Day 7: Night

The golden pikmin stood at the onion docking bay and watched as a lone purple onion latched on to a bridge. The side of the craft slid open and a green pikmin with a blue bud walked out. "It's about time you came back, I was getting worried" said the gold pikmin.

"About me? Why?" asked Martel. The two began walking through the passages of the massive onion with no destination in mind.

"We haven't received any word from your area in a little over a day by now. What was going on?"

"Nothing really. Whole Northern area was pretty uneventful."

"Did anything happen at all? Some small skirmish?" the Nectarian asked.

There was a pause. The pair turned left into another hallway and continued walking. Martel spoke again, "Well, I got a lot of time to reflect on recent events. But other than that no sign of the enemy".

This troubled the Nectarian, who decided to ask again, "Look, if there was some battle you lost and they took some territory, please let me know now so I don't have to find out later".

"Stop treating me like I'm incompetent. I know what I saw. Nothing happened."

Another turn, and the pikmin went to the right this time. The leader spoke again, "Well, it's just it doesn't add up. The bulborbs should have attacked somewhere, but Virax said that nothing happened in the region he was patrolling."

"Well maybe he's the one who wasn't paying attention."

"No, I'm pretty sure he would have bragged about any fights that happened."

"Assuming he didn't lose them," the green pikmin pointed out.

"Even still," The Nectarian said, "I know he wouldn't lie about something important. No, for some reason the bulborbs attacked nothing even though they had the perfect opportunity. We had no bombrocks but they made no offensive move. It just doesn't add up."

"There's also the possibility that they're just stupid animals" Martel pointed out. "In fact, I think that's probably our best bet". The two continued straight at the next turn. The green pikmin decided to change the subject, "So, what have I missed? Anything big?"

"Actually, there was a bit of news I think you'd enjoy about Olimar".

"What did he do?"

"He ran into Manat while he was at the volcano. They had a brief encounter which ended with Manat running for his dear life."

Martel nodded, "I told you that Olimar would fix things up pretty fast. Are we going to have him follow Manat and finish him off?"

"No, Virax insisted on having that privilege. He left about an hour ago."

"And you just let him go on his own?" Martel asked, surprised. "Not even take Olimar for backup?"

"Some other pikmin left with him, so I think he should be fine if he needs the help." The two pikmin walked into the central room of the onion: a giant space with the floor covered in dirt and with hallways and staircases connecting it to every other section of the onion. This was where pikmin seeds were planted, and currently the ground was empty of sprouts. The leader continued, "For now though, I'm going to get some rest. I suggest you do the same."

"You call this fighting!?" Thren shouted at Virax while firing a stream of needles at his opponent's shield. "Stop holding back and actually try to hit me!"

"You said you had something you wanted to teach me," the budded pikmin called back.

"It's hard to teach if you're hiding."

"It's hard to learn if I'm dead."

The mushroom pikmin sighed and stopped shooting. "Look, you can't hope to defeat Manat if you can't defeat me."

Virax lowered his shield slightly and stared at Thren, "Wait, you're trying to train me? That's all this is about?"

"In a way."

"In a way!?"

"Look, there's two ways this night ends. The first way is you keep holding back, and I kill you and maybe everybody else here. The second way is for you to actually fight and kill me instead."

"That's not exactly a fair choice."

"It seems pretty simple to me."

"I can't just kill you after discovering that you somehow survived."

"No, you just can't kill me because I'm a pikmin."

The green pikmin lowered his shield completely and asked, "What?"

The pale pikmin explained, "This is what I was hoping to fix. This is the same thing that held me back from growing. You're still loyal to the rest of the hive. But what you have to understand is that you don't need them anymore. We climbed through the ranks and we finally broke free of their orders. It's time to take advantage of that and leave them all."

"That mushroom has really done a number on your head."

"Damn it, just ignore the mushroom and listen! Don't make the same mistakes I did! Don't sacrifice yourself for them when they've never done anything for you. We're stronger than them and there's no reason to obey them anymore. You're still acting out of some sense of loyalty that's only going to hinder you and in the end kill you."

