The Pikmin OG Day 1

SteveT

Wulfmin watched as the strange Onion lifted off, leaving him and all his comrades behind. Onion wasn’t the right word, but Wulfmin had been exposed to many things these past months, none of which had names in the language of his people. Something called an Olimar had appeared, and immediately assumed the role of alpha pikmin. It was so strong that none of the other pikmin even considered challenging it.

Under the Olimar’s rule, the pikmin population grew to vast numbers, and its intelligence gave them the ability to fight off their predators. It was amazing the things they could accomplish under his guidance. Even an emperor bulbax could be killed with the Olimar leading them.

Wulfmin himself was a red pikmin, proud of his large white petals. He had been plucked from the ground as a leaf and left in his Onion as a reserve unit, only called to action in the battle against emperor bulbax. He never knew why the Olimar and the bulbax were fighting, but Wulfmin was loyal, and attacked as fiercely as the other pikmin.

After the long battle, Wulfmin was granted the honor of drinking sweet honey nectar as a reward for his service. Since that day, he was a vital part of the Olimar’s workforce, for the short time the Olimar remained.

The Olimar was gone, now. He had abandoned the pikmin as soon as his work on their planet was done. He climbed into the Onion he had arrived in, and vanished into the sky. The pikmin were again without an alpha to guide them. Wulfmin knew already that they were doomed to return to the old ways of being chased and eaten, their species only barely holding on to survival.

As the Onion disappeared behind a cloud, Wulfmin decided that he could not let this happen. If nectar could turn a leaf pikmin into a flower pikmin, tripling its strength, speed, and intelligence, then perhaps there was a type of nectar that could make a pikmin into an alpha pikmin like the Olimar.

He could almost sense that the families of bulbax and other predators nearby were also watching the Olimar fly away. In his mind, he heard their snarls and saw their gritted, hungry teeth.

Wulfmin decided that moment that he would gather up a few of his friends and find the nectar that would save the pikmin species.

Luiigii of the Pipes

Unfortunately for Wulfmin, many were unwilling. They reasoned that it would be much safer to simply hide in the Onions until the day foretold by the dandelion seeds as they flew across the sky in patterns that were definitely meant for interpretation and not some random movements of wind. On the day foretold, the Olimar would return, along with the Iglumi and the Shacho.

Actually, many didn't say this. Wulfmin merely assumed that they all did because the first one he told his plan to said it.

This one was named Prophmin. He was a yellow pikmin, but was very strange as far as pikmin go. His stalk had been accidently broken by the Olimar while being pulled out of the ground, as Prophmin had refused to be pulled. While it hadn't fallen off, it did hang down behind his head rather than stick straight up. Prophmin bore a leaf, as he also refused to leave the Onion when called.

A story went around about Prophmin, that he had been left behind on his first day--perhaps the Olimar did it intentionally, perhaps he didn't. They found Prophmin when they returned the next day. He had survived by taking a green leaf, folding it in two, and tearing out holes to put his head and arms through. He called it a robe, and claimed that it had saved his life by camoflauge. He never took it off after that.

Anyway, Prophmin refused to carry bomb-rocks and claimed that his ears were there for listening to the Great Mamuta and not for catching air and jumping higher than red and blue pikmin, and was probably a bad choice for first pikmin to talk to...

Wulfmin ignored Prophmin and asked someone else. The first, having overheard his previous conversation, repeated everything that Prophmin had said and ran for an Onion. The second claimed to have left something in an Onion, would be back shortly, and never came back out... The third lay on the ground and pretended to be dead.

It was unfortunate for the third one, because at that moment a dwarf bulborb charged into the Onion-ground and trampled it on its way to Wulfmin. Wulfmin let out a tiny wail and ran desperately away, trying to remember how the Olimar handled this situation. The faux bulborb lunged at him; Wulfmin dodged around behind it, causing it to lose its balance. Wulfmin leapt high and came down on the bulborb's back, squishing the life out of it. He bent low, bowing to himself.

There were a few scattered whistles from the Pikmin who had been watching. Most claimed that they could have done the same thing. Prophmin began to work on a new excuse that reasoned that Wulfmin was already an alpha pikmin, and they didn't need any special nectar.

A spotty bulborb burst into the clearing and scooped Wulfmin and the dwarf bulborb up in one gulp.

The mass of pikmin screamed. The spotty bulborb, however, was making strange clucking sounds and paying them no mind, as the dwarf bulborb's body had gotten caught in what passed for its throat. Wulfmin clinged desperately to the bulborb's lip, screaming for help.

Prophmin regained his wits at the sight of a dandelion seed lying on the ground. He picked up and shook it until the fuzzies came off, observed their movements, made some marks in the dirt, and then hefted a nearby stick over his head. He ran up to the bulborb and started hitting it.

The other pikmin were amazed at this. The yellows ran to get more sticks while the reds and blues simply charged the bulborb. One yellow made sure to shove his stick into the bulborb's mouth; Wulfmin grabbed it and was pulled free, then joined in the battle.

Before long, the spotty bulborb too was defeated.

Prophmin took Wulfmin aside. "You see? We do not need an alpha pikmin. We can survive."

Wulfmin simply pointed at the bulborb. Several pikmin had begun arguing with each other over who got to keep the body. "Without an alpha pikmin, this will never get settled. Besides, bulborbs are easy to defeat. If that had been a bulblax, we would all be gone."

Prophmin considered this. "I suppose I will go with you. I only do so because I want to laugh at you when you get eaten along the way."

"Thank you," Wulfmin said. He pointed to a group of pikmin who weren't fighting over the bulborb, but seemed content with victory and the idea of sharing the body and were consequently shouted out when they tried to say so. "Let's take them. It's best if we not fight with each other. And we shall need a strong group if we hope to succeed."

Masamune

One of them that came along was a blue pikmin. Well, rather, a few of them were blue pikmin, a few yellows, and a few reds. It was a very colorful group, but that was not the point. One of the blue pikmin was named Arrmin. That is, all the other pikmin had named, but those are for later.

He was known for three things. First was his lack of a left eye which had been lost fighting a Snagret. He covered that with a torn piece of leaf which gave him a very impressive appearance. This was a good thing, considering how often he bumped into things. The second feature was that he liked to grunt a lot. He could talk, of course, but he found grunting his answers so much more satisfying.

The last bit was that he was deathly afraid of water. This was not all that uncommon, granted, among pikmin. It took the courage of an Alpha to lead a pikmin through water or fire. With an alpha in command, even reds and yellows felt brave enough to enter water they could not swim in. Arrmin had fought the Snagret, but never was lead into water. He felt, in a way, rather useless.

