Pom popped out of its nucleus. After that I noticed the other person’s injuries and got everyone out alive as fast as I could.” The Purple nods its head at Olimar’s story.

         Collin sighs. “Ah, so that's…” Yonny enters the lobby, a bit exhausted. “Oh Yonny! How are they?”

         Yonny sighs. “Pom is fine… a bit roughed up, but fine. That other person is very much not fine. From the levels of oxygen in his system, I can conclude that he’s been breathing this planet’s air for around three days.”

         Collin is shocked. “How has he lived this long?”

         Olimar has other thoughts on his mind. “Is he poisoned?”

         Yonny looks over at Olimar, more concerned and serious than ever. “That’s the shocking thing Captain Olimar, he’s not. He’s not even experiencing the normal symptoms for the oxygen poisoning he’s gained. At most, he just lost a bit of the blood flow in his body for a short period of time. I have no idea why that is, but hopefully we can find out when he wakes up. The other injuries, specifically his broken leg, are also not doing the poor man any favors.”

         Olimar pauses for a moment. “What? He has a broken leg?”

         Yonny smiles softly. “Ehehe, he must have been hiding the pain quite well. I’ve cleaned and stitched up all of his injuries, and got his leg in a cast. He should be okay, given he rests. Speaking of rest, I’m going to go do that. Wake me if something goes wrong with either one. Good night….”

         Collin waves as Yonny leaves. “Good night Yonny.” Yonny leaves for his room, stumbling a bit. “Are you feeling alright Captain Olimar?”

         “Yes, I am. I feel rather guilty for letting that happen, but otherwise I feel great.”

         “Alright. Tomorrow, we’ll see if either of them are up for a night exploration. If not, Dingo and the Captain will do it.” Olimar just nods. Soon after, everyone who isn’t in their rooms quickly disperses into them for a night full of rest and hopefully no nightmares. Purple sneaks into the medical bay, finding Pom sleeping peacefully. Purple hops up to him and holds him tight. It has been years since Purple has felt this love, and this time, he isn’t letting some stupid creatures and a crash get in the way.

         Mushy walks through the silent land of blossoms. It has been quite the ride, watching the purple captain run around. He’s interesting to watch, that’s for sure. Min attacks a nearby Lumiknoll, causing it to crash down, much to the Glow Pikmin’s dismay. Min goes over to Mushy, and lets go of the dirt he’s holding.

         “That looks good, great job buddy!” The dirt itself may seem useless, but it’s actually the most nutritious part of the Lumiknoll. The Glow Pikmin wander over, looking at Mushy. “What do you want?” They shake their heads, and head back inside the newly destroyed Lumiknoll. Mushy puts the dirt Min collected in her new bag. She’s using an odd thing on the back of her suit as a bag, as it doesn’t do much else. Mushy hops on Min and rides back to the secret hideout.

Chapter Text

         Pom really wants to stay asleep. He’s finally with his father, getting to hang out with him again. But of course, reality has to take effect eventually. Pom opens his eyes to Purple. Pom pats the little guy, which wakes him up. Pom sits up and looks around, soon spotting Aero. He’s comfortably sitting up, looking around the room.

         “Heh, already has the gloves back on, I see?” Pom thinks to himself. It’s the one thing Pom doesn’t know about Aero. “I wonder if he’ll show me what he's so afraid of showing under there one day?”

         Aero smiles as soon as he notices Pom is awake. “Hey, look who’s finally awake, only took you all morning. You missed breakfast, by the way. The doctor was starting to get concerned for you.”

         “Heh, sorry.”

         Aero glares at Pom. “Pom….”

         “Right, oops.”

         “That’s better. Now come here! I’m lonely all over here, with my broken leg and all!” Pom smiles and gets up, sitting down in a nearby chair.

         Pom looks down at Aero’s leg. “How's it feeling?”

         “Painful. But other than that good. How are you feeling, purple man?”

         “A bit sad… but other than that good.”

         Aero’s smile fades. He has a feeling of what this is about. “Dreams of your father?”

         “Yeah…”

         Aero sighs. “Pom, trust me, he would want you to live happily, especially after you escaped those monsters.”

         “I know… it’s just hard.”

         Someone knocks on the door, a bit soft, but still loud. Pom looks over while Aero calls out to the person. “You know you can come in, it’s a public-ish medical bay.”

         The door opens, relieving the whole Rescue Corp’s Crew. Shepherd is at the front of the group, laughing a bit at Aero's comment. “I know…but it feels better to knock. Privacy, you know.”

         “YOOO It’s the Captain! I assume y’all introduced yourself to Pom, right?”

         Shepherd is fully taken aback. It’s like night and day when it comes to the reactions of Pom and Aero to her presence. Pom is staring at her, still a bit scared, while Aero seems excited to see her. “Yes we have. We just wanted to do the same thing for you… uh….”

         Aero points finger guns Shepherd. “Aero. Here, take my business card!” Aero attempts to find his card, before freezing in place. “I just remembered I didn’t get one before I left. Hold on, Pom, give me a tablet or something.”

         Pom hands him his tablet. “Uh okay?” Aero fiddles around with it, and then turns the tablet around.

         “TA-DA!!! LOOK AT THAT MAMA!”

         “Rescue Corps Backup Officer: Aero

         Home Planet: Karut

         An adventurous person who lived on Nijo

         for 7 years. They’ve been living on Karut for 

         15 years. Their love for his heroes and friends never dies.”

         Aero’s smile grows, as he flips the tablet back around. “Look at it, it’s so cool, and surprisingly accurate. How did the boss even get this information?”

         Pom smirks at Aero, leaning back in his chair. “Look at mine dude.”

         Aero pulls up Pom’s ID, and after a few seconds of reading, laughs. “PFFFFFFFF HA! Of course he couldn’t find shit on you. Clean motherfucker.” Only then does Aero remember that his boss is literally right in front of him. “I MEAN HE COULDN’T FIND ANYTHING ON YOU! HAHAhahaha… ha… oh I’m so dead.”

         Shepherd chuckles at Aero’s panic. “It’s alright Aero. You are in pain, so it’s expected for you to slip up a bit.” Shepherd extends her hand to Aero. “I am Erma Shepherd, the leader of this Rescue Corps Mission and your boss.”

         Aero takes it quite eagerly. “It’s nice to meetcha Erma!” Aero pauses for a few moments, before correcting himself. “I mean Captain!”

         Pom looks at Shepherd, disappointed, yet not surprised. “Sorry Captain, he’s… never had a job like this before… This will take awhile for him to get used to this.”

         Shepherd softly smiles at the two backups. “Oh Pom! It’s alright. He’ll get the hang of this eventually.”

         Collin steps forward. “I am Collin, communications operator for the Rescue Corps. It is nice to meet you, Aero!”

         “It is nice to meet you too.” Aero feels Pom’s death glare. “S-sir….”

         Yonny and Russ look at each other. Yonny whispers to Russ. “Do you want to go first, or–”

         “I’ll go first,” Russ steps forward. “I’m Russ, the resident brains of this Rescue Corps operation. I use the raw materials people find and my handmade components to create all kinds of items and gear for use in the field!”

         “Nice, I bet you and Pom get along quite well.”

         Russ is taken a little aback. “Eh? Why would that be?”

         “It’s because Pom is an utter nerd too. I mean, being hired to calculate paths of everything ever is a nerd job.” Aero can already feel Pom wanting to assassinate him. Aero backpedals. Hard. “And when I use nerd, I mean it in a good way. I haven’t met a bad nerd yet!”

         “Kee-hee-hee! I’d like to think we do!”

         “Honestly Aero, I think we do get along.” Pom hunches over, muttering. “A bit too much….” 

         Yonny steps right beside Russ. “Ehehe, it’s my turn I suppose. I’m Yonny, the doctor, and night expedition expert.”

         “And there is the second person Pom gets along with.”

         Pom seems to get offended this time. “HEY!”

         “HAHAHA Kidding, Kidding… unless….”

         Pom glares at Aero. “Aero….”

         “OKAY OKAY I’M SORRY, jeez….” Aero looks at Pom with the most puppy dog eyes he can muster up. Pom sighs, and lightly smacks Aero’s arm.

         Dingo pushes Yonny and Russ aside. “Okay you two, make some room for the real stars here.” 

         Aero gasps, which suddenly reminds Pom of one of the big reasons Aero took this job. “Oh no, wait Di–”

         “MY HEROES!” Aero would have jumped out of bed if he didn’t have a broken leg.

         Dingo is taken completely off guard. “Heroes? I’m… a hero?”

         “Well of COURSE you are Dingo. You're our ranger!” Aero attempts to get up, thinking that he can make it.

         Pom gently pushes Aero down, and looks back up at the Rescue Corps, mainly Dingo and Bernard. “Ack, sorry forgot to warn you. Aero… uh… greatly looks up to this Rescue Corps group in particular, especially Dingo and Bernard. He… uh,” Pom looks at Aero. “How do I explain this without….”

         Aero knows what Pom wants to say, so he just sighs. “I guess I gotta explain myself now. It all started in my childhood, specifically when I first moved to Karut. It was… rough. My parents didn’t really care for me, so I had to…uh… steal to survive. No one’s gonna hire a child, and people don’t give food to youngins that easily on Karut. I had one hope though, one reason to keep going, and that was reading! I really liked reading and soon I started to read about the adventures of this group, specifically, about Dingo and Bernard. They quickly became my heroes….”

         Pom interrupts Aero, unamused. “And who you based your entire personality on.”

         Aero lightly smacks Pom on the arm. “HEY! WHAT THE HELL? They are my heroes, how dare you.”

         Pom sarcastically smiles at Aero. “Awww… look at you… showing off your soft side.”

         Aero glares daggers at Pom. “Frick you.”

         “Wow, I see how it is.” Pom chuckles.

         “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m evil now, roar.”

         Dingo and Bernard don’t know what to say. They’ve known that they have people who look up to them, and love them, but they never once thought they’d ever meet, or even work with someone like that.

         “Well, I suppose we don’t NEED to introduce ourselves then.”

         Aero looks at Bernard, happy to hear the little speech quirk he has again. “If you want to, then do it. Otherwise, save your breath.” 

         Pom looks down at the blue man. “Egotistical much?”

         “Heh, I know my worth!”

         “OhmyfreakinggoshAero….” Pom sighs.

         Dingo stares at the two, before noticing Aero’s hands, and nudging Bernard. “Hey, WHAT was that for?”

         “Look, he’s got the little claws that you have!”

         Bernard blushes out of embarrassment. “Dingo! You can’t just SAY that! That’s an INCREDIBLY sensitive topic for Nijons!”

         “Wha?! Why are you mad at me?!”

         Aero softly hits Pom’s arm. “Heh, that relationship looks familiar, doesn’t it purple Yonny?”

         Pom is about ready to slap this kid. “You suck right now, you know that right?”

         “Yes I do.” Aero smugly smiles for a few seconds, before it vanishes. “Where’s Nova?” Aero is met with a deafening silence. “W-where’s Nova?”

         Collin looks up at the Captain. “Oh stars, how do we–”

         Pom raises his hand. “I got it, Collin. Okay so…” Pom explains the entire story. How Nova wound up becoming a parasite’s new host, leaflings, treasure, the whole sha-bang. At the end of it, Aero just looks at Pom, a bit shocked that he has explained everything without devolving into a panic attack.

         Aero breathes in and out before talking. “Uh…okay… that’s a… lot.”

         “I know, I know… Also I yelled at our boss.”

         “You what? Pom, do you understand how bad that is?!”

         “Yes, I do. But I did anyway! So yeah… that’s what happened to Nova.”

         Aero sighs. “At least she somehow got reanimated… So… what now?”

         Pom looks at the crew. “We continue exploring. I’m going to help with expeditions and–”

         Shepherd tries to protest. “What? You? Pom… are you sure?”

         “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

         Aero looks up at Pom, stuttering for a few seconds before sighing. “The last time you said that you nearly broke down in tears not every thirty minutes later.”

         “That was different. This is an adventure that was talking to people.”

         “And the last time you said that you nearly got hit by a freaking bus not even fifteen seconds later.”

         “UGH AERO–” Pom stops himself from verbally destroying this kid, instead breathing in and out. “Okay, look. I can handle myself.”

         “Uh huh. Totally.”

         “Look, technically, I’m your superior, so you have to listen to me.”

         Aero is about to fight back, when he thinks about it. “...Damn it.”

         “HAHA! I WIN!”

         “HECK OFF!” The two start laughing at each other.

         Shepherd looks down at Collin. “Are they friends… or…?”

         Collin is just as confused as she is. “I’m not sure Captain, I’m not sure.”

         Shepherd clears her throat, just deciding that that question will be for later. “Well, we should leave you be, after all, you do need time to rest.”

         “Yeah, probably. Though if any of y’all want to talk to me, just wake me up!” The Crew say their goodbyes to Aero and Pom, and go about their days. For most of the day, Collin and Shepherd just do some upkeep of the ship. The two do see Bernard and Dingo head over to the medical bay. Shepherd waits for them to come out, but they never do. She checks the time and realizes that it’s been nearly an hour since the two went inside the medical bay.

         “Collin, I’m going to check in on Dingo and Bernard, want to come?”

         “Sure thing!” Collin and Shepherd make their way down to the medical bay, hearing Bernard’s voice as they approach. Shepherd opens the door slightly, and the two peek inside the medical bay, immediately hearing Bernard talking about another one of his many stories about being a pilot. The two enter the room, seeing Bernard and Dingo sitting in chairs at the front of Aero’s bed. Yonny is also in the room, sorting through one of the file cabinets while listening to Bernard. The two officers get noticed by Aero first, who just waves at them.

         Bernard stops, and looks behind him. “Oh, HEY Captain and Collin! What are YOU two doing here?”

         “Just checking in. What have you been up to for the past hour?” Shepherd closes the door.

         Dingo laughs. “Well Aero really wanted to hear about one of Bernard’s many stories!”

         Collin looks at the two, and then at Aero, confused. “Wouldn’t Aero already know all of those stories?”

         Bernard and Dingo look at Aero. “What? I wanted to hear it again!”

         “Kid! I…” Bernard laughs. “Of COURSE you would!”

         Yonny laughs too at this comment. He finishes organizing the papers in the file cabinet and turns around to face Aero. “Ehehe, I’m curious though. You are a fan of our group specifically, correct?”

         “Well, yeah.”

         “How much do you think you could tell us about ourselves off the top of your head?”

         “I– wait what?” Aero heistates for a moment. “I…Is that a challenge?”

         Yonny smirks. “Why not?”

         Aero looks at Yonny, giving him one last chance to back out. “Are you sure about this?”

         “Uh… Yeah?”

         Aero’s smile grows as Yonny immediately releases his mistake. “OH BOY! You’ve doomed them all! HAHA! Here we go! So… who starts with? I think oldest to youngest works, right? Yeah, it works.”

         “You… know our ages?” Collin looks at Yonny, panicking almost just as much as the doctor is.

         “Collin, Collin, Collin… you think I know JUST your ages?” Aero has a devilish smile now, absolutely ready to terrify every single one of them.

         Collin now looks scared. “Okay maybe this is a bad idea. You don’t–”

         Aero cuts him off, clapping his hands together. “Okay let’s start with the oldest member of the group, Collin Scots. His home planet is Giya, and he has lived pretty much all of his life there before the transfer to the Karut base. He is around forty years old, birthday landing on March 18th. Ever since Collin was a child, he was always interested in machinery. So much so that he fixed a ten year broken machine at age eight. He was raised by his grandfather, as his parents couldn’t be there for him due to them having to work pretty much 24/7. Over the years, his grandfather taught him about machinery and how to not get murdered by one. Soon, Collin entered college, and worked many odd jobs in order to pay for it. However, in Collin’s Sophomore year of college, his grandfather passed away. His last gift to Collin was a wireless communicator, which he still fixes to this day when it breaks down. Once Collin graduated college, he applied for the newly opened Rescue Corps job. According to the Interview Logs, Collin was the most nervous for his interview out of the original five. He got the job, as the Communications Operator and has been working on the crew ever since.”

         Collin looks at Aero in disbelief. “How… did you…?”

         “Don’t question it! Next is Russell Terrier. His home planet is Giya, and he has lived pretty much all of his life there before the transfer to the Karut base. He is around thirty eight years old, birthday landing on July 23rd. Russell or Russ if you want to use his nickname, was born into a family of rich people. His father was an alcohol taste tester, testing many different drinks, ranging from wine, to beer, to rum, while his mother owned one of the largest companies on Giya. He was raised in love, sometimes a bit too much love as his parents helicoptered him often. Russ quickly gained a love for science, which his parents supported. When the Rescue Corps announced they were hiring, he was the first current officer to apply. According to the Interview Logs, Russ was one of the best interviews the President had. He got the job, as the Scientist of the Corps, and well, we all know what happened from there.” Aero pauses for a moment to catch his breath, letting silence pass over the room for a moment.

         That moment of silence only lasts a few seconds as Aero quickly continues. “After that is the Captain herself, Erma Shepherd. Her home planet is Giya, and she has lived pretty much all of her life there before the transfer to the Karut base. She is around thirty seven years old, birthday landing on December 25th. Erma’s life has been one of stress. When she was eight, she was caught in an awful fire. A Rescue Corps pup saved her, and she vowed to save others in the same way she was. Erma’s father, Reul Shepherd, the current founder of the Rescue Corps, almost didn’t let her join. Though, after a few years of begging, he allowed her to try. It took years after that for a position to open up, but once it did, the founder forced Erma into the interview room with her uncle. He isn’t her actual uncle by blood, it’s more like he’s known her for so long that he’s practically her uncle. The interview went well, and she got the job as the Captain of the Corps. She was the last to be hired onto the crew, excluding Dingo because he was the weird one.”

         Shepherd covers her mouth for a few seconds, absolutely shocked. “Aero, how in the world did you know any of that?! Especially about the fire?!”

         “Well, I found it. I just did.” Aero sits there for a second, before continuing. “Next, is Bernard Rutor. His home planet is Nijo, and he’s been traveling around to different planets his whole life. He is thirty five years old, birthday landing on August 1st. Ever since Bernard was young, wanted to fly in the skies. It was a dream for him, though his father wasn’t very keen on the idea. Bernard was stubborn though, and would often sneak onto his father’s ships in order to watch him fly. Bernard traveled to many places, developing his understanding of language along the way. Eventually, Bernard started to mimic the people he saw on the different planets, creating his iconic speaking style. At age ten, Bernard was able to fly ships just from the little experience he had. His father gave up, and taught Bernard everything he knew about ship flying. At age fifteen, Bernard took up a job as a pilot for small distance travel. It took quite a few years for an opportunity of a lifetime to show up, but it eventually did. A job opening for the Rescue Corps had recently opened up, and so he applied. According to the Interview Logs, Bernard was one of the biggest optimists the President had even seen. He was the first to be hired, and became the Rescue Corp’s pilot.”

         “K…Kid… YOU knew all that?! From the TOP of your HEAD?!”

         “Yeah. Of course I did. What? Did you expect me not to know that?”

         Dingo looks at Bernard, taken aback by his fear. “Wait, that stuff is true?!”

         “Y-YEAH! How did…”

         “Guys, please, I have two of y’all left, let me finish. Second to last is Yonny Nain. His home planet is Ohri, and he has lived pretty much all of his life before he got the job at the Giyan base. He is around thirty four, with his birthday landing on January 28th. Yonny was quite the odd child. He was often alone, testing out what he called experiments on other creatures. Most adults viewed him as deranged or crazy, but Yonny didn’t seem to mind. Yonny went to a public school on Ohri, having an incredibly easy time throughout his time. He didn’t need to study for much, and he soon entered middle school, where he met his only friend in school, Dingo. Yes, Yonny and Dingo actually knew each other before entering the Rescue Corps. Yonny would often help Dingo out with math homework, and in return, Dingo promised to drink whatever concoctions Yonny would brew up. The two lost contact after middle school, as Dingo had to move away. The rest of Yonny’s school years were spent like the last, getting made fun of for being different. Though, in Yonny’s Senior year of college, he cured a major illness for space dogs. The dog he tested this on just so happened to be one owned by the Rescue Corps. So, years later, when the position opened up, and Yonny took it, they recognized him immediately. It really didn’t matter what Yonny said, he got the job from that one day in senior year alone. He was hired, becoming the Corps Doctor.”

         Yonny stammers for a few seconds. “A-Aero. How did you know my birthday? I’ve never made that public information….”

         “Fina– oh that. Yeah, so… how do I put this lightly… If you're of high importance in Karut, which you all qualify as, prepare to have every little detail about your life dug up before your eyes. It doesn’t matter how hidden you made it, the Karuates will do anything to keep their land safe from strangers. So yeah, all I had to do was just a bit of digging and I found that. Some of the harder details to find are of Yonny and Dingo’s relationship, or the apartment fire, or hell, Russ in general. I know the same is going to happen to me, but I honestly don’t care. They can call me what they want, I’m not leaving my home.”

         Aero clears his throat before continuing. “Finally, we have the youngest officer of group forty two, Dingo Dharug. His home planet is Ohri, and he has lived pretty much all of his life before he landed the job and was forced to move to Giya. He is thirty three years old, with his birthday landing on February 14th. Dingo was one of the more unlucky members of the Rescue Corp, being born into a poor family. He often didn’t have much to eat, though that didn’t matter to him. He had loving parents, and that was all he needed. Dingo wasn’t that smart either, constantly getting awful grades in school. The only time Dingo’s grades were above average was in middle school, in which he met one of his only friends, Yonny. Though when he went to high school, those grades vanished. It wasn’t like Dingo wasn’t trying, he was. It’s just that it was generally difficult for him to focus.” Dingo is only growing more panicked by the minute. He knows what happens after that, and it isn’t pretty. “Dingo was able to go to college, but dropped out due to… uh… personal reasons.” Aero looks at Dingo, giving the man a soft smile. 

         Dingo looks up at Aero, shocked. “He… knows? But then why isn’t he…?”

         Shepherd tries to inquire more. Dingo has never told them the reason he dropped out. “Personal reasons?”

         Aero doesn’t even hesitate in his response. “Remember how Dingo wasn’t that smart in school? Yeah. That. But worse.” Now Dingo knows that is an utter lie. Dingo didn’t drop out due to his grades, he actually had decent grades in college. It was just that college had destroyed any mental sanity he had left. If he stayed, who knows where he’d be? He might have been here, yes, but he probably would have ended up six feet underground. 

         No matter what though, one thing becomes increasingly clear to Dingo. This kid is purposely lying to his boss because he respects Dingo’s privacy. “You know what? This kid isn’t that bad….” Dingo thinks as he starts to smile at the kid.

         “Anyway, that’s not that important. What’s important is that he dropped out, becoming a solo ranger for sometime. He earned the respect of the locals, and was able to get by. Though one day, fate had different ideas. He was called out by the mother of a child in order to save her daughter from the ravenous space bunnies. The child’s father, however, called you guys. Dingo ended up finding you guys in danger, and saved your lives. After you guys forced him to go to Giya, Dingo was hired on the spot and became the Ranger.” Aero takes a moment to breathe. “And that should be it. I’m not detailing Oatchi’s life, by the way, and I won’t do it for Pom and Nova either. That is for them to tell, and I’m going to be real, dogs aren’t my thing.”

         Collin looks at Aero, completely star struck. “How do you even know all of that from the top of your head?!”

         “I mean, think about it. I was seven when I found out about you guys. And now I’m twenty two. I’ve had quite a bit of time to read up on y’all.”

         “Y-You’re twenty two?”

         “Uh, yeah. Youngest of the group! Hell yeah!” Aero collapses onto the bed. “Damn that must have taken a lot of energy, haha!”

         Shepherd and Collin stare at each other for a few seconds, and she just decides to let this go. She laughs at Aero. “Oh! Well then we should probably let you rest.”

         “See ya later comms man and Caps!” The two exit the room, and Aero collapses into his bed. “Gods I’m tired.”

         Yonny walks over, looking at Aero. “Then rest.”

         “Yeah, but heroes.” Yonny sighs. 

         Dingo laughs. “Aero. Just rest.”

         Aero immediately can tell Dingo’s tone has completely shifted. He sounds more happy than annoyed. “A-Alright…” Aero puts his head down. “What in the hell did I do for Dingo to suddenly like me?”

         “We should probably leave then… Thanks for letting us hang out doc.”

         “Ehehe, of course!” Dingo and Bernard both wave goodbye to Aero.

         Bernard looks up at Dingo. “Dingo? Are you FEELING alright?”

         “Yeah… that kid is something else though.”

         “HAHAHA! Tell me ABOUT it!”

         “No seriously Russ, tell me about it.” Pom says, looking at Russ with curiosity. Today, Pom decided that he was going to hang out with Russ, and only Russ. It isn’t that he doesn’t want to be around Aero or the others, it’s just that Russ is the one thing Pom just can’t understand yet. Pom points at the Survey Drone, currently out of commission.

         “Kee-hee-hee! It’s just a simple drone I made years ago. I only decided to repair it at the start of this expedition when I found raw materials!”

         “Repair it? It broke before?”

         “Kee-hee! Yes it did. Dingo was just messing around in the ship while I was testing it, and was trying to catch it. Not sure why, I guess he was bored with no one else to annoy. He did catch it eventually, and broke the lens.”

         “How did he manage to do that?!”

         “I have no idea, the lens shouldn’t have been damaged in the way he hurt them! If it wasn’t for the fact that he was new, I might have given him an earful, kee-hee-hee!” Russ turns back to what he was currently working on which is a very early prototype that might make it so that just whistling can automatically pluck Pikmin. Though Russ doesn’t get even close to getting to work, as something, or more like someone takes him off guard. 

         Pom is laughing, he’s actually genuinely laughing. Russ pauses for a moment, trying to think of what to do next. “Classic Dingo nonsense…” Pom looks around the room, as if trying to find out more about his inventions. “Hey, sorry if I’m bothering you, but, what was your first invention here at the Rescue Corps?”

         “I’m getting somewhere, best to keep this interaction going.” Russ sits in his spinny chair, one he requested he get day one of the job, and slides over to Pom. Pom, for the first time, at least to Russ’s eyes, doesn’t flinch or get into a defensive pose, he just accepts Russ getting close. “Hmmm… if I remember correctly it was the Emergency Kit! I had to make it for Dingo when we first found him, and after many adjustments, I even made it so that Dingo could use it out on the field whenever he wanted!”

         “Wait, you didn’t start making things until Dingo came on?!”

         “Oh it wasn’t a long time gap, just a month or so. And plus, the ship had many things that needed repairing or touch ups, and Collin was far too busy with his job to deal with any of that, so I did it! Which is also why Collin lets me take most of anything from the ship’s cargo bay.”

         “He… why do you even need to go in there?”

         “Well when I run out of raw materials, I usually rely on the components in my lab, but those run out too. So I just go poking around in the ship’s cargo for more.” Russ laughs a bit, and is glad to hear the kid laughing beside him. “Any other questions about my inventions?”

         “Hm, I guess… if you could improve anything you’ve made, what would it be?”

         “Oh, what a good question! That would be the Treasure Gauge. Out of the inventions I’ve made so far, I’ve had very little regrets in regards to the effects I’ve added to them, except that damned invention.”

         “What did you forget?”

         “The ability to show treasures on the map.”

         “Oh! That’s… kinda important.”

         “Yeah but it still works, so I guess more raw materials for me to gain in the future!” Russ laughs, but he quickly dies down. He just looks at Pom, who is laughing too, but stops as he notices Russ stare at him. “Oh sorry. I just… I swear I’ve seen someone similar to you before.”

         “Oh, probably just my mother. She’s very important in the business world.” Pom looks up at the clock in Russ’s lab. “Oh I should be going. I’ve got to get ready for a night expedition today. Thank you for having me Russ!”

         “Oh please, it was my pleasure.” Pom jumps up, and leaves the room. “I was so close… I guess there is always a next time, Kee-hee!”

         An hour later, Pom and Yonny go out on a night expedition. Yonny decides to come with Pom, still a bit scared of what the creatures out there could do to him, or if the Foolix has some odd after effect. It’s not like Pom minded, it’s a bit odd for him. The night expectation is like the last few, collecting Glow Pikmin, murder enemies, almost get trampled by children, the usual. It’s only at the end where something changed. Pom had just taken out the last enemy, a giant Bulborb, a Jumbo one.

         “Ehehe, that sure was a sizable creature…”

         “Tell me about it.” The Glow Pikmin carrying the stars dropped them, and hid behind Pom. “Huh? What’s wrong little ones?” They point over at another bulborb, this one different from the last few. It has a stem on its back, with a mushroom at the end of it. It looks startled, being noticed and all. “Alright team, get in ze BALL!” The Glow Pikmin merged together, ready to stun and kill. 

         That is, until a voice ran out from behind the bulborb, one that stunned Pom to his very core. “WAIT MIN! STOP!” A girl runs up behind the bulborb, pulling it back. “What did I tell you about attacking the creatures from the stars!” The bulborb somehow pouts. “Don’t you get fussy with me mister! I’m your boss, you listen to me!” The creature sighs. “You almost got yourself killed… you moron.”

         “N…Nova?” Pom mutters out, and the creature turns around.

         The girl turns around, surprised. “Nova? What do… oh that must have been my… Hold on, can I get closer?”

         “Uh… yeah…” The creature walks up, and it’s definitely Nova. Her hair is no longer pink, instead it’s teal with brown tips. A few smaller mushrooms are growing on her head, along with the Pikmin-like stem with a mushroom at the end. Her gloves seem to have been torn off, revising teal tipped fingers. She doesn’t have a helmet on, and her left eye is entirely white. Her right one is just glossy. It definitely is Nova though.

         “Uh… oh my…” Mushy seems lost in both Yonny and Pom’s eyes. “Do… are you two clones? Siblings?”

         Yonny attempts to keep his cool. “Ehehe… nope. We do come from the same planet though!”

         “Fascinating…” Mushy walks up to Pom and takes his hand, looking at his suit with such curiosity. “Same suit… odd…”

         Pom hides the amount of fear in his body but can’t hide the fear in his voice. “What’s your name…uh…dear…?”

         She looks up, a bit embarrassed. “OH I FORGOT! How silly, ehehe! The name’s Mushy, Co-Leader and Hunter of the MUSHROOM GANG! That’s what Puffy calls it at least….”

         Pom’s fear melts away, just hearing her talk is enough. “Mushroom gang? Is that little one down there a part of it?”

         “Yep! He’s Min, our ride to most places. We are just trying to get some food, it’s harder to come by now-a-days.”

         The Glow Pikmin looks a bit sad as she talks. One of them even signing, “Leader, mind gone.” Pom looks back at the pile of the stars, and softly smiles. “Well… Glows, give them the stars. Please.” The Pikmin do as they are told, reluctantly. 

         Mushy’s eye lights up. “R-Really?”

         “Yep. Now go on, these little ones might start hurting you two if you two stay.”

         “Thank you lords of the stars! We will remember this!” Mushy takes the fifteen star bits and hops on Min, quickly leaving.

         Yonny waits a few seconds before talking again. “Ehehe, fresh blood, you are a lot kinder than I would have been.”

         “I know. I just want her to live a life for now. If we are kind to her now, who knows what that will blossom into.” It takes Pom a second to release exactly what Yonny just said. “Wait… fresh blood?”

         “Ehehe, just a nickname!”

         “ Of course it is.” The night ends with Pom and Yonny getting another cure. The two land, and quickly head to sleep. At least, Yonny does. Pom spends the next hour talking with Aero. Though he eventually goes to sleep. He really needs it tonight.

         Purple enters the medical bay. Both Pom and Aero are asleep. Purple looks up at Pom. “Good time to sleep too.” Purple hops up next to Pom, and sighs before feeling something completely off about the other boy. It’s a feeling of unity, one Purple does not like. “I’ve had that same feeling around Olimar… after he… he….” Purple shakes off the thoughts. “It’s probably nothing.” Purple falls asleep right beside it’s number one guy.

Chapter Text

         Aero wakes up quite late compared to the others. In fact, the only reason he does wake up is because he hears Yonny muttering to himself, studying something. Aero sits up, and is met with a spike of pain in his spine. It’s fine, he is fine. He can still move, and that’s all that matters to Aero right now.

         Aero stares at Yonny for a few seconds, before smirking. “Hey doc, whatcha doing?”

         Yonny jumps, not expecting him to be awake, at least not right now. “Ehehe, just analyzing some blood tests. I just want to make sure everything is okay.” Yonny puts a blood sample into a machine. “I’m surprised that you're awake! I thought the drug would keep you down much longer.”

         “HA, nothing keeps me down for– wait, what drug?”

         “It’s supposed to numb your pain.”

         “Epic.” Aero fiddles with his gloves for a few seconds before looking back up at the doctor. “Hey you have a naming conversion going on right?”

         Yonny stops for a moment, and looks back at Aero, confused. “A… what?”

         “You called Nova “New Blood,” and Pom “Fresh Blood,” right?”

         Yonny fully turns around to face Aero. “How did you know that? You haven’t heard me say either of their nicknames.”

         “Pom told me all about y’all yesterday. He’s good at finding out information, so he found out about the whole nickname thing quickly. He thought it was cute and told me! By the way, advice, never tell Pom any secrets. Ever. He’s only good at keeping the ones that would ruin his or our lives.” Yonny attempts to question Aero, but the blue man quickly continues. “Anyway, What fresh frick are you gonna call me? I’m pretty sure you're out of names that get the point of new guy.”

         “Ehehe, perhaps I am. But that's for time to decide. Now, you need to rest, Aero.” Yonny turns back around, pulling out the new results from the machine. 

         “Absolutely the heck not! I’m gonna help!” Aero proceeds to stand up, which majorly hurts his leg, but at this point he doesn’t care. He walks over to Yonny, who tries to get Aero to lay back down.

         “Aero, go back to–” By the time Yonny tries to run over, Aero has already made it over to his location, with very little trouble. He sighs. “Hold on.” Yonny runs over to the closest, pulling out some crutches. “If you won’t stay down, please at least use these.”

         Aero takes the crutches, still smiling. “Ha, I learned from the best stubborn lord ever! I betcha you had to deal with her trying to do work when clearly injured, huh?”

         “Stubborn lord?”

         “Nova. She’s probably done the exact same thing I’m doing right now. Now, what the hell am I looking at?” 

         Yonny looks at Aero with concern for a moment before looking back at the data. “You're looking at the blood tests for a certain new cell I’ve discovered. It seems to appear after consuming nectar. I’m trying to find out if there is a correlation between this cell and the Foolix, but… It seems I have some… skewed data…” The more Aero looks at it, the more he realizes the doc is right. Aero’s containment of the cell was significantly higher than Pom’s. What’s even odder is that his body is reacting like it is a blessing rather than an inconvenience.

         “Huh. Odd. Where’s Pom, by the way?”

         “Out on another exploration. This time Bernard and Dingo went along with Captain Olimar to try and finish up Blossoming Arcadia.”

         “Oh nice. I hope Pom is doing alright. Poor thing has suffered way too much…”

         It was hard starting this exploration. Figuring out who to follow is a nightmare, but Pom ultimately decides to follow Bernard and Olimar. Dingo goes off to find a Dandori Challenge, or whatever those are called. Pom doesn’t really care enough to find out. Landing at the base, they go across the bridge Olimar had built yesterday. On the other side is another Waddlepuff, which is easy enough to kill. Olimar sends it back along with the three treasures. 

         The three round the corner, running into three small baby birds. Pom backs away from the creatures. It’s not by much, but he still attempts to make distance between him and the birds. “W-what are those?” Pom starts to panic a little. “Those are baby versions of those awful monsters….”

         Bernard, noticing Pom’s panic, pats him on the back. “From what I’VE heard, those are Downy Snagrets!”

         Olimar uses Oatchi to quickly take care of the Downy Snagrets. “Not a problem for the Pikmin army! Don’t worry Pom, we’ll protect you.” Pom isn’t really sure of that fact. He’s starting to worry, his thoughts temperately clouding his mind. 

         Bernard watches Pom as he calms down. “Newbie? Are you okay ? Want to head back to base?”

         Pom is taken about by Bernard’s voice. “That’s… new. Bernard had never talked in such a hushed, calm tone before. Maybe he was really worried about me….”

         Pom fakes a smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay! I don’t need to go back. Don’t worry about me. Let’s keep going.” They enter an open area, with three eggs on the side. Bernard tries to charge forward, but Olimar stops him.

         “Wait. This is wrong. There is something hiding here.” As soon as Olimar said that, a feathery head pops out of the ground, relieving what is hiding under the ground. “AH! A Burrowing Snagret!” The two jump into action, fighting the beast.

         Pom, however, steps back, and starts to have a panic attack. It’s just as he feared, he’s back, he’s back… There is no escaping the facts now, seeing the monster that separated him from his dad. It is all his fault. He wanted to go on that vacation, he wanted to spend time with his dad, and where did that end him? With his dad on this planet, being ripped bit by bit as those monsters. It wouldn't even be a surprise if his father blamed him for what happened, it’s all his fault. All his fault… He’s next… isn’t he…? There’s more, there has to be more, there is ALWAYS more. 

         Pom turns and runs away as far as he could. He doesn’t care about what happens, or the people possibly screaming his name. They are all dirty liars, just like his mother said. “Never trust anyone but me, for I am your only friend, I am your mother, I am the only one who ever truly loves you. ” She’s right, nothing matters to Pom anymore. He just wants to get away from life. He runs, jumping up an incomplete wall, avoiding some sort of monster. He runs past a broken Ice wall, and jumps into the nearest cave. He runs and runs, until he trips and lands in some shrubbery. He curls up, not even daring to look around, and starts to silently sob.

         The Burrowing Snagret hops out of the ground, finally dead. “And there she GOES! Nice work Captain!”

         “Of course! It was a fierce battle, but we won! Now, Pom that– Pom?” Pom isn’t behind them, in fact, he isn’t even in sight.

         Bernard and Olimar look at each other. “Oh, well THAT’S not good.”

         Olimar gets in contact with the Rescue Corps S.S. Shepherd. “Uh, Shepherd? We have an issue.”

         Shepherd walks over to the communication device, turning it on. “Oh, Olimar! What is it?”

         “Pom’s missing.”