"Leave and then what? Wander around aimlessly?"

"It's better than the alternative."

Virax stood up and tossed away his shield. "I'm a pikmin," he said calmly, "A pikmin fights for the survival of his onion, not just himself. We live and die so that others can live. Other pikmin will fight for me just the same."

"Only for as long as you're useful enough to them."

"Then I'll just stay useful. If all you wanted was to chat about this, I don't see why violence had to enter into it at all. I decline your invitation to abandon my purpose in life and if you excuse me I'll be on my way." Virax began walking away from Thren and back to the crowd. The mushroomed pikmin raised his arm at Virax and cleared his throat.

"If you were listening, you'd understand it's not that simple," he said, "Puffstool is going to expect a dead green pikmin at the end of tonight, so one of us is not leaving here."

Virax turned back to face the pale pikmin, "What about all that stuff you were just saying about not obeying others?"

"Puffstool controls the mushroom on my head. If he wants to, he can order it to kill me. So unlike you, there are serious consequences if I ignore him."

"So? Just ignore anyway."

"For the 'greater good'? I'm not going to fall for that one again. So let's just decide who's going to die and get it over with."

"Well, there is a third option."

"Oh?"

Virax nodded and ordered the crowd to attack.

Olimar yawned. He had been working for the past few hours and was nearing completion, but his eyelids were growing heavy. He promised himself he would finish the last few steps in the morning and climbed into the Dolphin. He muttered something about how fortunate he was to have his comfortable seat installed as he drifted off to sleep.

Thren looked around the clearing, the ground now covered in fresh corpses of pikmin, and retracted his thorns. He noticed the distinct absence of any sign of his enemy and began laughing. "I don't quite see what's so funny," called out a voice from the woods. The pikmin turned and saw Puffstool.

"It seems I've failed, so I guess you'll be killing me now," the pikmin responded as he walked back towards the mushroom creature.

"Two things: first, that doesn't seem funny to me, and second I don't know where you got that idea."

"Well the whole reason I was here was to destroy a threat to the bulborb empire. I failed."

"Again, two things: first, the bulborbs don't execute people for making mistakes, and second the Emperor has yet to give you an assignment."

Thren stopped walking, and looked back to the clearing. "Then, just what was all that right there?" he asked.

"Closure."

"Closure?"

"I was there the day you fought Manat. I saw what happened then, not to mention the whole event seemed to have you preoccupied. I thought that by cutting him off here you could finally move past it, whether that meant killing him or just having a friendly chat."

"You're joking."

"What? I can't have your best interests in mind?"

"Seeing how not too long ago I would've killed you on sight, I'm having a hard time believing you would." Thren looked back at the clearing and felt his stomach grumble. "By the way," he said, turning back to Puffstool, "Are there any side effects of the spores that you haven't mentioned yet?"

"Quite a few actually."

"Care to explain why I find this…" he motioned towards to the carnage, "to be appetizing?"

"Well, the mushroom on your head prevents you from getting energy from the sun like normal, and long story short you're a carnivore now." Puffstool explained matter-of-factly.

"And you planned on telling me about this when?"

"Well, when it came up. Like now."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"If you're hungry? Eat. I hear from the bulborbs that pikmin taste delicious."

"I can't just eat another pikmin! We're the same species! That's just…"

"Weird?" Puffstool interrupted, "Look, if you don't eat there's a meal going to waste right now. Besides, I thought you were trying to prove to yourself you're beyond following the pikmin way of life? That you were free from them?"

"I didn't have this in mind."

"You're going to have to eat something some time. Better your enemies than your friends."

The Nectarian stared at Virax, looked out the window and then looked back again, still shocked. "All of them are dead?" he asked again for clarification.

"Yes."

"And here you are, without a single scratch on you."

"Correct."

"And it wasn't Manat but Puffstool that pulled this off?"

"Right."