It was a sad farewell when they left the Onions behind. Or rather, it would have been had anyone noticed they left. Mostly they were all relieved to be away from the bickering, but a little upset they did not get any of the food. Not that there was much need of the food. For a pikmin, all they needed was water and earth to survive. Nectar was a bonus too. As Prophmin told them...

"The great Olimar came and 'lo, he looked upon us pikmin and said, 'Let them be mighty!' And so he pulled from the ground the Onions to be a home for us!"

This also was part of his legend of how pikmin were once all the same color. He also maintained they were all yellow and that the blue and red pikmin traded in their 'intelligence' for power. Nobody much liked his theories on their origins. But he was also handy at predicting the weather, so he was useful in that regard.

"How do you suppose," Wulfmin was asking. "That we pikmin multiplied before the Onions?"

"By seeds," Prophmin answered.

"How did we make these seeds?"

Prophmin said nothing, wondering that himself. He was not, of course, going to admit that he did not know. He was on the verge of saying something clever when suddenly he was interrupted.

"Arr!" shouted Arrmin. "Look!"

They all followed him up the small hill he was standing on. They all fixed their eyes to where his eye was looking. Needless to say, they were not at all excited. The stream that separated them from the other side had that effect.

"Oh well, probably not this way anyways," Prophmin concluded. "It if does, at all, exist."

"No!" Wulfmin insisted. "There must be a way past here."

"Look around us, min!" Prophmin said waving his arms. "We have a wide variety of directions to go!"

"Arrr... how about this way?" Arrmin suggested, as he looked down inside a hole in the ground.

"That way... sounds good," Wulfmin concluded.

SteveT

Looking around, the most obvious feature of the cave was its darkness. The soft glow of subterranean fungus provided enough light to see most large objects, but not well.

“The great light has abandoned us,” was Prophmin’s first reaction. His tone changed from fear to wonder, however, when he saw something in the distance. There was a bright light escaping from a tunnel, only apparent when one’s head was tilted at a particular angle. “No...wait, I think I see something.”

“Yarr,” Arrmin agreed. “Shall we, then?”

Wulfmin could feel the tiny eyes of all the other pikmin on him, even through the dark. Very few pikmin made quick decisions, especially ones that resulted in a group of pikmin breaking off from the rest for a quest. He supposed it was only logical that they thought of him as the decision-maker.

The problem was, just like any other pikmin, Wulfmin preferred following directions. He took their stares as a collective vote to move onward, that they all wanted to go. “I’ll have to remember that in the future,” he thought to himself. “I can trick the group into making my decisions about them for me.”

“I’ll go first,” he offered. He could hear a collective sigh from the others.

Wulfmin walked down the unfamiliar tunnel, just as scared as the others. He wished there were an alpha, but then again, if there were one, they wouldn’t be underground right now.

“Wait a minute,” Prophmin called out to whoever might be listening. “Where exactly was this hole?”

Arrmin grunted, “On the hill by the stream.”

“No, I mean, what was around it?”

“Hrm, I think I saw some pebbles,” Arrmin said, unsure of even this.

“I remember flower stems,” Wulfmin answered. “I think they were tulips.”

“Oh my...” Prophmin stammered.

Wulfmin stopped, and all the pikmin gathered around him. “What?” he asked, somewhat annoyed.

“I just realized...we may be in a Mamuta’s hole,” Prophmin blurted, his eyes bulging. “They very often live under tulip patches.”

There was a cheer from many of the pikmin, and gasps of horror from the others. Mamutas had a reputation for caring for pikmin. One or two of the members of Wulfmin’s group were actually raised by a Mamuta before the Olimar found them. Or at least, that was how they remembered their births. Other pikmin, however, only knew Mamutas as fearsome beasts who send pikmin back into the ground, wiping away their memories. Either way, all pikmin considered mamutas to be greater than even alpha pikmin, sometimes even godlike.

Wulfmin thought for a moment. He knew that both could be true, depending on the Mamuta and pikmin in question. “Well....maybe, if we’re respectful, the Mamuta will help us. He could know where the nectar we need is. Maybe we won’t even run into one, so let’s work on following that light.”

Luiigii of the Pipes

A shrill whistle hit them from further within the cave. For a moment, the Pikmin were overwhelmed.

"It is the Olimar!" Prophmin proclaimed. "He hath returned unto us!"

"Arr!" Arrmin grunted in agreement. They ran toward the sound, leading the others.

Wulfmin followed them, though a bit more concerned. If the Olimar was indeed back, then they no longer needed the nectar. But if the Olimar simply abandoned them again, that did them no good either.

At this point he realized that there was something wrong with the whistle. It was immensely drawing, promising safety and leadership, but it was not the whistle that the Olimar had made. Wulfmin was torn between continuing with the others or suspecting a trap, realized that pikmin should never concern themselves with traps, and kept going.

They entered a large round area. Tulips grew here as well, lining the walls of the cave. At the far end of the opening was a Mamuta, hunched and watching them with alert eyes. The pikmin fell to the ground before it at Prophmin's lead, who was shouting strange words over the increasingly loud whistle.

The whistle changed sharply. Prophmin stopped, and every pikmin stood up on command. Through the whistle they heard a voice, harsh and malicious, quavering along with the sound.

"Mmmore cccreaturresss. Pppound themmm inttto the ggground and repppluck themmm. Theyyy will mmmake gggood ssslavesss..."

The Mamuta stared a moment, then trudged forward, lifting its spade-shaped hands. Wulfmin gasped. The whistle was controlling the Mamuta as well. If Prophmin had control of his will at that moment, he likely would have protested against such mistreatment of a god.

"The whistle is bad!" Wulfmin shouted. "Fight its control!"

"It'sss nnno gggood!" Prophmin wailed.

"Arr!" Arrmin agreed.

"I know! But..." Wulfmin thought hard. He remembered the Olimar, remembered the strange blinking light on his head, tried to remember his whistle... It came to him suddenly, and he felt himself released, only momentarily, from the other whistle's control. He tried it again and got the same effect. "Remember the Olimar's whistle!"

"I cccan'ttt!"

"Arr!"

Wulfmin cleared what passed for his throat and whistled like the Olimar. The pikmin all staggered forward as their resistance finally began to work. Wulfmin whistled again, and the others joined in...

Too late. The Mamuta came down on a group of pikmin and drove them into the ground, including Prophmin.

"Oh..." Whistle. "No!"

"Matey!" Arrmin shouted between whistles. "Take a..." Whistle. "Look a..." Whistle. "This!" Arrmin pointed at some spot behind the Mamuta. Wulfmin ran over to take a look.

Perched between the Mamuta's shoulder blades was an ugly beetle. Its face was shaped like a cone, with a reverberating membrane wrapped around the opening. Naturally, it was the source of the bad whistle.