         Shepherd’s heart drops. “What? How did he escape again?”

         “We were just fighting a Burrowing Snagret, and when we turned back, he was gone!”

         “Oh my stars, not again… We’ll track him down. Collin, can you go get Yonny? We need all hands on deck right now. I’m not losing another Officer!”

         “Copy that!” Collin runs down into the medical bay, where Yonny and Aero still were analyzing the blood tests. “Yonny, we need your help, Pom ran off again!”

         “Fresh blood did what?!”

         Aero’s heart skips a few beats. “Oh my god, what happened?”

         Collin looks a bit more panicked now. “Olimar and Bernard were fighting a Burrowing Snagert and after they were done he was just gone!”

         Just from the name, Aero can connect the dots and quickly figures out why Pom reacted the way he did. Aero mutters to himself. “Oh my god… of course he found THAT thing.” He thinks for a moment, before turning to Collin. “Let me talk with Pom alone. Please, I think I can talk him down.”

         “Alright, just hold on a second. Yonny, come with me,”

         Yonny puts down the results. “Alright, I’m coming.” Yonny and Collin run out of the room, and a few seconds later, Collin returns with a receiver, hands it to Aero, and runs back to the main lobby.

         Aero quickly gets it connected to Pom’s speaker. All he can hear is silent crying. “Pom?” Pom isn’t listening to him. “Pom?!” Pom still isn’t hearing him, stuck in his own thoughts. “POM!”

         Pom jumps a bit, snapping back to reality. “Wha? A-Aero?”

         “There we go, jeez… I thought you hated me or something.”

         “I’m sorry…”

         “Pom, for the last time, you don’t have to say I’m sorry when there isn’t anything to apologize about!”

         Pom sits there, ashamed that Aero has to deal with him again. “...”

         Aero sits down on one of the beds. “You found that creature, the one that killed you dad today, right?”

         Pom takes a moment, remembering the creature. “Y-yeah….”

         “Oh, okay I understand now… Pom, everything is going to be okay… No one is going to hurt you, you’re safe.”

         “But… mother–”

         “Who the fuck cares about your mother right now?! She doesn’t matter right now, what matters is that you're safe. Listen to me Pom, you are the most important thing right now, so don’t you dare die!”

         “O-okay… okay….”

         Pom is hyperventilating, Aero can hear it, and see it. His heart rate is not normal. Aero tries to speak a bit calmer, trying to help Pom feel safe again. “Can you take some deep breaths for me? You know, calm the nerves a bit?”

         “Uh… yeah….” Pom starts breathing slower and slower, letting himself return to a normal breathing pattern.

         Aero sees Pom’s heart rate slow down as well. “Good, good. You're doing great… See? Was that so bad?”

         “Ehehe… not really.”

         Aero looks around the lab, and then realizes that the laugh is from Pom. “EH? Did you just laugh like Yonny?”

         Pom goes silent for a few seconds before responding. “I guess I did… I can do a pretty killer Russ laugh though.”

         “Oh really? Prove it.” Aero knows that this would destroy his ears, but at least cheer him up, even if it was just for a few seconds.

         “Ahem… KEE-HEE-HEE!” It’s loud, yes, but it is indeed accurate.

         “HAHAHA! That was… actually kinda scary how well you pulled that off… You’ve been hanging around them too much, haven’t you?”

         “Ehehe, just a bit more than the average person should.” Pom looks down at his hand. “I think… I think I might be able to do it.”

         “Do what Pom?”

         “Tell them… everything.” 

         Aero is a bit taken aback. He knew this day would come, but he didn’t think it’d be this close. “You sure?”

         “It may be a lot, but as the whole crew, I think they can get through it.”

         “Heh, you really do trust them, do you?”

         “Not fully, but almost.” Aero can feel Pom’s gentle smile from the S.S. Shepherd.

         Aero smiles back, hoping he can feel it somehow. “Alright, you feeling better?”

         “A little bit... Thank you….”

         “Anytime Pom, anytime.” Yonny enters back into the bay, looking over at Aero, who waves at him. Aero hears voices of the three men falling down the cave.

         Bernard’s voice is the most obvious to Aero. “Newbie! Newbie! WHERE did you go?”

         “Pom, Where are you?” It takes Aero a few seconds to recognize Olimar’s voice though. 

         Aero notices Pom’s heart rate increase. “You should… you know….” There is a noticeable silence between the two. “Pom?”

         Pom suddenly regresses. It doesn’t matter who and what comforted him, any authority figure scares him to death, especially right now. “I’m scared… what if they hurt me too?”

         “They won’t. They’ll be a bit mad that you ran off, but they will be glad you're alive.”

         “I…”

         “Remember, deep breaths. Pom, everything will be okay.” Pom just holds himself, silently crying. He can’t call for help, he doesn’t have the courage to. Luckily, it doesn’t take long for one of them to find him. 

         “Pom, there YOU are!” Bernard barely sees Pom in the shrubbery. He would have gone closer, but the kid freezes when he hears Bernard get closer.

         Olimar catches up from behind. “Bernard, you found him?”

         “Yeah, but he’s…” Bernard looks at Pom, who is still a ball, now shaking. “ Somethings wrong.” Bernard talks with a newfound purpose, something Aero knows as Support Bernard. It’s on rare occasions he pulls out his best supporting voice, making sure to tone himself down for whoever he’s comforting. 

         Dingo zooms by, destroying every hazard and creature he can find. Olimar gets off of Oatchi and approaches with caution. “Hey, kid….”

         Pom doesn’t even look up. “...D-Don’t… hurt me… I-I’m so s-sorry.”

         “Pom, you have nothing to apologize for. From what I can tell, something happened between you and the Burrowing Snagret that caused you to react like this, is that correct?” Pom nods. “Okay, can you tell me what it is?” Pom knows himself. He can’t, he can’t risk losing more people because they won’t believe him. Pom can’t muster up the courage to tell him, at least, not right now. He shakes his head. “That’s alright. If you ever feel ready, then you can tell me or anyone in the Rescue Corps.” Pom knows he’s right, but at this moment he doesn’t care.

         “Hey, newbie, look at me.” Pom looks up, avoiding making eye contact. Pom is still crying. Bernard puts his hand on Pom’s shoulder. “I know whatever you’re going through is rough , and even if I don’t completely understand what’s going on, just know that we are all here for you. Even if you need to wake me or any of the crew up for any reason. We will be there, at any time of day, for any reason. You’re one of us now, so you’re not going to suffer through whatever you’ve been through alone.” Bernard gives Pom a slight smile. Pom feels a little better seeing it. He’s not sure why, he just does.

         Though, Pom still can’t talk. How can he? It’s hard to even breathe, and having two people tell him he’s worth at least something is overwhelming at best. It isn’t like he is complaining, he is feeling a bit better. 

         Olimar steps away from the two, letting Pom have his space. Olimar pulls out his tablet, checking around the area. “Well, we do have to finish this cave, but other than that, and a few other things we have to pick up, we are done with Blossoming Arciada.”

         “Incredible NEWS Captain Olimar!” And Bernard is back to his normal self. 

         Olimar looks at Pom, who isn’t shaking that much anymore. “Pom, do you want to stay with Oatchi?”

         Pom shakily gets up. “No, I can come with you guys… You can use Oatchi….” 

         “You SURE newbie?”

         “Yeah. I’m sure.” No he isn’t, but what he is, is a good liar.

         “Okay, let’s explore his CAVE!” They go around, collecting the spoils of Dingo’s crusade against anything that existed that isn’t a captain, castaway, Oatchi, or the Pikmin. They collect many treasures, and another raw material pile. Bernard looks down to the next sublevel, hearing distant explosions, “I think Dingo went ONWARDS.”

         “Ehehe, classic Dingo.”

         “Eh? I didn’t KNOW Yonny was communicating with us! I thought he’d be taking CARE of Aero!”

         Collin looked around, and then awkwardly said back. “That’s because he’s not. He went back to the medical bay quite a while ago, Bernard.”

         “What? But then WHO–”

         Pom raises his hand. “Sorry, that was me, ehehe…”

         Aero laughs. “Told you it was like Yonny’s laugh.”

         “Shut up dude.” Aero looks up at Yonny, who is more impressed than anything about Pom somehow recreating his laugh to a scary degree of accuracy. The three jump down to the next sublevel, which beheld an odd creature. A rock, a sientant rock, slamming into Dingo, over and over again. It looks really mad.

         Collin looks at the screen, confused at the creature attacking Dingo. “Um… Could these be Pikmin too?”

         Olimar smiles. “Yep! Those are Rock Pikmin! They are hard, and can break crystal walls and other crystal objects. They can’t be pierced, stepped on either, though they still can be crushed to death by hard surfaces or other creatures…”

         “Then WHY is it attacking Dingo?”

         Olimar looks around, seeing many exploded corpses. “My best guess is that the Bomb Rocks scared them, though it does make our jobs easier.” Olimar goes around, carrying back two treasures and a raw materials pile. The Rocks take a really good liking to Olimar. One seems to really either hate or like Dingo, as it doesn’t stop hitting him, even after being whistled. Pom decides to name this one Rocky. “It seems distinct enough to have a name.” Pom thinks to himself as he jumps down to the next sublevel with the others. The next sublevel has a boss, a real one this time. It’s like a giant maggot, or worm, or whatever that pink-ish red mass is.

         Pom takes a few steps back. “WHAT IN THE STARS IS THAT?”

         Olimar glares at the creature. “The Empress Bulblax. Be careful, it will roll over the Pikmin!” Pom jumps on Oatchi, to Olimar’s shock, and rushes the Empress. Once he’s done, he quickly calls back his army as she tries to shake them off. He repeats the cycle twice, and soon, the Empress is no more.

         Shepherd is so proud of Pom right now. He just went through something traumatizing, and he’s still doing a good job. “Excellent work Pom!”

         Aero can barely get his comment out without laughing. “Not even a week on this planet and you're already killing women. Wow.”

         “Hey! At least I didn’t… uh….”

         “Amazing. Great comeback there.”

         “Shut it Aero!” The two laugh at each other. Pom sends back three treasures and a castaway.

         “Running the ID now. Isn’t that interesting? This one’s not from the task force.”

         “Space Broadcast Inc. Reporter: Muggs

         Home Planet: Encohee

         Popular for her brave reporting style, she 

         was approached by a director to work on 

         a project about this strange new planet.”

         Russ covers his mouth, just a bit excited. “Wait just a minute! This face… It’s so very familiar… Oh! I know who this is! She’s that popular television reporter! I’ve long been an admirer of her work. But hold on… What’s she doing here?!”

         Pom laughs quietly. “Duly noted. Russ likes TV.” 

         After the treasure’s are collected, the gang hops down into the fourth sublevel. There it is a new type of bulborb, the Whiptongue. Dingo runs around, blowing up everything again, and quickly jumping into the next sublevel as soon as he’s done. Olimar, Pom, and Bernard go around, finding more Rock Pikmin and collecting more treasure. A few minutes later, they go further down, to the next sublevel, with Bulbears. They repeat this cycle for the next floor too. Dingo kills everything while the others play clean up. It only changes during the final sublevel, one with two creatures.

         As soon as Olimar lands, he recognizes the creatures. Emperor Bulbaxs. Easy to take out when they're alone, but harder when it’s with another of its type. The three land, just to watch Dingo get slammed against the wall. His helmet doesn’t crack, but he can’t move very well. Dingo tries to stand up, but falls to the ground. He is only able to watch as the two Emperor’s get closer and closer.

         Bernard jumps into action. He lures the Emperor's away, using a Red Pikmin as bait. “NEWBIE! NOW!” Pom rushes one of the Emperors with Oatchi, and retreat. The other Emperor screams, panicking some of the Pikmin, and even Bernard. Pom doesn’t waste time, though, rushing Oatchi into the other Emperor and killing it. Bernard looks up at him. “Wow, GREAT work newbie!” Bernard then runs over to Dingo, who’s stuck in place.

         Dingo sighs in relief. “Bernard?! Why did you do that? You could have gotten injured!”

         “And YOU would have been injured more! Or even worse…” Bernard looks so scared, not even daring to finish that sentence. He picks up Dingo, and walks over to the S.S. Beagle. Olimar smiles at him as he enters to take care of the man. Olimar then gets back the treasure and castaway.

         “Let’s look at the ID info.

         Uncharted Planet Tourist: Keesh

         Home Planet: Neechki

         A member of the Planetary Science Club at 

         Alayon Academy who believes the stars are 

         inextricably linked to the ore she collects.”

         “Alaydon Academy”... “Planetary Science Club”... Ah, she’s one of the students traveling with that teacher. There still may be more of them out there. We need to keep searching.” 

         Olimar, Pom, Oatchi, the Pikmin, and the S.S. Beagle leaves this Kingdom of Beasts. Arriving on the surface, Olimar checks what left they have to do. Dingo has already taken care of the Dandori Challenges, so he’s just checking for anything else. Turns out, they are 1% off of completing the area. And it’s too close to sunset to even attempt to get the missing treasure back. The pain that Pom and Olimar feel when they are forced to end the day was awful, but it has to be done.

         At the end of the day, the crew got 4 rescues, two leaflings, and two people. They got 1866 sparklium, with two series completed, which are the Recreation Recollection Series and the Spring Crop Series, totalling out to 10955 Sparklium. They grew a total of 34 Yellows, and gained 25 new Rocks, without losing a single Pikmin. The 1% was still going to hurt, but perhaps they could use that day to grow Pikmin.

         As soon as the crew gets back, the Captain runs up to Pom, holding his cheeks, checking for injuries. It’s almost like she is his mother, looking for where he is hurt. “Pom! Are you okay?”

         Pom steps backwards, getting her hands off of him. “Uh, yeah Captain! I’m fine.”

         Shepherd turns her attention towards Dingo, who was limping into the S.S. Shepherd. “O-oh Dingo.”

         “Eh? OH CAPTAIN! I’m fine, I just–”

         “He got HURT, Captain.”

         Dingo blushes. “Hey! You didn’t have to tell her…”

         Yonny laughs at the injured man. “Ehehe, stubborn as always Dingo… Come on, I at least need to check that you're okay.” Bernard helps Dingo over to the medical bay, and Pom follows close behind. As soon as they open the door, the blue man gets up from his bed.

         “Ah, Back wi– why the hell is Dingo here?” Aero is a bit shocked to see Bernard and Dingo here, but he shakes off his feelings.

         Bernard looks at Aero. “He got HURT, Aero.”

         “Heh, classic Dingo…” Yonny forces Dingo to stay in the medical bay for the night, despite Dingo’s protesting. Yonny puts the same measure on Aero. That night, Pom sleeps in Nova’s old room. He is a little sad, but he is more nervous about tomorrow. He has to tell them, and tomorrow is the day that he does that.

         Mushy has seen it all. Specifically, the purple man’s mental breakdown. She didn’t dare go down into the cave, those things scared her to death. But she did watch that wonderful fight against the serpent that should have died long ago. Puffy hates those things, mainly because they have almost killed the Puffmin around eighteen times in two months. Mushy just sighs thinking back again to the purple man. “Why does he look so familiar?”

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up without the need of anyone else. In fact, he wakes up quite early. There is a reason, of course. He needs to give Russ his prized possessions. Pom picks up his three diaries from his bag, and heads over to Russ’s room. He is already awake, though he isn’t in his room, so Pom just leaves them on his table, with a note that reads “The 2nd, then 3rd, then 1st.” Then Pom waits for the morning to really start. 

         It starts with a cure. “Right! Administer the cure at once!”

         “Yes Captain!” Yonny feeds the pill the leafling, and the leaves just fall off of them, revealing a person.

         “Space Explorer: Jin

         Home Planet: Flukuey

         He's always in search of the next uncharted 

         planet to explore, as well as someone who 

         wants to hear tales of his past adventures.”

         “Our work doesn’t end here. It’s our duty to care for and protect anyone we’ve rescued and hear what they have to say.” 

         Next is telling Collin where he wants to go and actually going there. It doesn’t take long for Pom to land in Serene Shores, all alone. “OW!” Someone falls out of the S.S. Beagle, and shakes sand off their helmet. “Heya Pom, thought it’d be nice if I came with you.”

         “GodfreakingdamnitAero.”

         Russ heads to his room, to work on more inventions, when he stumbles across three books. There is a note in Pom’s handwriting. “Jackpot.” Russ quickly runs out, yelling for a meeting for all Officers.

         Dingo sits down. “So? What is it Russ? This better not be a meeting where you tell us about a new invention!”

         “Kee-hee-hee! That would be fun, but no. I’ve gotten them. Pom’s past is right in front of your eyes!” He lays out the diaries on the huge table.

         Shepherd’s eyes light up. “Excellent work Russ! Now we just need to call the President to inform him about this and then we can finally be off the hook for at least this.” Shepherd and Collin nod at each other, and Collin quickly calls the President, and after briefing him on what happened the past few days, he is quite excited.

         The President smiles. “Well? What are we waiting for? Let’s hear about our dear friend Pom.”

         “Kee-hee-hee! Yes sir. Let’s see here, he said to do the second book first. I wonder why?” Russ opens to the first page. “Alright here we…” The color drains from his face.

         Entry 1: Second Diary

         Hiya diary. It’s me again. It’s been a few months since dad died, and mom’s been just gloating about all the money she got from the “old bastard.” Mom hasn’t really bought me anything with the money, just herself. I hope she at least lets me eat tonight…

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         The President looks at Russ, a bit shocked at the name he just uttered. “Excuse me, did you just say… Pendergrass?”

         “Y-yes sir…Why?”

         “She’s a big sponsor of the Rescue Corps. I didn’t know she had a son.”

         “Aero why the hell did you sneak on?”

         “Cause… I don’t know… I just wanted to hang with you man! Also, sand.” Aero face plants into the sand, yet again. 

         “Of freaking course… Well, I’m just going to explore that sand castle, wanna come?”

         Aero picks himself up, using his crutch to do so. “Dude, do you even have to ask? OF COURSE!” Pom and Aero hop onto Oatchi, with 29 blues, 10 purples, and 31 Ice Pikmin and start the climb of the sand castle. They have to fight a bunch of Larva Cannon Beatles, but they slowly make their way to the top. At the top is a Scorpion thing. Pom charges forward, and the creature lifts its tail. That makes it obvious what he has to do. Pom throws two Purples, and its weak point becomes exposed. Aero even hit it with his crutch. After three cycles of this, the creature goes down and the base is unlockable. Instead of collecting it, Pom goes backwards, building a wall and finding a Blue Onion!

         “Oh thank goodness, we needed this so badly…” With the help of the 29 blues, Pom and Aero get the Blue Onion back to base, and Pom gives the creature’s body to the Blues. Pom looks over at a cave, fearing that he has to go inside, when Aero takes his hand.

         “Nope, not today. Today, we relax and regrow the Blues, okay?”

         “Alright…” Pom sighs, calming his heart down again.

         The further on they go, the worse it gets.

         Entry 28: My fault

         I never thought I was a good kid, but according to mom, I’m awful. She laughed at me for crying when I remembered dad, saying it was all my fault he’s dead. I mean… she’s not wrong… It is all my fault.

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         Entry 30: A New Friend! 

         I was bored today, and so I secretly downloaded one of those intergalactic dating apps. Mom says only very bad people go on there, but since I’m already a bad child, she wouldn’t mind, right? After a bit of… stuff… not specifying, it was bad, I met a really cool person. Her name was Nova, and she is from Karut, around the same age as me. We talked for a while, and even exchanged phone numbers… I hope mom won’t get mad…

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         Entry 46: Crushed Dreams (Maybe)

         Mom really wants me to grow up and be a part of the Rescue Corps. Mainly because she could help me along the journey of life, which is a nice offer. Maybe I should abandon that job idea. I know it’s been a dream since I was little, but… is it bad that I don’t want to live with my mother? 

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         After what seems like hours upon hours of being metaphorically hit across the head with a baseball bat for an hour, they get to Entry 75. 

         Entry 75: I miss you dad.

         Sorry if this page is a bit… Messed up. Those are my tears… and maybe some blood, not sure. Mom went around the house, grabbing everything that could even remind me of dad, and burned it all down. She says he’s a bad influence on me… but… I missed him! That’s all! And she just took my feelings and burnt them down too! I can barely see out of my right eye too, apparently telling her off was the wrong thing to do. I hate it here.

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         They try to keep going, but after that Entry, they have to stop for a moment. It’s too much, at least right now. Collin reads Entry 75 again, before weakly muttering out. “Why did she do that? To her own child nonetheless….”

         Dingo can’t hold it any anymore. “Why didn’t this kid tell anyone?!”

         Yonny takes the page, and just holds it. There is a drawing of Pom and his father. He nervously laughs. “Ehehe, good news, we’re almost done with this book. At least…”

         Entry 77: Lies

         All adults do is lie, I’m pretty sure. Mom said to clean the dishes, and when I did, she told me she never told me to wash them. She yelled a lot and then she threw a plate at my right eye. It still hurts, but at least I’m not blind.

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         Entry 78: Facecam

         I went on voice call again, but this time, I wanted to see Nova. The only way she would turn on her camera was to turn on my own. Once she saw me, she insisted that I leave. Apparently intergalactic space travel opens up when you turn 17. Neat. I’m not entirely sure about this, but she’s a kid, like me. She wouldn't lie, right?

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         Entry 79: Running away

         I’m on a ship over to Karut. That’s where she lives, she also gave me the address for the orphanage in which she lives. It’s nice knowing I have somewhere to go.

         -Pom Pendergrass.

         Entry 80: Hope

         She didn’t lie. She was there waiting for me with her friend Aero. Both treated me very well, and gave me a place to stay. Though… I wonder why I miss my mother… Maybe she really is the only person who loves me…

         -Pom

         Russ closes the diary, and just sits there for a moment. They all do. Shepherd takes the diary and rereads a bit of it. “Oh my stars. Nova saved his life…”

         Dingo reaches out for the third diary. “Go to the next book!” Russ beats him to it, opening it up.

         Entry 3: Home?

         Feelings are difficult. I can’t tell if I am genuinely being enjoyed or if they're just putting up with me. I think they like me, I hope they do. They have dragged me to multiple restaurants, and locations. I might get odd or dirty looks, but Aero protects me from anyone who tries to hurt me. Most times. I think this might be my new home…

         -Pom

         Entry 14: Luottamus

         Turns out Nova is religious. She has a little shrine near the kitchen. When I asked about it, she explained what it is for, and what her religion is. Turns out, most Karutations follow Luottamus, with their god, Jumala, or Samru if you want his actual name. It’s very much not my thing, but whatever makes her happy, makes me happy.

         -Pom

         Entry 28: Confusing feelings

         What constitutes as gay? Like, seriously. I… am so confused with emotions, that I just… can’t. Aero is sleeping on my legs as we speak… well as I write this, and I’m feeling things I shouldn’t be feeling. I just met this guy, why do I feel so flustered?! It’s fine, I’ll be fine. I’ll ignore these feelings for now, they’ll go away eventually… right? (I’m never going to give this diary to Aero now, great job me.)

         -Pom

         Entry 34: Rescue Corps Again

         I know how much of a risk this is, but I’m going to try and become a Rescue Corps member. I know my mother could easily find me, but I just want this job. It’s been my dream and I’m not going to let it go this easy! Hopefully this goes well…

         -Pom

         Entry 48: Made it :)

         I have landed on the planet as intended. What wasn’t intended was the whole ship setting itself on fire mid flight. Curse this stupid planet… I have to find Aero soon, who knows what happened to his ship?

         -Pom

         Yonny quietly chuckles to himself. “These are just innocent.”

         Collin is starting to feel a bit better, after the roller coaster that is the last diary. “Heh, I know! Now what’s the next one?” Collin flips the page to the next entry. After a couple of seconds of reading, Russ and Yonny go bright red.

         Entry 49: I found heroes.

         I never knew why Aero held on to Bernard and Dingo so badly. I get it now. I SOOOO get it. I mean, god, Yonny and Russ are the best! Yonny is always checking in on me, and making sure I’m alright. I can tell it’s partly because it’s his job, but at the same time he seems really worried for me. Russ is also just great, creating all those cool inventions! I kinda see myself in him, though that might just be me projecting, haha. One day, I might even start imitating them, just like Aero does with Bernard and Dingo! Heh, only time will tell.

         -Pom

         Yonny steps a bit back, completely overwhelmed. This kid just met them, and he’s already wanting to be like him?! “O-oh my…”

         Russ manages to keep his cool, at least, on the outside. On the inside he’s screaming, but on the outside he’s fine. “Okay, that one was just sweet.”

         Dingo closes the book. “Well, that was the last entry of that diary! We have one book left, and based on the second one, this might be the worst one. Let’s just open a random page.” Dingo takes the book and opens it to a random page, nearly dropping it out of shock of what was on the page. He puts it down on the table, and everyone else generally has the same reaction.

         Aero hops next to Pom, who is sitting on the edge of the sand castle. Aero looks at Pom, the light reflecting off of his helmet. “Staring off into the sunset from up here? You could get yourself hurt Pom.”

         “But look at it, it’s just so pretty…” Pom doesn’t take his eyes off the sunset. It had been years since he told anyone of what happened on that vacation, and here he is, doing it again to people he sorta knows.

         “Pom, are you doing okay?”

         “HA, Not at all. But I can get through this… now… Jeremry, Mimic, Purple, can you guys come with us?”

         “Oh, yeah sure.” Mimic replies, and drags Jeremy over. Purple nods. All of them go inside the S.S. Beagle, and flies back to base. At the end of the day, the two boys had expanded the raydars range, got 390 sparklium totaling 11345 sparklium, and made 98 Blues. The moment Pom enters the S.S. Shepherd, he feels suffocated. All eyes are on him, but no one says anything.

         Aero notices all three of Pom’s diaries on the table, and looks up at his friend. He whispers to him. “You gave them the books?! I thought you were just going to tell them?!”

         “Yeah… I did… It just was easier to give them the diaries and leave then say what happened.”

         Shepherd stands a far distance away from him, not wanting to scare Pom. “Pom…you….”

         “It’s alright, there is no need to feel sorry for me. Sorry for shoving all this information at you, I just… I trust you.” Pom’s smile is slight, but it is clear he is close to tears.

         Shepherd looks at him feeling really guilty. “No, Pom, we’re sorry. You shouldn’t have had to suffer for nothing.”

         “Oh! You don’t have to be sorry! You’re… not the one who did that stuff!”

         The President, still on call, turns his direction towards Pom. “Pom, do you want to report her to the police? It would be a very easy case to win with all this evidence.”

         Pom looks the President dead in the eyes, and without missing a beat, says, “No. I’m okay now, I just want to forget it ever happened.”

         None of them can believe it. This kid went through so much, and yet he’s totally fine with just letting the monster go. Dingo attempts to talk some sense into Pom. “Pom, you can’t be serious. She–”

         “I am very serious, Dingo.”

         The President notices Pom looking at him. Pom knows that if any action is taken against his mother, she could pull her funding from the Rescue Corps, and all the sudden, the Rescue Corps would be on a tight budget, or worse, bankrupt. The President sighs, hoping that it wouldn’t ever come to that. “Okay, but if you ever change your mind, we are right here to support you through the process.”

         “Thanks… guys….”

         Collin looks behind Pom and Aero, noticing two Blue Pikmin. “Ah, you brought the right Pikmin to question!” Collin points at Mimic and Jeremy. “Explain yourselves.”

         Mimic steps back, but just a bit. “Eh? E-explain what?”

         Collin looks down at the book and starts reading one of the entries, “Entry 18: Blue Plants There are a bunch of blue plants around. They have a ship too! They all have little mouths, it’s so cute. Two of them are different though. One is small, and the other has a scar and white eye. Such odd creatures!”

         Mimic just stands there. They are doomed. Again. “Oh.”

         Dingo shots up out of his seat, clearly angry. “That’s all you have to say?!” Purple taps Jeremy on the back, and nods.

         Jeremy looks between the group and Pom. “Well, uh, no. I… Pom? We uh… know what happened to your father.”

         Pom gets down on their level. “You do?! Then please… tell me… I won’t be mad.”

         Jeremy isn’t expecting him to be so… calm. “Uh… so, as you know, your dad was brutally murdered by Burrowing Snagrets… and once day broke, and the Onion landed, we kinda tried to make him a leafling. It didn’t work… I guess the Onion didn’t have enough nutrients, or maybe it couldn’t make the body into something new. We started panicking, when I had an idea. I got Blue and Mimic to follow me down a cave with him and… sorta, maybe, kinda, absolutely threw him into a Violet Candypop Bud… hehehe… heh… oh goddd….”

         Pom connects the dots, a bit faster than Jeremy is expecting. “Wait… are you suggesting–”

         Jeremy steps aside, gesturing to Purple, “Uh, and it clearly worked… say hi to your dad.” Silence fell over the S.S. Shepherd. It was long, painful even, as all Purple does is nervously wave. “He can’t talk, his vocal cords don’t… exist… but he does remember you. Trust me, he does.”

         “D-dad?” Purple walks up to Pom, and just hugs him. Pom picks him up and hugs him tightly. Pom quietly cries, hugging his father. Even if he doesn’t have the same body or voice, he’s still the same dad he grew to love over the years. “I missed you so much…”

         Mimic put her hand on Jeremry’s shoulder, smiling. Finally, they have nothing left to hide. Well… almost. Mimic looks over at Oatchi, doing a double take. “UHHHHHH, JEREMY?”

         “What?”

         She points at Oatchi’s tail. “We have a big problem.”

         “Oh. Oh…. ”

         Collin notices the leaf on Oatchi’s tail. “Wha?! When did that get there?!”

         Jeremy leans on Mimic. “That’s bad… I guess you guys are stuck here longer than you need to be.”

         Shepherd runs over to Oatchi, gently holding his tail. “It’s just a leaf, right? Why can’t we leave as soon as we cure Nova?”

         Jeremy’s eyes drop. This is going to be tough to explain too. “Organisms with that leaf can’t leave this planet. Pom would know, right?”

         Pom pulls Purple into his chest, and turns around to face the crew. “Oh. Right. A Blue Pikmin got into the emergency escape pod and… well… died. Painfully.”

         Mimic pushes Jeremy off of her. “Yep. So now we have two problems. Oatchi’s tail, and the Orange Lumiknoll problem.”

         “There are Orange Lumiknolls?” Yonny says that almost a bit too fast.

         Mimic smiles, or at least her gills do. “Yep. We’ll need to find one in order to cure Nova. And you guys have to find a pet person in order to figure out how to cure Oatchi.”

         Collin pulls out his tablet. “Oh! When I was looking through the ID’s, I saw a veterinarian. Her name was Nelle, and it seems like she came here with two of her friends!”

         Shepherd pats Collin on the back. “Excellent work Collin! Tomorrow the hunt for Nelle begins!” The night ends quite quickly after that. Pom is in his room, feeling a little relieved. No one hurt him, and no one judged him. They just want what is best for him. Pom closes his eyes, swearing he will save Oatchi, and Nova from their fates.

         “How did you figure out how to do this, and how this could work?!” Mushy says, watching as Puffy slowly cooks the dirt in a tiny metal bowl over the campfire.

         “Trial and error, that’s for sure. I once lit myself on fire doing this.”

         “Of course you did.”

         “Well, as for how it works… also trial and error. And being stupid. I thought the Lumiknolls were cool, until I tripped and got stuck inside one.”

         “How?”

         “I have no idea. I had to eat my way out, which is when I discovered that the dirt tastes pretty good. After that I harvested some for myself, and cooked it. It was even better, and so I’ve just made it my mission to eat this once every five moons.” Puffy laughs to himself. “I was such an idiot back then! I could have accidentally cured myself if I wasn’t careful! Luckily, Orange Lumiknolls are the only means to cure creatures like us! Now…” Puffy hands a wooden pull full of a dark green liquid to Mushy. “Eat up girlie!”

Chapter Text

         The next morning is an odd one. Pom feels that, at least. He guesses telling people about what you’ve been through usually gives this type of reaction. Pom gets ready for another day of work, and hops outside. He’s met with Aero having an argument with Yonny and the Captain. 

         Yonny attempts to shut Aero’s hopes down. “For the last time, you are too injured to go on an exploration!”

         It doesn’t work at all. “But I did fine last time, I mean, you didn’t even notice I was gone yesterday!”

         Shepherd freaks out at that fact. “YOU WHAT?!” 

         Pom walks over and puts his hand on Aero’s shoulder. “Why do you want to go with me?”

         “Cause, new area, and I’m not letting you get traumatized again. Plus, you’ll need my epic Dandori skills!”

         Pom facepalms yet again at Aero’s bravery? Stupidity? Both. It is both. “OhmyfreakinggoshAero…”

         “What? The last time you went out without me you got PTSD flashbacks to that bird thing, ain’t letting it happen this time!”

         Yonny is at a loss for words at this point. “Where does he get this stupid bravery from?!”

         Pom looks down at Aero, and then back up at Yonny. “A mix of Dingo and Nova, honestly.” Aero nods his head, proudly. Pom flicks his helmet. “He’s still dumb, but he’s good at defeating danger.”

         Aero ignores the flick. “Yes, I am!”

         Shepherd sighs really loudly. “UGH, you know what? Fine, but I swear on the stars if you hurt yourself–”

         “Don’t worry Captain, I won’t.” He winks as Pom facepalms. Again. Once everyone has woken up, the morning meeting starts.

         As per usual, the Captain starts the meeting. “Good morning, Officers. I’m calling this strategy meeting to order! Let’s recap our current situation. Oatchi’s condition. Or, rather, his tail’s condition. If we can’t cure his leafy appendage, we can’t leave this planet.”

         Collin adds onto her comments. “Luckily, there is a veterinarian on this planet, Nelle, who might just be able to help us and cure Oatchi. And we believe she’s located in the same area where those newly received SOS signals are originating.”

         Russ, who is taking notes, continues the list. “There is also the issue of Nova’s condition. As Mimic said last night, the only way to cure the Puffstool disease is getting a strange sap from Orange Lumiknolls.”

         Shepherd nods. “Ok then for Oatchi’s sake, let’s find Nelle as quickly and efficiently as we can and work on finding those Orange Lumiknolls.”

         “Copy that!” It’s time for the daily chores, talking to people, getting raw materials, training Oatchi, getting to level 2 dig and chomp, and getting stuff from Russ. Pom decides, at least for Oatchi and their sake, to get the Soruch Guard for the both of them, Gunk Busters, 5 Bomb Rocks and Brace Boots. After that Aero hops in the S.S. Beagle, as Pom goes over to Collin.

         “What’s the new area’s name Collin?”

         “We’re calling it the Giant's Hearth.”

         “OOOO! Now that sounds interesting!” Pom and Oatchi hop on into the S.S. Beagle, flying off to the Giant’s Hearth. Once they get there, the first thing Pom does is look around. It’s huge, fit for, well, giants. The only thing that snaps him out of his entrancement is Olimar’s panicked voice.

         “Huh? Is that really… And what’s he doing with Moss?” Pom looks in front of him, seeing a man around Aero’s size. A green dog, which Pom assumes is Moss, is with him, holding what seems to be a castaway.

         Shepherd looks at Olimar, confused. “Do you know that guy? I don’t recognize him from the list of castaways.” 

         “It’s Louie! He’s a co-worker of mine at Hocotate Freight.”

         Collin has some hopes that he isn’t trying to kidnap people for fun. “Is he trying to rescue that castaway?”

         Pom can tell he’s not. Just from that stance alone. “I-I don’t think so Collin…” Once Aero sees Moss, he hides behind Pom.

         Collin does a tiny gasp. “Oh! Could that castaway be–”

         Shepherd gets closer to the screen, and notices what Collin did. “Look at those round ears! It’s a Koppaite! He’s one of the friends of Nelle!” Louie and Moss run away from the officers.

         Olimar sighs. “Argh… What’s he doing running around with Moss anyway.”

         Collin thinks for a moment. “Perhaps your employer sent him here to help you Olimar.”

         “Perhaps… Though Louie wouldn’t have been my top choice.”

         Shepherd knows now that today is going to be a long day. She silently sighs, before projecting her voice. “Let’s follow Louie! We don’t want anything to happen to that Koppaite castaway.”

         Pom nods. “Alright Let– Aero what the hell.” Pom tries to move forward, but is stopped by something holding his legs.

         Aero holds onto Pom’s legs, and then looks up at him. “WHAT?! They ARE scary!”

         “Aero….” Aero just nudges into Pom’s body again. Pom sighs. 

         The crew looks at Bernard, who is just standing there a bit dazed. Dingo looks back at the screen. “Uh, is it just me, or did Aero sound exactly like Bernard there?” 

         “No it’s not just you Dingo, he does this sometimes. He usually takes after you when it comes to being himself, but if he ever feels scared or threatened, he will pull a Bernard and project his voice until the threat gives up.”

         “It WORKED in the past, so it will work now!”

         “OhmyfreakinggoshAero…” Pom gets Aero off of him, and gets out 30 Reds, 30 Blues, and 10 Rocks. Going forward, they find two bulbears. Pom takes care of one with a charge, and Aero somehow takes the other down with one bomb and his bare fists. Next, they murder the worst thing ever, also known as a spider. A real one. When Aero sees the spider, he starts to scream. He hates those things, apparently they taste terrible. Pom very quickly takes out the spider with some Pikmin and spends a moment calming Aero down. Then Pom sends 40 Pikmin on a nearby bridge, and 25 on a slope to be built. While waiting, they get another raw material pile. Once it is done, they regroup, and go onward. There’s a Fiery Bulblax nearby on the other side of the bridge and it’s protecting a base.

         “Aright, let’s just– AERO!” Aero runs up to the creature, and kamikazes into it with two Bomb Rocks. Aero gets flung off the creature, due to the bombs exploding on contact, but he does manage to kill it. 

         “GOT EM!” Aero yells out from the spot he lands in, not even bothering to move his head. 

         “Aero, why? I could have handled it.”

         “Uh, cause I can. Plus, with my skills I won’t die! I’ll be fine.”

         Pom helps Aero stand up. “No, you’ll die. Just get on Oatchi!”

         “Alright, fine!” Aero hops on Oatchi, as Pom moves the base over. Pom goes back the way they came from, throwing 10 reds on a buried treasure. Then, Pom found a burning pinecone.

