Hey, I'm actually uploading something, wooah. That's rare. And it's not a Smash Bros fic, wooah. That's even rarer.

So anyways, I've had this sitting around in my computer for some time now. Though I don't know how often I'll be able to update it, I figure I might as well post it. I mean, I have this chapter done, so why not?

After a particularly long and draining delivery through space, Captain Olimar, now approximately six hours away from Hocotate, was looking forward to taking some time off and being with his family again. Homesickness had settled in on him weeks ago, but the sight of his planet, just a tiny red speck in the distance at the moment, was enough to bring his mood back up. Little did he suspect that a single email from an old friend would bring it crashing down it again.

He sat there at his desk, restlessly tapping its metal surface as he poured over the contents of the message for what was likely the fifth time since he received it several minutes ago. Beside him, a rapidly cooling cup of coffee he bought at an interplanetary rest stop sat forgotten, his mind too busy tearing away at the news on his computer screen to worry about anything else.

Greetings, Captain Olimar! I hope you're doing well! It's me, Alph. I'm one of the Koppaites you met on PNF-404 a year ago, remember? Now, you're probably wondering why I'm contacting you out of the blue like this. Well... About an hour ago, a friend of mine shared some pretty worrying information with me and I think it's only right that you should know about it. I think it'd be easier to explain if I started from the beginning. I'll try to be brief.

After we returned to Koppai, all focus went into cultivating the seeds we brought back. It took some time for the plants to grow, but thanks to the sheer size of most of the fruit, Koppai's hunger crisis was stopped dead in its tracks. My crew and I were heralded as something as heroes, and to be honest, the attention was kind of overwhelming at first. But things soon settled down and life slowly started to return to normal. After our entire race almost faced starvation, I'm sure we've all learned our lesson about 'over consumption' and the importance to 'plan ahead', so I'm sure nothing like this will ever happen again.

Probably.

...Hopefully.

Moving on... Now that we have a stable food source, we've been able to turn our attention to other things. The variety of creatures and plant life found on PNF-404 has made quite a splash in the scientific community here. The Pikmin in particular became quite a hot topic. Their role in helping us secure food didn't go unnoticed, and in general they're really fascinating creatures.

It also helps that they're really cute.

A few months ago, some observational pods were launched to, well, observe life on PNF-404. A lot of experts on animal, plant, and extraterrestrial life have been assigned to view the data the ships send back. My friend, Brittany (You've met her), was chosen to be a part of this project thanks to her knowledge of plants and actually having first hand experience. I would have liked to be a part of it, mostly to see how the Pikmin were doing, but I'm admittedly not that knowledgeable about life sciences. Brittany promised she'd sneak me some information once the ships reached PNF-404's orbit.

After they did, it took some time to actually find any traces of the Pikmin. It was almost as if they had completely vanished off the face of the planet since our departure. The pods themselves only had about a month's worth of energy before they deactivated, so as time passed, the grimmer things began to look. It was only on the final day of the pod's life expectancy that we managed to find something. What we found was in no way comforting.

I received the picture just a few hours ago. Unlike most of the others that were sent to me-they were usually of the surface- this one was a picture of the planet's orbit. And in that picture, there it was. A Red Onion. But... It looked as if... something had damaged it. I included the picture in this email so you can take a look for yourself. Not a very pretty sight, though.

Seeing the damaged Onion combined with the fact the Pikmin have almost entirely disappeared... I don't think it's very far-fetched to say something big has happened during our absence. What exactly, we don't know, but... I feel that we, as Koppaites, owe a lot, maybe everything, to them. They saved our race from extinction, so... Wouldn't it only be right to return the favor? Right now, I'm going to see if we can plan a return trip to PNF-404. I don't know what you plan to do with this information, if anything, but given your connection with them, I thought it only right for you to know about this. If we can get the clearance to go back, then you're more than welcome to join us if you choose.

...I've got a very bad feeling about all of this, though.

-Alph

Olimar sighed as he finished reading it again, memories of the little creatures filling his head. The ones he owed his very life to. Hearing that news... Of course he couldn't just ignore it.

He clicked on the file that came attached to the email, bringing up a picture of PNF-404 taken from its orbit. In the middle of the photo, situated right between the black sea of stars and the round blue planet sat a red, bulb-like object. He recognized it as on Onion, of course, but only just barely. Most of the white petals that made up its crest were torn up. One of the black chutes that expelled the blue flames that allowed the Onion to take off was missing, causing its flight to become unstable as a result. Most disturbing of all, however, was the giant gash mark on the side of it. An unsettling, crimson fluid leaked out of it, leaving behind a trail of red bubbles floating in its wake.

The sight made him shiver.

After a few more seconds of examination, Olimar finally decided he had had enough and shut down his computer. He left his desk and headed to bed, despite knowing he wouldn't be sleeping that night. He knew his worries of what happened to the Pikmin would be eating away at his mind for the remainder of his trip. Not to mention what his wife was going to say to him when he told her he was going to be leaving again so soon.

And there we have it. You can expect the rest of the chapters to be longer than this one, since this is just kind of a prologue. Like I said before, chapters will likely be scarce, but I've had this idea sitting in my head for so long, I just need to get it out.

Well, see you next time!