"How do we..." Whistle. "Shut it up?!" Whistle.

"Arr..." Whistle. "I 'unno!"

"Dddon'ttt resssissst!" the beetle hummed at them.

"Arr!" Arrmin cried suddenly. "Throw me!"

"What?"

"Throw me! Just... uh... just don't tell that yellow-belly I let you, arr."

Wulfmin nodded and grabbed Arrmin by the stalk. He wasn't sure if he could do it... but he tried anyway. Arrmin arced upwards and landed squarely on the beetle, which lost its grip of the Mamuta and landed on the ground with a thud. The whistle stopped. The other pikmin stopped whistling as well and gathered around it.

There was silence.

"Fffoolsss!" the beetle shouted, jumping up and whistling again before they could stop it. They all fell to the ground around it. "I winnn! Nnnow Mmmamuttta! Cccrush themmm!"

The Mamuta swung its arms down and crushed the beetle's head. It stood for a second, trying to whistle, and then collapsed.

"Thank you..." the Mamuta said as the pikmin got back to their feet. "I do not know how long I was under that disgusting creature's control, but it is over now."

"What is it?" one of the pikmin asked, then quickly added a, "your godliness, sir."

"It is an antenna beetle. You have seen the power it can wield, and sadly, it is not the only one in this world."

"One less is better than none less," Wulfmin said.

"Arr."

"I suppose. What brings such tiny creatures to my lair?"

"We seek a special nectar that will give us the power to lead."

The Mamuta was silent a moment. "I do not know of any nectar like that, but I do not know much of nectars either. I will tell you, however, that you will not find it in this hole."

Wulfmin frowned. "Thank you..."

"Arr..."

"If you wish to leave, you must find a geyser. You will have to go deeper into the cave to find it, and there may be something truly ferocious guarding it, but it is the only way, I am afraid. If you do wish to find this geyser, follow that light." He motioned to the light that they had been following before being distracted.

"But how can light exist so deep underground?"

"The source of this light may surprise you, but I doubt you should be much concerned."

"What about our friends?" a pikmin interrupted.

The Mamuta looked over at the multicolored stalks in the ground, each adorned with a beautiful white flower, including a yellow one that draped along the ground. "I am afraid that you creatures do lose your memory when planted back in the ground. However, they are much faster and stronger."

"With all due respect," Wulfmin said, "I think we'd like to have them back with their memories intact."

"'cept fer that yellow one there," Arrmin said, pointing at Prophmin. "He be right annoyin' at times." Wulfmin hit him on the head.

"It is possible. If you pluck the flower petals from their heads, and then pluck them quickly after, they will regain the memories that they lost." The Mamuta loped toward them. "Come. I shall repay you. If you pluck their petals, I will pluck them."

The pikmin responded with many thanks and followed the Mamuta.

Before they could begin, the Mamuta turned to them again. "There is another thing. I dislike having to impose on you further, but before you go, I have a request for you."

"What request is this?" Wulfmin asked.

The Mamuta waved a hand. "We shall worry about it later. Let us first save your friends."

Masamune

The operation was only slightly successful. Some of the pikmin came out looking around and whatsallthis-ing and wondering why, for example, they no longer had buds or flowers. Some were less fortunate. In the end seven of the pikmin were plucked with their memories lost. Prophmin was not among them, much to Arrmin's annoyance.

Prophmin, however, had not been an easy one to remove. The Mamuta was much annoyed when he ended up damagin Prophmin's stem to pull him out. Prophmin was in turn annoyed and informed them all that the Olimar had sent him a vision and now he could not even remember it. He then saw the Mamuta and proceeded to worship him, but was dissapointed when the Mamuta sort of backed up nervously and gave misshapen shrug.

The seven pikmin without memories seemed to behave in the same way but were utterly and totally oblivious to the past. They were skeptical about the Olimar, the existence of onions, the possibilities of Alphas, but were adamant about the Mamuta's divinity and were totally prepared to follow him forever. This caused some arguments until the Mamuta gave in and commanded them to "Go forth with, um, your own kind and err, find your Alpha. Mamuta commands it."

That seemed quite enough for them and Prophmin was relieved to at least have some others as cynical about the alpha nectar as he was.

"As for my request..." the Mamuta said. "I have someone I wish for you to take with you."

Thoughts ran through their heads. The possibility of a Mamuta going with them and smiting their enemies was foremost in their mind. Why would they need an Alpha if they had a Mamuta before them to lead?

Instead, Mamuta made a shrill shreik and were on the defensive when they saw two bumbling bulborbs run at them, their tongues hanging out and a blank look on their faces. Prophmin held a stick defensivel, ready for anything. Almost anything at least.

They each had two stems with buds sticking out of their backs. They wagged their stems about as if they were some sort of tails. One of them ran around the Mamuta excitedly while the other one sniffed Wulfmin curiously.

"These are what I call Bulbmin. I know little of them, but they are sort of pikmin that seem to live inside bulborbs. They speak in grunts like other grub-dogs in a language I do not understand though. But if you take care of them I believe they will serve you well."

Wulfmin looked up shocked. "You want us to take these bulborbs? They'll try to eat us!"

"They do not like much what I feed them," the Mamuta said. "But I think perhaps they might find bugs tastier."

The pikmin cringed. They did not eat. Sunlight, water, and nectar was all they cared for.

"Be wary of others of their kind though. I found them following a parent, I think. It also had a stem and led them, much like a 'Alpha' you speak of. When it tried to attack me, I had to kill it and most of its offpsring. But I captured these two later and tamed them. I do not think you would have as much luck taming others of their kind for they would likely try only to eat you."

This did not appeal to them at all. The Mamuta also told them of multi-colored flowers. Arrmin said he knew of them. One of the blues among them had been a yellow that he had seen, before his eye, get thrown in a flower and transformed. The blue pikmin (who was called Brymin) then, of course, adamantly refuted the possibility he was ever yellow and they broke into a fight. The Mamuta broke it up and just said to be wary and to hurry up on their quest and that if they happen to return this way that some tulip seeds would be wonderful.

Prophmin chronicled this tale carefully on a rolled up leaf he had brought with him. Though they had no written language, he had seen the Olimar make strange marking on a strange glowing leaf he kept in his own Onion. Among the markings he hadmade pictures of pikmin, other creatures, and amazingly other Olimars (but Prophmin never mentioned this to anybody). In turn, Prophmin had spent some time drawing pictures. They were not as good as the Olimars, but his pictures did a decent job of giving a representation of their travels so far. He had not done this before, but after almost losing his memories and identity, he felt it was something that had to be done.

SteveT

After saying goodbye to the Mamuta, which took nearly half an hour due to all the groveling and over-all worshipping, the group of Pikmin leapt down another hole.