         Collin looks at the on fire pinecone. “Huh? Looks like there was something in the fire.”

         Shepherd, for once, gets to explain something to Pom. “Hmm… If you take that fire starter, you might be able to use it to burn something. Or you can use it to light another one of those bonfire altars and have even more fire starters at the ready. But all that aside, that thing looks so hot, I’m sweating from here!” Pom takes the fire starter, burning down two stacks of what seemed to be hay, before lighting the bonfire altar near the first base. Then Pom murders another spider, getting two treasures. One with the spider, and the other near a sprinkler. Pom goes back, regrouping the Pikmin and gets another fire starter, lighting another bonfire altar, and going inside some sort of structure, lighting yet another bonfire altar.

         Pom goes back out, and sees treasure suspended by a web. “Fun…” Pom goes to get it, and ends up losing 3 Pikmin to a surprise attack from two really large Female Sheargrubs. After pulling the treasure down, he sends 38 Pikmin to build yet another ramp and 8 pikmin to break down a crystal wall. Sneaking around another bulbear, Pom gets the first strike and takes it down. Then Pom burns down another stack of hay, and lights a bonfire altar. That’s when Pom and Aero find Louie.

         “There we are, back in action!” Collin jumps in his seat, ready for another battle. “There they are! Louie and Moss!

         Shepherd, on the other hand, wants this to go peacefully. “I see ‘em. At least the Koppaite castaway looks safe for now. We need to get him to hand them over.” Louie and Moss jump in the cave, just like the Red Leafling did.

         Collin looks disappointed, but not surprised. “Argh! He ran into that cave!”

         Shepherd sighs. This isn’t going to go peacefully, at least, not anymore. “What does he even want with that castaway? You’ve gotta chase them down, Pom!”

         Aero hops off of Oatchi, heading towards the battle, “Nah, I got this.”

         Shepherd tries to interject. “Wha?! Aero? You’re too injured!”

         “Nothing could stop me from destroying someone in Dandori, right Pom?”

         Pom looks at Aero. He has a glint in his eyes, one Pom knows what it means. “Captain, with all due respect, you are not going to get Aero to back down from this.” 

         “Let’s see how badly I can destroy this man!” Aero leans back, falling into the cave as Pom and Oatchi wait outside.

         Inside the cave, Louie attempts to make a leafling, or at least Moss does. It’s hard to tell if Louie cares or not. Collin notices Moss drag the castaway over to the Onion. “Huh? Is this for real? Louie, wait!” It’s too late, the castaway is sucked inside, and pops out perfectly fine, “Ugh. We didn’t make it in time.”

         Shepherd looks a bit confused, more surprised honestly. “No… wait, hope is not lost! Look closely.”

         Collin is just as confused and surprised as Shepherd is. “Wha?! Why didn’t they become a leafling? What’s going on here?!”

         Shepherd pouts a bit. “I’m not sure… But he’s not being cooperative.”

         Olimar tries to plead with Louie. “Louie! It’s Olimar! Can you hear me?”

         “...”

         “Louie!”

         “Errrm…” Louie just doesn’t care. He is more interested in what would be his next meal.

         Collin stops Olimar’s next attempt to reason with Louie. “He’s not even listening…”

         “That’s unfortunate. Guess we’ll have to rescue that castaway by force. There’s no way to predict his next move, so be careful!” Shepherd said, with a compliantly angry voice. The battle starts, and the Captain realizes something when watching Aero. When Nova said that her friends are good, she wasn't kidding. Within minutes, Aero is already bullying Louie with his imposing score. It’s something to behold. The match ends with Aero getting a score of 289 and Louie getting 86.

         Aero leans against a nearby wall, smiling to himself. “Heh, not the best I’ve done, but still pretty good.”

         “Hmm…” Louie runs off, not even stating a word, Moss following behind him. 

         Collin yells out. “Louie! He’s–” But by the time he’s done, Louie is nowhere to be found.

         Olimar frowns, unsure on how to feel. “Why is he running away?”

         Shepherd is a bit more serious this time. Perhaps Louie managed to get on her nerves. “Right now our priority is getting this castaway to safety. Rescue the Koppaite!” 

         “Copy that Captain!” Aero jumps out of the cave, seeing Pom and Oatchi still patiently waiting for him.

         Pom just looks at him. “How badly?”

         “Didn’t get to 300 points this time… But I won!”

         “Oh, how unusual of you. Come on, let’s get this castaway back.” Pom let 6 blues carry him back.

         Aero looks up at Pom. “Hey Pom? Can we do a cave?”

         “Uh sure? Which one?”

         “The one where we had to build that ramp.”

         “Alright, let's head over.” The two walk over. Once they arrive, the castaway has made it back to the base.

         “Let’s take a look at their ID badge!”

         “Treasure hunter: Yorke

         Home Planet: Koppai

         Grandson of the famous Koppai scientist 

         Dr. Drake and partner of Don Bergman. He's 

         talented at rewiring communication devices.”

         “Yep! They're Koppaite!” Once they get the confirmation that he made it back, the two look at Pom’s tablet for the log.

         “#12. Ultimate Testing Range

         I filled my belly with all kinds of snacks. The strongest creatures are the tastiest. Except that ultimate weapon-like one. It was barely edible. -Louie”

         Pom is taken a bit back. “Louie went down here?”

         “There are GUNS?” Aero seems a bit too happy about that fact. The two jump down into the Ultimate Testing Range with 10 Purples, 30 Ice Pikmin, and 30 Yellows.

         Pom already doesn’t like the place, as it is filled with Dwevils. Aero, however, is ready to go ham on the place. Aero runs around, blowing up and fisting fighting anything he can, eventually turning back to Pom when he needs help breaking a wall. Pom looks down at Aero, confused. “Couldn’t you just blow it up?”

         “Dude, I have to conserve resources! I can’t just blow up anything that isn’t you, Oatchi, or the Pikmin!” Pom sighs. When Aero wants something or believes something, there is very little you can do to talk him out of it. In fact, the plan to fix Nova's attitude towards others was his idea, and he wouldn’t back down from it. Nova really had two choices, lose one of her only friends, or get help. It’s clear what she chose now, but back then Aero had no idea what he was instigating.

         Aero runs past the broken wall, and then walks back, pouting. “It’s just pink sprouts….”

         “Wait, pink? Aero, we don’t have a type of Pikmin that’s pink!”

         “Oh, nice.” It takes Aero a moment. “Wait what?”

         Pom plucks the little one, and a flying Pikmin comes out of the ground. It spins around in the air, curious of what new creatures were in front of it. Collin laughs at the Pikmin. “They can fly?! The variety of Pikmin never ceases to amaze me.”

         Olimar lights up, seeing his Pink friends. “Ah! Those are the Winged Pikmin!”

         Aero stops his rampage for a moment. “Wait, why are they not the Pink Pikmin?”

         Olimar just sits there in silence for a moment. “Because of their wings?”

         “And not the color?! That’s like trying to name Yellows, “Ear Pikmin.””

         A moment of silence was had between the three before Pom spoke up. “Aero, he almost did.”

         “Oh. Well shit, nevermind.”

         Olimar waits a moment before continuing his explanation. “Anyway, as the name makes obvious, these creatures can fly! They also like to take shortcuts across gaps when they can.”

         Pom lifts up the Winged Pikmin up into the air. “Aw… they are so cute! Nova would have freaking loved these!”

         Aero stops. He has to say something, but remembering what Nova is now freaks him out. “Cause they’re pink?”

         “Yeah, and also cute. And also, they can fly.”

         “Aww… that’s cute. Anyway, back to murder!” Aero runs off, and Pom chases right behind him. 

         It’s during this chase that Pom finally notices something. Aero isn’t limping at all. “Is his leg really broken?” After collecting all the treasures in the sublevel, the two head down for the next. Once they land, Pom stares at Aero’s leg, concerned about him. “Uh… Aero?”

         Aero turns around. “Yeah? What?”

         “Wasn’t your leg broken or something?”

         “Yeah, funny thing… turns out I’m fine. Yonny really wanted me to stay so he could research whatever the hell was going on with my body, but you know… adventure.”

         “Wait, so it just… healed itself?”

         Aero stands there, just looking at Pom. “Uh… I guess? At least I think it did, either that or Yonny messed up!”

         “Then why do you still have the cast on?”

         “Oh. Because I’m too lazy to remove it. Now come on, we have to murder some fiends!” Aero runs off again, as Pom just watches.

         Pom can’t shake his worries away. “Yonny? Is he really telling the truth?”

         “Ehehe, that’s the weird part, he is.”

         “Then– wh– HOW?”

         “I have no idea fresh blood… no idea…” Aero runs around, killing Water Blowhogs, Mammoth Snootwhackers, and a Withering Blowhog. Pom follows a decent distance behind, collecting raw material piles and treasures, getting more Winged Pikmin along the way. Once Aero is done with the enemies, he jumps down to the next sublevel, with Pom quickly following behind.

         When Pom lands, he notices Aero ran a bit ways away and he looks depressed. Pom sighs, as he knows. Pom could tell ever since they landed here. Aero is acting again. He always does this, whenever he doesn’t take his meds, which Pom knows for a fact that the Aero forgot to bring with him. To most people, they’ll see Aero acting like he’s the happiest man in the world, but to Pom, it’s obvious that he’s just hiding his true, much more depressive and destructive feelings down, just for Pom. Aero sighs and lets his body slouch.

         Pom quietly walks over, placing his hand on Aero’s shoulder. “Aero?” 

         Aero jumps up, clearly startled. “WHA!? Pom! I can’t BELIEVE you! Don’t fricken scare ME!” 

         “Sorry, I just… are you doing okay?”

         “Yeah, I’m fine. Just taking a little BREAK, you know?”

         “Alright, then you should probably take a break back at base.”

         “...Fine.” Aero goes back to base to just rest up, while Pom murders three of those spiders. 

         While getting another treasure and raw material pile, Pom finds another castaway, a leafling. “Great, looks like Louie was semi-successful in converting castaways.” Pom gets 3 Wings to bring him back to base, and goes back to get Aero. Aero hops on Oatchi and the three go for the next sublevel.

         It is hell on the next sublevel, so many flying jellyfish. It’s awful, but they murder them all. Aero does get sucked into one, but he blows it up from the inside. Pom runs over to Aero. “Aero! Are you–”

         “I-I’m fine!” Aero is holding his chest. These explosions are surely taking a toll on him. Then, going downwards, Pom murders another jellyfish, two demon spiders, and yet another jellyfish.

         Pom let the wings carry the treasures back, as that way he could save materials. He looks down at Aero. “Hey, dude. Seriously, are you doing okay?”

         Aero weakly looks up at him. “I’m fine… Just hurts. That’s all.”

         “...Well, we are almost done with this cave, so… if you don’t feel up to fighting the boss I can–”

         “Absolutely not. I’m helping.” Pom sighs.

         “Here we go again…” The two jump down into the final sublevel. It’s a circular arena with cover near a kettle thing. Pom wildly gestures at the kettle. “What in the fresh FFFFFFRICK is that?”

         Aero is more interested in it than Pom is. “Some sort of machinery, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s the one that had that gun?”

         “Yeah, but if it was machinery, who made it? And why?”

         “Does it matter? We gotta kill that thing anyway!” Pom nods, rushing Oatchi into the kettle. The kettle shook, and hopped out of its ball-like state, relieving a new creature.

         Olimar recognizes this creature. After all, he had to fight one to get his Chronos Reactor back. “A Man-It-Legs! Boys, you have to take cover!” The Man-It-Legs stands still, pulling out a real gun. It’s working too, as it shoots at Pom, who is way closer to the creature. After a few seconds of shooting, it stops firing and zooms over to Pom. The process is repeated multiple times, and everytime Pom feels a combination of badass-ery, and absolute terror as he outruns the bullets.

         Aero however, is only scared. He doesn’t know what to do, he’s pretty sure the bombs he has won’t help, so he just decides to hide behind a wall. It’s dirt, but it’s doing its job. Though he doesn’t need to hide for long, as the fight starts to die down. Pom has the Man-It-Legs down to its last legs in no time.

         Aero doesn’t know this, though. All he is able to hear are gunshots. Eventually, Aero can’t take the anxiety anymore, and comes out of hiding to find Pom, scared he’s already dead. It’s at this time that the Man-It-Legs is almost done unloading its last clip. It notices Aero coming out of hiding, and it shoots at him, managing to barely miss his arm. Pom charges the Wingeds at it, and the Man-It-Legs goes down, popping out a castaway. 

         Pom catches his breath, beforing looking up at Aero, who is holding his arm, shaking. “Aero are you–”

         Aero weakly smiles at Pom. “Yes… It just missed me, I’m good. Now come on, we have a castaway to save!” Pom sends back the castaway and a nearby treasure. 

         “Let’s check their ID badge.”

         “Treasure Hunter: Don Bergman

         Home Planet: Koppai

         An ex-ranger who followed rumors of 

         treasure to this planet. He'll use the profits 

         to help the starving back in his homeland.”

         “Huzzah! It’s a Koppaite castaway! Let's hope he has information regarding Nelle’s whereabouts.”

         “Yippee…” Aero says, as he nearly passes out on the floor. Pom is barely able to catch him. Pom picks him up, holding Aero as he escapes the cave. Once they get back up, Pom runs to the S.S. Beagle, whistles and gets inside. He drives them back to base camp. In one day, Aero and Pom found 3 castaways,  gained 1455 sparklium, totaling to 12800, gained 40 Winged Pikmin, converted 25 Yellow Pikmin, gained 15 Red Pikmin, and lost 3 Reds.

         Once they land, Pom carries Aero into the S.S. Shepherd. Shepherd is the only one in the main lobby, and greets the two. “Ah! You two are– what happened to Aero?”

         “Blew himself up around 2 or 3 times… passed out at the end of the cave.”

         Shepherd facepalms. “Oh stars… I told him not to hurt himself!”

         “And you expected him to listen? As long as Nova is in danger, he won’t listen. He only wants to save his best friend…  no matter the price he has to pay.”

         Shepherd looks at Aero, simply concerned for the man. “Pom, will you go get Aero to the medical bay?”

         “Of course Captain,” Pom walks over to the medical bay, making sure that he doesn’t hurt him more than Aero already has. Pom knocks on the medical bay’s doors, and after hearing some shuffling, he is let in.

         Pom walks in, and sets down Aero, explaining what happened to the doctor. Yonny isn’t pleased. “Ehehe, Aero did what?” 

         “Blew himself up, I think two times, might have been three. Also his arm got grazed by the Man-It-Legs.”

         Yonny looks around Aero’s body. It is perfectly fine, aside from some leftover blood. “And you didn’t bring him back immediately because…?”

         “It was nearly the end of day and it’s Aero. Even with his friends, Aero does what Aero wants.”

         Yonny sighs. “At least he hasn’t died… yet… I’ll have to run some tests on him.”

         “Do what you must.”

         Yonny gets some needles out of the cabinet. “Has his body ever been able to… well… rebuild itself like this?”

         “Not that I know of. This is entirely new.” 

         Yonny starts drawing some blood. “So then something or someone is affecting him right now. Ehehe, what a strange case.” Yonny puts some of the blood sample into a strange machine.

         "What’s that?”

         “Oh! It's just a machine to test if something is in the blood and how much of it is in there. Russ recently modified it to be able to detect the vital cells that leaflings have.”

         “Neat…” Pom watches as the machine prints out a piece of paper, and Yonny eagerly grabs it.

         “Ehehe, now lets see…” Yonny studies the paper, looking more and more confused the further on he goes. “Nothing’s… wrong?” He looks over at Aero. “There is absolutely no way nothing is wrong with him.”

         “Terrifying thought, what if the leafling cells can’t be traced until late in development?”

         “That’s the thing fresh blood, it can be traced at any time in development. I’ve tracked someone’s process from non leafling to a fully fledged Leafling and it can show up as soon as it’s in the person.”

         “How did you–”

         “Puddles volunteered to become a leafling and gave me the materials to make an extra cure. Not entirely sure where they got it from, but I’ll take what I can get.” Yonny puts down the paper and walks over to Aero, analyzing his face now. “What’s this scar here for?”

         “Oh that one was when Aero was showing me and Nova how to work a machine and the moment he turned it on, he electrocuted himself. That’s just a scar from the machine also collapsing onto him.”

         Yonny tries not to laugh. “Yeah, that sounds like him…”

         “I mean, that’s not the most Aero thing Aero has ever done. That title goes to all the times that he somehow broke every slinky he touched!”

         “How in the world did he accomplish that?”

         “I have no idea. He would just take one, and within the minute, it’s too tangled to be salvaged. I still remember the time he broke a metal one with that strategy in under thirty seconds of being handed it.”

         Now that’s something Yonny can’t help but laugh at. “EHEHEH! How does this man live?”

         “That is something I’ve been asking for six years.” The two laugh at Aero’s antitics for a good few minutes.

         “Alright, alright, fresh blood. You should go to bed. You’ve got another expedition tomorrow, right?”

         “Yep. See you tomorrow Yonny.”

         “See you tomorrow fresh blood.” Yonny’s attention was left on Aero. Yonny watches as the small hole Aero gained from the needle just heals itself. “I wonder what’s really wrong with you blue blood?”

         Mushy is freaking out. She’s remembering something she clearly shouldn’t have. Flashes of her laughing with the Purple man keep coming back. “I don’t know them, I don’t know them, I–”

         “Mushy?”

         Mushy jumps a bit after hearing Puffy’s voice. “ACK! Oh, hey Puffy.”

         “You okay?” Puffy sits down next to Mushy, just concerned for her.

         “...No.”

         “Why is that?”

         “I’m remembering things.”

         “From your past life?” Mushy nods. “Ah, that’s… a problem. Well, then I think I know what must be done.”

         “What?”

         “Stalk them more. If you start remembering more, and want to go back then… I can look into bringing you back.”

         “W-why would you–”

         “When I found you, it’s clear you didn’t want to die. You were fighting with death until the end. So if you’re remembering your past life, and want to leave this one, then I’ll help, okay?”

         “O-okay…” Puffy hugs Mushy as the two look up at the sky. 

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up rather early, at least for his standards. He quickly gets in his suit and walks over to the medical bay, finding that the door was already open. Pom walks inside, finding no one inside. That’s when Yonny and Aero come back from wherever they went.

         “Oh, good morning fresh blood. Looking for Aero?” Yonny looks incredibly sleep deprived. Pom assumes that he must have stayed up all night.

         Aero just waves at Pom, looking the worst he’s been in years. Pom helps Yonny get Aero inside. “Yonny, what happened? Is Aero okay? Are you okay?”

         “I’m fine, fresh blood. Just had to pull another all-nighter. Aero isn’t though. He… uh… just got done nearly puking his organs out.”

         “OhgodfreakingdangitAero....”

         Aero’s voice is hoarse as he attempts to quell Pom’s worry. “I-I’m fine… I s-swear…”

         “Aero, it’s alright. You don’t have to talk.” Pom turns to Yonny. “Make sure to take care of yourself too. Please. We can’t have our doctor going down for the count too.”

         Yonny weakly smiles. “Yeah. I’ll try. Well, you better get to the meeting. I’ve already warned the Captain of our absence, but not about yours. Good luck with the exploration fresh blood.”

         “Thanks, and good luck to you too.” Pom left, jumping outside the S.S. Shepherd very quickly. With everyone now here, Shepherd starts the morning meeting. “Good morning, officers. Collin, any updates?”

         “Dobbs and Yorke have both identified Nelle’s possible location. But in order to pick up her SOS signal, we’ll have to update our radar.”

         “Sounds like we’re going to need more sparklium. How much more do we need Collin?”

         Collin looks at his tablet, and sighs. “About 200.”

         Shepherd smiles, knowing that it’s not that hard to gain 200 sparklium in a day. “Excellent, not that far off. Officers, let’s get to work!”

         “Copy that!” Everyone runs off to their post. Pom goes around and talks to the newly rescued castaways. After just checking in, Pom goes to Russ and buys the Treasure Gauge+, just in case. Then Pom goes to Collin, ready to take off.

         “So, where are we heading today?”

         “Hero’s Hideaway. I’m sure it’s got treasures.”

         “Alright, good luck!” Pom and Oatchi hop inside the S.S. Beagle and head off towards the structure in the background. Once they land, Pom is greeted with a broken helmet on the ground. He picks it up, looking around to see if anyone is around. 

         “Must have been Nova’s…” Pom sighs and puts it in the S.S. Beagle, just in case. Then Pom pulls out 35 Ice, 25 Rocks, and 10 Purples. As soon as Purple see’s Pom, he hops on his back.

         “Ehehe! Missed you too dad!” Pom hops onto Oatchi’s back and runs towards the last place Nova was at. Pom finds two enemies and kills them, getting on a platform. He is able to get a pretty sick looking treasure. Pom gets to the top, and sees the very creature said to have been the catalyst of Nova’s transformation. Pom takes out the elephants with no mercy. He doesn’t even want them to suffer, he just wants them gone. Pom kills more enemies, collects more treasures, and drains the sink. Then he notices a cave, with a fire around it. That is where Nova is put up against, seeing as there are no other places with a fire around. Pom heads over and checks out the cave’s name.

         “#54. Frozen Inferno

         “The flaming entrance was so hot, I never could have made my way in without a Scorch Guard. The true surprise was that once I got further into the cave, it was like walking into a cold refrigerator. Hopefully the Red Pikmin, Moss, and I get through this… -Captain Olimar”

         Pom only brings Reds, the entrance is way too hot to bring anything else. On the first sublevel are multiple fire enemies, and a flying Joustimite for some reason. The Reds take quick care of the enemies and treasures, allowing Pom to quickly jump down into the next sublevel.

         Watching Pom go through endless sublevels would be exciting for most, but Dingo is definitely not part of that most. In fact, Dingo really wants to visit Aero, but doesn’t really have the courage to go alone. So, he goes to the only person who could help him through this. Bernard finishes up the maintenance task when Dingo enters the ship’s cockpit. Bernard turns around, putting down the wrench he was holding. “Oh, well look who DECIDED to visit!”

         “Yeah, yeah. Get the teasing over with.”

         “So… what are YOU here for?”

         Dingo puts a hand behind his head. “Well… I was going to check on Aero, and was wondering if you were planning to do the same.”

         Bernard pauses for a moment, and looks up at Dingo. “What? You? Caring about SOMEONE other than me and the Captain? Who ARE you and what did you DO to Dingo?”

         “I’m me, and I did nothing to me! Plus, he’s kinda been more entertaining to watch than Pom, right? And according to the doc, he’s really sick, so maybe….”

         “Having his HEROES visit might make him feel better? Awww… Dingo….”

         “SHUT UP! It sounded less sappy in my head!”

         Bernard can’t help but laugh at the flustered Dingo. “Hahaha! I know. I’m just MESSING with you. Yeah, I’ll come. Just LEAD the way, Ranger boy.” Dingo nods and walks over to the medical bay, Bernard trailing close behind. He opens the door quietly, to find Aero fast asleep. Walking into the room more, Dingo finds Yonny also asleep, just on his desk rather than a cot.

         “Oh my stars, Bernard, look at him! We can blackmail him later!” Dingo scrambles to get his phone so he can get a photo of this.

         “Dingo, don’t.” Bernard puts his hand on the fellow officer’s back, shutting down his idea yet again.

         “Ugh, fine…” Dingo looks on the desk Yonny is sleeping on, seeing a bunch of documents, and a vial of blood. “Oh, then what’s this?” Dingo quietly walks over and reaches for the vile. Yonny wakes up, and quickly grabs his arm.

         “What are you doing here Dingo?” Yonny sounds annoyed, most likely due to his sleep being disturbed. Yonny quickly sits up, sighing as he does.

         “Well–”

         “Dingo wanted to CHECK in on Aero!”

         Dingo turns around, incredibly flustered. “BERNARD!”

         “What? It’s the TRUTH!”

         Yonny sits there for a moment, a bit in shock that Dingo would care. He lets go of Dingo. “Ehehe, and here I thought you hated everyone on this ship.”

         “I don’t! It’s just I’m harsher towards most of you.” Dingo quietly whispers to himself. “Cause most of you deserve it.”

         “Well, Aero has been asleep for… wait… what time is it?”

         It took every fiber of Dingo’s body to not say time for you to get a watch. “Uh, around… Bernard?”

         “One NINETEEN pm.”

         “Yeah, what he said!”

         “Well then, Aero has been asleep for about five hours.” Yonny stands up and heads over to Aero. Checking his vitals, Yonny notices that his body temperature has drastically dropped. Again. Everything else is fine, it is just the temperature that is the issue now. “Ehehe, will whatever this is affecting him just stick with one thing?”

         “Wait, you don’t even know WHAT'S affecting Aero?”

         “Nope, and before you ask Bernard, it's not anything leafling related. He doesn’t have the cells necessary to transform.” Bernard breathes a sigh of relief. At least he doesn’t have to go through that horrifying transformation.

         Dingo really wants to just run over and help, but holds back. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

         “Ehehe, who is this alien I’m talking to?”

         “What? I’m not an alien!”

         Yonny fully turns around, a slight smug look on his face. “Oh really? The real Dingo wouldn’t care for the newbie, right?”

         Dingo blushes. “This is different, okay? It’s just a bit surreal seeing the effects of my actions right in front of my face.”

         “Ehehe, of course, of course. Now, if you want to help, just get me one of the spare blankets from the closest.”

         “Okay, be right back Yon!” Dingo quickly runs out of the room, leaving Bernard and Yonny all alone. 

         Yonny looks at Bernard. It's a no brain on why he’s here. “I’m assuming that you’re here because Dingo asked you to be, right Bernard?”

         Bernard’s voice drops a considerable amount. “A bit. I’m also worried for Aero, it’s just… not normal .”

         “You could say that again.”

         “If this isn’t leaflication, then WHAT is it?”

         “Most likely either the flu or cold from this planet. He has been interacting with a lot of the planet the past few days. Not sure how long it’ll last, or if it’s contagious…”

         “Well if it is contagious, then we all MOST likely have it, right?”

         “Ehehe, yep. Though due to none of our conditions deteriorating like his, I think we are in the clear…”

         “Oh thank the STARS.”

         The footsteps from behind the two get louder, and Dingo comes running in with a thick blanket, “I’m back! Will this do?”

         Yonny takes the blanket, feeling it. “Yes, this will do. Good job Dingo.” Yonny puts the blanket over Aero, who stopped shaking the moment it hit his body.

         “Hey, doc, have you tried–”

         “Dingo I’ve tried everything, and more. Nothing has worked. In fact most of the medicines I’ve fed him have made things worse. The best thing we can do is wait, and just hope this gets better.” 

         It goes from warm and nice, to the world's most freezing place in one sublevel. “This planet sometimes can be odd, but not this odd!” Pom thinks as he jumps onto Oatchi. He turns around and finds an ice block just on the floor. Jumping around it, he murders an ice frog and finds some Rocks. Once they are plucked, they start to shiver.

         Collin gets a small weight on his chest, one of guilt. “Hold up! There’s a Pikmin shivering from the cold! There must be something we can do for it.”

         Olimar chimes in before Collin could check his Voyage Log. “Actually Collin, if you just whistle the Pikmin, it’ll be fine. Either that or you warm up the place.” Pom whistles them onto Oatchi, and finds another ice block. And an Ice Candypop bud. He throws five Reds in there, and attempts to use the Ice Pikmin on the blocks. They, unsurprisingly, start attacking the blocks and clear the way for the Pikmin to bring clay to a buildable ramp.

         Once the ramp is built, Pom walks up and finds an Ice dwarf and regular bulborb. He kills the dwarf and finds another ice block in the bushes. Pom destroys that one, and the sublevel gets a lot cooler. From there, Pom uses a fire starter on the Ice Bulborb and takes that out. He collects the rest of the treasures from there, even the sneak one in some bushes. Pom jumps down to the next sublevel. 

         Yonny wakes up for what seems like the eighth time today, looking up at the clock. It’s getting close to the end of the day, so Pom should be getting back in a few hours. “Good. I might finally get a break from having to watch over Aero.” Yonny sits up, and turns around, freezing as he sees Dingo sitting next to Aero. “Dingo?”

         Dingo jumps a bit, before quickly turning to Yonny. “O-Oh! Yon! You’re awake. Uh… sorry, I just… wanted to make sure he was doing okay, and I didn’t want to disturb you, an–”

         “Dingo, it’s alright. I just didn’t expect you to be here.” Yonny gets up, and walks over to Dingo’s side. “You really do care about Aero, don't you?” 

         Dingo sighs. “I guess I do. He’s just… so hurt.”

         “He reminds me of your old self, in a way.”

         “Eh? How?”

         Yonny pulls up another chair to sit next to Dingo. “Come on, you and I both remember how you were when you first joined the Rescue Corps.”

         “Brave?”

         “Ehehe, no, reckless. You had no problem throwing your life into the front lines, and well… Aero seems to do that too.” Yonny looks at Aero with a sense of guilt. He still has no idea what is happening to the poor man, and it’s eating the doctor alive.

         Dingo notices his friend’s concern. “Did… something happen yesterday that I’m not aware of?”

         “...Yeah. Dingo, if I tell you this, you have to promise to keep your mouth shut, got it?”

         “Uh, yeah. You have my word. What’s up?”

         “Aero might be going down the same path Nova has.”

         Dingo stills, looking at Aero. “Excuse me?” Aero is pale, but he’s breathing stable.

         “It’s just a theory right now, don’t freak out, but with the symptoms he’s been experiencing, I can’t deny that something more is happening behind the scenes. Though, no matter how hard I try to prove that it’s something like Nova’s case, I always come up empty handed.” Yonny checks the vital monitor for a moment, seeing that everything is okay.

         “What has he been experiencing?”

         “Ehehe, quite a lot. I’m sure you're aware of his odd encounter with oxygen poisoning, right?” Dingo nods. “Well, that was just the beginning. His body just… healed itself.”

         “What? How can it–” Dingo looks at Aero’s leg. “Wait, is THAT why he doesn’t have a cast?!”

         “Ehehe, yep! It’s not just his leg though, his entire body has been blessed with these healing powers. He’s also able to withstand three direct hits from bomb rocks, without breaking a sweat, and now, he’s sick with the oddest hodgepodge of symptoms ever known to our kind. There is no way that THIS is natural, it has to be something from here, I just… can’t find what it is. It can’t be a leafling infection, I’ve already checked several times, it’s not that Puffmin disease, also checked that one, and it’s not the odd flu that some of the castaways had, it’s symptoms don’t even line up! And now I’m just wondering if I missed something!” Yonny looks at Dingo, fear starting to grip his heart. “I don’t want to watch another person die like Nova did.”

         “Yon…”

         Yonny feels a temptation to cry, but fights against it. “Oh, ehehe, sorry, I just… It’s been a hard few days. You know me, when I come up dry, I have to keep trying! Ehehe!”

         “Yon, it’s okay. I get it. When you know something’s wrong but can’t prove it you get frustrated. That’s normal. You're doing everything you can to help him, and that’s all he needs.”

         “Heh. Thanks Dee.”

         Pom lands, and notices that the sublevel is just as cold as the last one. “Great, I sure do love being cold… god sarcasm is my best friend.” Pom goes around, murdering anything he can, even finding one of those pancake things that killed nine of Nova’s Pikmin. But it’s ice this time. 

         “I wonder if there’s a poison one?” Pom thinks as he wraps up the sublevel, returning it to a normal temperature. He runs over to the base, and presses a button submerged in water, opening up the way below. Pom jumps down with his army.

         When he lands, there is a firestarter to his left, and an open arena up ahead. “Great sign for a boss fight.” Pom has one of the Reds pick one of those pinecones up and walks inside the arena, noticing another open Bonfire Alter. He goes over to light it, and when he turns around there is a giant freaking ice moth flying in front of him. Pom panics and throws the fire starter at the moth, and its icey fuzz disappears as it attempts to fly away. Pom attacks the creature, and it soon regains its fuzz, and the cycle repeats again. Get fire starter, throw it, miss somehow, panic, get fire starter, hit the creature, murder it. After two more cycles it’s done for good, dropping a treasure. Pom also found another Leafling castaway, and once both were back at the S.S. Beagle, Pom left this freezing dungeon.

         Aero has been out of it all day. He’d go in and out of consciousness, sometimes for hours at a time. It’s only slightly concerning, but Aero manages to calm himself down every now and then. Eventually, after what seems like hours of surfing the line between life and death, Aero gains enough strength to try and interact with the world. He opens his eyes, noticing quickly that he is in the medical bay. He doesn’t dare sit up, scared that he’d lose control and fall back down.

         A head pops in his view, looking rather happy. “Oh, ehehe, good evening Aero!”

         “Yonny?” Aero tries to sit up, forgetting what he was trying to prevent before. He doesn’t get far though, as Yonny gently pushes him down.

         “Oh, not yet Aero. I’d recommend staying down right now, I need you to stay awake, and sitting up might just knock you out again.”

         Aero watches as Yonny checks what Aero can only assume are his vitals. “A-Alright.”

         “Okay, everything looks to be okay, that’s good.”

         Aero hears another voice in the room. “Wait, is he awake?”

         Aero tries to move his head over to try and see the person. “D-Dingo?” Yonny motions for Dingo to come over, and he quickly does. He doesn’t need to be told to come over, he was going to do that anyway.

         Aero is finally able to see Dingo, a bit surprised at how relieved Dingo seems seeing Aero. “Oh thank the stars you're awake!” 

         There is a moment of silence before Aero speaks to him. “Dingo, wait… why are you here? Is the Captain with Pom?”

         “No? Why?”

         “Wasn’t there like… a double up rule for expeditions?”

         The two freeze, realizing that Pom went alone, and it slipped their minds entirely. “Oh. Right. Ehehe, well, I guess Pom gets a pass for today. How do you even remember that rule?”

         “Dunno, I guess I just do. My question still stands though, why is Dingo here?”

         Yonny looks at Dingo, waiting for the man to respond. “I… I was just worried about you, that’s all.”

         Aero quickly sits up to actually face Dingo. “Worried?!” The sudden motion causes Aero to fall back down, and back unconscious for a few seconds before he comes back. “O…Ow… Wait, you were worried? For me?”

         “Kid, first of all, don’t do that again. Second of all, yes, I was. All I knew was that you were hurt and in here, and I got worried is all.”

         Aero stares at Dingo for a couple of seconds. “Huh.” Aero weakly chuckles. “Alright….” Aero holds his head, blinking slowly. Each time he blinks, he raises his eyelids lower and lower. Dingo and Yonny look at each other. They know that he needs rest, and he will get it in a few minutes, even if they still want to talk to him. Dingo lays Aero down. Aero smiles at the two. “Wake me when Pom gets back….”

         “Even as he sleeps, Pom is the most important thing to him.” Dingo chuckles, watching as the kid falls asleep once again. “Goodnight Aero.”

         Pom hops out, this time on top of a higher counter. He turns on a fan, and jumps down onto a white platform, and there right in front of his eyes is an Onion.

         Russ’s eyes light up. “A light-blue Onion? Even though it's frozen, it is still buzzing with activity inside. Fascinating!”

         The Ice Pikmin, known as Icey, jumps for joy once it sees its home. Pom escorts the Onion down, and sees a base, ready for the taking. Pom runs over, murdering a bunch of tiny creatures and sets up shop there. Then he has the Onion come on over. It merges with the other three, creating the 4-parted Onion. Pom spends the rest of the time creating Ice and Yellow Pikmin, as their populations are a bit too low. He collects another treasure in the meantime too, and moves a nearby box before heading back to base. At the S.S. Shepherd, the S.S. Beagle deposits the necessary amount of sparklium to get the radar to scan a bit farther.

         Collin stands up, clearly exhausted with all the changes he had to make to get the radar working like they need it too. “So, I’ve removed the limiter, so let’s just start up the radar again.” The radar activates, scanning far away areas. “Let’s see… That did it! I can’t believe there are so many SOS signals coming from that unexplored area.”

         Shepherd looks at the screen, a bit terrified that they could have missed this many people just because of the radar’s range not going far enough. “One of those signals could be coming from Nelle! Saving her is our first priority.”

         Russ looked at Yorke, amazed with his handy work. It was him after all that helped Collin through the whole process of rewiring the radar. “The scientific prowess of Koppai seems to be remarkably close to my own. I won’t underestimate them from now on.”

         That day, Pom had rescued one Leafling, finished the Point of Honor Series, gaining a new 1433 sparklium, now totaling to 14233 sparklium, gained 25 Yellows, 46 Ice, and 10 Rock Pikmin and lost absolutely no one today. 

         That night is more of a hangout season with every castaway rescued so far. Yonny and Aero are of course in the medical bay, but many castaways came to check in on the two throughout the night. At midnight, most of the castaways had gone to sleep. Shepherd is just cleaning up some of the mess when she sees something outside. What seems to be a girl with eyes that are illuminated in the dark. Shepherd rubs her eyes and the girl is gone. Shepherd sighs, going back to cleaning up the place.

         “I’m just missing Nova, that’s it…” Shepherd thinks to herself, finishing up her short cleaning season before going to bed herself.

Chapter Text

         The morning isn’t pleasant. It never is, but Pom is expecting more than multiple body aches and the over feeling of not wanting to get up. Pom does anyway, because he has a job to do. “God I sound like Nova…” Pom puts on his suit and heads outside, where Dong Bergman and Yorke are talking to the Rescue Corps. Well, it’s more like apologizing and thanking them profusely. Shepherd motions for Pom to join the group and the morning meeting officially starts.

         Don Bergman bows his head at the Rescue Corps. “Thank you again for saving us!”

         Yorke looks directly at Pom. “I don’t think we’d be alive if not for you.”

         Collin looks at Yorke. “Yorke that reminds me. We saw you get sucked up into that Onion, but you seem completely… normal.”

         Shepherd looks even more confused than before. “Are there any sort of abnormalities that we’re missing? Any leaves growing on you at all?”

         Yorke pats around his body, and eventually looks up, very confused. “Um… Not that I’ve noticed.”

         Yonny ponders out loud, as he usually does in situations like these. “So strange. I can’t help but wonder why you didn’t turn into a leafling.”

         There was only one thing Pom could think of, and it implied some… stereotypes of Koppians. But really, what else did he have to go off of? His spacesuit? “Maybe it’s the juice they drank?”