This cavern was brighter, and quieter. The only sounds were drops of water at regular intervals. The two bulbmin immediately set to scampering about, always staying within a few inches of the group of pikmin.

After a few seconds of walking, Prophmin’s ears perked up. “I can’t hear the Great Mamuta here!” he cried. “We’re alone and doomed.”

Arrmin merely grunted a loud grunt, which obviously was a signal for Prophmin to shut up. Prophmin did not shut up, however, and the noises of the cavern became something of a chant.

Drip scamper doom drop yarr

Drip scamper doom drop yarr

Drip scamper doom drop yarr

The timing was so regular that Wulfmin actually began to hum these words to himself as they occurred.

A pikmin’s sense of smell is not particularly well developed. If it were, pikmin would be constantly overwhelmed by the smell of a single flower. However, survival mandated that pikmin develop the ability to smell certain things, specifically the Onion. As they walked, the pikmin were very surprised and excited to smell this exact scent, especially since it grew as they traveled.

Even Wulfmin had become excited enough to sprint forward. The two bulbmin raced after the pikmin and were the cause of many a mighty stumble. Finally, the room widened, and the pikmin had little choice but to stop and stare in awe at their new surroundings.

For any creature but a pikmin, the room would have not been at all impressive. It was nothing but a cave with two corridors leading outward. There were the usual patches of glowing fungi, and a small puddle--lamps and a lake to the eyes of pikmin.

What the small plant people found beautiful, then, was the flora on the island in the puddle. It was a small deep purple blossom completely surrounded by wet, fertile soil, kept company by a small clover patch. Wulfmin, and all the other pikmin immediately recognized that here was the souce of the Onion scent. Here was a safe place to rest and wait for the Olimar to return.

After drawing in the beauty of the flower, the Pikmin simultaneously rushed toward it. They felt drawn to it, and could not resist the compulsion to go slay in the petals. The water foiled them, however. Wulfmin rushed into the puddle, only to suddenly realize his certain demise and rush out, gasping for air, only to run toward the island again. He could see the other pikmin all doing the same, except for the blues.

Even Arrmin had shaken his fear of water and surged into the puddle, the temptation of the flower blinding his sensibilities. He walked slowly, though, and the other blues made it to the island long before he did. Halfway across, however, Arrmin suddenly realized where he was—in water. He screamed and blindly ran forward, his eyes completely closed. He stumbled over a pebble and landed face first on the shore. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring a purple pikmin sprout.

Wulfmin, the hold of the flower upon him also abruptly broken, took the time to look around. Prophmin was speaking about doom again, only this time wheezing as he did so. Most of the other pikmin were lying on their backs, also struggling to breath. He saw only the reds and yellows.

The bulbmin were cheerfully splashing about in the water.

“Blues! Come back!” he shouted, and the blue pikmin, also free of the flower’s allure, nonchalantly crossed the water, all except Arrmin, who was too busy inventing obscenities.

Where the flower had been, there were only four strange purple sprouts. The clovers were otherwise alone. When Wulfmin counted, he noticed that four of the blues were missing.

“Candypop bulb?” Wulfmin asked as he turned aside to Prophmin.

Prophmin nodded. “We have to find a way over there,” he suggested.

“Obviously,” Wulfmin agreed. He tried to think of what the Olimar would do. Build a bridge, he remembered. He just needed wood or maybe even some stones.

“We need to find wood,” Wulfmin announced. “I need three of the blues to stay here with Arrmin. Tell him we’re looking for a way to get him off that island.” He paused, then added as an afterthought, “Try to keep him calm, if you can, and see if you can figure out anything about what happened.”

Wulfmin whistled again, and the bulbmin scampered after the group of pikmin as they entered the next hall in search of building materials.

Arrmin, meanwhile, kept swearing. “They better be quick,” he warned the messengers.

As they waited, they heard a jovial laugh from within the pile of clover on the island. A pink flower slowly poked its way out from within the green leaves.

Luiigii of the Pipes

They found much wood in the next several caves, though they found several bulborbs as well. Fortunately, they were of the dwarf variety and easily dealt with.

Once the wood was bundled, they stood around it and considered.

"I think we should build the bridge here, roll it up, put it on the shore, and then roll it to the island," Wulfmin said.

"How ridiculous!" Prophmin scowled. "We have blues. Let them build the bridge."

The blues, of course, protested this greatly, and Wulfmin agreed with them that it would go faster if they all built it together.

"We simply cannot," Prophmin continued. "There is not enough room to build a bridge."

"What about--"

"No room!"

Wulfmin shrugged. "Fine. Let's go further into the cave and find room."

Prophmin noticed the blues' angry glares, grumbled in agreement, and picked up the smallest twig possible.

As they continued, they noticed that a few of the bulborbs that they fought were white instead of red. While there didn't seem to be much of a difference, Prophmin insisted that the presense of the 'snow bulborbs' meant there would be six more weeks of winter, even though it was currently summer...

The light they had been following was getting stronger still. "You know," Wulfmin said. "I think it's a glow."

"A glow?"

"Yeah, like fire."

"Nonsense. The great light was sent by the Olimar himself to guide us on your foolish quest. They Olimar has much more sophisticated ways of creating light other than fire."

The next cavern turned out to be the source of the light. Fire spouts covered the floor, spraying fitfully. Amid them were bomb rocks, which surprisingly hadn't gone off amidst the flames.

"Oh dear," Prophmin said. "There is no room here either. I guess that the blues will have to build it."

"There's room by the lake," Wulfmin scoffed. "That's what I tried to tell you." He narrowed his eyes through the fire and noticed something on the other side of the cavern. "Look there."

Prophmin looked. "The geyser! The Great Mamuta hath promised and he hath delivered!"

"Oh yeah, the geyser. I meant look there." He pointed at the bulbmin, who were taking turns jumping through a fire spout. "They're immune to fire."

"Yes?"

"When we were at the lake, they were playing in the water."

"Do you mean to say that they have red and blue abilities?" Prophmin soured. "I do hope that they cannot use bomb rocks. Sacriledge!"

"It might be worth considering." Wulfmin looked over the fire field again. "How about the reds stay here and try to close these spouts and make a path to the geyser. You take the yellows and the blues and build the bridge."

"You're trying to get out of work!"

Wulfmin rolled his eyes. "Fine. Go to the geyser."

Prophmin considered this, glared, and picked up his twig. "You have won... today." He gathered his group and left, one of the bulbmin trailing after. The other watched Wulfmin as curiously as the other reds.

"Well, let's go," he said.

Working around the bomb rocks was not easy. Since red pikmin didn't usually handle them, they were in constant worry that they'd bump one into a fire spout or that their own body heat would make one go off.