         Yorke seems to remember something. “Oh yeah! I bet it’s because of all that glowing juice we drank!”

         Pom sighs in relief. “Oh thank goodness he didn’t take it the wrong way.” 

         Aero looks a bit terrified from behind Yonny. “You drank the glow sap?”

         Yonny just laughs. “Ehehe! Of course! You were ingesting nearly pure glow sap, so the leaves must have been broken down before they could sprout. It’s just a theory… but an interesting one at that. I don’t suppose you’d let me conduct an examination later, eheheh…”

         Collin tries to ignore Yonny’s comment. “If Yonny’s theory is correct, then Nelle may not have been turned to a leafling either.”

         Don Bergman gulps. “You’ll still rescue her though, right?”

         Yorke immediately resorts to begging. “Yes! Please! We need your help!”

         Shepherd shakes her head. “Calm down now. Of course we intend to rescue her. That’s what we do. Nelle’s waiting for us deep in the forest. Let’s hurry up and find her. We can’t let her and Oatchi down!”

         “Copy that!” Pom watches as Aero is forced back onto the ship by Yonny. It is time for Pom’s favorite part of the day, chores. Pom goes around, talking to people, getting raw materials, training Oatchi in level 1 heal and level 3 dig, and buying from Russ. Then, after all of that is over, Pom approaches Collin.

         “So, we got a name for the area?”

         “Yeah, Russ and Olimar have dubbed it the Primordial Thicket.”

         “Woah, now that’s superimposing. Let’s go, Oatchi.” Oatchi barks as both get on the S.S. Beagle, flying into the woods.

         Yonny hops out of the S.S. Shepherd. “Please tell me that he didn’t just lift off.”

         Collin looks away from the sky, seeing Yonny more mad than he has ever seen him before. “He did, why?”

         “Because I think Aero snuck on again, I can’t find him.”

         Collin sighs. “Then you should probably contact Pom then.”

         “Will do, thank you.” Yonny hops back into the S.S. Shepherd in order to find a device to contact Pom with.

         Pom lands in this autumn forest, hopping out of the S.S. Beagle. He looks around, and then gets startled by the sound of someone falling out of the S.S. Beagle. Turning around, he finds someone who absolutely shouldn’t be here. “Aero? What are you doing here?”

         Aero pulls himself off of the ground. “I’m feeling fine, so I took it upon myself to go on an adventure with you.”

         “How did you even get on the ship?! I saw you get on the Shepherd!”

         Aero laughs. “Never underestimate the power of distractions!” The two stare at each other for a few seconds. “It was during Oatchi’s training.”

         “GoshfreakingdangitAero…” Pom just stares at the boy. “I’m going to get called by Yonny aren’t I?”

         “Hehehe… absolutely.” Aero gets up fully. “Good luck– HEY IT’S THE BLUE DUDE AGAIN!” Pom turns around, noticing Louie and Moss right in front of them. Louie notices the two Officers too, and runs off with a pink haired girl. 

         Pom just looks disappointed in not only himself but also in Louie. “That was Nelle, wasn’t it?”

         Aero laughs before centering himself. “Most likely.”

         Pom sighs. “Let’s… just get Nelle back.” Then Pom hears noise from the other side of his speaker.

         “Hello? Is this thing working?”

         Pom lowers his speakers volume. “Yonny? Is that you?”

         “Yes, now, where the hell is Aero?” Pom is glad he lowered the speakers, that is the most loud and angry Yonny he has ever heard. 

         “Uhhhhhh,” Aero runs forward, and trips onto the ground. “In front of me. He snuck on the ship again.”

         All Yonny could do is cover his face with his hand and pull an exasperated sigh. “Just… keep an eye on him… Please…”

         “Alright Yo– goshfreakingdamnitAero…” Aero runs off, turning to the right, and then taking another right. Pom gets out 40 Ice and 30 Winged Pikmin and chases after him. Pom runs up to Aero holding a Bomb Rock up to a giant standing crab creature.

         “What the hell are you doing Aero?”

         Aero just holds it up to the Grubchucker. “Take it. Please.” It takes the Bomb Rock, looks at it, looks at Aero, looks back at the Bomb Rock, and throws it back at Aero, timing it so it would blow up the moment it got near him. Aero gets a little flown back, and Pom just takes care of the creature himself. Once it is defeated, Pom looks over at Aero.

         “Are you good?”

         “HAHAHA! Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t expect it to do that.” Aero gets up, seemingly fine. 

         “Do you need to ride on Oatchi?”

         “Nah, I’m good, I can move.” Aero and Pom move down the path, letting Oatchi kill some poison enemies, and an odd mud creature. It skates along the mud, throwing some of the mud at the Pikmin. After killing that, they round the corner, seeing a base covered in mushrooms.

         Aero turns to Pom. “Don’t worry, I got this.” He walks over, only for a big freaking spider to fall out of the sky. Aero screams and runs behind Pom, shaking. This creature has legs that look like they could crush Pikmin, so Pom just swarms the thing with the Winged Pikmin he has on him, and defeats it within minutes. 

         Pom walks over to Aero, and pats his helmet. “You good dude? It’s just another creature.”

         “I know, but… those THUDS freak me OUT!” 

         Pom chuckles to himself. “Well it’s dead now, so come on.” Pom turns back to the base, and completely stops in his tracks. There, at the base, is a girl. A small one, with teal hair, and tips of the hair, brown. Its stem lowers, as it notices the two boys staring at it. 

         “Oh, you finally noticed me, took ya long enough… You know, Puffy said that the ones from the stars above have a secret 6th sense of knowing when they are being watched. I can say after six days of watching you two, he was either lying, or you two don’t have it.”

         “N-NOVA!” Aero tries to run over to the girl, but Pom stops him.

         Pom looks at her, a bit scared. “Why… are you here?”

         The girl lights up. “You knew me before I was like this?!” Both of the men nod. “Oh my gosh! Yes! Finally! I’ve been trying to find someone else who did!” The girl runs over, and then backs a bit up. The height difference really scares her. She looks at Aero, smiling. “My name is Mushy, but I take my past name was Nova, right? Well then I might as well start getting used to that again. You two, who were you to me?”

         Aero and Pom look at each other. Pom nudges Aero to speak first. “We were your best… uh… only friends. We wanted to get the same jobs together, so we all applied for this organization called the Rescue Corps. The Rescue Corps came here to save Captain Olimar, and you came here to save both.”

         Pom adds a little but important detail. “And we came here because HQ thought that you all died.”

         “Oh jeez… I’m so sorry for causing this adventure to drag on!”

         Pom smiles at her. “It’s fine Nova.”

         Nova looks at the ground. “I just need your help. I want to go back to my old self, but in order to do that, I need to find an orange Lumiknoll. All the gang and I have been finding are green ones!”

         Aero smiles, trying to make the girl feel comfortable. “Yeah, we can help! Just, we gotta get everything else first. Kinda need to finish our first mission, then we can focus on yours. Sounds good?”

         “Yes! Thank you!” Nova pulls the two into a hug, nearly making Aero cry.

         The three stay like that for a minute, before Pom squeezes his way out. “Alright, alright. We still have to find Louie. Come on Pikmin, let’s find the mysterious blue man!” The Pikmin cheer as Pom sets down the new base, and breaks a wall. All three of the officers could barely fit on Oatchi, but hey, they fit. The crew goes around, murdering creatures and collecting treasure until they find Louie. 

         Aero looks up at Pom, curious. “Uh… Pom?”

         “Yeah Aero?”

         “Have you had yourself on mute this whole time? It’s been awhile since we got a message from the others.”

         "Uh, let me check..." It doesn't take Pom long to find the radio. "Wait, why is it off?! I talked with Yonny earlier and-"

         Aero laughs at him. "You probably just subconsciously turned it off when trying to find me!"

         "Heh." Pom becomes slightly more pale. “Oops…” Pom turns the mute off and is immediately swarmed with voices.

         It was a mix of voices, ranging from Bernard to Shepherd. “POM!”

         “AAH!” Pom nearly falls off of Oatchi, but manages to stabilize himself.

         Collin sighs in relief. “There you are! Oh thank the stars you aren’t dead.”

         Nova looks up at Pom, a bit curious about the new voices. “Is that the captain of the Corps?”

         The whole ship pauses for a moment. Shepherd was the only one to break the silence. “Huh?! Is that–”

         Pom weakly smiles. “No and yes. That was Collin, our communications guy. And uh, Captain, we found her.”

         Aero leans in, now being next to Nova’s head. “Try not to overwhelm her guys. We can save the sappy stuff for later. Right now, we have a blue man to hunt down!” Oatchi jumps onto the second flower, and up ahead was that very blue man.

         Collin yells out. “There’s Louie! Phew, Nelle appears unharmed.”

         Shepherd attempts to talk some sense into Louie. “Enough of this. We need you to cooperate.” Of course, this would never work, as Louie just ignores Shepherd and jumps into the hole.

         Yorke nearly hits a desk with his rage. “C’mon! He ran away… again!”

         “Hurry up and go rescue Nelle, Oatchi and Pom!”

         Pom looks over at Aero, who seemed to take slight offense to the Captain's words. “Captain, wait no– AERO DON’T YOU DARE!”

         “WELP SEE Y’ALL IN LIKE SEVEN MINUTES” Aero just leans back and falls into the cave.

         Pom just sighs, looking down into the cave. “GoshfreakingdangitAero…”

         Aero arrives at the Dandori Battle, and once again, Moss drags the castaway over to the Onion. And once again it fails to leafify the person. The battle begins shortly after that. Once the round starts, Aero goes ham on Louie. He doesn’t even give the man mercy, and even with a 15 Pikmin starting lead, Louie stood no chance against Aero. The Pikmin seem a bit more obedient towards Aero, which is a welcome surprise, as he proceeds to absolutely body Louie with a 312 score to Louie’s 53. Once the battle is done, the first thing that is said is from Dingo. “Dude. How are you this good?”

         Aero puts his hand on his hips, proud of this score. “Well, they don’t call me the King of Dandori for nothing!”

         Bernard looks at Dingo, and then back at the screen. “Does ANYONE call you that?”

         “Nope! I just made it up on the spot!” Though to Aero, the name feels right. It feels like something he can get used to, but he knows it is just wishful thinking.

         Louie’s eyes bug out when he sees the score. “Guh?!” Louie runs off into the unknown, leaving Moss behind. Moss just looks at the floor, somewhat regretting her life choices.

         Collin sighs. “Louie ran off somewhere… Never mind that! We need to rescue Nelle.”

         Olimar smiles softly, happy to see Moss out of Louie’s hands. “We should secure Moss as well. We don’t want her to end up back in Louie’s care. Once we get out of here I’ll command Moss to head to the Rescue Command Post.”

         Collin looks at Olimar, surprised and happy they could at least save Moss. “You can do that? Huh. Okay, head back up. You can leave Moss to Olimar.” Aero hops out, with Moss following shortly behind. 

         Once the two land on the surface, Olimar moves a bit closer to the microphone. “Moss, can you hear my voice?” Moss barks in response. “Can you find me at my current location? Track me down?” Moss barks again. “Okay, Moss. I’ll see you at the Rescue Command Post soon.” Moss runs off, trying to find her way to Olimar.

         Collin looks over at Olimar. “Amazing… I wonder if she’ll actually make it all the way back to you.”

         “Oh she’ll make it, alright. She should arrive sometime tonight.”

         Collin turns back to the monitor. “We better recover Nelle now. Aero, Pom, Oatchi, you got this!”

         Pom smiles one of those fake ones. “Copy that sir.” Pom turns to Aero, smile disappearing. “By how much?”

         "...Around 249 points?”

         “Above 300 I assume?”

         “Yep! I’m so good at this stuff!”

         “OhmyfreakinggoshAero…”

         “Now come on, let's get Nelle back to base camp!” Pom lets six Winged Pikmin do the job, and the four go forward in exploring, finding more poison enemies, and another base covered in mushrooms. Luckily, there are no spiders falling from the sky. Pom waits for Collin to chime in with the news that Nelle made it back, and after a few seconds, he does.

         “Good news! We rescued Nelle!”

         “Veterinarian: Nelle

         Home Planet: Koppai

         A uniquely talented veterinarian at the top 

         of her field. She's here with Don Bergman 

         and crew in pursuit of treasure.”

         Yorke is ecstatic, thanking the Rescue Corps profusely. Now all that is left is to rescue everyone, including Oatchi and Nova, and go home. The rest of the day was spent clearing out the area of enemies and mushrooms, with one accidental death of an Ice Pikmin. The day ends like that, with the clearing out of an area, and the death of one Pikmin. The four got into the S.S. Beagle and go back to base. Today, Pom and Aero found 1 castaway, got 140 sparklium, now totaling at 14373 sparklium, no new Pikmin, and one death for the Ice Pikmin. 

         The moment the four land, there is a tension in the air. The Rescue Officers are already waiting outside, same with the castaways, just like any other night, but the two boys knew that this time, they are here for one reason and one reason alone. And that reason is hiding behind Pom’s leg, shaking.

         Nova looks up at Pom, absolutely terrified by the amount of creatures here. “Who are they?”

         “Those are the people that were over my radio today. Do you remember them?”

         Nova thinks for a moment, before gasping lightly. “Oh! Them. Why are they staring at me like I’m their prey?”

         “They are just excited to see you again.”

         “We… knew each other?”

         Pom smiles, and kneels down. “Yes. These are the people you were here to save.”

         “Oh….” Nova looks up at the other officers, still terrified of their stature compared to hers.

         “Nova….” The Captain takes a step forward, before looking at Pom. He nods, which the Captain takes as him letting her approach. She does so, a bit slower than she wants to, but what Nova needs is to feel like she isn’t being threatened right now. Shepherd sits down in front of her old officer, smiling. “Hi Nova. I know you probably don’t remember us, but…” Shepherd can’t help herself anymore, and pulls Nova into a hug. “We missed you so much….”

         “Captain! Nova might not–” Pom hesitates, looking at Nova, who looks struck with a mix of terror and what looks to be either confusion or familiarity. Pom looks at her, and sighs. “Just don’t freak her out more than you already have.”

         Shepherd smiles at Pom and hugs Nova a bit tighter. Shepherd never thought she’d get the opportunity to hold Nova again, especially after she learned of what happened to her, but Shepherd thought wrong. She swallows yet another feeling of wanting to break out into tears for later, and pulls away from Nova. “Sorry I… stars I never thought you’d….”

         Nova stares at her, still afraid of the creature that is holding her. Though, she does look familiar in a way. Something about that bun brings back a feeling of regret. Nova cocks her head. “Who… were you to me?”

         “Your boss, and Captain. Do you remember me?”

         Nova tries so hard to remember anything relating to this person, yet she comes up blank, like they had never met before. “I… I can’t. I’m so sorry.”

         Shepherd gently smiles, rubbing her thumb across Nova’s face to clear some tears. “That’s alright. You’ll get there eventually. We’ll help you. I won’t leave this planet until I can take you back with me.”

         “You promise?”

         “Yeah, I promise.” Nova hugs Shepherd, accidentally digging her claws into the back of her suit. Shepherd doesn’t mind this, in fact, she’s happy that Nova is at least able to be around her again. Shepherd picks Nova up, and hands her over to Pom. “I assume you want to look after her, correct?”

         “Yes ma’am. Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this for years. Pom and the others go instead to the S.S.Shepherd, and settle down. Pom decides that Nova needs his bed more, letting her have it. He takes the top bunk, and Aero sleeps on the floor. Pom sighs, as he knows that the next few weeks are going to be hell, so he at least needs good sleep. Pom falls asleep faster than usual, ready for the 3 week endeavor that was 100%-in all areas and curing everyone.

Chapter Text

         Entry 59

         We finally did it. 100%-ed every area we can. It started with the Sun-Speckled Terrance. We just had to collect a few treasures, and even a new cave called Aquiferous Summit. It involved some Red and Ice Pikmin action. It was really sweet seeing Red finally see Nova again, it was really shocked. Honestly nothing much happened in the Terrance. In one day we finished up the Terrace, we rescued two people, one being a leafling. We got 480 new sparklium, and grew 57 Yellows, 32 Ice 20 Blues, and 16 Red Pikmin.

         The next two days were in Giant's Harth, as Aero said he had some unfinished business there. We found multiple new treasures, and another flarlic too! Oh and there was a Rock Onion! Rocky seemed glad to see it back to base. What guarded the Onion was a really big Emperor Bulblax. So we kinda sent Oatchi in there in order to drag out the Onion safely. We also got to 15000 sparklium on the first day of Giant’s Harth, so that’s cool. Aero did another three Dandori Challenges. It was impressive to say the least, but something I knew he could do. The next day we got more treasures, and went through a cave that had the Empress Bulblax in it. So that was nice. And also a cave where we had to input a code. It was really tiring but Nova seemed to enjoy that. In total, we got 5 castaways, three of which were leaflings. We got 3898 sparklium, and grew 126 Rocks, 61 Red and 47 Blue Pikmin.

         Next was Serene Shores. We went into multiple caves, like the one with the dancing spider and the one that was really freaking cold. The cold one really sucked. At least we found a new type of Pikmin, the White Pikmin. They’d help deal with the poison problem, so that was nice. The dancing spider, while a bit scary, was still fun, I’m gonna be honest. We collect more treasures, Aero did more Dandoi battles, you know, the norm. What isn’t the norm is Aero caring for the Pikmin. Like, more than usual. He keeps bringing back corpses in order to grow the population because and I quote “I want to give them the best chance of survival when we’re gone.” It’s sweet, but not something I’d expect Aero to do. Also we got Thermal Defense for both Oatchi and us, and the Anti-Electrifier for Oatchi. And 5 more Bomb Rocks. In the end, over the course of three days, we got 4 castaways, 5635 sparklium, 56 Reds, 47 Yellows, 78 Blues, 44 Ice, 20 Rocks and 5 White Pikmin.

         Then we went to Hero’s Hideaway, and that’s when things got weird. Like, when we rescued the leaflings, some of them were awake. They yelled at the Onion, saying it somehow promised that they’d “be the king” and “lead the Pikmin kind to greatness.” Honestly it’s just odd how many said those kinds of things. We weren’t that pleased with their attitude, but Aero was just kinda mad at them. Why, you may ask? “Because they yelled at the Onion. It hasn’t done anything wrong.” Yeah. Somethings wrong with him. Still working with Yonny to figure that out. I keep telling him that there absolutely could be a variation of the leafling cells, but without proper evidence, he can’t believe me. Though that is an issue for another entry… At the end of two days, we got 4 castaways, all of which were leaflings, 5572 sparklium, and grew 15 Reds, 24 Yellows 35 Blues, 30 Ice, 25 Rocks 10 Purples, 15 White Pikmin, 

         After that, there was the Primordial Thicket. God, I hate this place. We had a run in with an actual Puffstool. It couldn’t produce those weird controlling spores, but it was still a Puffstool. The usual stuff happens, collect treasure, increase Pikmin count, do Dandori challenges. We also found the pink Onion. When we first found it, it made a… uh… less than ideal Wigned. Must have been on its last legs out there. The Winged has more dark pink stripes on its body, along with faster, tinier wings. We named this Pikmin Wingzey, mainly because it loves to fly around Nova and lift people up. It almost was able to lift me up, if that tells you anything about its strength. That was really nice, though some other weird stuff happened. Like for example, when I brought out the Pikmin, they flocked over to Aero, and he had to tell them to follow my orders. Only then did they start to listen to me. Aero also has started to hate this place too, which is odd. Aero never changes his mind on anything, so for him to go from loving the place to hating it was… Maybe I've been thinking about this way too much. That’s what a lack of sleep does to a man, ehehe. After 3 days, we found 6 castaways, 4 that were leaflings, gained 6643 sparklium, and converted 50 Rocks, getting 30 of them back, and grew 50 Winged, 65 Purple Pikmin. 

         Finally we went to Blossoming Arcadia to find that 1% we missed. It was a day to just grow the population. During this day, Nova asked about the differences between us people. Like planet differences. I explained that people from Giya are (most times) adventurous and ready for action, though they bruise quite easily, people from Ohri tend to have shorter hair due to the heat on the planet, and their hair grows rather slow compared to everyone else, and people from Nijo have sensitive eyes, and really cool sharp claws, cause, mountains and all, and people from Karut are really short, and  may be super judgemental, but they are also super loyal, and also super determined to get the job done. That’s when I learned that the President is actually a Karutate, which explains the HQ’s location... In the end, we got 110 sparklium, now totaling to 36711 sparklium, and grew 43 Rocks, 24 Winged Pikmin. We trained Oatchi and got him to level 3 Big Chomp, Doggy-Paddle, Heal, Command, and Rush. Also we got Swallow.  We also got Headlamp+, Power Whistle, Homesick Signal, Triple Threat, Tuff Stuff Tuff Stuff+, and Air Armor for both us and Oatchi, and finally Tuff Stuff++ for us. Good few 11 days.

         -Pom

         Entry 60

         Hey, look we also did all the night expeditions. We ended up finding a castaway that looks nearly exactly like Nova. Her name is Chewy and if it wasn’t for her voice and thinner feet, we might have mistook her for Nova, several times. Those two look like twins haha. 

         Oh and the expeditions themselves weren’t so bad, aside from getting attacked by 2 Emperors on each side, two Death Frogs, and a Baldy. That wasn’t fun. The Glow Pikmin really took a liking to Aero, always surrounding them. Aero was fine with it, which was even more odd. I thought he was scared of ghosts? The Glow Pikmin also hugged Nova, signing to her that they were sorry and they wanted to help. We helped them defend their home, and they gave us Glow Sap.

         Pom looks up, as if thinking of something more to write. Pom has been watching as Yonny, Collin, and Aero figure out how to make the radar go farther. They have been at this for hours. Finally, the radar makes some slightly concerning noises and boots up again.

         Collin looks at the monitor, which is showing that the radar is currently scanning farther than it ever has before. “Oh my stars it actually works.”

         Aero proudly looks at his handy work. “Of course it does. I am not only good at the whole Dandori thing, but I’m great at messing with machines until they give me what I want!”

         Pom doesn’t really see much happening. “So? Any signs of an Orange Lumiknoll?”

         Collin sighed, “Seems not. I–”

         Yonny notices a weak signal on the monitor. “Wait! Look!” Yonny points at the screen, and smack dead center in the middle of a slightly far away forest is signs of an Orange Lumiknoll. Three to be specific. 

         Nova notices the area they are in, a dark and musty forest. “Oh… those aren’t going to last long… in there at least.”

         Yonny looks towards the three backup Officers. “Well, it’s too late to get it tonight, so tomorrow we have to go out and harvest some of that glow sap. Got it?”

         “Copy that doc!”

Chapter Text

         A few hours before the expedition, the three backup Officers go to the S.S. Beagle. They thought that scouting the area early is generally a good idea. They had to beg Yonny for the approval, but they got it. Right as the three got in, two more guests got in with them.

         Pom turns around, expecting a Pikmin, as usually they like to hop at the last minute. “Oh which one– OH GOD YOU'RE NOT A PIKMIN!”

         Nova looks at the two men, confused. “Why are you here? I’m assuming Bernard is here because of Dingo, but… what is Dingo doing here?”

         Dingo tries to make an accession on why he’s here. “Well–”

         Bernard tells them straight. “He wanted to at least do ONE night expedition, and well, he also wants to make SURE you all will be okay.”

         “Bernard!”

         “What? I just told them what you TOLD Yonny. So, is it ALRIGHT if we tag along?”

         Aero is internally screaming, having his heroes go on an adventure with him. “O-of course sir!” 

         “Okay, y’all sit the hell down, we’re heading towards the Forest Navel now!” Pom steers the ship in the direction of the dark forested cave, hoping that those Lumiknolls survived the night. The forest is thick with trees. There are so many that it covers the area, blocking the sun from entering the forest. They land at the top of the spire, noticing a Lumiknoll. Aero approached it, its dirt is cold, and seemingly wet. The perfect conditions for the Orange Lumiknoll, though this one isn’t looking good.

         Aero mutters. “It’s even more pretty up close…” No one hears him, though they do know he said something. Dingo just stares at the Lumiknoll, notices its structure. It’s as if it’s been rebuilt hundreds of times. Pom goes down to the next Lumiknoll, which looks just as bad, if not worse. Oatchi whimpers at the state of the Lumiknoll. Nova jumps down to the lowest Lumiknoll, and it looks the worst of the three. She doesn’t even touch it, noticing some glowing eyes behind it. Nova jumps in front of it, shielding it and closing her eyes. After a few seconds of nothing, Nova opens them to some familiar friends.

         “Puffy! Min! Wh–”

         Puffy rides on top of Min, looking around for enemies. “You wanted to be cured, yes? Then we’ll help. Just remember you need all three of these alive to get any amount of sap, and the creatures here are relentless.”

         “Wouldn’t Min attack the Lumiknoll too?!”

         “Surprisingly not… I guess the parasite that we have just stops that from happening.”

         Nova looks around, confused at the Puffmin’s statement. “Wait… where are the creatures? There aren’t any nearby…”

         “They are resting, below and around this area. Waiting for the glow of the Luminkolls. I will warn you, the Glow Pikmin are weaker than the average, and they can’t do that… ball glow attack. Alright?”

         “O-okay…” 

         “Purple haired boy and that dog should protect the middle Lumiknoll, the three up there should handle the top Lumiknoll, and we’ll handle this one, sound like a plan, people of the stars?” Pom gives a thumbs up. “Good. Then we must wait for the glow to happen.” It takes a few hours, but the Lumiknolls light up at the strike of midnight. Out comes 20 little Orange Glow Pikmin for each Lumiknoll. They have little black ovals eyes, and a black jack-o-lantern like mouth. 

         Aero looks around. “Where are the Glow Pellets?”

         Pom goes a bit pale. “I don’t think there are any left Aero…” The creatures scream, multiple at the same time, and a horde of Shearwigs come flying in from every direction. Oatchi and Pom deal with wave after wave of Shearwigs. Nova is having a slightly worse time, being swarmed by Firey Blowhogs, Shearwigs, Male Sheargrubs, and Wollyhops. It’s a lot, and the Lumiknoll does take some hits, but it is manageable. The top Lumiknoll is absolutely not manageable, with swarms of Water Dumples, Male Sheargrubs, Watery Blowhogs, a Puffstool, and worst of all, a new member of the Long Legs family. It’s yellow, and waxy. It seems as if the Glow Pikmin can’t climb up it’s legs either. 

         Pom looks behind him, at the top Lumiknoll. “Are you all alright?”

         “We are FINE! I think…” Bernard has snatched Dingo’s knife and has been using it to slash down Sheargrubs. “Though we might NOT be in a few minutes.” Bernard slashes another Male Sheargrub. Dingo has been trying to stay calm, but it’s hard, as he is getting swarmed with Water Dumples and Watery Blowhogs. He has managing to keep up though. Aero is left in charge of killing the Puffstool and the new Long Legs. The Puffstool is easy, it’s just a few rushes and then it quickly dies. The Long Legs is the real issue. It’s heading to the Lumiknoll, and fast. In fact, by the time the night is almost over, it’s made its way over near the Luminkoll. Pom and Nova’s Luminknolls are fully protected, so the last thing left to fully protect is the top Lumiknoll.

         Dingo turns around to the Long Legs getting far too close to Aero. “Kid!” Aero is shoved to the ground by the Long Leg’s shake, and it steps on five Glow Pikmin. Right in front of Aero. Aero just snaps, getting up without a word and quickly climbing the Long Legs. Despite the wax, he is able to make it up, and beat the ever loving shit out of the Long Legs. It tries to shake him off, but Aero holds firm, finally ripping the Long Legs in half. Aero falls to the ground, and just looks up. One of the Glow Pikmin floats over, and Aero holds its head with one hand.

         “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Aero’s eyes almost look… dull… as the Glow Pikmin looks up at him.

         “Aero… are YOU okay?”

         Aero looks up and just points at the Lumiknoll. It goes dark, and produces one pile of Orange Glow Sap, before completely collapsing. The Glow Pikmin hug Aero, and disappear into the air, finally at peace after all these years of fighting.

         Aero breathes in and out, calming himself. “Come on. I’d rather have Nova back sooner rather than later.” They get the Sap into the S.S. Beagle and head back. Once there, Yonny starts immediately messing with the Sap, creating the cure in hours. Nova is given the cure, and for a moment, it looks like it doesn’t work.

         That is, before Nova starts to throw up the Fungal infection itself. After many minutes of rotten roots and mushrooms, she stops, and just hangs over the trash can. Pom puts his hand on Nova. “Feeling better?”

         She sits up, turning around, shocked at the voice she just heard. “P-Pom?! Aero?! What are you two doing here?” The two boys go in for a hug, and they stay like that for a while. “Okay, okay, I love you too, but what the hell is going on?!”

         Pom lets go of Nova. “You… don’t remember?” He forces Aero off of her too.

         “I… remember what?” Aero and Pom look at each other. “Oh. Oh wait, no, never mind, I remember now. At least, I remember the start of whatever the hell happened to my body….” Nova covers her face with her hands. “Oh the Captain is going to murder me for dying like that…. Wait, where is Yonny? Should he be in here?”

         “He should be…” Aero turns around to where should have been, to find he’s missing. “Where the hell is the doc?” Nova puts down her hands, whipping away any remaining tears.

         “How did I look? Was I… different?”

         “Oh you were. You had, of course, a stem with a mushroom on the end of it, your left eye was entirely white, and your right one was glossy, uh, you had teal tipped fingers, and your hair was steel with brown tips.” Pom thinks for a moment. “Yeah that’s it.”

         “Is it still teal?”

         Aero floofs Nova’s hair up a bit. “Nope. I wonder why though….”

         “Maybe it has something to do with the Pikmin changing skin color when becoming a Puffmin?”

         “No, no, shut up, shut up right now, stop sounding like Yonny, please, please, for the love of all that is holy, stop.” Pom laughs at Aero’s panic.

         Nova stares at the two boys. “...How long have you two been here?”

         “Let’s see…” Pom starts counting softly. “Uh… around thirty two days? I think? That might be off though, more than a week that’s for sure.”

         “T-thirty… two? I’ve… missed thirty two days?” Nova sits there, not completely believing Pom. “Just… give me a moment. That’s a bit unbelievable, you know?” Nova takes a deep breath, trying to control her racing heart rate. It calms down a bit, just in time for the door the the medical bay to be slammed open, which causes her heart rate to jump back up.

         Shepherd stands in the doorway for a moment, staring at Nova. It doesn’t take long for her to react, however. “N-NOVA!”

         “Captain! You’re going to scare her!” Yonny tries to stop Shepherd, but barely misses as she runs forward. Nova braces herself for yelling, maybe something worse, but instead all she gets is a hug. 

         “You’re… not mad?”

         “I… that is a loaded question. Am I mad at you for not telling us anything? Yes. Am I mad at you for not taking care of yourself? Absolutely. Am I mad at you right now? No, I… I’m just glad you're back.” The other Rescue Corps arrive shortly after, keeping their distance and letting the Captain get all of her emotions out. Shepherd eventually pulls herself off of Nova, and looks to the others. 

         As Nova looks around, a suffocating silence fills the room. “Are you all just going to stare at me or…?”

         Collin walks forward, kneeling down in front of her. “Sorry, it’s just… you… I…” Collin sighs. “I’m just glad you’re alright. It’s… hard to find the words right now.”

         “Yeah, that’s normal. I’m kinda having a hard time processing why those two idiots are here.” Nova points behind her at Pom and Aero.

         “Kee-hee! HQ sent Pom here to check on us, thinking that you might have died or something, and Aero came here on his own free will.”

         “That’s–” Nova has to reorientate herself after hearing Russ’ laugh. “Holy… hold on, give me a minute.” Nova clears her eyes of any tears that are starting to form. “That’s… what the hell was HQ thinking?! Did they want more corpses? Cause that’s how you get more corpses!”
“I have no idea new blood. I think they didn’t want to lose us too.”

         Nova sighs in disappointment. “Well at least you didn’t die… that’s at least a good thing.”

         Dingo takes a step forward, emotions starting to overwhelm the ranger. “But you did!” Dingo’s voice shakes as he continues. “You… Stars Rookie, Never do that again!” Bernard puts his hand on the rangers, calming him down.

         “Pff… I can only guarantee that I’ll try not to.” Nova smiles at all of the others. She looks back at Aero and Pom, before returning to the whole group “I hope… these two haven’t been too much. They can be… hard to handle somet– oh who am I kidding? They are hard to handle all the time.”

         Shepherd puts a hand on Nova’s shoulder. “Trust me, they weren’t.”

         Aero seems to take offense to Nova’s statement. “Hey! I wasn’t that bad!”

         “You literally scared the whole group with your knowledge.” Pom chuckles at Aero’s face.

         “And you traumatize them with your mother.”

         “I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up.”

         Nova looks back at the group unamused. “Point proven.”

         “Well, they weren’t even that bad. Honestly, they were great.”

         “Well that’s at least good… So, when’s the next expedition? Cause me me want to go on it.”

         Aero walks over to Nova, flicking her in the head. “Could you have asked that in a less childish way?”

         Nova grabs his hand as he trips to flick her again. “Could you stop being annoying for two nanoseconds?” 

         Pom pulls Aero away from Nova. “Pff, that’s impossible for him.”

         “HEY!”

         Yonny looks Nova directly in the eyes. “Will you take no for an answer?”

         “Yonny, you should already know the answer to that question. Never.”

         Yonny looks at the Captain and she nods. “Fine. But only if Aero and Pom have you in their vision at all times.”

         “Copy that Yonny.” Nova hops up on her feet. “Can I rest in my room?”

         “Yes, you can, new blood.” Nova does a tiny fist pump.

         “I’ma go do that, cause damn am I tired.” The crew wish her a goodnight as she heads for her room. Aero and Pom follow after her, and let her get re-adjusted to the layout. Pom and Nova end up getting the beds, while Aero gets to rest on the floor. Nova’s head hits her pillow and she feels a wave of emotions. The only one that preserves through the initial hit is determination. She is ready, they all are, to finally face the King of Bugs, Louie. Tomorrow. They have to at least rest today. The three fall asleep together, ready for whatever must happen next.

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up to Aero shaking him. “Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wa–”

         “I’m up!” Pom sits up, noticing that Nova is just watching the two.

         “Of course you two would… hahaha... Now come one, we have a dog to save.” The three get ready and head outside. They get the last few upgrades, and approach Collin. Collin is up in the S.S. Beagle, making sight adjustments. 

         Aero calls out to him. “Collin, we’re ready!”

         Collin hops down from the S.S. Beagle. “We’re ready to go! Make your way over to the S.S. Beagle guys.”

         Nelle and her friends come over to talk to the group. “Hold on. There’s one last thing.”

         Shepherd turns to face Nelle. “What is it, Nelle?”

         “As strange as he may be, Louie did look after me… in his own way. So please do your best to rescue him and bring him back in one piece. There’s a small matter he and I need to discuss.”

         Nova smiles. She knows that discuss probably means torture, but hey, it’s what he deserves. “Will do, Doctor.”

         “Oh my, you’re so sweet. You can take it from here, I’m sure. Good luck to you three.” The three smile and head into the S.S. Beagle for one of the last times. Arriving at Primordial Thicket, the three headed over to the one cave they haven't explored, one once hidden via a very large rock. They had seen it while collecting treasure, but wanted to save it for last.

         Collin comes in over the speakers, loud and clear. “Wait, is there supposed to be a cave here? I need to double-check these coordinates. Huh? What’s this?!”

         “#19. Cavern for a King

         Finally tamed that huge dog thing. I’m gonna lie down now for a while in its den. It’s really deep, and there are plenty of snacks. The others will give up and go home. -Louie”

         “It’s Louie's Log! He must be hiding somewhere around here.”

         Shepherd leans back in her chair. “This is the evidence we’ve been looking for. He’s definitely with that giant dog. Please proceed with caution!”

         Nova looks up at Pom. “You ready?”

         Pom just looks at her, dead inside. “I’ve been ready for the past like… three weeks.”

         “Okay good. Just checking.” Pom, Aero, Nova, Oatchi, 20 Whites, 40 Purples, and 40 Blue Pikmin jump into the Cavern built for the King of Bugs.

         The first sublevel has a poisonous Puffstool. Pom and Aero look down at Nova, who is brimming with anger already. “GREAT START GUYS, I ALREADY LOVE THIS PLACE.”

         Aero chuckles. “At least your filters got updated, right?”

         “At least…” Nova pouts. Nova looks over at Pom, and stares at him. “What are you doing Pom?”

         Pom kneels down to Oatchi, whispering to him. Oatchi barks and goes out into the arena, killing the enemies and collecting them out of the Puffstools reach. “Just taking some advice from my army.”

         Jeremy looks up at Nova. “Yeah these Puffstools can receive creatures, so it's smart to get them out of its reach.” The three officers watch as Oatchi drags back one corpse at a time, until the Puffstool is all alone. Then Pom rushes the creature and manages to kill it.

         Aero leans on Nova’s shoulder, mildly inconveniencing her. “So Nova. How many sublevels are there? You can tell from the percent right?’

         “Yeah, let's just see here… uhhh… Twenty.”

         “TWENTY?!”

         “Yep. Twenty. Who wants to bet it’s a boss rush?”

         Pom yells from the base. “That’s how you lose money!”

         Nova laughs at his comment. “HAHA! Yeah, yeah. Come on, these sublevels won’t clear themselves.” They jump down into sublevel two. Sublevel two’s boss is a bunch of Bulborbs. It comes to no one's surprise that this is one of the easier sublevels. It is completed quite quickly, letting the group go to Sublevel three. 

         Sublevel three is a small box of nothing. Nova looks around the room. “Uh… Where’s the boss?”

         Pom walks forward, fully ready for a falling spider or something of the sort. “I’ll be the bait, I’m sure it’s–” Three Burrowing Snagrets emerge from the ground right in front of Pom. Pom freezes, unable to move.

         Aero runs forward, and pushes Pom back, managing to avoid the several pecks of the Snagrets. “Pom! Pom! Listen to me! Come on!” No matter how much Aero pleads, Pom doesn't move. He can’t move. He doesn’t want to relive the events of the past, and yet here he is, against three Snagrets, just like he was on that vacation. 