They had, however, made some progress in sealing off the fire spouts when the bulbmin started yipping and ran to the entrance of the cavern. They glanced around, but there didn't seem to be anything around that would alarm it.

There was, however, a humming sound. Wulfmin winced and looked up. Near the cavern ceiling was a giant black snitchbug, absentmindedly flying about. "I... uh... I think we should all go into the next cave for a bit..." he whispered. The snitchbug turned and looked down at them. "Oh sh--"

Before he could finish, the snitchbug prepared itself to dive. A jet of fire shot out of its rear end, shocking the pikmin and sending them screaming out of the cavern. The snitchbug zoomed after them and caught two pikmin in its hands before they even realized it was above them. It flew high and hurled its captives at the ground, but those it hadn't caught raced underneath those it had and broke their falls.

The snitchbug didn't seem too happy with that and flew lower, spraying fire on the group. When that didn't seem to work, it flew high again and prepared for another dive. "When it comes down again," Wulfmin shouted, "Bring it down!"

The snitchbug dived at another pair of pikmin. The others ran after it, trying to jump on its back and failing due to its incredible speed. The snitchbug caught the pikmin and threw them into the ground before the rest could react. It swooped again and grabbed a bomb rock, dropped it next to the sprouts it had just made, and then shot a jet of fire at it. When the explosion cleared, the sprouts were gone.

"No!" Wulfmin shouted.

"It's coming again!" another cried.

"Bring it down!"

"It's too fast! If we could plug up its jet or..."

Wulfmin considered it, then turned to a bomb rock. "I've got an idea. Everyone grab a bomb rock and stand by a fire spout! When it flies over, throw the bomb rock in and run!"

"It's too fast! And we can't carry bomb rocks anyway!"

"If yellows can do it, so can we!" Wulfmin ran to a bomb rock and grabbed hold of it. He held it for a few seconds, willing himself to lift, then let go in shame. Whatever it was that let yellow pikmin use bomb rocks, he didn't have it. He narrowed his eyes at the rock and tried again.

The snitchbug had come down again and caught more pikmin, and conveniently grabbed the bomb rock that Wulfmin was trying to lift. Wulfmin jumped from the bomb rock to the snitchbug's thorax and began pounding it. The snitchbug tossed the rock down, then shook Wulfmin onto it and shot a burst of fire. Wulfmin jumped away, the snitchbug chasing.

Of course, the snitchbug had forgotten about the bomb rock and, more importantly, using its jet to get away from it. The explosion caught the snitchbug and set its arm on fire. It beat out the flames with its other arm and retreated to the ceiling to rethink its strategy.

After a bit, it decided to try spraying flames on the pikmin again, to see if it would work better a second time. Wulfmin thought frantically and looked over at another bomb rock. He closed his eyes and jumped on top of it, then whistled for the snitchbug's attention.

"Wulfmin! No!"

Wulfmin said nothing, but waited. The snitchbug turned and flew at him, spraying fire even before it reached him. Just as the bomb rock ignited, the bulbmin leapt forward and caught Wulfmin in its mouth, dashing them both away from the explosion.

The snitchbug, having been all ready to make another attack on Wulfmin, was caught by the explosion again. Its feeler-wings caught on fire and sent it crashing to the ground, where the remaining reds swarmed it.

The bulbmin coughed Wulfmin out a ways away and watched him expectantly. Wulfmin patted it between the eyestalks, which seemed to content it. He led it over to the snitchbug's body. "Dig in. You deserve it."

"Don't ever do that again!" someone shouted at Wulfmin. "You could have died!"

"What would we do without you?!"

Wulfmin shrugged. "I guess we don't have to worry anymore anyway." He nudged the snitchbug with his foot. "I've never seen this species before. I think we should name it before Prophmin comes back and claims that the Olimar sent him a message about what it should be called."

"Like blazing snitchbug?"

"That'll work." He looked around the room again. The battle had, sadly, done damage to the spouts that they had closed and opened them again. The others looked as well, and let out a unified groan.

Luiigii of the Pipes

The pink flower emerged from the clovers, connected to a huge purple monster. The blues screamed and ran into the water, leaving Arrmin to his fate. He ran to the very edge of the island, cursing their cowardice, and then turned to face the beast.

It was, he realized with some revulsion, some sort of pikmin. It was much larger than the average pikmin and seemed to have a few strands of what the Olimar had called "hair" on its head. There were two strands of hair sticking out just above where it's gill would have been--if it had one, and it had wrapped a clover leaf between its legs, for whatever reason.

"Back, beast!" Arrmin shouted. "I'll gut ye with me hidden rose blade!" He made a show of searching for a rose thorn that wasn't there.

The purple pikmin gave Arrmin a scrutinizing look, then turned and looked at the spot where the purple candypop bud had been. "Hey, have you seen a flower around here?"

"Arr. It led me to this blasted island."

The pikmin looked at Arrmin in shock. "Bu-but... this is my home! I had no idea it was blasted! And that flower was..." It seemed to notice the four stalks in the ground, and then sighed. "Oh nooo..."

"What be yer probl'm, lubber?"

"My flower went away! Now I have no reason to be on this island!"

Arrmin dared a step forward. "Eh?"

"I like it on this island. I get all kinds of ideas just sitting in the clover patch. And whenever anyone came by and asked, 'Hey stupid, why you on this island?', I could say, 'The flower's making me stay.' And now I can't anymore!"

"How often be they askin' yeh that question?"

"Well... never. But I had an excuse in case they ever did!"

"Ye ought stay here anyway. All o' them be too scared o' yeh to ask yeh questins."

"You're not scared."

"I be trapped here. And yer blubberin' like a sprout. Can't be scared o' no min acts like that."

The pikmin stood up. "You're right. If anyone does ask, I'll just say, 'Because I want to.' How's that?"

Arrmin shrugged and grunted.

"You're nice. What's your name?"

"I don't be givin' me name out ter strangers."

"Oh. I'm Sumin. Hey! Wanna wrestle for your name?"

"Eh?"

"Wrestle. It's a game I made up. Whoever pushes the other guy into the water first wins."

Arrmin backed away. "Arr? Ye can't swim!"

"Can you?"

"Well, no... but..."

"So we're even!" Sumin charged at Arrmin, who cried out and ran to his right. The purple pikmin teetered at the water's edge for a moment, and then pulled himself back.

"I don't think I be likin' this wrestle."

"It's fun! Come on!"

"Arr... what be I gettin' if I win?"

Sumin stopped to consider this a moment. "How about if I help you pull your friends out of the ground?"

"That does nothin' fer me, though."

"Oh, yeah. Okay, how about I do that and, um, I'll give you some of this special red juice I found."

"Red juice?"

"Yeah! Now come on!"

SteveT

Brymin felt a tug on his stalk. "Delightful," he sarcastically thought to himself. "I'm about to be born. I did so hate the warm, soft ground in which I've spent my entire existence up until now."

He tried to spread his arms to resist being uprooted. "This doesn't feel familiar at all," the thought. "I wonder what color I am this time. I mean, for the first time. Silly question."

It was starting to get painful. For the sake of his doubtlessly glorious leaf, Brymin let himself be born.

He was shocked to see that he was purple. And fat. "What?" He asked rhetorically. "No, this is impossible. Pikmin aren't pur—" He noticed the other pikmin surrounding him. "I mean...hello, world. Nice to meet you."

"What be ye blathering about?" said an ill-tempered blue pikmin, who seemed intent on remaining exactly in the center of the small island. He was constantly holding out his arms and making lines in the sand. It was as if he wanted to remain as far from the water as possible.

Brymin panicked. Had he let his secret slip? "SHUT UP I WAS NEVER YELLOW!" he shouted in one breath.

Smooth. They'd never suspect a thing now.

• * *

"No, no!" Prophmin grunted. "You have to weave the lumber. Weave! Who's watching the bulbmin?"

The blue and yellow pikmin under his command struggled to build the bridge as quickly as possible. It didn't help that Prophmin kept telling them to dismantle it. It wasn't his fault they were doing it all wrong.

After a moment, he shouted "What are you doing? We can't roll it up if the wood's woven together like that! Just tie them together with some grass."

One of the blues spoke up, "But we already threw all the grass in the fire spouts like you told us to three bridges ago."

"Well I guess Arrmin will just stay stranded forever, then won't he?"

"You planned this, didn't you?"

What nerve! Prophmin indignatly replied, "I most certainly—oh, excuse me. What's that the Olimar? Bulborbs? Blue pikmin? No, that can't be. Really? Insatiable hunger? Well, I guess I'll warn them. So anyway, Workmin..."

"Wait, what did the Olimar just say to you?" asked the blue.

"Oh, nothing pressing. Now about that grass you ruined..."

"No, I really want to know."

"Well, it's about blue pikmin, and I can't very well tell you what the Olimar said until you finish this bridge! I'm not telling the whole story twice."

The blue pikmin sighed and went back to work.

Wulfmin and the reds emerged from the tunnel. They were covered in soot and looked somewhat wilted. They also had the expression red pikmin always had when they had just won a huge fight and put out twenty fires. Yellows never wore an expression like that.

They did enjoy a good toss in the air, though. But reds were useless for that.

"How's the bridge coming?" Wulfmin asked.

"It's not gonna roll," Prophmin said. "We have to start over."

"We don't need it to roll; you're right on the shore. We have enough blues to get it into position."

Under his breath, Prophmin muttered, "Blast, foiled again..."

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Luiigii of the Pipes

Under the proper direction of Wulfmin, the bridge was finished rather more quickly and moved into place by the blue pikmin. They all ran across to see exactly what had been on the island, noticed five purple monsters, and went screaming back across and into the next cave. Arrmin and Sumin fell over laughing at it, though the other four purples didn't seem very pleased.

"Ye ain't so bad fer a lubber, matey," Arrmin said, clapping Sumin on the arm.

"You're the best wrestler I've ever seen," Sumin responded. "But I guess I've only seen two. And thanks for pulling me out of the water, umm..."

"Arrmin. So ye'll be stayin' on this island, aye?"

"Yup."

"Want for us to leave the bridge 'ere, in case ye ever decide to leave?"

"Sure. Oh, hey. Let's go get that juice I promised you now."

Sumin led Arrmin back into the clover patch and over to three drops of red. Arrmin's eye went wide.

"I guess I could make something for you to carry one in, like a cloverleaf pouch or..."

"That... that not be juice. That be nectar!" Arrmin ran out of the clover patch and shouted at the purples. "One o' ye! Go get Wulfmin and that scurvy Prophmin! They need be seein' this!" One of them grumbled and ran over the bridge.

"What's the matter?" Sumin asked.

"This is what we be lookin' fer!"

"Really?"

"Arr! We won't be needin' to go so far after all!"

The purple returned carrying a terrified and wailing Prophmin under his arm. Wulfmin cautiously followed.

"Oh Great Olimar! Save me from this plight! Let not this beast feast upon my..."

"Shut up, ye! Wulfmin, have ye a look at this!" Arrmin led him to the nectar.

Wulfmin stood staring at it for a second, then stepped forward and poked a drop with his finger. "Is it... really?" He looked back, eyes bright. "And we thought it'd be so far away! I feel so stupid!"

"That's inherent!" Prophmin shouted.

"So... so, should one of us try it?" He poked the nectar again.

"You be the first, min."

Wulfmin nodded, placed his hands in the drop, and started soaking up the nectar. As he did so, his flower began to glow red. He stopped after a second and backed away, sputtering. "Ugh! That's spicy!" He began to run around in circles.

"Spicy? Ye barely even used any. Why ye be runnin' in circles?"

"I'm not running in circles. What are you... oh, I am." He watched his feet for a second. "I can't help it. I feel so energized that I can't stop."

"Like ye could take a Bulblax?"

"Two."

"That's the fun part," Sumin explained. "It should wear off after a bit."

Wulfmin stopped abruptly, though his legs kept twitching. "Wait... wear off?"

"Oh yeah. I've soaked up tons of those drops, and you don't see me running now, right?"

Now Wulfmin stopped twitching, even. The glow from his flower began to fade. "So... this isn't the alpha nectar..."

"Maybe it is!" Arrmin said quickly. "Um... let's say we be trapped by a Bulblax. What would ye have us do?"

"Well, the Olimar would have had the yellows slip away and find bombs and... oh no..." They fell to the ground face down. "I guess it's not."

"Arr."

"It's still useful, though. I really think I could have taken two Bulblaxes."

"Well..." Sumin said. "You guys seem to need these a lot more than I do. You should take all three." He plucked a leaf off of a nearby clover and began to scoop the nectar into it.

Wulfmin crept close to Arrmin. "What's with these purple guys?" he whispered.

"They be pikmin, just like us. I be thinkin' his flower be pink because of the lack o' sunlight. He's awful strong, too. Able to pluck a pikmin his own size from the ground."

"They won't hurt us?"

"Nar."

"Here you go!" the purple said, handing Wulfmin the sack of red nectar. "Thanks for stopping by. Maybe I'll see you on the way back?"

"Arr. We'll be makin' a point of it."

They headed back across the bridge, their four new purples in tow. After regathering with the rest of the pikmin and convincing them (and Prophmin) that the purples wouldn't eat them, they made their way to the geyser.

"W-water?" Arrmin stuttered when they had arrived.