         Nova gets on Oatchi, and gets an idea just from where the Snagrets are emerging. “Hey Russ, you got the Survey Drone on the S.S. Beagle right?”

         “Uh, yeah. Why?”

         “Okay, so use as many Pikpik carrots to distract the two in the corners. I can handle the rest.”

         Russ connects the dots of Nova’s plan and laughs. “Kee-hee-hee! Clever girl! You got it!” Russ flies the Survey Drone over to the middle of the far Snagrets emergence spots and spams Pikpik Carrots. While the two Snagrets are distracted, Nova defeats the closest one, and then goes for the right corner Snagret, and finally the left corner. Nova defeats the last Snagret quickly, carrying back the treasure. She runs over to Aero and Pom. Aero has managed to calm Pom down a considerable amount, but not fully.

         Nova gets down on their level, patting Pom’s helmet. “It’s okay, I took care of them. They won’t harm anyone ever again, I promise…” Pom just pulls his two friends into a hug.

         “I don’t think he can speak right now.”

         “That’s fine Aero, just let him recover at his own pace.” The three go onwards to Sublevel four. It has an Arctic Cannon Beetle, and the only way to it was through a winding narrow path. Aero hops on Oatchi and rushes towards the Beatle, and in one cycle, defeats the creature. After collecting the treasure, the three jump further down. Finally, they made it to Sublevel five, surrounded by Emepores.

         “Mmmmm, fun…” Nova says as she gets on Oatchi and attacks the Emperors one by one. She takes all of them down without having one of them scream to wake up the others. Once the treasure is collected, the three go even further down. On Sublevel 6, there is Louie. 

         Louie looks behind him, disappointed that he isn’t left alone as he has wished. “Ergh…” Louie runs off into the next sublevel. This place seems to be a rest sublevel, no real enemies. Nova gains 5 Ice Pikmin, and finds her way to the treasure before going down with her friends to Sublevel 7. In the sublevel, there are two giant blowhogs. One Ice and the other Fire. It’s now the easiest sublevel of them all, and it doesn’t even take the crew one minute to go to the next sublevel. The eighth sublevel’s boss is the Crusted Rumpup, which with the power of Purple Pikmin, goes down quite easily. The ninth sublevel, however, definitely isn’t easy. It’s a Man-It-Legs, with basically no cover, and a lot of water. So, for the most anxious two minutes of Aero’s life, Oatchi and him have to swim around the creature, dodging its bullets through sheer speed alone. Though, they do finally take it out, and move onwards to the tenth sublevel. It gets so much worse, as on this sublevel, there is a death frog and they have to fight it with normal Pikmin. 

         “Oh stars above… “ Nova thinks to herself. She remembers Puffy said to avoid these things at all cost, but now, she doesn’t have a choice. The group tries their hardest to protect the Pikmin, but end up losing the 5 Ice Pikmin they had. Though, through great patience, they do succeed in fighting it off. On sublevel eleven, the group faces Louie again.

         All he says is, “...Leave me alone.” before disappearing into the cave’s darkness. This sublevel has the Bloomcap Bloyster, or as Nova calls them, the Roomba 2.0’s. They are quickly dispatched of, and the group goes onwards to sublevel twelve. This sublevel is another rest area. After grabbing the treasure, the group goes further down. On sublevel thirteen, the group has to fight the Gildemander. They beat the ever loving frick out of it, but that’s only because Pom hates the thing, otherwise they would have beat it up like any other boss. After that is sublevel fourteen, with the Horned Cannon Beetle. That too is taken out quite easily, and the group went to sublevel fifteen. On sublevel fifteen, the group finds Louie, yet again. “Ugh… So persistent.” On this sublevel, is a Baldy Long Legs. It’s pretty easy, and the group goes to sublevel sixteen. The moment the group lands, Nova’s heart drops. She knows these walls, this floor.

         “No… not again….” Two thuds ring through the sublevel, and then two more thuds. Nova stomped her foot on the ground. “OH COME ON, TWO WATERWRAITHS?” She gets on Oatchi and uses the army of Purples to one cycle both Waterwraiths. And from there, Pom and Aero just watch as Nova destroys these creatures with the army of Purples, Blues, and Whites. The second Waterwraith dies, and Nova looks behind her at Pom and Aero.

         Pom looks at her, concerned. “You… wanna talk about it?”

         Nova sighs, “No… I just want to go home…” The group hops down into the next sublevel, which had the Empress. The group looks at the arena, and then at each other, before throwing several Bomb Rocks at her, and then rushing her from the behind, causing her to die before she could shake any Pikmin off. They collect the treasure and move onwards to the Sovereign. Pom takes charge, feeling a bit better, and takes out the thing with one Oatchi Rush and one Bomb Rock. The group moves onto the last rest sublevel, one away from the finale. They get all the treasures, along with 5 Yellows, 5 Reds, and look at each other. This is it, the last part of the journey. They nod at each other and jump down.

         They land in a particularly dark sublevel, a circular arena of sorts. In the middle of a dark arena is Louie, with some sort of huge dog behind him.

         Olimar angry yells through the speaker at Louie. “There’s no place left to run Louie. It’s time to give up and give in!”

         Louie turns around, and yells right back at Olimar, “Ugh… Go home!” He runs back into the large dog, and now it faces them, screaming. 

         “This is going to take awhile, isn’t it…” Pom thinks as the final battle begins. The dog jumps at Nova, who is riding Oatchi as the time, and hug pillars of Rock fall from the cave’s ceiling. The dog tries to rush Nova, but she gets behind one of the pillars and it stuns the dog.

         Pom notices the tail is now lowered, and he has an idea. “Nova! Weight down its tail!” Nova throws two Purples at it, and the dog spins around, before falling belly side up on the ground. Nova and the Pikmin attack it, and it quickly gets up. This cycle repeated two more times, with the dog jumping an extra time each time it got up. Once Nova had exhausted it, the dog got up, and changed into a light blue color.

         The crew on the S.S. Shepherd looks at each other. Yonny mutters out, “Uh-oh. I think you made it mad.”

         “You think?” Nova jumps off of Oatchi as Pom jumps on him. The dog summons snow balls, and then fires a line of coldness. Pom manages to get around the pup three times, and gets it to turn yellow.

         “My turn little guy!” Aero takes hold of Oatchi, and the dog shoots out electric puff balls, and walks slowly towards Aero. Aero takes out the puff balls each time, and when they are gone, the dog jumps in the middle and releases an electric attack, letting its tail down. After three times of what seems to be the longest phase, the dog turns red.

         “Got it, blue boy.” Nova jumps back on Oatchi and quickly destroys the fire puff balls it was spitting out. Then with great efficiency, gets behind the dog when it is stomping the ground and gets it down to its last leg. It turns green and starts to fly.

         Aero looks up at the dog, a bit annoyed. “So the dog can fly and possess the power of literal death… how?”

         Pom looks down at Aero. “Don’t question it.” The dog flies to one side of the arena, shooting out puddles of death. Nova weaves her way around them and weighs down the dog, slamming it to the ground. After two cycles of this, the dog gets up, and just sits there. Its collar falls off, along with Louie, and the dog runs away from the place, into the unknown.

         “WOOOOOO! LETS GOOOOOOOO!” Aero runs up to his friends and gave them a hug. He was just happy this is all over… at least, if that cure works.

         Olimar isn’t really mad at Louie anymore, more concerned actually. “Louie?”

         “...Ngh…”

         “Oh, thank goodness! I think he’s okay.”

         Collin looks at Olimar with great sympathy. “Oof. What a grade A troublemaker.”

         Shepherd holds back a laugh. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. And what about that giant dog?”

         Collin sighs. “Looks like it got away. I don’t know how we’re going to cure Oatchi now…”

         Yonny points at the collar. “There! The dog’s collar! It must have fallen off! It could contain lingering particles or fur from that giant dog. If so, I may just be able to make a medicine after all!”

         Shepherd lets go of the breath she doesn’t know she’s holding. “Whew… I’ll take that tiny glimmer of hope for now. Grab that collar and let’s go. And don’t forget to secure Louie! I’m not sure my heart can take another high-stakes pursuit.” The three Officers collect the last treasure and last castaway, and leave the cave with only 5 Pikmin deaths, and 5767 sparklium. They go back to base camp, calling the day early.

         The moment they arrive back, Yonny takes the collar and goes into the medical bay for several hours. Finally, he comes out of the bay, with two cures.

         “This is the last shot we have. Thank the stars that there are no more leaflings, we are dead out of glow sap.” Yonny walks over to Oatchi and Moss. “Alright, hold still, this will only take a moment.” Yonny gives the cure to both dogs, and Oatchi goes back to normal. Moss, however, stays the same.

         Collin smiles, jumping for joy at the sight of Oatchi’s tail. “It worked! His tail! It’s back to normal!”

         Shepherd runs up to Oatchi, hugging the good boy. “Oh, thank the universe! Oatchi can come home with us!” All eyes turn to Moss, who looks at Olimar. “Why didn’t it work for Moss?”

         Nelle explains to the group her hypothesis. “If she was born with her leaf tail, there may be no way to revert her condition.”

         Collin looks at Moss with a degraded look. “There must be some way to cure her…”

         Olimar walks up, putting his hand on Moss. “It’s alright Collin. This is how it’s meant to be. Moss was born and raised on this planet. It would be wrong to change what she is for reasons she can’t comprehend. This is her home. It’s where she belongs.”

         Nelle walks up to Moss, also putting her hand on her. “Are you sure?”

         “I am. And I know it’s how Moss feels too.” Moss barks in response, reassuring the man’s thoughts.

         Shepherd walks forward. “We all have our own homes to get back to. And I think it’s almost time we say goodbye to this planet. Tomorrow, we leave at dawn. Got it crew?”

         “Copy that!” The officers soon disappear into their rooms. Pom, Nova, and Aero get into their beds. Aero is sleeping on the floor, just so Pom and Nova can have a bed. The three fall asleep, ready for the voyage home. At the end of the adventure, the trio saved 50 out of 50 castaways, got 42478 sparklium, 40128 of that coming form treasures, and 2350 of it coming from nuggets, got all 125 Piklopedia entries, got all 239 Treasures, 100%-ed every area, collected a total of 3849 raw material, grew a total of 1526 Pikmin, with 1486 Pikmin remaining, exactly 272 Reds, 243 Yellows, 316 Blues, 222 Ice, 229 Rocks, 124 Winged, 100 Purples and 20 Whites losing only 40 of them, exactly 12 Reds, 21 Blues, 7 Ice, and no losses from the Yellows, Rocks, Winged, Purple, and White Pikmin, with a Pikmin cap of 100, all in 43 days.

         Waking up is a bit difficult today. At least it is for Shepherd. It’s finally the day they can head home, but something about this feels… off. Shepherd brushes off the feeling. “It’s just a bad feeling, Shepherd. Just a bad feeling….” Heading out, she grabs the list of castaways and goes into the main lobby. There, waiting for her is all the castaways, plus most of the Officers. Yonny, Pom, Nova, and Aero haven't woken up yet, which is fine. “They need the sleep after all they’ve done for us.”

         Shepherd holds out the list of castaways to Bernard. “Bernard, could you do roll call for me?”

         “Yes I CAN Captain!” Bernard takes the list and starts calling names. “Shnauz!” 

         Meanwhile, Collin is down in the storage area. He is making sure that everything is here and working. “There we go! That’s all the treasure's accounted for!” Collin smiles and checks on the systems, one last time. Everything is working and online. Well, aside from one thing. Collin investigates the odd warning he gets and looks over at the charging station for the S.S. Beagle. 

         “And FINALLY, Wolfgang.”

         “Present!” 

         “Alright! Captain, that’s EVERYONE!”

         Shepherd sighs, relieved that everyone is finally safe. “Excellent work! Now, let’s–”

         Collin pops out of the back room, looking really worried. “Uh… Captain, we have an issue.”

         “What’s the issue Collin?”

         “The S.S. Beagle is missing.”

         And that feeling of something being wrong skyrockets. “It’s… what? How?”

         “I… I don’t know! Something must have pulled it out of storage!”

         “Collin, track down the S.S. Beagle!”

         “Copy that Captain!” Collin runs over to the montier, and uses the radar to look for the little ship. “The ship seems to be far away, in an… autumn-like forest. Kinda like Primordial Thicket but less poisonous. In fact… it’s nearby Primordial Thicket….”

         Suddenly, footsteps come running down the hall, and Pom and Nova burst into the main lobby, looking around. Shepherd doesn’t like the implications of the scenario. “Huh?! Pom? Nova? What’s wrong?”

         Pom looks at Shepherd, the palest he’s ever been, and utters out one sentence. “Where’s Aero?”

Chapter Text

         There is a noticeable silence that fills the ship, which only causes Pom and Nova to get even more panicked than they already are. Shepherd looks around the ship, noticing that Aero isn’t on it. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots, but it does take one to answer the question of why? Why would Aero take the S.S. Beagle alone? 

         Shepherd turns to Bernard. “We need to find Aero. Bernard, fly us to the S.S. Beagle’s location.”

         “Copy that!” Bernard runs over and starts the S.S. Shepherd. It lifts off into the sky, flying towards the Wistful Wild. Bernard manages to not hit any tree branches, landing above a sort of landing spot. If the S.S. Shepherd was smaller, then maybe they could land there, but for now, they must land above the circular place. 

         Bernard, Dingo, Pom, Nova, Collin, and Shepherd hop out of the ship, while Yonny, Russ, and the rest of the castaways stay onboard. The first thing the six notice is the ramp in front of their ship.

         Shepherd turns around, facing her crew. “Alright crew, be on the lookout, Aero and the S.S. Beagle could be anywhere.”

         “Copy that!” Bernard and Dingo run to the left, and up some, Collin and Shepherd run to the left, into a big dip of sorts, and Pom and Nova go across a narrow path on the right. Collin and Shepherd quickly find the S.S. Beagle, crashed and broken. 

         “Oh my… what happened here…” Collin runs over, and checks inside. There is some broken glass, but nothing else. “I’ll get the carrier, we can still fix it!”

         Meanwhile, Bernard and Dingo run across a bridge made of sticks, running past a broken wall before Bernard does a double take. He takes a few steps back to look inside. Far in the back, in a small area, is the Onion, and in front of it, in a large tree stump, is a broken helmet. Bernard picks up the helmet, looking around for its owner.

         Dingo peers inside. “What are you doing Bernard?”

         “If we upload the CAMERA’S feed, then maybe…”

         “Bernard, that’s nice and all but we don’t really have time for that right now. Come on, I found some Pikmin!” Bernard nods and runs over to Dingo. The two turn the corner to a strange sight. There is an army of Pikmin, definitely more than 100, all surrounding a leafling with white leaves. The leaves were tinted light blue, and instead of a leaf at the end of its stem, it has a sort of flower. The flower is Purple, and long, but neither officer knows which type of flower it is. This Leafling also seems to be wearing a crown which attaches itself to the Leafling’s head via vines. The crown has many pretty flowers, like a Sunflower, and Chrysanthemum, but the other flowers the two Officers don’t recognize either.

         Pom and Nova have finally found a vantage point, seeing a Leafling, hundreds of Pikmin, and Bernard and Dingo. The two can’t hear much from the vantage point, but they can see the scene. They can also see a small rusty cage that the other two officers can’t. There seems to be a lone Winged Pikmin nearby the cage, looking more panicked by the second. 

         Meanwhile, inside the ship, Yonny wakes up. A bit late for him, but hey, they are in space right now. Yonny looks outside. They are very much not in space right now, in fact they are still on the planet.

         “ Oh stars, what happened this time?” Yonny closes the currents of the window, and turns around, to be met by Russ. “AH! Oh, good morning Russ. What’s…that?” 

         Russ puts down the petri dish with some sort of white leaf on it on the nearby table. “Yonny, you remember how Aero was feeling?”

         “Uh, yeah. Of course.” Yonny sighs. “What happened?”

         “The S.S. Beagle is gone if that tells you anything, and I found whatever this is in the bathroom’s sink.”

         Yonny takes the disc and starts adjusting the Leafling Testing Machine to try and detect whatever this is. He has a sinking feeling that this belonged to Aero, but he needs the evidence first. Yonny fires up the machine, and looks over at Russ. “Can I have a bit more detail than that?”

         “Kee-hee! Of course. Well, this morning Collin was doing a double check of the storage room, and noticed that the S.S. Beagle was missing. Shepherd told him to track it down, when Pom and Nova ran into the lobby. That’s when we learned that Aero wasn’t on the ship. So now we are here looking for him and the S.S. Beagle.”

         “Ehehe, sounds like him, honestly.” The machine beeps at the two. “Ah, it’s done. Alright let’s… Oh. Oh this is new… wait…” Yonny grabs the first test he did to configure the machine to the leafling cells, and just looks back and forth between the two papers. Yonny looks up at Russ, utterly horrified. “Russ, this is way worse than we thought….”

         The Pikmin in the back notice Dingo and Bernard, pointing hand-made spears at them. Dingo nearly trips backing up. “Woah, woah! We are your friends!”

         “Oh?” The leafling turns around to face the two boys. “There are– STARLIGHTS? Wow, I thought you all had left already, huh.” Bernard and Dingo freeze. That body shape… that voice… that suit… and most importantly to Bernard, the gloves. Those gloves are special, made for people with clawed hands. Bernard has seen those type of gloves before, afterall, he was born on Nijo. Their most well known trait is their claws and there is only one other person aside from him and Santi who could have them.

         “Aero? What… What HAPPENED?”

         The Leafling looks at them, expression unreadable. “Aero?” It bursts out in laughter. “HAHAHAHAHA AERO? For starters, who names their child, “Aero?” What a stupid name. SECOND, you idiots wouldn’t know me. I’ve been here for a decade now! Come on, your waaaaaaaay too young to know me! I am the KING OF DANDORI AND PIKMIN-KIND! The perfect King, no need for another one!”

         The Pikmin surround Bernard and Dingo. Dingo looks down at Bernard, before looking back up at the King. “But… you… we were your heroes…”

         “The only hero I have is me, and me. And did I forget to mention me? I think I did, I’m my own hero.” The King steps closer. “Now… what to do with you… hmmm… I think you’d make fine Leaflings… my cute little leaves, get them.” The Pikmin turn towards the two Officers, and they run for the hills. Bernard and Dingo run across the bridge, when Bernard trips, one of his legs getting caught on the sticks of the bridge.

         “AH! D-DINGO! HELP ME!” Benard reaches out for Dingo, who pauses his escape. Dingo doesn’t think twice this time, and runs back for Bernard, unhooking him and throwing him across the bridge. He hears the sound of glass cracking, before he is pinned down by what he assumes to be several hundred Pikmin. Bernard quickly gets up, checking his helmet, noticing a new shallow crack. The King walks over and kneels down, turning on Forced-Sleep Mode. Bernard watches as Dingo slowly falls unconscious, and the Pikmin turn to him next. Bernard grabs the nearby broken helmet and books it back to the S.S. Shepherd, hopping inside.

         Shepherd and Collin look at Bernard, shocked he’s alone. Bernard doesn’t say a word, trying not to cry. The next to jump in is Pom and Nova. The Pikmin are now closing in. Shepherd looks outside the S.S. Shepherd. “How are there so many?” A Winged Pikmin bursts in, holding a cage full of Pikmin. The ship starts to take off. Shepherd manages to turn around, before falling to the ground. “Wha?! Bernard? What are you–” Before Shepherd could protest more, Bernard flies them back to the original base. After landing the ship, Bernard takes off his helmet to clear the tears. He just did what Dingo did to him at the beginning of this adventure, and now, Dingo is the one scared and alone.

         Pom looks over at Nova, who is trying to calm herself down from the whole leafling crisis. Yonny and Russ run into the main lobby. Russ is a bit mad, as due to the sudden take off, they both had to catch a bunch of loose materials. “What’s with the sudden take-off? We– oh.” 

         Yonny steps forward. “Captain, I have some information that might prove useful.”

         “Oh excellent. I really need good news right now…”

         “It’s bad news, actually…” 

         The Captain sighs. “ This is going to be a long conversation, isn’t it?” 

         “Just before that, can we free the Pikmin, they may be able to help us.” 

         Pom nods and walks over and breaks one of the cage’s bars. The Pikmin run out, and that’s when Pom and Nova notice who is exactly in there.

         Nova picks up Red. “Red! Wait… why are all the semi-messed up ones here?”

         “UHHHHHHHHHHH funny story… uh… please let me down…”

         “Oh, sorry…” Nova sets Red down. Red looks behind himself, seeing his friends group up together, with Icey trying to calm Wingzy down from their spiral, Abdul hugging Rocky for support, Purple looking up at Pom with guilt, and the Blue Siblings looking at each other before stepping forward.

         Jeremry looks up at Yonny. “What could we possibly help you with?”

         Yonny walks over, and gets on his knees, holding out a piece of paper. It has a cell structure, similar to the leafling, but not exactly like it. “What is this?”

         Mimic’s eyes go wide. “Oh. Buds. It… succeeded?”

         Red looks at the floor, and just sighs. “That’s the King’s cells.” Yonny attempts to ask another question, but Red just holds up his hand. “Yes, it’s different from regular leafling cells. The leafling cells allow for the user to get obsessed with Dandori, and are not added to the hive mind. The King’s cell prevents obsession with Dandori, unless the leafling cell is also present. A leafling infection first starts with the king’s cells. If it’s rejected by the host’s body, then it defaults to the leafling cells and disappears completely. If it is accepted, the host will slowly become a leafling with very white leaves. They will start caring more about our kind than themselves. Those other two cells you found are the Healers and the Hivemind cells. The healer heals the person’s body until they become fully infected, and the hivemind allows them to communicate with us through the hivemind’s words and thoughts. That also includes hearing mother.”

         Nova is pretty much ready to punch the Pikmin. “And you didn’t tell us because…?”

         “Are you kidding? We’d get killed by the hivemind. They’ve wanted a new king for so long that they’d do anything to protect them… including killing us “defective” Pikmin.”

         Pom stops and just stares at Red. “Wait, new king?”

         Jeremy just punches Red. “Nice going genius, you sure held that secret great.”

         “OH SHUT UP! At least I didn’t throw dead corpses into Candypop Buds for years just because it was fun!” Red pauses, calming itself down. “Yes. New king. We used to have an old king, one with white leaves, tall-ish and fat-ish body, and the willingness to improve. He had both the king and leafling cells, so after the Puffstool ara, he ran away to an unknown area with some Pikmin to practice Dandori forever. The hivemind still thinks of him as a traitor…” It dawns on Red exactly where it is and why it’s here. “OH GOD WE’RE TRAITORS!”

         Jeremy looks at Red in disbelief. “YOU JUST REALIZED?!”

         Red argues back. “LOOK I–”

         Mimic pushes the two away from each other, stopping the argument that was going to commence. “Both of you, calm down. It’s alright, we are going to be…fine… hopefully.” Mimic sees the broken helmet on the ground, and picks it up. “We still have a lead of what happened. This does have a camera feature, right?”

         Collin puts his hand behind his head. “Uh yeah. I noticed it was broken so last night I fixed it.”

         “Good, then we still have something to go off of. Collin, figure this out, please… you all need to know what happened.” Collin takes the helmet and takes off the camera. He starts downloading the recording from last night, the only file on the camera left. Once it’s done, the officers, the Pikmin, and some of the castaways watched the footage.

         6:39am

         “Crapcrapcrapcrap!” Aero runs into view, getting this helmet on and running down to the storage room. “Please tell me this still works…” At the press of a button, the S.S. Beagle flies outside. “Oh thank goodness. I’m not letting them see me like this. They can leave without me…” Aero hops out and gets inside the S.S. Beagle.

         “It’s still locked onto Primordial Thicket… You know what, it’s far enough…” The S.S. Beagle starts flying to Primordial Thicket, which is when Aero starts panicking. “Uh… god… why is my memory so bad now-a-days! I know how to fly one of these, I really do! I spent years training for this stuff, so why can’t I–” Suddenly, somewhere nearby, glass shatters, and Aero falls to the ground. The ship started an alarm, but no one was there to stop it, and the S.S. Beagle crashes into a new land. Aero lands a bit aways from the wreckage, and it takes him twenty minutes to wake up.

         7:04am

         “Ugh… My head…” Aero sits up, and looks behind him. “Oh… wait, why did I… Is something on my helmet?” Aero seems to feel around above his helmet, and just stops moving. He quickly takes off his helmet, and looks in the reflection. All he sees is his stem, and some leaves. His hair was gone, replaced with white leaves with a light blue tint.

         “No… nononononoNO!” Aero runs up a hill and over a stick bridge, before collapsing in the middle of a tree stump. Aero looks at himself again, and rage completely consumes him. He slams his helmet to the ground, breaking half of the screen of the video recorder, the side that Aero was on.

         “GOD DAMN IT! Why… why didn’t I tell anyone… I… I could have just said, “Hey I’ve been sucked up in an Onion, help?” But nooooo, I just HAD to be stubborn about this!” Aero breathes in and out, trying to calm himself. “Okay… okay… the most common symptom of leaflings was memory loss right? So… I just have to remember who I am… I am Aero, I am Aero… I… am Aero?” A Pikmin walks into a view, squealing at him. “K-King? I am… a King?”

         The Pikmin pulls Aero into our view, attempting to talk to him. Aero has managed to grow quite a few more white leafs in that small time frame. He looks at his own claws, confused. “Am I…your King? Yeah…I… wait…” Aero hits himself in the head. “No! Nononono! I am Aero! I’m not your King!” The Onion lands nearby, and a couple Pikmin come out, surrounding Aero. “...Okay now I’m just confused. Who the hell am I?” The Pikmin chants something, and the Onion spits out a crown. The Pikmin pick it up and carry it over. Aero looks at the crown, still very much confused. “If… If I put this on… then I’ll remember right?” The Pikmin cheer. Aero sighs, and puts the crown on. Vines grow from the crown, puncturing Aero’s head, making their way inside. Multiple different flowers blossom on the Crown, creating a beautiful yet terrifying sight.

         Aero’s hands fall, and for a second, nothing happens. The Pikmin look up at Aero, waiting for orders. The Onion stares down at the man, as white leaves rapidly grow onto him. Then, without warning, Aero starts laughing.

         “Hahaha….AHAHAHA! OH MY BUDS HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN?! Mother, I am so sorry, by the stars above I… I’m not a traitor, I swear!” For a moment, there is silence. “You’re right, you’re right… But now I’m here to make things right! We shall rule this world as it was always meant to be!” 

         And then, the camera dies. Pom puts his hand over his eyes. “God fucking dammit Aero…”

         Abdul just looks at the King’s flower, and starts pointing at it. “Purple Hyacinth! Purple Hyacinth!”

         Mimic quietly chuckles to herself. “Yeah it is. What about it?”

         “Pollen! Pollen!”

         “Oh, right. Forgot he gets that stuff too…” Mimic looks a little panicked when they say that, almost as if they are remembering some old memories.

         Russ walks over to the group of Pikmin. “What does he get?”

         Mimic steps back. “Well…”

         Jeremry takes over. “Pollen. The King gets a special kind of pollen depending on the flower and the meaning of the flower. The first king has a carnation, with the pollen being able to flower up any Pikmin and grow planets wherever he goes. For the second King… I’m not sure what the Purple Hyacinth means…”

         Abdul jumps up and down. “Knows! Knows!”

         Jeremry turns to the Yellow. “Alright Abdul, what is it then?”

         Abdul stops moving for a few seconds, its voice becoming much more maniacal. “Sorrow, regret, desire for forgive.”

         Jeremry and the others stare at Abdul. Abdul just smiles back at them, laughing. Jeremry looks unamused. “Oh. Then maybe paralysis? Unsure, we haven’t seen anyone like… uh… this.”

         Shepherd looks down at the Pikmin. It’s clear that they are scared, but still trying not to completely betray the Hivemind. “I can tell. Is there anything we can do?”

         Jeremy thinks for a second. “Aside from finding another Green Lumiknoll and curing him… uhhh no? Red?”

         Red jumps, before suggesting the only thing that came to his mind. “Well, if you can find the old king, I’m pretty sure you can get some new Onions. That’s a start…”

         Jeremy doesn’t look happy at the mention of the old king. “Red…”

         “What other choice do they have?”

         “Fine… I– Purple where are you going?” Purple hops out of the S.S. Shepherd, heading for a corner with a pile of dirt. He just points at it. “And what the hell is that pile of dirt going to do?” Purple starts digging, and after an hour, he finally points at the cave he uncovered.

         Pom tries to muster up any kind of rage. He fails. “Are you kidding me? How long has that been there?” Purple nods. “Great… well that’s a problem for tomorrow, we still need to do…other things. Like trying to get in contact with Dingo…”

         Pom drags the Pikmin back inside, noticing the Captain consoling Bernard. “Poor thing.” Hours pass by and the moon has finally risen on PNF-404. In the meantime, the Captain had to explain what happened and why the Rescue Corps needed more supplies, and fast. The President is more impressed with what happened, rather than mad. Of course, they still have to save Aero, but Rescue Corps Pods will be coming down with supplies and a safe way home for the castaways. Though, through all the ups and downs, there is still one thing on all of the Rescue Corp’s minds, especially Bernard’s. “Please… just let Dingo be safe.”

         Dingo wakes up, after hours of being asleep. He opens his eyes to a rusty cage, and quickly sits up. He’s stuck in a cage, in the area Bernard and him got separated yet again. 

         “ Oh the Captain is so going to kill me for that stunt….” Dingo looks around, noticing the King just staring at him.

         “Ah, you’re awake.” The King approaches Dingo. “Honestly, it took a bit longer than I thought it would, but hey, at least you’re awake…”

         The King reaches into the cage, and Dingo slaps his hand away. “Get away from me.”

         “Feisty, aren’t you? Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. Yet.”

         “Wha?! But weren't you going to turn us into leaflings?”

         “Well you see, I’m using the forbidden technique hypothesized by the ancients of the land. It’s so ancient, you might have never heard of it. You want to know what it is, Starlight?”

         “W…What?”

         “It’s called LYING!” The King grabs the cage. “I HATE leaflings. They are always Dandori this, Dandori that, when they should be groveling at my feet and begging for mercy !” 

         Dingo is on the opposite side of the cage, terrified. “Who knew a leafling infection could cause such a change in personality?”

         The King notices Dingo’s fear, and lets go of the cage. “Maybe I’m being too harsh. They were made to be inferior to me, the best person ever. Now… speaking of inferior beings, let’s start talking about you. What’s your name dear?”

         “Like I’d tell you!”

         “You know, despite my hate for leaflings, I’m still willing to make you one and force the information out. Mother can supply you with a cell to preserve your memories, after all. Now talk.”

         With the look on the King’s face, Dingo can tell he’s being serious. He has no choice, unless he wants to make his fellow Officers suffer more. “I-I’m Dingo.”

         “Hey, at least you're telling the truth! That was just a test.” The King flashes Dingo’s ID at him. “Now let's get to the important stuff, who was that traitor next to you?”

         “Uh…” “Traitor… he must mean Bernard… would he… forgive me?”

         “Remember who has the power, Starlight.”

         “Well… he’s going to have to. Sorry guys.” Dingo sighs. “That was our pilot, Bernard.”

         “Ah, alright.” The King stares at Dingo, who just looks back, confused as all mighty hell. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

         “I thought you were going to react differently, that’s all.”

         The King laughs. “HA! Oh, I was just curious. I’m not gonna B-line straight to him, I’m not that vindictive. I’m also assuming that your ship is where the defectives went.”

         “Defectives?”

         “Sometimes, Mother doesn’t make the best Pikmin, and well, that just won’t do, now will it?” Dingo is horrified at this creature. It may sort of look and sound like Aero, but it acts nothing like him. A moment of silence is held between the two before the King notices something near Dingo’s oxygen filter on his back, and titles his head. “What the everloving gronk is that?” The King points at a small white device on his filter.

         “Oh that’s my filter. Not the one for the air, but more for the other stuff on this planet. Like… poison… and other stuff… that I can’t think of right now.”

         “Oh! Duly noted! Now, of course, I’ve got to brief you tomorrow. I doubt they will come back, not now at least. Like I always say, numbers win battles. So, we’ll have this place all to ourselves. I’ll just be growing the population and you’ll stay here. Got it, Starlight?”

         “Yeah.” Dingo starts thinking. “Yes! That’s my chance to escape! And Aero wouldn’t even suspect a thing!”

         The King smiles. “Alright, good. Just got to turn on your forced sleep mode.” He clicks it on. “Goodnight, Dingo.”

Chapter Text

         That morning is a bit hectic, more than other mornings usually are. The Rescue Corps get some more supplies, and are able to send most of the castaways back home, aside from Olimar, who refuses to leave. Even better is that Dingo’s location had been turned on for a few seconds. Now, after the hectic morning finally subsided, Nova and Pom stand in front of the mysterious cave that was uncovered yesterday. 

         Nova looks at Pom. “So… tall boys first?”

         “Ugh… fine.” Pom jumps in first, followed by Nova, and then Oatchi. The three land in an unknown place, with bulborbs and bulbaxs all around. Pom looks around, soon noticing the leafling with white leaves. It stands there, staring at the two of them. Pom waves at the leafling. “Uh… hi?”

         Finally, someone has arrived. Even though it isn’t the red leafling, he’ll take anything he can get. “Mmm… Excellent. I’ve grown tired of awaiting your arrival.”

         Pom is very freaked out at this guy. “Uhhh…”

         Nova takes over the conversation. “Yo, you got room for two…uh… two and a dog? I mean… Jumala… TRAIN WE WANT.”

         Pom chuckles at Nova. “Great job there.”

         “I don’t see you doing any better!”

         “These two kids have potential, just like the red leafling, if not even more.” The Sage thinks as he analyzes the three creatures. “This could really work!” “So, you wish to become my apprentice? Say no more. I am able to see all. For I am…what you might call the Great Master of the art of Dandori.” 

         "Really sounding like Aero there…” Pom thinks to himself.

         The leafling continues. “I will present you both with ten challenges. With each success, you may ascend to the next challenge in your climb to Dandori greatness. Hmm. It’s been awhile since I’ve tested newcomers… Perhaps a special reward is in order as well. Now, let us begin your training!” The first challenge starts, and the two get to work. With the limited Pikmin available, Pom concludes that the only way to win is to use and abuse Oatchi’s Rush. They might have an almost down for the count pup, but they manage to beat the first challenge with a minute left.

         “Was that too easy for you? Well then. Things are about to get harder from here.” The two move on to the next challenge, Snow Problem. All they had to do is make it to the Great Sage, just the leaders or Oatchi, which means collecting raw materials to build a ramp and–
Pom taps Nova’s shoulder, and snaps her out of her deep thought. “Nova, I have a stupid idea. Run over to the edge.” Nova does this and looks at him. The Great Sage leaf looks at the two, wondering what the purple one’s plan is.

         “Now get on Oatchi and lift me up!” Oh. What a genius strategy! The only condition was to make it up to him, not to build the ramp. Nova pushes up Pom, and he in turn helps her up, finishing in four minutes and fifty seconds.

         The Sage leaf gets up. “Wow. Now that was creative. I will be awaiting you on the next trail.” The third challenge is a collection one, and a lot of the items are buried. Though when you have the power of two captains and a dog that can do literally everything, you have yourself a still hard, but well earned victory. After that is the fourth challenge, Dandori Seas. Pom and Nova start to struggle a bit, though it still is beatable. Pom, during the challenge, develops a new love for Winged Pikmin, as they help distract the enemies with ease. With that, they make it to challenge five, The White Key.

         Pom and Nova look at the layout, and sigh. This is going to be long as hell. Nova goes to the right, taking care of all the treasures there, while Pom goes to the left. Finally, at the two minute fifty mark, they unlock the gate and find what they’ve been searching for.

         “Pom, it’s an actual Onion.”

         “Oh my goodness.”

         The two hear the Great Sage leaf from above them. “Mmm… This is the splendid white jewel. Carry it to the end, and it shall be your reward.” Nova and Pom sick all the Winged Pikmin they could, and activates a Spicy Spray they got earlier on in this challenge. At the one minute thirty five second mark, they get the Onion back to the base.

         Nova lightly punches Pom, in which he revolts by hitting her back. Nova laughs. “That’s one down. Heck yeah, nice work Pom.”

         The leafling talks over the two. “I’m surprised that you’ve been able to keep up with my training so far… You two display amazing promise. But your training is far from over! If I were you, I’d be careful from here on out.” The leafing looks at them, with great intrigue. “I assume you want to keep going?”

         Nova gives the man a thumbs up. “Absolutely.” 

         The first mistake the King makes is leaving Dingo alone. The second is using such a flimsy cage. Dingo has been quietly fiddling with the lock on the cage all day, and finally he is able to get it open. He can run for the hills. Dingo steps out, and tip toes his way out of the stump. Looking around, there is no one nearby, the coast is clear. Dingo runs past the bridge, making it all the way to the landing spot and hiding in some nearby bushes. Surely this would work as a hiding spot, right? Dingo keeps an eye out all day, watching Pikmin walk back and forth, turning on his location, quietly waiting to be rescued.

         The next challenge was a bunch of puzzles in one room. Pom looks around with the Survey Drone, dreading the challenge they are about to go through. Nova notices the island of the Great Sage Leaf, and the button on the other side. 

         Nova raises her hand. “Question. Are items from our drone allowed?”

         The Sage leaf thinks for a moment, considering the possibilities. “Only Pikpik carrots. Those do basically no harm.”

         Nova smiles, one of those devilish ones. She has gotten an idea. “Alright, cool. Russ, deploy the carrots, like, right here.” Nova points next to her, and a few carrots drop. Nova starts attempting to hit the button on the other side with the Pikpik carrots. She misses a good fifteen before finally hitting the button and bouncing to the other side. “And this is why you never give me the gift of creativity!”

         Pom just looks at Nova, deflated. He isn’t mad, just disappointed. “Nova why…?”

         “Cause, I saw a possibility before me, and if you can do something the smart way, you can absolutely do it the stupid way.”