"Surely even you could handle this water," Prophmin scoffed. "It'll push us out of itself the second we jump in."

"Well... yar... but... I think I'll be headin' back ta see how me friend's doin'..."

One of the purples grabbed Arrmin by the stalk and tossed him into geyser. He screamed and jetted up through a hole in the ceiling. The others followed, leaving the bulbmin, Wulfmin, and Prophmin. The bulbmin scampered around the geyser, moaning loudly.

"I don't think they want to go," Wulfmin said, trying to catch one to calm it down. "Or maybe they can't jump high enough to get into the stream."

"Good riddance, I say. What do we need these pathetic creatures for anyway? All they're going to do is eat us at night. I personally don't want that to--"

One of the bulbmin glared at Prophmin and tried to bite him. He cried out and backed away. "I thought the Mamuta said they couldn't understand us!"

"No... just that we can't understand them."

The bulbmin charged Prophmin again, this time the other joining in. "Ack! By the Olimar, do something!"

Wulfmin laughed. "I've got an idea, now. Jump into the geyser." Prophmin did so, and the two bulbmin had scampered up the geyser and into the water jet before they even realized it. Wulfmin chuckled to himself and jumped in last.

SteveT

"Help! The Olimar has abandoned me!" Prophmin was screaming. He was running in circles with the Bulbmin chasing behind him, growling. The growls were no longer angry, but playful. They were having fun. "DEMIN! DEMIN!" Prophmin wasn't.

Wulfmin hit the ground after the geyser spat him out. Aside from Prophmin and the bulbmin, all the other pikmin were huddled together. He whistled.

Prophmin reached him first, but only because the bulbmin heard the whistle and charged to him. The stopped at Wulfmin's feet and jumped up and down. Prophmen fell to the ground, panting.

Wulfmin patted the two bulbmin's heads, one with each hand. "Demin, huh?" he said to Prophmin. "You'll have to name the other one at some point."

"Great...Mamuta...hates...you..." Prophmin said between breaths.

Wulfmin looked around. They had never been here, before. The whole landscape was completely foreign. He asked himself what the Olimar would do. He'd look around, obviously. He'd leave most of the pikmin where they were safe, and head out with a scouting party.

"Ok, Prophmin, Arrmin, and the bulbmin, come with me!" He shouted. "The rest of you stay here. Brymin, you're the biggest. You're in charge."

Brymin argued with him. "But I'm not as smart as you. What if something bad happens?"

Wulfmin handed the purple his sack of red juice. "If anything happens, drink this. You'll think of something."

Brymin nodded and took the sack.

Before they were even five steps away from the geyser, Wulfmin noticed a patch of very shiny grass, with tiny flowers scattered about. It was probably the nicest grass he'd ever seen. Looking at Prophmin and Arrmin, he realized how plain he must have looked. Without leaves decorating his body, he was just another pikmin.

The Olimar, however, had looked special.

"Hold on a minute," he said. Then he picked a blades of grass and one of the flowers. He wrapped the stalk of the flower around his body as a belt, and looped another over his shoulder as a bandolier. For a first attempt, he thought it came out rather well.

"Yarr, ye be rather dashing," Arrmin said to him when it was done.

"Thanks," said Wulfmin.

Prophmin simply said, "Just so we all remember, it was MY idea."

They explored the area. It was a circular plain, and mostly barren, aside from the few patches of grass. It was surrounded by tall grass, but there was a thorn wall on a small section of the perimeter. The only other distinguishing features were the geyser and a hollowed out log. There was no sign of predators, at least.

"No Onion!" Prophmin finally shouted. "We're doomed!"

"Yarr, methinks the log could be made into quite the fortress!"

"My thoughts exactly, Arrmin," said Wulfmin. "Let's get the others. Tomorrow, we'll take down that wall and see what we can find."

Masamune

Brymin looked nervously at the red nectar. He then looked nervously at the hole they had came from. For a change of pace, he then looked nervously at a floating dust particle in the air. Then something more infuriating happened. The hole exploded.

Or rather, it didn't explode. Something just came out of it. It was a pikmin. A round pikmin. It was purple. It displayed all the basic characterizations of being Sumin. He arrived conveniently at the time that Wulfmin and the others were returning.

"Yar! Sumin, I thought ye stayed behind!"

Sumin shrugged. "It's not the same without the Big Purple Flower anymore."

"I hate you," Prophmin seethed, unheard by all but the two Bulbmins.

"Arr! Ye be welcome to join the crew!"

Prophmin grumbled. "Fine. I'll recognize you as one of us, but I do not grant you the rank of Olimin."

"Olimin?" Wulfmin asked.

"He is not one of us, the first! Those who followed the Olimar! We must have a name to distinguish us from... them."

Wulfmin was not sure he liked the sound of that. So he changed the subject. "We found a place to stay overnight just ahead-"

"Overnight!" one of the pikmin exclaimed. "We have to stay in the Onion!"

"Doomed!" Prophmin added, for effect.

"You've led us to disaster! We'll all be eaten!"

"Calm down!" Wulfmin yelled desperately, but was not heard.

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Sumin suddenly yelled.

Wulfmin, a little shocked, nodded gratefully at Sumin. "Listen everybody, we found a log up ahead. It should be safe for the night."

The pikmin were naturally worried about that. Pikmin who did not go to their Onions at night... were never seen again. Nobody knew what happened to them, but most assumed creatures of the night ate them. It was a scary thought. No pikmin stuck around to test the theory though. At least until now.

They entered the cave single-file, filled with fear. It was like the cave to them, only more imposing. It was also more damp and rotten. Mushrooms grew all over inside. In a stroke of fortune there was also a few Glowstools growing among the fungus. If their stay in this log turned out to be lengthy, they could possibly cultivate the Glowstool. Wulfmin considered that. He wondered if the Olimar would do something like that.

They were also surprised to find another Candypop Bud. They were shocked to find that it was, in fact, white. The pikmin gathered around it, but were wary about actually entering it.

"It's unnatural," Prophmin insisted. "Going about changing colors. Pikmin should be the color that the Mamuta created them in."

"The Mamutas," Arrmin corrected. "There be more than one, ye know..."

"How could you insist such a-"

"It may be worth trying," Wulfmin interrupted. "If a purple flower can turn one of us into a giant like Brymin... then perhaps these flowers could also create an Alpha Pikmin."

Arrmin walked by him. "Arr, ye mean not by nectar?"

"It's possible," Wulfmin said. "Maybe I should try it."

"No!" one of the pikmin suddenly shouted. It was a red pikmin they knew as being called Gobmin. "You'll lose your memories, you have to lead us if it doesn't work. Let me go in."

Wulfmin insisted he go, but at last was convinced to let Gobmin go in. Sumin picked him up and tossed him inside the flower. The flower swallowed him inside and a second later spat a seed in the air. They all watched in anticipation as it hit the ground. A white sprout with a green leaf emerged.

Sumin went to pull it out.

"Wait!" Wulfmin yelled. "Let him bloom, to be safe."

The pikmin sighed, suddenly disinterested.

"Arr ye lot! Ye canna be standing around!" Arrmin barked. "We need to have pikmin watching for enemies!"

Brymin raised a hand. "We purples can see better in the dark. I mean, not that I know from experience. Just a guess since we uh... live in caves."

"Fine," Wulfmin agreed. "You purples will be on watch duty, take some others with you just in case though. Hey Prophmin!"

Prophmin groaned. "Now what?"

"Gather some yellows up. You're all the lightest, climb up and bring as many of those glowing shrooms down here as you can."

"I don't know why I-"

"Prophmin."

"Fine," Prophmin grumbled. "But I won't enjoy it."

Wulfmin heard him walking away, muttering something about having the brain the size of a bulbax. While the others were out fulfilling their duties, Arrmin and Wulfmin dutifully waited for the sprout to change to a flower. It took a while, longer than they would have liked, but it happened at last. Together, the two pulled him out of the ground.

He was a bit smaller than they were. His flower was pink, like the purple pikmin. His skin was completely pale with no distinguishing facial features except for his eyes. They were pure red and invoked in them a sense of anxiety.

"Gobmin?" Arrmin asked.

"Gobmin.." the white pikmin repeated. "Yes... Gobmin the red. That's what they used to call me."

"How did ye-"

"I am Gobmin the White. And... it looks like it's night time."

They looked. The sun was setting behind the horizon. Darkness was coming. It had come at last. The Night was here. Only now there was no Olimar, no Mamuta, and no Onions to protect them.

Luiigii of the Pipes

The yellows had done their duty and gathered at many glowstools as possible. A few were given to the purples to help them with their night watch, while the others were piled together at the center of the log. The remaining pikmin gathered around it.

"I shall now recite the tale of my amazing night on the surface of this planet!" Prophmin shouted, standing up and placing himself directly next to the glowstools. There was a chorus of groans which he simply ignored. "I recall it well. The ground was cold and covered in dew as I watched the Olimar's onion and the remaining onions leave for the skies. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. To think that I should have to live it again..." He glared at Wulfmin, who sighed and backed away from the group.

Rather than listen to more accusations and Prophmin's self glorification, Wulfmin made his way to the white candypop bud. The temptation to jump in was still there, as it had been with the purple flower, but it wasn't hard to resist after seeing what had happened to Gobmin.

The newly white pikmin sat alone at one side of the log, fashioning something for himself out of a nutshell he had found. Wulfmin made his way over to him next, though keeping a distance. Gobmin glanced over at him, puffed something odd from his face, and went back to the shell.

White pikmin, it seems, were poisonous. They had made the mistake of standing too close to Gobmin when he had made his first puff and ended up coughing for several minutes, during which Gobmin apologized profusely and separated himself from the others.

"If there was some way I could stop it, I would," Gobmin said to him. "Any ideas?"

"Have you ever heard of a pipe?" Wulfmin asked.

"I don't remember."

"We saw a few when we were with the Olimar. They're these really big round things that are hollow, and it seems like you can blow in one end, and the air comes out the other. What if we made a little one for you and you could blow the poison into it?"

"That might work." He finished with the nutshell and placed it on his head, careful to move his stalk through the hole that had been put in the top. "Nice hat, eh?"

"Very." Wulfmin came over and picked up the leftover shell pieces. "Maybe we can work with these."

There was a sudden horrible sound around the log. The purples screamed and backed away from the entrance, hiding their glowstools behind their backs. "There's something out there!" one moaned. "Something big!"

"Everybody shush!" Wulfmin said. "Don't move!"

They collectively froze in place, the sniffing sound echoing back and forth throughout the log. Something bumped into it, causing it to tilt back and forth. The pikmin started to scream, but Wulfmin shushed them again.

After a bit, it stopped. Gobmin crept toward the entrance and peeked out. "It's gone."

"How can you see?" Brymin asked. "We had glowstools and it was still too dark."

Gobmin looked back and made circles around his eyes with his fingers. "These babies can see anything."

"So, back to my tale," Prophmin said. "And the great monster loomed--"

"What great monster?"

"Obviously, the same one that just approached us."

"You didn't mention it before."

"You weren't paying attention! It's not my fault if you..."

Wulfmin sighed and began fiddling with his pipe again.

"Wulfmin," Arrmin said, coming up. "I been thinkin', maybe these white pikmin could be useful. If'n they could poison us, ye thinkin' maybe they could poison them bugs too?"

"You think we should get more, then?"

"Yar. In fact, I be thinkin' we should throw somma them yellows in. They be kinda useless otherwise."

"Prophmin will never go in."

"Eh. The others might."

Wulfmin shrugged. "You can suggest it, but it's really their call."

In the end, half of the yellows agreed, if only to avoid being further related to Prophmin. Prophmin, already upset for having his story interrupted by the idea of further perverse practices, decided that he would just go and work on his pictures, making sure that those who saw them would know exactly how stupid Wulfmin and Arrmin and all of them were in comparison to him. The Bulbmin decided that it was the perfect time to play with him some more, so he didn't get very far.

The purples made a circle around the white flower, and the yellow volunteers lined up behind them. All watched with concern as five yellows went flying towards the white flower. The first four fell in, the flower immediately snapped shut, and the fifth hit it and fell to the ground in an embarassing mess. "No fair!" he shouted, pounding the flower's petals with his tiny fists. It spat out four white seeds in response and wilted away into nothingness.

As they waited for these four to flower, Wulfmin finished the pipe and gave it to Gobmin, who thanked him kindly. The next puff of poison floated from the pipe into the air above their heads, and the next after that, and all the rest.

"Good thing," Gobmin said. "I don't appreciate being alone."

Wulfmin had begun working on more pipes, but it turned out that the other white pikmin didn't puff smoke constantly and that Gobmin was just an odd case. He didn't seem to mind.

As the night dwindled on, the pikmin slowly fell to sleep. The white pikmin had taken up the night watch instead, since their eyes were more useful than glowstools. When it came down to just those five... and then four... and then three... and then two... and then one... and just as he was about to doze off himself, he noticed something in the night outside.

A pair of red eyes, no bigger than his own and seemingly connected to nothing at all, was staring at him. He woke Gobmin, but by then they were gone. Gobmin dismissed it as a bad dream, or even a reflection on a wet leaf, and went back to sleep. While the lone white pikmin agreed that that was probably the case, he made sure to block off their entrance with as many glowstools as he could... just in case.