         The Great Sage Leaf is once again taken aback from the odd way to solve the challenge. He didn’t think the Pikpik carrots could weigh the button down, but that’s just a lesson he’ll take into consideration for his next apprentice. “Yet again you kids surprise me with your creativity. The next challenge awaits.” The next challenge is titled One Fell Jump. It’s pure torture, and the two had to retry multiple times. The Sage Leaf understood, this one is just a bit mean. After the eighth time, they manage to kill all the enemies, succeeding and going onwards. The next challenge is the Crowded Kitchen. It is a collectathon, which with the power of Oatchi, they easily pass. The ninth is a boss rush, and by dividing up the work, the two Officers make quick work of the bosses. 

         Finally, the last challenge, The Purple Key. The two captains look around, noticing that Oatchi isn’t with them.

         “Wait where–” the sounds of two thuds rings in the sublevel. “You have got to be kidding me. THE FOURTH WATERWRAITH?! God I hate this planet.” The first time though, the two don’t do so great. They get to the blowhogs, when time runs out. Pom demands that they get to retry, and the Sage allows it.

         “Nova, I have an idea. You get the Pikmin here, and I get these five Ice, alright?”

         “Okay?” Pom runs over to Oatchi, while Nova breaks some Jello. By the time she makes it back over, Pom has returned with eight Purples.

         “How–”

         “Found em’. Now let’s open this bag, kill that enemy over there and start transferring the Onion.” They do just that, and nearly get run over several hundred times by the Waterwraith. With ten seconds remaining, they return the Purple Onion, and finish the Challenges.

         “WOOOOOOOOOO! Jumala, that was… something.”

         “Dazzling work! I believe there is nothing left for me to teach you.”

         “Well, before we go… I do have a question.”

         “You have done well, so I will answer it. What is your question, purple one?”

         “You wouldn’t happen to know a King of Pikmin?”

         The leafling freezes. It’s been years since he’s heard that title. “Why?”

         “Uh… I…” Pom caves into his panic. “Because our friend has become the new king and we really need the help of the old king, we have no idea what we’re dealing with! So please sir! Do you know the old King?”

         The leafling looks at Pom, a bit disgruntled. “They made a new King? Why?”

         “YOU’RE ASKING ME?!”

         Nova takes Pom’s hand. “Pom, calm down. It’s going to be fine, we’ll find them eventually.”

         “But what if we don’t? What if we have to leave Aero here to live this fake life the Pikmin invented for him?!”

         “I’ll die again before it comes to that.”

         The leafling considers its options. They clearly have the skills to save their friend, but they just don’t know how. Plus, it seems as if some of the Pikmin betrayed the Hivemind, as they couldn’t have known this much information otherwise. And it has been years since he’s seen the sun. But then again, he does like his life, so maybe the other King does too? Well, he’d have to see the other King’s last moments in order to determine that. The Sage makes up his mind. “You two have a ship nearby?”

         Nova is a bit shocked, but rolls with it. “Well, it’s not our ship, but yes we have one.”

         “I’ll help you, under one condition. Absolutely no curing me under any circumstances. I’ve grown to love my life as the Sage.”

         “You got it, Great Sage leaf! Now come on, the ship waits for no one!” Nova, Pom, Oatchi, and the Great Sage leave the cave, and enter into the setting sun.

         Pom sighs. “Wow, it took us that long…” The two Onions fly out of the cave, merging together and landing in the spot of the old Onion. “And that’s just great!”

         “I must warn you two, those Onions create… less than ideal Pikmin. The Whites barely have enough poison in them and the Purples don’t really hit like trucks.”

         Nova goes over and looks up at the Onion. “I’m just glad to have an Onion. That’s the ship, by the way. Just leave the explaining to us.” The four hop into the S.S. Shepherd.

         The crew stares at the new leafling for a long while. Yonny is the most distressed with the new leafling. “Are you kidding me? We don’t-”

         Nova interrupts him. “Okay, so uh. This is a new friend. He will help us as long as we don’t cure him, so don’t even think about it, YONNY.” 

         “Ehehe, you got it. Just… who really is this?”

         “YOU.” Red gets up, walking over to the Sage. “So that's where you’ve been hiding, my King? Wow, how did we never find you…” Pom and Nova just pause. They had suspected it, but it still was a bit shocking to hear.

         The Sage looks at Red annoyed. “I’m no longer your King, you foolish Pikmin. I am the Great Sage Leaf.”

         “Yeah yeah yeah… Though seriously, it’s nice to see you again. Coming from one poor choice to another.”

         “Ugh…”

         Pom gets in front of the Sage. “Red, we are lucky to get the help. I’m so sorry about him.”

         “No, it’s okay. I expected a reaction like this. Now, do you have the King’s last moments?”

         Pom looks back at the monitor, still seeing the file. “Yes we do, you want to see them?”

         “That would be great, thank you purple.” Pom runs over and pulls up the file, and starts playing his final moments again.

         Dingo wakes up, not even realizing he had fallen asleep. He looks around, no Pikmin in sight. He breathes a sigh of relief, thank the stars no one found him. It is sunset now, and Dingo assumes that the Pikmin must be near the Onion. Perfect for him, as he was far away from that thing. Dingo peaks out of his hiding spot, and goes on the move. He runs to the right side, finding another landing area. “Great, there really is no escape, is there?” Dingo runs forward, but is pulled back by something. Before he could react, forced sleep-mode is activated, and Dingo gets dragged back to camp. 

         “He really didn’t want to become the King, did he?”

         Pom sighs. “No sir…”

         “Then I must do what I can. I don’t think me fighting the King head on will fix anything, so I shall instead warn you about what I can remember. The King is powerful, more than most leaflings. It can remove and set Pikmin limits, survive off of nothing, and even is smart enough to try and get rid of Green Lumiknolls when it can. It knows what can stop its reign and it’s glow sap of the green variety. I assume he has already destroyed any Lumiknolls in that area. There are two ways to defeat this particular King. The first is glow sap, of course. The second is… removing the crown, though that itself poses some risks. The crown seems attached to his head, and his brain for that matter, so you’d have to be really careful when removing it, or you just might kill him.

         “The King can also produce pollen that can have some varying effects. I’m sure you’ve heard this due to your expressions, so I’ll just skip to the last power of the King. It can make special types of leaflings, though, I’ve only seen the Bodyguard and the Florist. I know there are more, the Mothership told me to make more, but I just never got around to making more. The Bodyguard's one goal is to protect the King, at any cost, while the Florist is the doctor for the King, Mothership, and the Pikmin.”

         “So, theoretically speaking, if we cure him, what will happen?”

         “I don’t know, I assume he goes back to normal. The issue is getting him to take the cure, he won’t take it willingly, unless something really shakes him.”

         Pom gets done taking notes. “T-thank you sir.”

         “Please, it’s clear the King didn’t want this like I do. I’ll be outside, I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m sure of it.” The Sage leaves to sleep outside, and Pom smiles. 

         “This is possible, we just have to beat him to the Lumiknoll!” Pom goes to bed with this hope, a hope that was quite simple, yet seemed so impossible a few days ago.

         Dingo wakes up, the night light hitting his eyes. “Wha… where am I?”

         “I knew it.”

         “Wha?! Hey! Let me go!” Dingo is completely tied up. The King can’t trust him anymore.

         “Sorry Dingo, we can’t take chances. Now stay still, or I will rip off that filter and show you what I’m capable of.” Dingo doesn’t move, just letting it carry him onto the Onion. “We’re moving tonight, to a new place. It’s a garden of sorts, at least I think it is.” Dingo notices the flower on his stem is emitting some sort of pollen that falls to the ground. He doesn’t say anything, he can’t right now. 

         Dingo checks to see if his location was still on, and surprisingly it is. Either the King didn’t notice, or it wants them to find him. Dingo shakes off that idea, there is no way the King would want them to come over… right? The King turns on forced sleep-mode yet again, and looks down at the forest below. He can’t wait to find the rumored island of trickery. Tomorrow is going to be so much fun.

Chapter Text

         Nova finally wakes up, an hour after when she is supposed to. She gets up, and gets ready. Today, they are going to go wherever Dingo’s signal is showing. Nova goes outside, noticing Pom waiting for her. He’s talking to the Sage. 

         “So, the Bodyguard only has leaves on their head, where their hair would be.”

         Pom looks up at the Sage, his eyes sparkling. “Okay now that’s just fascinating, I– oh hi Nova.”

         “Hey nerd, where are we going?”

         “Uh, a garden of sorts. I think. Also Collin fixed the S.S. Beagle! And Bernard has insisted on coming with us.”

         “Coolio. Let's head out.” Nova waves at the Sage, and gets in the S.S. Beagle. Bernard is already inside, though he was just silent. 

         Pom just looks at the man with pity “He must really miss Dingo…” Pom, Nova, Bernard, Oatchi, and the Onion head to the Garden of Hope. They land on a tiled platform, well it’s like an island, being surrounded by water and all. All the nearby creatures are already dead from the moment they arrive.

         Nova looks down into the water, seeing a few Blue Pikmin swim around. “Well, we know they’re here, just… where… holy shit…”

         Pom looks at her confused. “What?”

         “Over there, isn’t that an Onion?!” Nova points at a nearby shallow part of the water. Bernard and Pom look over to where Nova was pointing and she’s right. There’s another blue Onion, one that looks… a bit futuristic? It seems to be alive but does this mean there are other Onions aside from the more fruit like one they had?

         Nova smiles. “I’ma check it out.” She jumps down into the water.

         Pom reaches out to try and grab Nova. “NOVA!” He misses, and ends up falling down too. Bernard looks at Oatchi.

         “These kids… Come ON Oatchi.” Bernard hops on the dog and heads over to the Onion. Nova approaches the machine like Onion, impressed at the size. It’s so small, yet seems to be able to fit many Pikmin inside. Many of the Blues notice the new Captains, and came swimming over. 

         Nova gets Pikmin surrounding her, poking at her suit. “Oh my! Hey, hey, hands off the suit!” The Pikmin swarm her, and eventually point at the other Onion. “Oh that’s our Onion… right now. Yeah… not great, but hey it’s what we–”

         “OH MY BUDS WE ARE ALLOWED OUT?” Red pops out of the Onion, and then pops back inside. Soon, all of the defective Pikmin come out at once.

         Pom stares at the Onion, a bit surprised. “Oh, that’s new.”

         “Tell me ABOUT it.”

         Nova turns to the Blues. “Can y’all help build a bridge to that… uh… mass of land? The one with the tiles?” The Blues run off, getting brown fragments and putting them on the bridge. It’s fascinating to watch, seeing as each of them put the tiles wherever necessary.

         “So we have clay bridges, stick bridges, and now fragment bridges.” Nova thought as the bridge was complete. The Pikmin walk across, and the Blues swarm Mimic and Jeremy.

         Jeremy embraces the hugs. “Oh wait! This is the fruit colony! Ah, it’s good to see you guys!”

         Mimic, not so much. “Yeah… I thought the Onions were together though?”

         Jeremy pats Mimic’s back. “Survival reasons probably. These guys are fine. Hey, do you guys know of another Onion like ours, and if so, where it flew too?” The Blues point to the landmass next to the base, with its bridge already built. “Nice, thanks guys, we’ll see you soon!” The leaders and Pikmin run over to the island, with multiple blues trailing behind. Over there, is an arena, covered in mud, an odd landmass in the middle, and that damned King, holding Dingo.

         “D-Dingo!” Bernard tries to run toward him, but is held back by Pom.

         “Something’s wrong… like… really wrong.”

         “What? What COULD be wrong? Dingo is RIGHT there!”

         “Dingo isn’t moving. He should be at least trying to fight back… right?”

         The King notices the intruders and smiles. “Ah, so the Starlights finally arrive!” Dingo is just hanging from the King’s grip, just like a kitten being picked up by its mother.

         Nova looks a bit closer at Dingo, and sees he’s fine, aside from one thing. “Uh… guys… where the hell is Dingo’s filter…?”

         The King laughs at the pink ladies' observation skills. “Ahaha, so cute, noticing something apparently so insignificant to this man’s survival. Eh whatever, not like it matters now. If you want Dingo back so goddamn bad, then you’ll have to prove yourself against something, right? A challenge of Dandori, perchance. So how about this, murder this boss, and you’ll get him back. And just so you don’t pull some smart aleck thing…” The King stomps on the island. “BIG GUY! OPEN UP!” The island, who apparently is alive, opens the top half of its body, relieving a giant pink-ish purple-ish tongue. The King jumps a safe distance back, and throws Dingo inside. “Now, have fun!” The King pulls out a Mine and activates it, blowing up the crystal on top of the island. The King jumps onto the nearby Onion and flies up onto the nearby ledge. He lands, and waits for the Onion to fully land behind him before sitting down, ready to watch the chaos unfold.

         The island, well, creature, opens its eye, with an absolute foul sound, and stands up, fully intending on crushing the intruders. 

         Pom steps back, wanting to run away. “WHAT IN THE EVERLASTING HELL IS THAT?”

         Nova looks up, and then at Pom. “I have no idea, but I hate it. I’m going to assume that the legs are the weak points, you know, cause it's the only thing we can hit.” 

         Pom nods. “Yeah, most likely. Are you two ready to fight whatever this thing is?”

         Bernard is about ready to destroy that leafling, but right now, going off to attack him won’t do them any good. It’s more important to get Dingo back. “Never been more PREPARED.” They rush the thing. It does try to squish them, but Oatchi is far too fast for the creature. Using the Pikmin, they attack the feet, making them more and more red until eventually the creature screams and falls to the ground.

         “Finally! Let’s–” Bernard is stopped by the Blues cries. “WHAT’S wrong?” One of the Blues runs up and the creature opens its mouth. That Blue barely avoids the attack. “Oh, I SEE. It’s playing dirty. Well, WE can do that too!” Bernard stuck as many Pikmin as he could on the creature, and soon it gets up. Pom gets the last laugh on it though, as he sticks a Mine to it, so when it finally stands up, the Mine blows itself up. This process is repeated around five times. The creature would try to crush Bernard and Oatchi, Oatchi would move out of the way, they’d hurt the creature's feet, it would land on the ground, they would attack it. It takes nearly all day, but the creature eventually goes down, at the price of 15 Blues, and most of the energy the crew has. Dingo pops out of the creature, still very much not moving.

         “DINGO!” Bernard yells as he runs over. Pom and Nova catch up to him looking down at Dingo. He is awake… or at least, his eyes are open. Otherwise he isn’t reacting much. The Blues start carrying back the corpse of the creature.

         Pom pokes Dingo’s helmet. He doesn’t even look over. “Uh Bernard? I don’t think he’s… here with us…”

         “He’s fine, and that’s ALL that matters.” Bernard still sounds scared, like something else was going to try to take him away again.

         That something stands on the ledge where he landed hours ago. Bernard looks up to glare at the creature, but is taken off guard upon seeing his face. The King is completely flabbergasted. “Wh– but– I– HOW?” The King quickly turns to rage. “That thing was supposed to kill you! How dare you skin having peons make it past that I–” The King holds himself, his breath calming down as he does. “Calm down King… It’s going to be okay… That was just a trial r–” The King hops up, seemingly regaining all confidence in a seconds. “A trial run! Yes, that’s right! A trial run! That test was easy on purpose! Y-You haven’t won yet, Starlights!” The King hops on the Onion. “LATER NERDS HAHAHAHAHA!” The Onion flies off into the sky.

         Pom looks at Nova, a bit amused. “He’s never going to live this down, isn’t he?”

         Nova looks up at the sky, seeing the Onion disappear into the sunset. “Nope. Now come on, we gotta get back to base, we have no idea what Aero did to him.” Purple carries Dingo back to the S.S. Beagle, and looks back at the Blues. They are jumping for joy, and discussing something. Purple is unsure on what, never learning the Pikmin’s language has hurt him a lot, and now it’s just rubbing salt in the wound. Though the leaders seem happy, especially Bernard. “That Dingo guy really does mean a lot to him…” Purple thinks as he gets into the Onion. All the Pikmin get in the Onions at the sound of the whistle and the S.S. Beagle and the Onions lift off into the sky.

         Once back at base, Bernard carries Dingo into the medical bay while Pom and Nova catch the others up. Pom is also ecstatic about the new drawings the Sage did for him on the Bodyguard and the Florist. It’s impressive artwork, especially for someone who’s been underground for god knows how long, but not something Nova was interested in. She’s happy Pom likes it though.

         It takes Bernard almost ten seconds to reach the door of the medical bay, which is closed. Bernard’s hands are full due to him carrying Dingo, so he kicks the door. It works, opening it so that Bernard can get inside. “Yonny I need–” Bernard makes eye contact with the only person in the medical bay at the time, which is Russ. “Where the hell is Yonny?” 

         Russ almost laughs at the situation, but after looking at Dingo for a few seconds he decides to keep it in. “Kee-hee-hee! Well while you guys were gone, the Sage leaf and some of the Officers helped Olimar repair his ship, so using that, Yonny went out on a night expedition with Olimar. The two should be back… around dawn?”

         “Seriously?!”

         “Yeah. I know. Now come on, I may not be the doctor, but I’ve picked up a few things. Lay him down, let's see what’s going on.” Dingo is set down on a nearby cot, and the moment he hits the cot, Dingo falls asleep. “Oh. That was fast.” For the next few hours, Russ keeps an eye on Dingo, who slowly seems to get better over the night. Bernard refuses to leave Dingo’s side, and once Russ has fallen asleep, Bernard hops onto the cot and snuggles up next to Dingo.

         Exactly as Russ said, Yonny returns around dawn and silently questions why Bernard and Russ were asleep in the medical bay, and how Dingo is back. But right now it doesn’t matter, all he needs to do is create this cure. After a little bit, he makes the cure, and puts it in a syringe. Aero is going to take this cure whether he likes it or not.

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up, a bit earlier than before. He walks into the main lobby, and notices the Sage. The two start a long conversation, eventually landing on the topic Pom wanted to know so much about. “So, what was your Bodyguard and Florist like?”

         “Hmm… the Bodyguard was kinda like a dad. He always was next to me, and if not, he’d be protecting me from something. He didn’t like the Florist, and found her creepy. Don’t blame him, the florist was creepy, with all of those flower eyes… The Florist was often called the Queen, just due to how much more commanding and imposing she was compared to me. She was a good person, just… absentminded at times. I guess that’s what the hivemind could do to someone, and now, I’m pretty sure the Mothership is looking for good hosts for the two roles.” The Sage looks at his hands. “Just… be careful out there. You’re a good kid, and I’m sure the Mothership would love to have you.”

         “Way ahead of you, Sage. I’ll make sure to not get leafed. Though, what would you suspect me being if I did become one?”

         The Sage silently ponders his question for a few minutes, before responding. “Perhaps a Jester of sorts. From what I’ve heard from the others, you were quite close to the King’s original self, and the Jester would be the perfect role for him. You’d just be his second fiddle, made to keep the King happy.” 

         “Ah, noted. That… does feel like something Aero would do.” The two laugh quietly, and keep talking until the rest of the crew is awake and ready. Once they are, Pom says goodbye to the Sage and follows Nova over to the S.S. Beagle. Pom sighs. “Yet another day of chasing a crazy man.” Pom looks down at Nova. “Are you ready?”

         “Yeah. Of course I am.” Nova nonchalantly smiles. “Oh, by the way, Yonny and Shepherd are coming with us too, by the way.”

         Pom stops in his tracks for a second. “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME BEFORE BECAUSE…?”

         “A, this is funny, and B, I didn’t have the time.” Nova grabs Pom’s hand. “Now come on, they are already inside and we need to find the leaf boy as soon as possible.” Pom and Nova hop inside, and the crew heads out to a new place. It has been known as Distant Spring by the Sage leaf, but now, it’s more of a Perplexing Pool.

         The crew lands in an elevated sand part, with the Onion in toe. The crew jumps out, and notices a distant Yellow Onion. It’s like a middle ground between the Onion they saw yesterday, and the current Onion they have now. It is quite the curiously, there being more than one type of Onion. Pom looks at it, with a mix of curiosity and fear. “Which just brings up the question, is there more than one hivemind, or are they all the same?” Pom doesn’t have time to ponder that question, as the crew splits up into groups of two. Nova and Pom will explore the area around the base and behind it, while Yonny and the Captain will explore the area beyond the base. Everyone quickly gets to work, looking around. There are some dead enemies, specifically every single Water Dumple is dead, and some of the Yellow Wollyhops are too, but not much else aside from those two. Pom walks out, and just stands near some spirals, looking up. He sees a yellow mass quickly falling from the sky and narrowly avoids getting crushed by what is classified as a Beady Long Legs. Pom backs up rather quickly. “There is another one?! I just got jumpscared by basically the same enemy. Twice. Oh my god I hate this planet.”

         Nova chuckles at the man. “Haha… yeah, this place sucks. But it doesn’t look like it’s harming us in any way, so let… uh, ignore it?”

         “Agreed.” The two make their way to the left, seeing a giant pool of water with a Toady Bloyster in the middle of it. On the other side was an odd looking electric gate. There is nothing much they could do, and so the two messed with the Beady with the help of Abdul, who keeps shocking it for fun.

         Meanwhile, Yonny and Shepherd already have to kill a Spotty Bulbear and its children, and after a moment of making sure each other are okay, the two make their way up the path. 

         Yonny halts the Captain from moving beyond him, stopping both of them in their tracks. “Shepherd, stop. Isn’t that–” In front of them, playing with the water, is the King. He’s all alone, distracted by the ripples in the water. He hears their voices, and runs off to the right, into what seems to be a dead end. Yonny and Shepherd look at each other and give chase, only finding a cave, one that seems unstable. 

         The two nod at each other, and Shepherd jumps inside the unstable cave, and Yonny jumps in afterwards. The cave is only long twisting hallways of rubble, with the occasional plate, or picnic blanket. The two keep up the chase, eventually rounding a corner, losing the King. There are only two paths, one to the left and one to the right.

         “Yonny, you check to the left, and call me if you find him.”

         “Copy that Captain.” Yonny runs down the left path, holding the syringe carefully in the process. The cave shakes a few times, rocks falling from the roof of the cave when it does. None of them block Yonny’s path, luckily.

         The King runs down, trying to lose the Starlights, but finds himself in a dead end. There is the exit hatch, but it is covered by several hundred small rocks. The King tries to turn back, but Yonny runs into the tiny room, blocking his path back. Yonny catches his breath for a moment before starting to walk towards the King.

         “There you are.” He turns on his radio. “Captain, I found him. Come quickly.” He turns it off. “There is nowhere left to run, just let us help you… I–” The cave shakes, and rocks come hurtling down. Yonny dodges a few, and most of the rocks block the way back. Yonny turns back on his radio. “Captain, the room just got sealed with rocks. If I don’t contact you in the next five minutes, send help.” Yonny turns it off again and walks towards the King. “Well, now you truly are trapped. Please…”

         The King notices the cure in Yonny’s syringe, and he panics. “G-Get away from me!” The King has to find a way out, but he just can’t figure his way out. The only way he could see was hurting the Starlight in front of him. The King either does this, or dies, and he has to survive. Or else, the Pikmin will die, and this planet will be plunged into darkness. 

         A voice all too familiar to the King rings in his head. King, you have no choice, you have to survive, not just for yourself, but for the Pikmin you made, and the safety of all other Nests. You wouldn’t let them take you away from me, right?  

         All the King can do is hope Mother can hear him. “I won’t fail you Mother, I refuse to let them WIN!” Yonny doesn’t have much time to brace himself, as the King lunges at him. The King holds a tight grip on the arm holding the syringe, and starts holding tighter. Yonny doesn’t let go, he won’t! He’s so close to saving Aero! Yonny kicks King off of him, and goes for the cure. The King backs up, causing Yonny to miss. The King is really panicking now. He doesn’t know what to do. “Mother? A bit of help here would be nice!”

         Filter.

         “That’s right! Thank you Mother! I have an idea!” The King swirls his stem around, and hits the floor, causing his pollen to spread around the small room. Yonny steps back, and gets attacked again. King, taking the idea from Yonny, kicks the guy in the stomach, which lowers Yonny’s guard considerably, allowing the King to pin Yonny to the ground. The King forces the syringe out of Yonny’s hands, and throws it across the room. 

         “Hey! Let me go!” Yonny hits the King with everything he’s got, but the King doesn’t let up, leaning down on Yonny’s body using his arm, preventing some of the hitting. That’s when the King sees it, the white filter. “Jackpot.” He smiles, and goes for it. Yonny is now the one panicking. “Hey– what are you–” It hits Yonny on what the King is aiming for.

         He tries to stop the King, pulling his stem, “H-hey! Stop!” but The King stays determined, “A-Aero!” and manages to pick it off of his suit. “BLUE BLOOD!”

         Now, without his filter, Yonny is at the mercy of the King, and he shows none. The King quickly stands up, and swirls his flower around, spreading the pollen around the room. Yonny has no choice but to breathe it in, and instantly his body becomes paralyzed. Soon, the pollen works its magic, shutting down more cognitive brain functions. It forces Yonny to stay awake, though, only running off the important parts of the body, not anything else really.

         The King picks up Yonny after a few minutes, putting the man near his flower, which is still emanating pollen. The King clears the exit, and he looks over at the syringe. The King walks over to it, and breaks it with his boot. “Ha! I win, Starlight.” The King leaves the cave, with Yonny over his shoulder. He jumps out, and looks around. No one was nearby. “Thank the leaves. I can’t go through another fight right now” The King walks into the back, which is filled with water.

         “Mother, wherever you are, I need you. Perplexing Pool, near the Submerged Castle.” The Onion hears his call, and starts heading over. While waiting, The King takes some joy in listening to the panicked voices over Yonny’s speaker.

         “Yonny? Come in! Yonny? Yonny?!” It starts with a woman's voice, a commanding one. At least he thinks this is Yonny’s leader. The King turns off the little tracking feature on Yonny’s suit. He found it on Dingo’s, and it blinks every once and awhile, so it is quite easy. 

         For fun, the King turns on Yonny’s speaker and pokes the officer until he replies to the other Starlights, just to cause some panic. “...Ugh….” Yonny’s voice is weak as hell, he is barely awake, after all.

         “Y-Yonny?! Where are you?!” After getting another groan of pain, the woman calls for someone else. “Collin, where is he?!” Oh how lucky he just turned that off.

         “Wah?! His location is turned off!”

         “Oh my stars not again! Nova, Pom, please find him!”

         A boy’s voice comes over the speaker, a new one. “We’ll try!” Okay now the King really needs Mother here. NOW. Luckily for the King, the Onion arrives, and the King hops on. The King is done listening to the others, and turns off the speaker on Yonny’s suit, grabs onto the Onion and Yonny, and flies away into the skies. 

         “Let’s uh… go to the Emergence cave place, alright Mother?”

         Okay

         “Thank you.” In all honesty, the King is incredibly tried. He isn’t made for fighting others, so that really took most of the energy he has left. All he really wants to do is go home. It doesn’t take long, and the Onion enters the cave with the King, flying straight to the second sublevel. He ties up Yonny, not taking the same chances he did with Dingo, and sets the Onion where the Purple Candypop buds would normally be. The King sighs, and covers his face. “I really need a rest day. Again.”

Chapter Text

         Yonny wakes up with a killer headache. He can’t exactly move his body, at least not yet. Anything below his torso isn’t responding, but everywhere else is fine. “What happened… Oh… right.” Yonny quietly sighs to himself. “I just had to miss, didn’t I? Ugh… No use thinking negatively right now. I need to focus on getting out of here… The others are waiting.” Yonny quickly locates The King, who is asleep against the wall. There is absolutely no reason to wake him up, in fact that might make him mad, and the last thing Yonny wants to do is anger his kidnapper. Instead, he decides to look around the sublevel he’s currently trapped in.

         The first thing Yonny notices is the various amounts of ship parts. It ranges on company and producers, which is not a good sign. There is also a large pile of screws. Must be the most common ship part he finds. Yonny looks to the left, finding a huge pile of various weapons. Some are reasonable, like knives, daggers, basic survival weapons, but some are… swords. Entire, not broken, slightly damaged swords.

         “Who in the great galaxy would bring a sword to this planet?! Well there is that Sword-Fest that happens every year… okay, no, it’s reasonable, ehehe.” Yonny looks to the right, and notices a geyser. A giant one. Maybe it once produced water, but it seems to have stopped. “Aero must be using the Onion in order to get in and out.” Yonny has run out of places to look. He just stares over at the Onion, seeing it bursting with life. The King starts to wake up, rubbing his eyes. “If I’ve learned anything from Dingo’s experience… Just don’t piss the King off.”

         The night is rough for everyone. Losing your doctor would for sure dampen the spirits of most, especially when you can’t find him. Though they have no choice but to deal with it. They will get their doctor back, or else, who would make the cures and take care of people? Collin decides that Pom, Shepherd, and Nova were going to look in this spring time place. 

         Nova looks up at Collin. “Awakening Wood, was it?”

         “Yep, and…where is Pom?”

         Nova looks up at Collin, a bit surprised that he hasn’t been told yet. “He said he wants to stay today. Not sure why, but eh, I can do this.”

         “Really? If that’s the case, can I come with you today?”

         “Wait, you? Collin, who will manage the Comms?”

         “Bernard already promised me he will when the day comes.”

         “Sounds like him. Yeah sure, come on. The area waits for no one.” Nova, Collin, and Shepherd hop inside the S.S. Beagle, and head off to Awakening Wood. Collin wasn’t lying when he said it’s like it was springtime, the place is filled with cherry blossoms. Not that any of them mind, it is pretty as all mighty hell. The three get to work, looking around for any sign of the King. Well, Collin and Shepherd did that, Nova works on creating more Purples and Whites. They may suck compared to their current day versions, but it’s still better than nothing.

         Pom’s intuition is nothing to scoff at. He did predict the whole second type of leafling thing before anyone else. So when his intuition tells him to try and find a way to make the leafling cures, just in case, he follows it. It leads him into the medical bay, and he starts to search around for anything. Yonny had to have written down something. After a bit of investigation, he finds a notebook. He opens it. “Why no– NEVERMIND IT’S HIS DIARY, BACK IT GOES.” Pom searches around more, finding a whole lot of nothing. That is, until he notices a sticky note on the desk. That has instructions for some sort of cure. It looks like the one for the leafling, but how sure could he be?

         Russ opens the door to the medical bay, immediately noticing Pom. “Kee-hee-hee! What in the world are you doing here?” 

         Pom nearly falls over as Russ enters the room. “ACK! Oh, hi Russ. Just trying to find out how to cure the leafling cure.”

         Russ stares at Pom, not expecting that response. “...You’re scared he won’t come back…are you?” He understands it though. Even Russ is starting to get that feeling that something bad is going to happen to the doctor.

         “Not scared. I just have a feeling he won’t make it back. For a while…”

         “Now, that won’t help anyone, thinking like that. But I do understand. In fact… if you need help, I can teach you what I’ve seen him do. I have watched him make a fair share of cures.”

         “Really?” Russ nods. “That would be really helpful. Sure, get over here.” Russ laughs as he walks over to Pom, and starts explaining the whole process to him. It’s a lot more straightforward than Pom is expecting. In fact, it’s more straightforward than the note he found. The explanation nearly all day. Nearly. 

         Russ looks up at the clock in the bay after pausing for a moment to let Pom soak in the information. “Oh my, Kee-hee-hee! Time really flies when you're having fun, huh?”

         “Oh absolutely… The others should be back soon… I honestly just hope they found him, and I’m wrong for once.”

         Russ puts a hand on Pom’s back, sighing. “Me too Pom. Me too.”

         The group outside spends the day, running around, blocking cave entrances, and breaking down walls. Abdul has been at the electric gate all day, and the army of Whites takes care of the two walls in the map. Mid-way through the day, Nova comes to check on Abdul.

         “How’s it going buddy?”

         Abdul points past the gate. “King. Other.” 

         “What?!” Nova looks through the gate, and there he is, on the other side. He has a new outfit, one fit for a King. His clothes are regal ruined ones, and he even has a cape on, though it seems more like a blanket than a cape. He even has dirty white gloves. He is in the water, holding an Onion, just like the one in the Perplexing Pool, but well, Blue. “Keep working Abdul, please get this done… before sunset?”

         “Do!” Abdul keeps hitting the gate. Luckily, it seems like the King is trapped inside, aside from calling on the Onion. Nova runs over to Shepherd and Collin.

         Collin turns around. “What’s wrong Nova?”

         “So, Abdul found the King.”

         Collin gasps. “It what?! He’s on the other side of that gate, isn’t he?” 

         “Yep.”

         Shepherd feels that hope rise in her chest again. Maybe he’s fine… it’s going to be fine. “Can’t we just blow the wall up?”

         “...Yeah, you know that’s the smart idea. Okay, come on, let’s get this man!” The group runs over, having Abdul step back as they blow up the gate.

         The King holds the Onion, carefully. “Yet another falls to the circle of life… I’m sorry my dear Mother….” The King jumps as the wall behind him blows up. “Of course the Starlights find me when I’m mourning the loss of a Mother.”

         Three captains run over near him, the pink one speaking up. “Okay, this time you have nowhere to run!” The King realizes that the pink one is correct. Mother isn’t nearby, and neither is the Pikmin. Great. The King backs up, noticing the knife on the ladies suit.

         “I m-may be cornered, but just remember the last time! You don’t want to get hurt like your friend did.”

         The tallest one, which the King assumes is the leader, approaches the King. “You see there is a difference here. We aren’t trying to cure you.” She pulls out the knife. “We are just trying to capture you. And we won’t hesitate to use force.”

         “Clearly…” The King looks at the other two, who also have some sort of self defense on them. “WELP. I’m dead. It was a good run.” The King backs up as much as he could, but eventually he has to hit the edge. The King braces for impact, as the leader looks at her crew.

         “I’m going to have to hurt him, aren’t I?”

         The pink one looks at him with pity. “Captain, just stab him. Get it over with…” 

         “Alright… sorry Aero, but it’s for your own good.” Quiet, yet fast footsteps approach, as Shepherd pulls the knife back, and gets it completely flung out of her hands. The mysterious being kicks her back, Collin catching her. Shepherd looks up, and her heart drops. “N-no…”

         “King… I thought the Matriarch told you not to go out on your own after last time!” His voice already sounds irritated as he looks back at the King. There, holding a sword of all things, is Yonny or at least, what used to be Yonny. This thing isn’t him. He has a stem with a white bud at the end of it, and dark green leaves with brown tips. The leaves are only where his hair would be. The man isn’t wearing the Rescue Corp’s suit, instead opting for an old dark grey jacket, leggings, belt, and gloves. Attached to his belt is what Nova can only assume is Yonny’s old helmet, somehow, fully intact. 

         The King stops cowering, and stands up. “Ah, heya Bud.”

         “The name is Meristem, King. Or just Meri.”

         “Hahaha, I know.  Still, how did you–”

         “Remember King, the Matriarch made us to be connected, in a way. I will always be here to protect you, for the rest of my life.”

         The King stills for a moment. “Okay, maybe let’s not say that, for as long as you serve me, perhaps.”

         Meri doesn’t move an inch. “That doesn’t change my statement.” Meri unhooks and throws the helmet at Nova. She catches it, almost dropping and breaking it. “If you want, I guess you can have that. No real use anymore.” Meri turns back to the King. “Now King, please. We have people to inspire, not here, but with the Matriarch.” The King tries to take Meri’s hand, but he pulls away. “DO NOT TOUCH ME.”

         “Then how are we going to leave?”

         “I do the hand holding, NOT YOU.”

         “Got it….” Meri takes the King’s hand, and jumps up the ledge. Meri takes one look back, and shakes his head. He doesn’t know these people, he couldn’t have. How could he know people who are so cruel?

         The three of them stood there in disbelief. Nova looks down at the helmet. “Okay, first of all, what the hell? Second, WHAT THE HELL?!”

         Shepherd just stares at the spot Meri was once at. “He… he’s gone?”

         Collin gulps. “Even worse, Captain, who's going to make the cures now?”

         “I… I shouldn’t have let him go alone. If I was there, by his side in that cave… then–”

         Nova pokes the Captain’s helmet. “Captain. No. Bad. You didn’t know this would happen. Plus, you two were under the pressure of saving and capturing Aero. It was the best you could do.” Nova looks up, already sunset. “Come on, it’s best we give the news as soon as possible.” The three head back to the S.S. Beagle, and then the base.

         The King and his Bodyguard finally make it back home. The Pikmin cheer their leader's return. The King nearly collapses on the ground. “King! What the hell did they do to you?”

         “Eh? Oh, just scared me a bit… I guess I’m just exhausted, that’s all.”

         “Oh my… You really need to be careful out there…”

         “Yeah yeah yeah. I know… now… where to tomorrow?”

         “Well, I suspect they’ll come here, or the Tundra, due to the cave’s look on the helmet’s camera feed.”

         “I’d assume Tundra, then. It’s closer, so… they’ll go there… hopefully. So, if we just go back to the Wilds, we’ll be fine! That’s decided, tomorrow, we go to the Wilds!” The Pikmin cheer for their King.

         “Of course, my King.”

         Telling the crew what happened that day hurt. What hurts even more is Russ and Bernard’s questions. “Excuse me, Yonny is what?!”

         “How did THAT happen?!”

         Nova turns around, a bit agitated. “Well, you want to find out, or do you want to keep playing 20 Questions?” The ship goes silent. “Okay good, found the file, here we go….”

         9:02am

         Yonny seems to wake up from whatever was happening to him. He looks around, seeing multiple ship parts, weapons, and a broken exit. Soon after, the King wakes up, and stretches. He notices Yonny, who was clearly awake. “Ah, so you’re fiiiiiiiinally awake! Took you long enough.” Yonny just looks at the King, with absolutely no response. “It’s alright, we have to figure out what to do with you anyway…”

         “What to do with me? Like… hurt me?”

         “Hurt is such a harsh word. More like, I’m going to fix you.” The King stands there, considering his words. “Actually, it’s more like I need someone new in my kingdom. I do need a Bodyguard, as Mother has been insisting for the past few days.”

         “Wait, what?! But don’t you hate–”

         The King stomps the floor quite harshly. “They are different! It’s like comparing the Jester to normal ass people! Yeah sure, they are both annoying, but the Jester loves messing with people, and is genuinely funny! People are just annoying.”

         Yonny starts to struggle a bit. He’s awake enough to understand what might just happen to him. “B-but why me?! I–” He can’t seem to move that well, which is probably due to the pollen he most likely intook.

         Yonny gets picked up by his antenna, dangling in the air. “Don’t you get it? You are the only one who can make the cure, right? So if you're gone, I’ll be home free, and well, I hate wasting corpses.” Yonny gets thrown over to the Onion, and the King calmly walks over. The King kneels down, and fiddles around with the latches for the helmet. After a few seconds, the King takes the helmet clean off of Yonny’s suit. The King puts it down near them, seemingly making sure that it can see the panic in Yonny’s eyes and body. Yonny’s eyes widen as he struggles for air, clawing at his neck. The King carefully takes his hands away from his neck, and he just smiles. “Don’t worry young doctor, the hardest part will be over soon, just let go. Trust me, once you become one of us, you’ll never want to go back.”

         Slowly but surely, Yonny starts succumbing to the poisonous air. Yonny stops struggling, his hands slowly falling from the King’s grip as he dies. The last thing he sees is the King, who is smiling up at the Onion. “Do your thing, Mother. Create me a Bodyguard.” The Onion sucks Yonny inside and pops out as a leafling. He is still unconscious, so the King picks him up, and walks towards the helmet, before stopping the recording himself.

         The crew is silent. The idea of killing someone because they’re too much of a problem is just… despicable. At least, to the crew it is. “Oh Yonny…” Russ looks down at the ground, holding his fist tight. 

         Pom just sighs. “I freaking knew it. What’s next, Bernard becomes one of them? …You know I should stop thinking or it might just happen.”

         Shepherd stands from her seat, pissed. It’s one thing to hear a friend die, but it’s a whole different ball park watching them die. “I…wouldn’t stand for this. I can’t. Tomorrow, Pom, Bernard, we are going to find them. I won’t rest until we save them both.”

         “Copy that.”

Chapter Text

         It is just as Shepherd said. Pom, Bernard, and Shepherd get inside the S.S. Beagle, heading for the Wistful Wilds. Pom isn’t sure why, but Shepherd said that is because, “They’d flee back.” And she is sure of it. They are there in a matter of minutes, hopping out of the S.S Beagle as soon as they can.

         Pom leans over the Captain’s shoulder. “So, what’s the plan?”

         “You and I will go into a nearby cave to check inside. Bernard, you get to patrol the area with as many Pikmin as you want. Please at least take some.”

         “What ABOUT you two? Don’t you need some too?”

         “We’ll be fine.” Shepherd smiles weakly at him. “I’m not about to kill them because of my mistakes…”

         “Copy that!” Bernard walks over to the Onion, taking out some purples and whites, as many as he could. Bernard walks around, the same path he did on the day he found Aero here, watching Shepherd and Pom jump into a nearby cave. Bernard can only hope it goes well. He continues onward, patrolling the area. The only thing of note he finds is some odd writing carved into the wood of the tree stump. Bernard, upon seeing this, goes back to the Onion, taking out one of the Blues, Jeremy, and walks back over.

         Once they arrive, Bernard points at the closest message carved on the tree. “So… WHAT does that say?”

         Jeremy immediately can tell it’s the language that the Pikmin primarily use. “Uh… let’s see here…” Jeremy gets down, tracing the letters with its small finger. “I think it says “New King, new life. Thrive with him, or die without him.”” Jeremy notices more messages carved around the stump, into the walls. He walks around, reading each one. “Old King is a coward, New King is a hero.”  “New King isn’t defective, unlike the last one.” “Protection under the King, love under the King.” Jeremy stops at the last one. “This… this one… are you sure you want me to read it?”

         “Yes, I am. We need ALL the information we can GET.”

         “Alright… It states, “Who am I?” roughly. Whoever wrote this clearly didn’t understand the language we speak…”

         “So… it was Aero?”

         “I’d assume so. I–” The Onion flies overhead, speeding over the group. “Oh… now that’s new. The King must be in the area, and called for help. We best head back, no use in risking anything when the Mother is here.” Bernard nods as the group heads back to the base.

         The cave is almost like the last. It isn’t as broken, or unstable, but it is still in ruin. Shepherd and Pom would jump down a sublevel, ending up several sublevels later. They find countless Jellyfloats stuck under rubble, and soon, they make it to the end. Once they land, they hear a crash, and are forced to dodge falling rocks from the cave’s ceiling.

         “Be careful!” 

         “I am, my King. Just let me kill this thing.” A sickening sound of flesh being sliced in two rings throughout the sublevel. “There we go…”

         Shepherd and Pom peek out of the little hideaway they are in. “You two…” Shepherd glares at the two leaflings.

         The two leafling turn around, staring at Shepherd. Meri pulls his sword out of the dead crab. “Ah, we have been found. Well, we must fight, right?”

         King sighs. “Yep.”

         Shepherd looks down at Pom. “Alright kid, what do you have?”

         Pom pulls out the only weapon that he’s had for nearly all his life. A gift from his mother. “A box cutter?”

         “...Okay, you are not fighting Yonny with a box cutter. Here, let me just,” Shepherd takes out her personal army knife from a pouch on her suit. “Use this, please. I’ll handle Aero on my own, you can trust me.”

         “Alright, good luck Captain. I’m going first though, okay?”

         Shepherd nods at Pom. Pom lunges forward, not even scared that he’s fighting a man who has a sword with an army knife. Pom mimics Meri’s movements, and even adds a little bit of his own flare when possible. Meri is honestly impressed. He should be kicking this kid’s ass, but instead, he’s the one having to back off. Meri swings the sword, yet again getting blocked by Pom. Pom uses all his strength to slash upwards, flinging Meri’s sword in the air. Pom doesn’t attack Meri as he backs up, he can’t bring himself to hurt what is Yonny, but leaflifed. He just can’t. Pom puts away his army knife, and just looks at Meri. Meri stares at Pom, confused to all mighty hell. “Why aren’t you attacking me?”

         “I just… I can’t… I can’t bring myself to hurt you!”

         “But, hurting the other party is the whole point of a duel. Come on kid, you won fair and square. Now… go on. Slash me do–” The cave shakes, as the King hits the wall. Rocks start falling from the cave’s ceiling, straight towards Meri and Pom. Meri quickly grabs Pom, spinning him towards the nearby wall, grabbing his sword whilst dodging the several falling rocks. Once Meristem knows he’s safe, he points his sword at a mid-standing Pom. “You hurt? I didn’t hurt you that much, correct?”

         “Uh, no. I’m fine.”

         “Good, good. Now what was I saying? Oh yes, you won, well before. Now, I have the upper hand. So come on, let’s–” A loud sound pierces the room. The two turn around to one of the worst things that could have happened to both parties. The King stands there, nearly crying out of panic, looking down at Shepherd, who’s helmet has been shattered by what seemed to be the rocks around the room. Blood pours from her head, which looks to be crushed where the rock hit her.

         Meri looks at the King, frightened. “K-King! What the hell?!”

         “I-I didn’t mean t-to! I– She– She pushed me out of the way, why did… I… I won’t let her die! I can’t!” The King picks up Shepherd. “MOTHER! PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP!” In a matter of seconds, the Onion descends from the sublevels above, landing near the King. He puts her under the Onion’s little ray. “Please, please Mother save this woman… please….”

         “Wait– no!” Pom tries to stop the King, but Meri kicks Pom down, gesturing his sword at the boy.

         “Sorry kid. It’s just business.” Pom isn’t having it. He isn’t going to just sit here and let the Captain become someone else. Pom pulls out his army knife, and tries to get the sword out of his face. Meri smiles, “The kid gets it now. Well then, let’s dance, purple fiend.” The two fight, well, more like dance around. Pom is forced to often take risks, getting in close and almost getting his head chopped multiple times in order to even get in any hits on the swordsman. Meri is having to often back up, and carefully plan his attack. Being careless around his opponent is the number one way to get stabbed.

         And being careless is far easier than Meri wants to admit. He is taken completely off guard, getting kicked rather than stabbed. Meri falls to the floor, and Pom doesn’t hesitate, raising the army knife. He doesn’t get far, as vines covered in flowers grab a hold of Pom, and push him back into the wall. Meri turns around to see the most horrific thing ever. The Florist. Her body was entirely covered in bloody dark green vines, barely being recognizable as an old dead Starlight. Vines also cover her suit, and the only way to tell her emotions is the two giant eye flowers, connected to her back via two long thick vines.

         “OHOHOHO! Such a defiant man. Why the hell was he attacking you? What did you do?!”

         Meri picks himself off of the floor, a bit angered by her very existence. “I haven’t done anything!”

         “Yeah, yeah, okay sure, Mr. Bodyguard.” The eye flowers turn into smiles.  Pom takes his army knife, and cuts the vines holding him up. Pom looks out at the three, and then the exit. It’s clear to him, there is no way he’s winning against all of them alone. Pom swallows, and runs for the exit, leaving as fast as possible. 

         Meri watches as Pom flies up the metal air vent. “Annnnnnd he’s gone. Buds damn it…” Meri turns to the Florist, still a bit annoyed by her. “Uh…”

         The two flowers turn into eyes once again, looking at the Bodyguard with a fine amount of curiosity. “I’m fine with Florist, at least until I can think of something cool.”

         “Uh… cool. So… what do we do now?”

         “Hide, duh. It would be far too easy to hide and run those fools out! Right King?” The Florist looks back at the King, who is just standing there. “King?”

         “We need him.”

         Meristem was taken completely off guard. The King sounded so… serious… yet flustered. “What?! But–”

         “I don’t care, he’s just…” The King hesitates for a moment, before his leaves turn a bright hot pink. “SO FUCKING CUTE I MEAN DID YOU SEE HIS FACE, HIS WILL TO PROTECT AND LIVE?! AAAAAAA! ALSO DID I MENTION HIS LITTLE FACE?! SO CUTE!”

         The two look at their King in shock. Meri puts away his sword, trying to reason with the King. “Oh my buds, sir, you’re in love with a Starlight?! That won’t work, it can’t!”

         “Oh, but it can. I can just make him our Jester, right?! He’ll be with me, forever, and I won’t ever lose him!” 

         “But–”

         The Florist just sighs. “Meri, please, you aren’t going to convince him otherwise. Looks like he's dead set on this.” Meri looks over at the King, who is just ranting to himself about how cute the Starlight is. Meri has no choice but to follow orders of the King. The three hop onto the Onion, and flee to Emergence Cave.

         Bernard is waiting at the S.S. Beagle. He is inside, fiddling around. It’s been awhile… and still nothing? Maybe they are stuck down there? “I should PROBABLY check.” Bernard gets up, exiting the S.S Beagle to be met with a panicked Pom.

         “Pom?! What HAPPENED?” Bernard looks behind Pom, no sign of the Captain anywhere. “WHERE’S the Captain?”

         “Uh… she… died?”

         “SHE WHAT?!”

         Pom was on the verge of tears. “I… uh… I tried to save her… but Yonny, oh god Yonny… He just didn’t let up… she’s… one of… god… I… we have to run… we…”

         “I–”

         “No... we have to–!” Pom grabs Bernard’s arm and bolts inside the S.S. Beagle. Pom runs over to the pilot seat, only getting stopped by Bernard.

         “Pom. You are in no condition to be driving the S.S. Beagle, let alone any ship. I’ll get us back to base, you can rest . You’re safe….” Pom nods, incredibly pale. He tries not to focus on the noises of the S.S. Beagle makes. It is just too much. Every noise irritates him, and he doesn’t know why. Pom covers his ears, and curls into a ball, trying not to loudly cry out in vain.  Bernard quickly gets back to the base. He lands the S.S. Beagle, and turns around. “Okay, newbie WE’RE– newbie?” Pom doesn’t look up. The noises around him were still way too much. “Pom…?” Bernard sighs. There is no way he is getting through to him right now. Bernard gently picks up Pom, carrying him out of the S.S. Beagle and into the S.S. Shepherd.

         “Oh, welcome ba–”

         “Not right now Collin.” Bernard walks to Pom’s room, knocking on the door before entering. Bernard removes Pom’s helmet, putting him on his bed, and covering him with his blanket. “Don’t worry Pom, we’ll protect you. We won’t let you become one of them, I promise .” 

         Dingo yells from the lobby. “BERNARD!”

         “Oh, well I GUESS it’s time to go. See YOU soon, buddy.” Bernard leaves Pom to rest, closing the door softly before heading to the lobby. 

         The moment Bernard enters the lobby, he is questioned by Collin. “So… what happened. And where is the Captain?” 

         Bernard sighs. “This is going to TAKE a while.” He explains the day to the rest of the crew, what he’d been through, the messages, the Onion, and Pom coming back alone.

         Collin looks at him with a sense of curiosity. “Why would the Onion go into that cave?!” 

         “We are ABOUT to find out. Pom’s camera should HAVE caught it all.” Collin nods and takes the helmet, and uploads the video file. There, they watch the fight. They watch as Pom manages to fight off a man wielding a sword with a knife. Their faces turned pale as soon as the sound of glass came through the video. Then, the whole Florist thing.

         Collin can’t believe it. His Captain, his best friend, has been taken by Aero. “The Captain… she’s really…”

         Russ’s eyes fall to the floor. “I’m afraid so Collin.” The S.S. Shepherd is silent for a few seconds. “We have to keep going. It’s what the Captain would have wanted.”

         Dingo leans back in his chair. “I agree with Russ for once. But… how are we going to find them?” Dingo’s eyes land on the tracking system. “Wait, I don’t think he turned off the Captain’s tracker!”

         “Oh! Hold on let me…” Collin pulls up the map and searches for the Captain. “He didn’t! We have eyes on them now! She’s in… Perplexing Pool. I think I know we are going tomorrow.” The other Officers nod and soon rush off to either finish today's work, or rest up for tomorrow.

         Meanwhile, Nova has been comforting and calming Pom down. She holds him close, looking down at the floor. Nova notices a small black box on the ground. She makes sure Pom is asleep, before laying him down and picking up the object. It seems to be a lighter. Aero’s old lighter. The one he used to light the many candles he has been given by Pom. Nova puts it in her suit’s pocket. “Maybe I can try it out later…” Nova hops into her bed. “I just hope we can at least win once against him…” Nova closes her eyes, ready for tomorrow. No matter who says what, she’s coming with them. No matter what.

Chapter Text

         Meri wakes up with an awful headache. Lately he’s been feeling unsure about himself. He’s been having odd dreams about those Starlights. Like one where he was their doctor taking care of the… pilot? “What was his name? Bernard? I think?” Meri isn’t sure if it’s real, but one thing for sure is that it’s creepy. 

         Meri climbs out of the cave, and looks up at the night sky. Meri sees the little pod fly overhead, heading towards what he assumes is the Tundra. He sits down in the snow, sighing. “I came from the stars…. So why am I still alive?” It’s becoming clearer and clearer by the day. The Bodyguard isn’t supposed to be here. He should be six feet under, but he’s somehow not. “Maybe they were right. Maybe those people… are just here to help?”

         Meri feels vines grab a hold of his shoulders. “What are you thinking about, Meri?”
He quickly turns around to the Florist towering over him. “AH! F-Florist? I… I’ve just been having nightmares, that’s all.”

         “Liar. You looked quite happy looking up at the stars.”

         Meri hits the snow. “They are pretty, okay?” Meri looks over at the snowy floor. It shines from the moon’s reflection.

         “Yeah, u-huh. I believe you.” The Florist’s eyes look up at the night sky. “Huh. Well that’s something. You aren’t wrong, it is quite a pretty sight.”

         “See I told you.”

         The Florist looks at Meri, seeing a glint in his eyes. “You wanna go back?”

         “No judgment?”

         The Florist takes a moment to respond. “None.”

         “Then, yeah. I know how much that’d devastate the King, but you know… I was a creature from the stars.” 

         “Heh, of course you’d want to go back! But, you know, we can’t have that, right?” Meri looks away. “Meri, you’re not suggesting what I think you are, right?”

         Meri sighs. “I am.” Meri attempts to get up, but finds he can’t move. His eyes turn towards the Florist. “What… are you doing?!” His body is covered in vines. They have a tight grip on his body, all connected to the Florist. 

         Her eye flowers turn to smiles. “I’m sorry, Meri. I really am. But we can’t have any traitors, now can we?” Her flowers turn to eyes filled with malice. The Florist raises one vine, one that is connected to her head.

         Meri knows what this one is for. The King told him it’s to shut a creature up, make them okay with being her puppet. Meri starts to struggle. “Wait, I wasn’t going to–”

         “Sorry, Meri. It’s just business.” The Florist hooks the last vine in place, and Meri’s vision cuts to black. He becomes limp, just like a puppet. The Florist hops down into the cave, in order to tell the King what happened. They are in desperate need of that Jester, as he’s the only one who can completely prevent and distract others from memories or reminders of their old lives. And if they want to stay as they are now, they are going to need one.
Florist waits for the other to wake up, and after a few hours, the King finally stands up. He looks over at the Florist. “What. The fuck.”

         “He was going to betray us. King, we need that Jester now. Meri has remembered far too much to be useful anymore.”

         The King groans. “I’ve been trying to find him! But he keeps hiding away!”

         “I can try and kidnap one of the others.”

         The King considers it for a moment. “Nah, just kill them. They are in our way, after all.”

         “Of course, my King.” For some reason, the Florist almost said. “Copy that.” “Huh.” She thinks. “Weird. Never thought I’d almost say something so corny.”

         The King interrupts her thoughts. “Also, Florist? You can go out today, if you want. Actually, please do. I just need some time alone.”

         “You’ve got it King!” The Florist uses her vines to practically fly out of the cave, Meri still ensnared in her vines. “Hmmm… maybe the pool would be nice today!” The Florist smiles to herself as she starts to make her way over to the Pools of Perplexity.

         It takes around half of the day to get over there. Nothing dares approach her, due to her appearance alone. It screams danger. Though, sometimes, The Florist stops to pick up enemy corpses, for later use. She gets to the Pool, and leans back into the water. “Ah, the joys of cold water….” The Florist plays around in the water, for a good long while, before getting out. She walks out into the open, seeing a pile of pellets on the ground. “Oh, how cute! A Long Legs must have died here!” The Florist turns to leave, before she hears a gasp. “And Captains. UGH there goes my good day.”

         The Florist turns to the Starlights. There is the tall bald one, the King sized mean looking one, and the Pink girl. The King hates her. The Florist never questioned why, he just does. The Florist puts on her best metaphorical mask, and laughs. “OHOHOHO! Looks like the Starlights are here!”

         The bald one seems paler than most Starlights are. “Y-Yonny?”

         “Yonny?” The name sounds familiar, but the Florist shakes off the feelings it gives her. “Ah nevermind. It doesn’t matter, your efforts will be for nothing!” The Florist stands back, focusing most of her energy on her vines. “Now, it’s time for me to have fun shredding you all up, bit by bit! OHOHOHOHO!” The Florist smiles, and starts her puppet game. She forces Meri to pull out his sword, and ready for combat. The other three don’t look so sure, but they don’t have a choice. They are fighting her puppet, whether they like it or not!

         She uses the various vines around Meri’s body as strings, pulling him around like a puppet as he lunges for the girl first. Though, he misses, and actually gets challenged by the angry one. “Oh? How fun! You want to play along! Good! I need new actors in my play!” She puppets Meri to attack him instead, which he does. It’s nowhere near a fair fight, as the creature uses an army knife to fight someone with a sword. Though, just like the purple guy from yesterday, he’s pretty good at what he’s doing. In fact, he starts to cut some of the vines she’s using. That of course, won’t do for the Florist. She gets an idea, and pulls up some of the enemies she’s been logging around, throwing them at the man. This manages to take him off guard, and she gets in a great strike across his chest, finally drawing the blood she wants to see flow out of them. 

         He stumbles back, being caught by the girl. She looks up at the bald guy and they nod at each other. She leaves the bald guy alone and runs back to what Florist can only assume is a pod of sorts. “How foolish! Leaving him behind like bait, OHOHOHO!” She continues her assault, this time on the bald one. He doesn’t even pull out a weapon, which takes the Florist off guard, as he easily sidesteps Meri’s attack and punches him. She can see that this hurts Meri greatly, though for her that doesn’t make sense. “How did you–”

         “Not like you’ll remember any of my inventions Shepherd, but Triple Threat is how.” He lays a Mine behind and Ice Blast in front of Meri. The Florist panics, and pulls Meri up, which is what the bald one wants apparently. The Florist doesn’t get it, until she sees that Meri is frozen from the Ice Blast, falling to the ground right as the Mine explodes, sending Meri flying towards him. This explosion also breaks the Florist’s hold on Meri, and the vines connecting to Meri.

         The girl comes back out, throwing some white wraps at the bald one. He catches him, which finally gives the enraged Florist a moment to hurt him. “You– GIVE HIM–” The girl runs up, and takes out a lighter, lighting it right in front of the Florist as she tries to attack the group. The Florist heisates, staring at the flame. Something about that fire terrifies her, like she’s reliving something that scared her past self. “What… is this feeling…? Why can’t I… m-move?”

         “Back off, Captain. Don't even TRY it. I will light you on fire. He may not like it, but your father will understand.” 

         “My… father?” The Florist shakes her head, but the feelings don’t go away. They stay, they keep telling her that something about this is wrong. These thoughts keep telling her things she thought aren’t true. “What have you done… to me?” That she used to be friends with these people, “No, I never….” that she was their friend, “Where… am… no….” that she was once a part of the stars. “It’s not true, it can’t be….” The Florist knows that those feelings are nothing but bothersome lies, but in the moment, they feel so true, so real. “Get out of my head….” The thoughts persist. “G-Get out of my head…!” She shakes her head again, trying to force the feelings out. “S-STOP! G-GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” 

         The girl looks back at the bald one for a moment, before trying to get through to the panicking Florist. “Hey, it’s okay! Erma, we are here for–” The girl barely dodges one of the Florist’s vines as it tries to stab her.

         “Erma?” The Florist stares at the girl, terrified. That word for some reason brings back feelings of love, feelings of belonging, feelings that she’s doing the wrong thing. “I’m not Erma… I’m not… I….” The Florist swallows her pride, backing away from the girl. “G-get away f-from me!” This is getting to be too much for her. Without another word, the Florist flees back to the cave she came from.

         “Captain….” Nova sighs, shaking off the feeling of disappointment. At least Shepherd is still in there, fighting for them. Nova turns around at the group, putting the lighter away. “That worked much better than I thought it would.”

         Russ breathes a sigh of relief, finally letting go of that persona he was using before. “Tell me about it! Kee-hee-hee. Stars I… I thought I was done for when she targeted me!” Russ tightens the bandages on Dingo’s chest.

         “Ow! That hurts mama’s boy!”

         “It’s supposed to hurt, Dingo. Now,” Russ turns to an unconscious Meri. “It’s best to get him back before he wakes up.”

         “Agreed. Come on team, let’s get this doctor back to his regular self!” Russ grabs Meri and all three of them hop inside the Beagle. The ride home is at least decent, with Dingo just checking in on Meri as he sleeps. Luckily he isn’t hurt all too bad. They arrive at the S.S. Shepherd within five minutes, and Dingo takes Meri from Russ.

         “Hey, Russ? I can handle this okay? You go and get some rest.”

         “Eh? Why are you–”

         “I’ve watched Yon enough to know what I’m doing, and you’re clearly exhausted.”

         Russ stares at Dingo, a bit taken aback that he’s willingly doing this. Though, after a bit of consideration, Russ just smiles at him. “Kee-hee-hee! Alright. Just make sure to take care of yourself. You’re not invincible, and we both know that.” 

         Dingo nods, and runs to the medical bay. He places Meri on one of many cots, and turns around to quickly find the cure that Pom had already made for them. By the time Dingo turns back around to get the cure to Meri, he is met with the guy staring at him in silence. “Uh, hi there.”

         Meri doesn’t respond to Dingo, he just stares at him, a bit scared of the cure he’s holding, but at the same time, curious. “That’s the cure?”

         Dingo turns around, a bit surprised that he started to talk to them. “Uh, yeah.”

         “Heh, King always said that this would happen.” Meri leans his head down, smiling still. “Well, go on. You earned it.”

         Dingo leans down in front of Meri. “You’re not fighting this?”

         Meri laughs. “And what can I do to stop you? Just get this over with. I’m sure they’ll be okay.” Dingo hesitates for a moment, before gently and carefully putting the cure in Medi’s mouth. Medi swallows it, much to Dingo’s surprise. Meri just sits there, quietly laughing to himself while tears stream down his eyes. “It hurts… why does this hurt so much…?” The laughter slowly dies down, as more and more of the leaves fall down. Dingo doesn’t even need to remove the stem, as it rots before he can even touch it. It falls to the floor, becoming a brown lump of death. There is a small moment of silence before Yonny wakes up.

         Dingo gets just a bit closer to the officer. “Yon?” 

         His eyes shoot wide open, almost immediately trying to get away from Dingo. Yonny shakes as he talks. “G-Get away! W-where a-am I?” 

         Dingo backs up, trying to give the doctor room to calm down. “Woah, hey, hey Yon, it’s okay, you’re safe, you–”

         Yonny seems to understand where he is. “Dee? Why am I…” Yonny pauses, his blood turning cold. “Where’s Shepherd?”

         “Uh, about that… with Aero?”

         It doesn’t take Yonny even a minute to figure out what he means. “She’s… a leafling too?”

         “Unfortunately, yes, though right now that doesn’t matter. You’re… feeling okay, right?”

         Yonny takes a moment to process his feelings, and slight pains. “Yeah, I’m alright, though a bit in pain.” 

         “Oh thank the stars.” Dingo sighs in relief, happy that Pom didn’t mess the cure up. “Hey Yon? Do you remember anything?”

         “Remember…?” It hits him. For some reason, Dingo just asks to flash back several hundred memories. Memories of when he was a leafling, memories of a man who was just done with anything, rage boiling below his calm demeanor.

         “Yon?”

         Yonny flinches upon hearing Dingo’s voice. “Oh! I… do.”

         “You do?! How much?!”

         “I think… everything. I remember… oh my stars I almost killed Pom. I was going to hurt you all.” Yonny starts to laugh a little, almost sounding a bit diluted while doing so. “And yet, that was single handedly the most free I’ve ever felt in my life. I… I was able to express my rage, I was finally able to just let my guard down. I… I was able to just be me. But I was a damn monster! I….”

         Dingo sighs, and takes one of Yonny’s hands. “Yon, calm down. I know this is a lot to deal with, but I need you to stay calm.” Yonny looks up at Dingo, still terrified of what just came to light in his mind. “I… It’s okay to feel this way. Honestly if I was in a similar situation to you, I’d feel the same way.”

         “You’d feel worse.”

         “Yon please, I’m trying to be supportive right now.”

         Yonny laughs at Dingo. “Ehehehe! I know, I know. It’s just… it’s a lot of conflicting feelings. One part of me hates what I become, and feels guilty for all that happened, while the other part wants to go back, wants to be as free as I was again. It’s… just so much.”

         “You’re alright, don’t worry. I’m sure Shepherd will feel similar to you when we get her back. Though, right now, you should probably rest.” Yonny leans against Dingo’s chest  “Or you could just do that, that works too.” Dingo sighs, letting this happen. Yonny’s already been through enough. Though when Dingo pulls away, he has to catch the now sleeping Yonny. “Heh, goodnight Yon. Hope you sleep better tonight.” Dingo lies Yonny down, tucks him in, turns down the lights, and leaves the doctor to sleep.

Chapter Text

         “So why are we out here again?”

         “Quite simple King. This is the last Lumiknoll those freaks can use to get cures for the next good while. If we take it down, then we win! There’s just no way around it!” The Florist laughs. “Plus, it’s better than just hurting those poor dead Pikmin, right?”

         The King chuckles himself. “I guess so.” The King looks around the area. This is the very same area he was first protected by the Bodyguard. “Oh the poor thing. I hope they haven’t hurt you too badly.” The King pauses and looks at the falling cherry blossoms. With the meaning these things usually have, this eventual confrontation does NOT bode well for either of them. Though the King doesn’t have long to ponder on such thoughts, as the two find the Lumiknoll. Which is already being guarded by the other pink creature from before, and him. His love is here. 

         The Florist looks down at the King. “I’ll distract her, and you can talk with the purple guy over there, okay?”

         “Oh hell yes!” The King might have said that a bit too loudly, as it grabs the attention of the two surrounding the Lumiknoll.

         The pink one deflates just a bit. “Oh you have to be kidding me.”

         “Don’t worry Nova, I think he might listen to me. Can you handle–”

         “Yeah, we got it. Just… make sure he stays okay?” Pom nods, and runs over to the King. The Florist just raises herself over him, and starts to attack the girl.

         Pom waves at the King. “Ah, wait you must be the King. I’ve been looking for you. Nice to finally meet you!”

         “Uh… oh jeez, hi… uh….”

         “Pom. And before you ask, he slash him. You?”

         Something about this conversation feels strangely familiar. Like he’s had a similar conversation before. The King just can’t place where he’s heard this from. “Uh… anything works really.”

         Pom laughs, which causes the King to flare up. “Alright, good, just wanted to get that out of the way, ehehe!”

         “Wait, you said you’ve been looking for me?”

         “Oh yeah! I have! You know how my group… and… you know….”

         “Oh no, I understand! I mean, we both are fighting for survival, right?”

         “Yeah, survival.” Pom looks back at the Lumiknoll. She is not handling this fine. Though, for one person, she is holding off the Florist pretty well. The Florist manages to grab onto Nova’s helmet, lifting her into the air. Nova struggles to get out, but without much luck. Pom is about to jump into action when the King holds him back. “What are you doing?!”

         “I… I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Pom tries to get the King to let him go, but he severely underestimates the grip strength of the King. The only thing he can do is watch as his best friend is taken away, yet again. 

         The Florist tries to break her helmet, but is knocked down to the ground when something grabs on to her vines, tearing the ones that let her go so high in half. The Florist falls to the ground, and gets pinned to the ground via a large foot. Nova however, lands on the back of a Bulborb, one with a mushroom at the end of its stem. A Pikmin just like it rides on the back of the creature, looking at the Florist with disdain. “Eh? Puffy?”

         Puffy doesn’t pay any mind to Nova, instead focusing his rage on the Florist. “You dare come into our territory and act like YOU own this place? Well think again buddy! No matter how many vines you have, you’ll never outclass the pure strength of the Puffstool disease!” The Florist tries to get up, but finds herself caught under the strength of Min’s foot. She tries to generate more vines to help her out, but she’s unable to. That’s when the fear truly starts to set in. The Florist considers something before sighing, which calms her nerves. Puffy looks down at her. “Well?” 

         The Florist smiles. “Never say I didn’t do anything for you King.” She digs her hands into the ground, and a wall of vines protrudes from the ground, separating the King and Pom from the rest of the group. “King! TAKE HIM AND RUN! LEAVE ME BEHIND! YOU HAVE WHAT YOU WANT! JUST TAKE HIM AND RUN!” 

         “What?! Pom!” Nova hops off the bulborb and takes out a knife to hack away at the vines. She manages to poke a hole through, only to see the King running away with an unconscious Pom. “P-POM!” The Florist laughs, and soon starts to cry. “What have you done?!”

         “What had to be done for his safety and sanity. Now let me go damn it!”

         Puffy scoffs. “Not happening lady.” He looks up at Nova, with pity in his eyes. “Do you have any way of keeping her down?”
“Yeah hold on, let me get it.” Nova goes over and hops inside the Beagle. She grabs one of the few sedatives that she stocked in her the night before and hops back out. “Hold her as still as you can, okay?” Min responds, as the Florist still struggles against his foot. Though, after Nova injects her, she finally stills, unconscious. Nova looks up at the two. “Thank you for protecting me.”

         “Anytime dear. I just wanted to help you one last time.”

         “One last… you aren’t dying, are you?”

         “Oh, no! Nothing like that! I just… I know your journey is coming to an end, and I wanted to help you again before you left.” Puffy stares off in the distance, where the King ran off in. “I just hope he’s going to be okay.”

         “Me too Puffy. Me too.” Nova sighs, and hears the Lumiknoll produce what she needs. “I best get going. You live your best life, both of you!”

         “I’ll try. I hope you live long, Nova.” Nova smiles, picks up the Florist, and hops in the S.S. Beagle. She collects the Glow sap, and leaves for the base. She lands not long after the sun rises, and quickly carries both the cure and the Captain to the medical bay.

         She opens the door, staring at both Dingo and Yonny. They knew. They can tell just from her coming alone what happened. They don’t speak to her, and she’s glad. After the two important things are taken from her, she leaves for her room. The moment she closes the door, she collapses, finally giving into the urge to cry. “I’m so sorry Pom. I failed you…”

         The Florist wakes up to movement from someone. “K-King?” Her vision unblurs, and she’s met with the Bodyguard. “Meri?!”

         Meri turns around, a bit surprised. “Oh, ehehehe! Awake already?”

         The Florist pauses, staring at him. “You’re not Meri. What have you done to him?!”

         Another male comes into vision, handing Not Meri something small. “He’s cured! What do you think happened to him?”

         “He’s…” The Florist glares at Dingo with a furry that he has never seen before. “I hate you.”
Dingo gets behind her, and holds her, making sure that she can’t hurt them. Yonny kneels down, shaking as he prepares himself for this. “U-huh, sure. Just… let us do this for you Erma.”

         “E-Erma? I’m not Erma! I'm the Florist! I… G-GET AWAY!” Yonny forces the cure down the Florist throat. She tries to spit it out, but Dingo cover’s her mouth. She then attempts claws at Yonny, but is again held back by Dingo. The Florist settles for Dingo, and starts to claw at his arms, causing a few injuries. Though she only does this for a few seconds, as she slowly but surely goes limp. The vines and flowers she covers herself in quickly rot, falling to the ground as they do.  Yonny clears out the rotting vines, and even gets the honor of ripping out the two large vines with the flowers at the ends of them. They seem to have acted as the replacement for a normal leafling stem. They manage to fill around half of a bucket with rotting vines. 

         In the meantime, Dingo patches up his arms, making sure to disinfect them. Yonny eventually comes over to make sure Dingo is okay, much to the slight dismay of Dingo.

         Finally, after a few minutes, Shepherd opens her eyes. “Ugh… my… head….” Shepherd feels her back, feeling nothing much there. “Wait… what?” She sits up, confused.

         “Captain!” Dingo drops everything and almost immediately hugs Shepherd, which takes her completely off guard.

         “Woah! Wait… Dingo? What happened? Why am I here?”

         “Wait, don’t you remember?”

         “Remember what?”

         “Captain, what’s the last thing you remember?”

         “I… wait… no, nonono… I didn’t….” Shepherd looks up at Dingo, terrified. “I hurt you. I hurt everyone. Oh stars… no, oh no, no, no!” She grabs onto Dingo. “Where’s Pom?!”

         “Uh, from what we know, with the King?”

         “Oh stars no, this can’t be….”

         Yonny grabs a hold of the Captain’s shoulders. “Captain, calm down. I’m sure whatever will happen, we’ll be fine.”

         “You don’t get it, do you? He’s going to kill him. And if he does, then we can’t cure him. That was the last Lumiknoll left for a long while.”

         Yonny looks back at his desk, realizing what Shepherd is getting at. “And we only have one more cure.” 

         Both Dingo and Yonny look at each other in terror. Shepherd balls up, muttering to herself. “And I killed him. Oh stars, please Aero, come to your senses….”

         Pom slowly opens his eyes, to the dark floor of the Valley. Pom attempts to get up, falling back down to the ground. He looks down at his body, seeing that he has been tied up by several ropes.

         He hears a voice, one that to Pom, still sounds like Aero. “Please… don’t struggle. Don’t make this harder than it has to be….” The King walks over, picking up Pom and putting him against a nearby wall.

         “Uh… thanks.” Pom looks up at the King, noticing his hands are shaking. He can’t tell what the King is feeling, but Pom has already assumed the worst. He is next in the line of the King’s subjects, he just knows it. 

         The King puts his hands on the latches of Pom’s helmet. “Just… please. Forgive me. I’m not losing such a perfect gem like you.” The King takes off the helmet and stands back. He tries to look away from Pom, but it’s hard not to watch. Pom doesn’t react as the King expects. He is struggling to breathe, yes, but he isn’t really fighting it. He more just looks to be in pain rather than actually dying. The King can’t watch, not anymore. It hurts to watch him slowly suffocate. He looks down at Pom’s helmet, and freezes. 

         All he sees is a monster. Someone who kidnapped someone who was clearly looking for his friend. That person was confused, not a threat, yet he treated him as one. He sees someone who has killed two innocent people, and is about to kill a third, just because he wants to. He sees a fraud. He’s no King, he’s just a monster.

         The King feels tears fall from his eyes, landing on the reflective helmet he holds. Then the King finally sees one more thing in the reflection. This person, his love, with a blue haired kid. One with a mohawk. One that looks too familiar… one tha– “Wait… is that… me?” The King looks up at Pom, who at this point looks like he is in pain, holding his neck as if that’d somehow help him. The King looks down at the helmet again, and then, “Wait, Pom?!” Aero runs over to Pom, quickly putting back on the helmet. Pom doesn’t know what’s going on. His body feels so light, and his mind feels fuzzy. Yet, through everything, he is still alive. “Why was I…? I didn’t mean to…”

         Why did you stop?

         “What? Wait, n-no! Get out of my head!”

         King, you are supposed to–

         “I’m not your damn King!”

         I made you one, therefore you are one. Now act like it.

         “I’m not–”

         King, you have to do as I say. Act li–

         “I’M NOT YOUR DAMN KING!” Pom hears something hitting the ground. “I-it’s gone… haha… it’s really gone… wait… no, g-get away! I… G-GET AWAY!” Pom then hears Aero running away from the area they are in, followed by high pitched squeals.

         The Pikmin are baffled. Their King just ran away from them. Their King abandoned them, yet again. Somehow, this feels… wrong. “Maybe the whole King idea should have never come back.” The Hivemind ponders, as some of the Pikmin pick up the rotting Flower Crown they had given the King, and look over at Pom. “We need to get him back to his Mothership too.” Some of the Reds call for the six fastest Whites, and tell them the plan. The Whites nod and pick up Pom, as the other Pikmin get into the Onion. The Onion flies off into the night sky, as the Whites start making it back to Pom’s Mothership.

         The Onion flies above the planet, but still close enough to try and spot the King. It takes nearly all night but they finally found him, heading towards a large oak tree. One rotten oak tree, but an oak tree nonetheless. A golden creature of sorts is spotted at the top. There is no way the Pikmin could take it on alone, but maybe with the help of the other Starlights, they can win. The Onion heads for the base camp where Pom’s Mothership is at. It’ll get there shortly after the Whites, but it would for sure be there tomorrow.

Chapter Text

         Nova wakes up to the crew being loud. For the fifth time today. And it’s only eight in the morning. “ New record…” Nova rolls over, covering her head with her pillow. 

         She hears mostly muffed talking, aside from Shepherd’s voice, which is clear as day. “Pom?! How are you here?!”

         Nova’s head shots up from her bed. “Wait, what?!?!” She rushes out of bed, into the lobby, seeing Pom being cut out of ropes that bound him together by Dingo. Six White Pikmin are waiting in the back of the ship, a fair distance from the rest of the crew.

         Nova runs over to her best friend. “P-Pom?!”

         Pom uses his free arm to wave at Nova. “Oh, hey Nova. Sorry to wake you up…”

         Dingo glares at Pom. “Hey, don’t move!”

         Nova stares at Pom, dumbfounded by his calm demeanor. “What the… how did you escape?!”

         “I didn’t. Aero tried to kill me but I guess he… couldn’t. He ran off somewhere, and these little ones brought me here. Good Pikmin, I can tell you that much.” Dingo cuts the last rope holding Pom’s arms to his body. “There we go… That feels… a lot better than before…” Dingo cuts off a few more ropes before he finally gets to the end. Pom was free, though he just sits there, cupping his arms. “Still hurts like hell though… ehehe…”

         Nova walks over and sits next to Pom. She stares at him for a few seconds, completely dumbfounded, before she quickly pulls Pom into a hug. “Don’t ever fucking do that again.”

         “I’ll try.” Pom hugs her back. They stay like this for what feels like forever, before hearing the sound of an Onion fusing. “Oh you’re kidding.” The crew rushes outside, seeing a fully fused Onion, and a crowd of panicking Pikmin. Red, Rocky, Wingzy, and the Blue Siblings jump out of the Onion, before pausing at the massive crowd of Pikmin.

         “What’s the deal?! I thought you–” Red is interrupted by the pleas of the other Pikmin, who seemed to be trying to tell him something. Rocky takes the hand of Red, and drags him over to the Captains. The others follow suit.

         Jeremy doesn’t look pleased by the current situation. “Okay, okay! CALM DOWN! I can’t understand you guys if you all talk at the same time!” The crowd falls silent, as a group of Rock Pikmin walk forward, speaking to the others.

         Something they say scares Wingzy, who screeches and hides behind a now panicked Rocky. The Rocks keep going though, describing in great detail of what they saw that night.

         The Rocks finish their explanation, and Red stands there for a few moments, a bit shocked. “...Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. The King ran away, to an oak? Why is that so bad? I mean, we’ll just take him and go, right?” Rocky taps Red on the shoulder and explains something to him. “Oh. That’s… not a myth?”

         Nova kneels down to Red’s level. “What’s not a myth?”

         “Uh, okay. So, Aero may or may not have run away to an awful place… It’s just called the Oak or… what the hell do you guys call it?” The Rocks all say the same thing, in unison. “A Captain’s Hell. According to the myth, there is a golden creature, one that loves captains. Well, depending on the version, it might hate them, I don’t know. The detail that really matters is that it loves keeping the captains that wind up in the Oak for itself, making them weaker and weaker by the day until they, uh, die.”

         Nova is baffled. “And Aero went there?”

         “According to these guys, yeah. And I’m inclined to believe them, since no Pikmin in their right mind would ever want to go there, let alone tell anyone someone was there. So we have two choices. Risk literally everything and head there to save Aero, or let Aero die alone and afraid.”

         The crew looks at each other, not sure what to do. At least, most don’t, but Pom absolutely does. “We have to find him. I’m not leaving him to die.”

         “...Alright… cool. Welp, time to really see if that myth is true. Hahaha… haha… ha… god we are so going to die.” Red tells the others of the plan, and the other Pikmin nod, heading back inside the Onion. “Get in the Beagle, I’ll show you where it is.”

         Pom turns towards the Captain. “Nova and I will go on this mission. Best to not risk all of us at the same time. Trust us, we got this.”

         “O-okay. But only if you take Oatchi.”

         “Deal.”

         “Be careful. Please… We will be watching, and just remember, you can call for our help any time. We’ll get there as soon as possible.”

         “Copy that Captain.” Nova and Pom enter the S.S. Beagle, soon selecting the Oak as their location with the help of Red. The S.S. Beagle and Onion head towards the Oak, passing over many areas in the process. The crew lands on a small stump of the Oak. The Onion lands nearby and Pom takes out 20 of the Reds, Yellows, Blues, Rocks, and Winged. He hands the army over to Nova, who gets on Oatchi.

         The three climb up the Oak. The further up they go, the more anxious they get. The three finally get to the top of the Oak, and look around. Pom looks down, over the edge of the Oak. “Now that’s a long fall.” Nova hits Pom out of his thoughts and points to the other side of the tree. There is a long drop, and a golden creature, neutering a white leafling with light blue tips. The golden creature gently rubs one of its odd nubs against the leafling’s face, though the leafling doesn’t react.

         “Seems as if he’s out cold.” Nova mutters, trying to keep her voice down.

         Collin stares at the screen, utterly confused. “Ah! There’s Aero! Wait… what is that thing doing to him?”

         Nova winces at its actions. Something about this felt wrong, in every conceivable way. “I have no idea Collin, but we have to get him back.” 

         Pom looks over at Nova, smiling. “I’ll go down first, just to… test the waters.” 

         “No, Pom!” He jumps down, approaching the creature. The golden creature takes notice of the new captain, and walks towards it. It has that protective glass, just like all the others. 

         “Ehehe…” It laughs nervously as the golden creature gently strokes its glass. It pushes away from the creature. “How about… no?” The golden creature doesn’t like this. It needs to protect this captain too, no matter what. The creature forcibly takes the captain’s hand, attempting to drag him into the cave. “UH, NOVA?! HELP!” Nova jumps down and the creature releases its mistake. It lets go of the first captain, and runs over to the prized captain, trying to protect it from the plant parasites.

         Pom holds the arm the creature grabbed him by, rubbing it. “Did it just…”

         “Yeah, and we kinda need Aero, so… CHARGE!” Nova charges into the golden glittering ball, and the Pikmin beats it up until it bursts into a clear-ish substance. The leafling is still unconscious.

         Nova throws five Winged Pikmin to carry the leafing. “Alright nice now let’s get out of here…” The Winged Pikmin attempt to fly above the large ledge, but fall to the ground. “...uh guys?”

         Red looks around for any sort of exit, only finding the entrance to the tree’s insides. “I don’t mean to alarm you two, but how do we get out? There is no way back for any of us. I don’t think the Wingeds can breach the ledge.”

         “What?!” Nova turns around to find out that Red is right. There is no geyser. “Oh. Shit. Well… there is only one choice… In the cave we go?”

         Red looks at her for a few seconds. “Okay… l-let's go.”

         Pom flags down the Winged Pikmin. “Uh, Wings? Just follow me, and stay close to at least one of us.” Pom enters the cave first, followed by Nova, the Pikmin army, and Oatchi. Walking inside, Nova notices that Pom has already gotten a head start, and is at the end of the hallway already. “Come on No- WHAT IS THAT?!”

         Nova turns around, stumbling a bit backwards as a clear blob creature falls from the ceiling. It sort of looks like the Foolix, but without its ball, and tail. It just has a golden cube inside. “Must be related to the creature from before.”

         Shepherd feels something familiar. A fear of sorts, one she only felt when the Water Wraith came down for the first time. “I have no idea, but I’d s-suggest you both escape as fast as possible. Who knows what it’ll do to you if you get caught.”

         “Copy that Captain.” Nova gets on Oatchi and runs towards Pom. Pom enters the next room, a semi-big one, full of Yellow Spectralids. The three pass by, Nova adding five more Wings to the ones already carrying the leafling. They round the corner, seeing six dwarf bulborbs and a bulborb. Pom stays behind, as Nova deals with the threat. Nova kills three of the dwarfs and all of them turn into a golden mush. 

         “So… they aren’t real? Okay, yeah, sure. Why not?” Nova kills the other three, and the bulborb, and moves out of the way as Pom runs over to the nearby cliff. “What in the hell are you doing?”

         “Circling it, why?”

         Nova stutters for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to explain how much of a bad idea that is. “Okay…” Nova is all she can mutter out before she sends the army after the wall, and watches as the creature gets way too close for comfort. Pom slowly backs up, and jumps off the edge, and gets the creature to chase him. Nova’s crew gets down with the wall, and trucks onwards. 

         “What the hell?” Many messages were written on the walls, almost all of which Nova could understand.

         The Captain notices Nova’s hesitation. “What’s wrong Nova?”

         “Captain… There are messages written into the walls. In the National Galactic Language.”

         “Wha?! What do they say?”

         “They range from 'About to die due to the creature’s abuse' to contact information for their family…”

         The Captain looks closer at the feed. She’s right. There are hundreds of these messages, some overlapping with others. “Oh my stars…”

         Nova stares at some of these messages for a few seconds before shaking off the horror. “I can’t get distracted. Not now… we have to get home.” Nova moves onward, fighting a Watery Blowhog, Fiery Blowhog, and Bearded Amprat. She finds a bunch of bridge fragments, and sends the Pikmin to break the crystal for one pile, and dig up some more. She also lowers a paper bag for Pom to use later. In a few minutes, she finishes the bridge, fighting an Arachnode. Nova pulls out her communicator. “Pom, the way forward is clear, I’ll keep going!”

         “Got it!” Pom makes a dash for the new area Nova had just unlocked, the creature following closely behind him. Pom makes it across the bridge, but trips on the edge of it. Pom panics, quickly standing up and looking around for anywhere to hide. His eyes land on some nearby shrubbery, and he dashes inside with the Winged Pikmin and the leafling. It takes only a few seconds for the clear creature to make it over to where he was. The creature looks around, and passes right by them, entering the next room over.

         “Oh thank god.” Pom pulls the leafling onto his lap. “Don’t worry Aero, we’ll be out of here soon.” 

         Nova runs around the new dark area, assembling a bridge. There are a few times where Nova had to whistle out the Pikmin from the creature, but it isn’t that bad. 

         “You almost out Rookie?”

         “Uh, not sure. Why?”

         Dingo checks the time, and goes a bit wide eyed. “It’s almost night.”

         “IT WHAT?!”

         Collin chimes in. “I’d say you have around thirty-ish minutes until night falls.” Now it’s starting to get stressful. Nova runs to the upper section, and using ten Yellows, she turns on a large bulb. After killing another Arachnode, and a wall, Nova sees the exit.

         Nova smiles, pulling out her communicator. “Pom, you there?”

         “Yeah? Are you done?”

         “I am. Though be careful, the creature is in here too.”

         “Got it.” Pom gets the Winged Pikmin to pick up the leafling, and bolts for it. The creature notices Pom trying to escape with the leafling, and chases after him. It takes several shortcuts, almost catching Pom at a cross section, but Pom, being quite nimble, dodge the creature with ease. The Winged Pikmin make sure to stay right behind Pom, and manage to dodge the creature too. The four bolt out of the cave, and run for the S.S. Beagle. The Pikmin get into the Onion as fast as they can, and they both lift off into the night sky. Pom looks back down, seeing the golden creature throw its arm nubs up at the sky.

         Nova takes a few moments to calm herself down. “...Yonny do we have a cure ready?”

         “Ehehe, yes we do new blood.”

         “Okay, good…” Nova mutes herself. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!”

         Pom holds the leafling by his head, slowly looking up at Nova. “Do you think I know?”

         “No… but still! Is… Is Aero okay?”

         “Seems like it. Though it might be better to get him back to base quickly. Not sure how he’ll react when he wakes up.”

         “Got it. You need help lifting him up or…”

         “No, I’m fine. It just might take me a bit longer to get out.” Nova flies both of them back to the base. They arrive, and Pom carries the still unconscious leafling into the S.S. Shepherd, and straight into the medical bay. Pom sets the leafling down on a nearby bed. Pom walks over to Yonny. “I think we’re good.” It is only then that the King wakes up.

         “Wha… where…” The leafling’s eyes shot wide open, as he panicky attempts to get out of the bed, only to fall onto the floor. “G-Get away! I… I…” Pom whispers something to Yonny, and he nods. Pom takes the cure from the doctor and walks over to the leafling. “Wha… you?”

         “Of course Aero isn’t in control anymore. Alright, this might be a bit harder than I first thought.” “Hey…buddy. Is it alright if I sit next to you?” The leafling silently nods. “Alright, thank you.”

         “I’m…so sorry.”

         “It’s alright, no need to apologize. I…” “It’s so hard to find the words right now….” “I just want to make sure you’re okay. And well, good news, we can bring you with us.”

         The leafling is hesitant. “But what about the Pikmin?!”

         “They’ll be fine. There are thousands of them, and you’re done a good job on teaching them how to survive, I’m sure of it.” Pom softly smiles at the leafling, and the leafling relaxes. “Now, you’ll either take the cure willingly or–”

         “No, no, no need for threats. I’ll take it. Just where is it?”

         Pom opens his glove. “Boom. Cure.” The leafling takes it and looks up at Pom. “Go on. Or do you need me to force it down?”

         The leafling’s leaves turn a bright shade of pink. “NOPE I GOT IT.” He takes it, and swallows the pill, quickly collapsing onto Pom.

         Pom holds him gently, slowly removing the man’s falling leaves. “You’ll be alright, I’m right here…” It takes a few minutes, but the leaves all fall, and the stem shrivels up into nothing, leaving Aero in Pom’s arms.

         It doesn’t take long for Aero to wake up. “Ugh… wh…P-Pom?” Though, Aero is clearly not fully awake, at least not yet.

         Pom pats Aero’s head. “Hey Aero…”

         “Where… am I?”

         “The S.S. Shepherd.”

         “Oh…okay…” It takes a moment for Aero to process what Pom had just said. When he does, his head shoots up. “Wait, POM!? Why… what…”

         “Woah, hey calm down… you’re okay now…”

         Aero pushes away from Pom. “No, nonono. Stop, I don't deserve this.”

         “A-Aero? Hey, it’s okay… it’s–”

         “No, it’s not! I tried to kill you… I literally killed the Captain and Yonny!”

         “Aero that wasn’t you. That was the hivemind…”

         “But it was! I have those memories, I should have been able to stop myself! I–”

         “And the Captain has memories of her time as the Florist, and she literally took over Yonny’s body for fun. And used corpses to beat the shit of us.”

         “That’s different!”

         “How so?”

         “She was being controlled by me. I had all the control, and I made her think that it was okay! It’s still my fault!”

         “Aero, that’s not how this works.” Aero tries to talk over Pom, but Pom shhes him. “Yes, you were the King, yes, you had authority, but you had no control over the Florist or Bodyguard. If you did, then the Florist would have never used the Bodyguard as a puppet, as the King didn’t know that the Bodyguard was regressing.”

         Aero looks at the floor, ashamed. “...”

         “Just… Aero, it’s not your fault… come here….” Pom picks up Aero, putting him in his lap. “Just… relax….” Aero tries to fight it at first, but eventually leans into his touch. Pom gently runs his hand through Aero’s hair. “Damn, you really need to brush your hair…. Aero?” Pom carefully looks down, noticing that Aero had fallen asleep on him. Aero smiles as he snuggles up against Pom. “Oh. Ehehe, goodnight…” Pom looks up at Yonny, with a tired smile. “To-da.”

         “Ehehe, thank you Pom.”

         “Anytime…” Pom tries to get up, but Aero pulls him back down. “Buddy… please…” Pom attempts to get up again, but Aero forcibly pulls him down. “Uh… I think I’m stuck until he wakes up…”

         Nova chuckles at him. “Of course you are.”

         “Ehehe, that’s fine Pom. You can rest with him tonight.”

         “Alright, cool, nice, great. G-night you two….” Nova and Yonny chuckle as they leave Pom alone. He lays down, and quickly falls asleep, just happy he got his best friend back in his arms.

Chapter Text

         Pom wakes up to yelling. It isn’t angry yelling, it’s more like concerned yelling. Pom sits up, seeing Yonny and Bernard attempting to hold back Dingo.

         “A-Aero’s cured?! Where…” His eyes land on Pom. 

         Pom waves and he nudges Aero. “Come on… wake up….”

         “Ugh…” Aero pulls himself off of Pom, looking around. “Pom? Did I…” Aero turns around to the others. “Oh. H-heya…” Aero stands up and stares at Dingo. “Surprise…” Yonny lets Dingo past, and he walks up to Aero. Aero is now afraid. He knows what this guy is like angry, and it looks like he managed to piss him off. “D-Dingo… look I’m–” Dingo nearly pushes Aero to the ground, as he pulls him into a hug. “Wh…what?”

         “You’re a moron, you know that?”

         “Pff, wow, I see the love.”

         “No, really. You… stars you…” Dingo’s grip tightens as he laughs. “You… stars… never do that again….”

         “Heh, didn’t you say the same thing to Nova?”

         “T-this is… different.”

         “How so?” Dingo doesn’t reply. “Wait… Dingo, are you… crying?” Dingo doesn’t replay, he just holds him tightly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I–”

         “Don’t apologize.”

         “Oh, okay.” Aero and Dingo hug for a while, or at least, until Dingo could stop crying. It does eventually happen, but it takes a bit. Dingo pulls himself off of Aero, clearing his face of any remaining tears. “You okay?”

         “Yeah, I’m fine.” Dingo looks outside, and realizes something. “Right! Uh, I think we’re saying goodbye to the Sage and the Pikmin outside if either of you want to join.” Aero and Pom look at each other and smile. Both get on the suit necessary and hop outside within five minutes. 

         “Ah, there you are.” The Great Sage approaches Pom, and holds out his hand. Pom takes it, shaking it. “It’s been a pleasure to talk with you. It’s been so long since I’ve had good company.”

         “Thank you sir. I… It was great to talk with you too. Plus, without you, I don’t think we would have even gotten close to saving Aero.”

         The Sage laughs. “Oh please, with this team's dandori skills, I’m sure you would have.” The Sage smiles at Aero, before walking over to his cave. “If you do visit again, you are always welcome down here.” And with that, the Sage Leaf hops down into his paradise of Dandori.

         The Pikmin watching him sigh or laugh. Depends on the type really. Red sighs though. “Heh, goodbye old fool.” Red turns to the group, with the rest of the Pikmin behind him. “Well, guess this is it. It’s been an honor to be your little helper.”

         “Thank you so much for everything!”

         “It’s nothing. Thank you for reviving our populations again. Now, you must get going! Before something else suddenly pops up and delays you even further!” The Rescue Crops Group laughs, and turns to get on the ship. Though Shepherd stays behind, looking at Pom. Purple approaches him, and hands him a letter.

         “Dad? What’s this?” He flips it over. “Oh. Heh, only when I need it? Alright.” Pom picks up his dad. “I’m so sorry that I have to leave you here. I love you, now and forever.” Pom puts him down, tears starting to form. “I’ll visit one day. I promise.” Purple nods, and shoos Pom away. He leaves, getting inside the S.S. Shepherd. Shepherd nods at the Pikmin and finally gets in. She locks the hatch, and gives Bernard the thumbs up.

         Collin is just double checking the systems and flight path on the main monitor. “Our flight path is clear, and all safety mechanisms are in good working order.”

         Shepherd smiles. “All officers! Prepare for takeoff.” 

         The S.S. Shepherd’s engine roars to life, and Bernard smiles. “ALRIGHT! Ready for LAUNCH!”

         Pom looks over at Aero. “You ready?”

         “Yeah. I think I finally am.” The S.S. Shepherd lifts into the air, and blasts away quickly. 

         The Shepherd is followed by the Master Onion, which can only watch as the Shepherd flies away. The Onion then lands on the ground letting the Pikmin get inside. Most of them do, aside from Jeremy, Mimic, and Purple.

         Mimic looks at Purple. “Hey, big guy! We’re lifting off soon! Come on!” Mimic gets inside the Onion. Jeremy however, stays out, looking at Purple.

         “You okay?” Purple looks up at the sky and sighs before nodding. “Alright, just double checking.” Jeremy grabs Purple's hand, leading him over to the Onion. 

         Purple looks up at the sky one last time, “Goodbye Pom. I love you more than you’d ever know.” and gets inside the Onion with his friend.

         The flight back has been honestly quite boring. At least, for Nova’s standards it is. Right now, she’s just been hanging out at the lobby, and has been overhearing an argument between the Captain and Dingo for about an hour now. What is it about? Why, the relationship between Pom and Aero of course!

         Shepherd sighs for what is about the eighth time in thirty minutes. “Dingo, we are not pressuring the two, they’ve been through enough.”

         “It’s not pressuring, I’m just curious!” 

         Nova is about tired of this, but feels as if there is money to be made. She looks up from her phone, and smerks. “Oh really? Well then, if you’re so insistent, let's make it a bet. If you can manage to get Aero to say exactly 'I love Pom,' I’ll give you… let's say one hundred bucks. If you don’t, I just want fifty, that’s all I need.”

         “Oh it’s on!” Dingo runs off to tell Bernard about the bet.

         The Captain looks down at Nova, confused. “Why did you make that bet?”

         “Because he’s going to lose.”

         “What?”

         “Aero will never say those exact words ever again. He has said it once, and I caught it on tape. And yeah, sure, I had to trick and manipulate him into doing it, but I still got it.” Nova waves her phone. “So, it’s hopeless to try and get him to admit his love, let alone get him to say the words ‘I love Pom.’”

         “Wow. I didn’t take you for the conning type…”

         “It’s not a con, Captain. It’s a strategic bet on something I have a lot of information on.” Nova sits down, ready to watch Dingo try everything he can in order to at least get the man to admit they were more than friends. It is hilarious. At least, to Nova it is. Aero refuses to admit anything more than friends, and after taking one good look at Nova, Aero realizes that she just pulled another scam. One he isn't willing to help Dingo escape. After hours of harassment from Dingo, Aero manages to escape his pestering by hiding in the pilot’s cockpit. Aero knows that it’s against the rules, but he is willing to break those rules this once in order to get away from Dingo.

         “Oh! HEY Aero. What are YOU doing here?” Bernard pops up from the book he is reading, spinning around in the pilot’s seat. 

         Aero feels like he just had a heart attack as Bernard walks over to him. “ACK! Oh my goodness Bernard… don’t scare me like that!”

         “No wait… let me GUESS. You’re hiding FROM Dingo, aren’t you?”

         “...Maybe.”

         “Hahahahaha! Of course! He’s been BOTHERING you all day, I take it?”

         “You have no idea.”

         “Yeah, that’s Dingo. If there is MONEY to win, he’ll go all IN.” A moment of awkward silence is had between the two. “I just WANT to know… do you…” Bernard looks around, lowering his voice so the others couldn’t hear. “... like Pom?”

         “Uhhhhhhhh…” Aero can’t tell if he’s trying to help Dingo, or if he’s really asking. “Wait, you aren’t in this bet, are you?!”

         “No, I’m just… genuinely curious.”

         Aero heistates. “And… you won’t tell the others?”

         “Nope. Not a soul. ”

         Aero looks around, trying to see if anyone was listening in. No one seems to be so Aero gets down on Bernard’s level, before sighing. “Okay… uh… abso fucking lutely I do. When I was…uh… obsessing over Pom, as that… uh… monster, that wasn’t an exaggeration of my feelings. I really… like… like him…”

         “Then why don’t you tell him?”

         “And ruin everything we have? Ruin our friendship for my selfish needs? I can’t do that to him, he’s been through enough. I’m fine being a friend to him if it makes him feel happy.” Aero fully stands up, sighing. “It hurts, but that's what friends are for.”

         “...Have you ever considered that he loves you back?”

         “I mean… sometimes? But even then, it was all just him being nice. For example, for my 18th birthday, he sang this really cute, yet vocally intense song for me. I have no idea what it means, or the name of the song, but it was impressive nonetheless. Hold on, I think I still have it somewhere…” Aero pulls out his phone and scrolls through. “Here it is. Nova recorded it because she wanted to use it for something. I’d assume blackmail, but she hasn’t done anything like that yet.” Aero listens to a bit of the song, his smile slowly growing and Bernard, after a few seconds of listening to it, recognizes not only the song, but the language it’s in as well.

         “Aero? THAT’S Orhian.”

         “Oh, it is? Nice, I think that was one of the like… four…five languages he knows. Might have been his first language, or second, I have no idea.”

         A few more seconds of listening to it has Bernard freaking out. “Aero, Aero, pause it, HOLD on. What did that just say?” Aero rewinds just ten seconds for Bernard, and he takes a deep breath. “Aero, Pom loves you.”

         “What?! No he doesn’t!”

         Bernard looks up at Aero, a bit shocked that Aero is this dense. “That song is a POPULAR love song on Orhi. During the final chorus, it’s LAST line before the screaming is, ‘I love you.’”

         “S-still…”

         “Aero, that’s not even MENTIONING the lines ‘This is my first love,’ or ‘Your kindness makes me so happy that I’m shedding tears,’ or maybe even, oh I DON’T know, ‘I know my love will definitely never be requited.’ He… loves you, he’s just too scared you won’t feel the same.”

         Aero was bright red in the face. “I… how do you know any of that?! Aren’t you from Nijo, just like me?! How–” It then hits Aero. He’s from Nijo, and his closest friend, one who has been rumored to be something more, is from Ohri. “Wait, did Dingo sing this for you and had to explain it to you?”

         Now Bernard is the one turning red. “Wha?! Aero, don’t change the SUBJECT!”

         Aero’s smile grows even wider. “Oh my god he did. HAHAHA! Okay, that’s cute. So, how long have y’all been dating?”

         Bernard doesn’t know what to say. Should he deny it, or own up? “We– I– oh nevermind.” Bernard sighs, looking to the floor. “Like… two and a half years. ”

         “Oh my god. You know, I had always suspected it, but I never thought it to be true.”

         “Please, don’t tell anyone, we are trying to keep this a secret.”

         “Yeah, but why though? What would you lose if it came out? Because if it's the reputation you’re worried about, trust me, it’s not going to be ruined. Now, IF me and Pom were to get together, that could be a catastrophe. I mean, the new hires seemingly hooking up over, like, a month's time is a lot worse PR wise compared to suspected relationship between the most hated Officer and the most beloved Officer turns out to be true. You might even get more money if that happened, though that’s besides the point. I also assume this is a feeling thing, yes? Not wanting the Captain to know because it’d be awkward?” Bernard just nods. “Yeah, that’s reasonable. So how about this, I don’t tell the others about you and Dingo, and you don’t tell the others about that little cute love song or my feelings, deal?”

         “Deal.”

         “Alright cool. Sorry about that… I just… I never actually thought about the implications of all your time together, and now really looking at it, it’s so damn obvious.” Aero quietly laughs at himself. “Well, that’s enough emotions for today.” Aero checks the time. “Oh nice, it’s time to go watch Nova con someone.”

         “She what?”

         “Dingo’s about to lose the bet… ended I think a few minutes ago, so…” Aero quickly runs out the door. “SEE YA!” He runs down to the lobby, to a dumbfounded crew and Nova with an incredibly smug look on her face, holding fifty bucks.

         Nova waves over at Aero. “Oh hey Aero.”

         Aero looks at Nova, unamused. “Oh hi little shit.”

         “Hey, language, the Captain is right there.”

         “You literally used me to scam Dingo, I think she’ll forgive my rudeness.”

         Someone grabs the money out of Nova’s hands, handing it back to Dingo. “God, I’m so sorry Dingo…” It’s Pom. 

         Nova knows that look. Seems she pissed him off. “Oh…shit…”

         “Nova, I thought we agreed to stop the scams!”

         “But–”

         “No buts! You have a paying job damn it! You can afford so much now, no need to literally scam your teammates!”

         “I’m sorry.”

         “Don’t say it to me, say it to Dingo.”

         Nova bows her head at Dingo. “I-I’m sorry!”

         “Rookie, it’s okay!”

         “No, it’s not. It’s against the law to scam people.” Pom sighs. “The shit I have to deal with…”

         Aero chuckles to himself. “Heh, how do you even cope?”

         “Uh, well, you know…” Pom looks away from Aero. “I just have someone close to me, that’s all.”

         “Oh nice.” Aero’s eyes dull a bit. “Bet they are a great friend.”

         “Yeah…they really are…” Pom sighs. “ I wish he’d feel the same way… One day Pom… One day…”

         Aero sighs. “ God I wish there was wine here. That’d cheer Pom up… wait a minute.” He remembers something. Something he learned long ago about this ship. “Pom! Hey, I gotta show you something, alright?” Aero grabs Pom’s hand.

         Pom blushes at the sudden movement. “Uh, wha–”

         “Come on!” Aero runs out of the lobby heading towards what to most seemed like their room. In actuality, they headed for Russ’s lab. There was a rumor that in the lab, under one of the tables was a safe full of alcohol. Apparently, most of the crew does drink occasionally, and Russ made this safe just for them. However, somehow, the password leaked many years ago in one of the many magazines that Karut loves to make. One that Aero just so happened to keep, and used to memorize the officer’s birthdays.

         Pom is a bit apprehensive being inside Russ’s lab, but his concern turns to worry when Aero shows Pom a secret safe under one of the tables. “Aero, what are you doing?”

         “If this still works I’m the best person ever!” According to the rumor and what Aero remembers, the password should be 1-2-2-1-9-5. Aero puts it in, and the safe opens up. “Jackpot!” Aero looks inside, pulling out an entire bottle. “Oh fucking hell, they got rum in here?!”

         Pom tries to talk him out of this. “Aero, isn’t this stealing?”

         “Dude, I can buy them more alcohol. You like red wine, right?”

         “Uh yeah, bu–”

         Aero grabs an entire bottle of red wine from the back. “Alright, we got the good shit, now, to get to the room!” Aero closes and locks the safe up, and Pom follows Aero to their room. Aero closes the door once they are in, and turns on one of the lights so they can see. He hands Pom his wine, and manages to pop off the cork with his mouth.

         “Uh…you…sure they won’t mind?”

         “We saved their lives, I don’t think so.” Pom attempts to open the bottle, but fails. Aero takes it, and pops it open with his mouth too. “Aren’t we lucky that these rooms are mostly sound proof?”

         “OhmyfreakinggoshAero….” Pom drinks just a little bit. “So… What are we going to do when we get home?”

         “I have no idea. I mean, aside from making our lives better, not much… I guess maybe visit other planets….”

         “Ehehe, that’s a you thing though. I’m not a traveler.”

         “Yeah, I know.” Aero drinks another bit of his rum. “God why am I such a lightweight! I can feel it already!”

         “And I can see it. You’re already blushing.”

         Aero feels his face, and plops back onto the bed. “FUCK!”

         “EHEHE! Dumbass.”

         “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” The two drank away to the future, losing track of time in the process. Soon, time didn’t matter to the two. The only thing on each of their minds is the other person, and how pretty the other is. 

         Hours pass, with each member of the crew going to their rooms to get some sleep. Shepherd is just doing a few last things before she calls it a night. She looks around, releasing only two of her crew members who have not come out of their rooms for the past few hours. “Where’s Pom and Aero?”

         “Oh. Right… random totally unrelated question, did… Did you guys ever change the password to the safe in Russ’s lab?”

         Shepherd thinks for a moment. “I don’t think so, why?”

         “Cause Aero knows the password, and if that’s the case, there is a large chance both of them are drunk right now. I’m not checking, cause that’ll just be sentencing myself to hours of cat videos.”

         Yonny looks at Nova, confused and a bit startled. “He…what?”

         “Yep. Also, let me guess, you so happened to have red wine, and rum in there, right? Because if so, then I don’t even need to check, they are absolutely drunk.”

         Shepherd was now even more confused. “But why would they drink, especially now?”

         “Well, both have a different reason. For Pom, it makes him feel in control, and more powerful and Aero just likes the idea that he doesn’t have to think much anymore. I think Aero said that it was only in safe environments that he likes it, otherwise he refuses to drink.”

         Shepherd sighs. “Well, someone should go check on them, just in case…”

         Nova chuckles to herself. “So, which one of you two wants to watch cat videos for the next three hours? Cause I’m not dealing with those two right now.”

         “Ehehe, I’ll do it. It can’t be that bad, right?”

         “...Whatever you want to believe…” Yonny walks out of the lobby, towards their room while Nova sets up her laptop, with a ten hour compilation video of cats. It only took around a few minutes for Yonny to come back, flustered as all mighty hell. Nova looks up, smug. “Told youuuu…”
Shepherd is now a bit more concerned than before. “How are they?”

         “Uh…drunk…” Yonny looks at Nova. “How the hell are they not dating yet?!”

         “Because both of them are light weights with basically no ability to remember anything when drunk. Also I got cat videos over here.” Yonny just silently walks over, and sits down next to Nova. She looks up at him, a smug smile spreading across her face. “So… were they French kissing or biting each other?”

         Yonny turns a new shade of red that Nova had never seen before. “N-NOVA!”

         “HAHAHA! WORTH IT!” Nova leans back. “By the way, if any of you tell either one of them anything that happened tonight, I will destroy everyone on this ship both physically and mentally. Got it?”

         “Y-yeah…”

         “Okay, good. Now cat videos.” Shepherd sighs, going to bed. She needed the rest, especially after that. Nova glances over Yonny, who is trying to forget the cute as hell horrors he saw in that room. Nova knew that whoever went to check on them would never see the two the same, but Yonny is taking it better than she expected. It sorta reminded her of the first time she walked in on the two, and produced to change the password on the alcohol cabinet. But then again, they did inspire quite a lot of writing ideas…

         “Such gay idiots…” Nova stays up with Yonny until he finally falls asleep. Nova gets a blanket for the doctor, and lets him sleep alone.

         Pom’s head hurt, way more than usual. He sits up, holding his head, accidentally waking up Aero, who was asleep on his chest. “A…Aero?”

         “Eh?” Aero sits up, and looks at Pom, clearly tired. “Oh…hey…” Aero releases where he is. “P-POM?! Oh my… I’m so sorry!”

         “No, it’s fine! Do you… remember what happened last night, cause I can’t…”

         “Yeah, no memory here. We land today, right?”

         “Yep. So get dressed.”

         “I know, I know!” Aero grabs his suit and heads to the bathroom. Pom gets ready in their shared room. Both get done around the same time, and head out to the lobby. The crew is happy to see the two, especially Nova. Nova looks over at Yonny, who was trying to avoid eye contact with the two. She rolls her eyes as Bernard lands the ship at the dock.

         Finally, after hours of space travel, they have landed. Shepherd gathers her crew up, before turning around. “Just remember, stay behind me, and don’t say anything. Please, I don’t want to file another report.” The crew hops out, to an empty loading zone. “Huh. I thought at least the President would be here…” Shepherd notices a tall woman standing nearby. She is wearing a grey suit, and had her brown hair in a ponytail.

         “Ah, you’re here. Good, we can finally settle this case. All of you, please follow me, the President needs to talk to you all.” The Rescue Corps silently look at each other, before following close behind. The woman leads the group to the President's office, letting them all in before closing the door behind her.

         The President looks dismayed and quite pale. There is a tall slender woman standing beside him. She almost looks exactly like Shepherd. If it isn’t for the fact that she has purple hair and she’s white as hell, Nova might have mistook her for Shepherd. The woman turns towards the door, and smiles. “Oh, my child! I finally found you!” 

         Shepherd eyes land on the President, looking for answers. “What? Who is she–”

         Blood drains from Pom’s face as he instinctively steps back. “M-MOM?! Wha–” Pom shakes his head. “What the hell are you doing here? Don’t you hate Karut?!”

         “I do, but if it meant finding my baby child again, then I’d mingle with these… people.”

         Pom stares at his mother in disgust. Whatever reasons she has, they won't ever be in his interest. He still asks the burning question everyone has. The one he already knows the answer to. He just hopes it’s not true. “W…Why are you here?”

         “Oh sweetie, you can’t think I'd let you run away, did you? I’d find you eventually, and well, you’ll come home. You don’t have a choice anymore.”

         Nova gets in front of Pom, trying to protect him from his mother. “He does have a choice, he’s an adult by Karut law!”

         The woman in the suit steps forward, picking up some of the paperwork on the President’s desk. “If he was a resident of Karut, he wouldn’t have too. However, for immigrants such as himself, he’d have to live here for eight years of his life, and he’s been here a maximum of six years, so according to Karut’s immigration law, Ohri law trumps Karut law in this situation. And according to Ohri law, you are a child until the age of 25, and if a child runs away, the parent has every right to track them down and bring him back to his rightful home.”

         Aero steps forward, trying to protect Pom from the monster in front of him. “Even if the household is abusive?!”

         “Ohri law counts what she does as discipline, and therefore, it’s not against the law. I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.”

         Pom realizes that he doesn’t really have a choice. It’s either single handley crash the job market of Karut and be forced to go back, or go back willingly. There is only one option for Pom, and no matter how much he hates it, he’s forced to comply. “It’s… fine. I’ll go…”

         Aero quickly turns towards Pom. “But Pom–”

         “Aero, I’ll be fine. Please… at least let me do this for you all. It’s the least I can do.”

         “But–”

         “Aero. Please…” Pom holds Aero’s hands, shaking. “Just don’t forget about me…”

         “I’d never…”

         “Alright… I’ll… m-miss you…” Mrs. Pendergrass smiles, and nods at the woman. The woman leaves first, with some of the paperwork, and Pom’s mother grabs him by the back of his collar, and walks out of the room. The last look they see from Pom is pure unadulterated terror. He knows what is going to happen next, and it isn’t going to be pretty, it never is. Aero stands there, unsure of what to do. Everyone is unsure, one of their friends, the person who helped save their crew and several castaways was just taken away by that monster that dares call herself a mother. Aero falls to the ground, silently crying, with one thought repeating throughout his mind like a broken record. “I’m so sorry Pom….”