"So what, did you decide to just send your whole army head first at him and forgot to watch out for spores? Or did you forget that green pikmin are immune to them?"

"Turns out that we aren't. Somehow Thren got infected by them."

"Oh good, you're delusional now as well."

"I know what I saw."

"Please, continue."

Virax explained everything that had happened that night. "In the end, I had a hard decision to make but sacrifices have to be made." he finished.

"Sacrifice? You essentially ordered them to commit suicide as a distraction."

"Don't be stupid…"

"Excuse me? Did you just call me stupid?"

Virax continued, ignoring the interruption of his leader, "If we kill Puffstool we can free him. We'll get the most powerful ally we've ever had back!"

"And this is worth two hundred lives to you?"

"If it means ending the bulborbs, yes."

"And you expect me to just shrug and look right past this then?"

"Well, maybe not shrug, but understanding why I acted would be nice."

"Oh I understand. I understand you've completely lost it and can't handle your position anymore," the golden pikmin said, barely controlling his anger.

"What?"

"Do you have any idea how much you've set us back this past week alone? How much progress we've lost because of your incompetence?"

"Incompetence!? I've been green before you were ever plucked!"

"Shut up! If it weren't for you, we would have reached Olimar first. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have almost killed him and ruined our first impression. If it weren't for you, two hundred pikmin would still be alive. Hell, for all I know the regions you were supposed to be watching were attacked and you forgot to mention it to me like all your other mistakes you brush aside or forget to mention."

"Calm down Yellam and just.."

"Don't ever call me that!" The Nectarian roared at Virax, "I don't care how long you've known me or what you might've done in the past. By the end of tomorrow we're changing your color."

"Over this!? After all I've done!?"

"Maybe if you can prove why you were ever considered useful in the first place you can regain your rank. Until then I think it's time you learned your place and realized that my judgments come before your own. Until then, get to thinking on what color you want to change back to."

Olimar woke up with a start. He thought he felt the ship rocking violently for a moment. Brushing it off, he decided it must have been some sort of dream and went back to sleep, only for another faint crash to startle him again. The captain sat up straight in his cockpit and looked around for the source of the noise. Another crash, this one even closer. He watched the walls of the onion carefully from his ship. One of them blasted wide open and the onion tilted. Parts of the Dolphin began sliding out of the now missing wall and falling down to the surface. Olimar noticed his ship was also on its way out of the onion and frantically began starting it.

In just a few seconds his ship was free falling along with the other pieces. The engine roared to life and Olimar guided the Dolphin through the falling debris and towards the ground. He looked up briefly to see if he could find the cause of the explosion. He saw what looked like a giant insect attached to a massive hot air balloon throwing bombrocks the size of bulborbs.

He landed the ship on the ground and jumped out to inspect his vessel for any possible damage. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw nothing but a few minor scratches. "Good thing I got the Omega Stabilizer installed or else I wouldn't have been able to land," he muttered to himself.

"Well hi Olimar! I didn't expect to see you so soon!"

Olimar jumped and spun around in surprise, and saw Giant standing there. The large breadbug continued, "I thought I just sent Onrac back to let you know about the situation."

"What situation? You mean the attack?"

"Why, he told me about your food shortage and I told him I had plenty to donate to the cause. Of course he couldn't carry it all back so I told him to just let you know to come down whenever you were ready to load up." The breadbug paused while the meaning of the second question sunk in, "Wait, what attack?"

"The main onion of the pikmin! It's under siege or something!"

"First I've heard of it."

"Look, I need to find the Emperor and ask him what's going on. He could've killed me." Olimar turned back to the Dolphin.

"Wait!" Giant shouted. Olimar turned again, "He's actually staying in a cave nearby right now. He likes shifting locations around to make it harder for the pikmin to track him. Here, I'll show you the way."

A/N: Ok, so sorry for the shortish update after such a long wait. I'm tired, it's early in the morning and at this point I'm having doubts I can finish this whole chapter in time. So instead, I figured this point was a better stopping point than anything immediately afterwards, and hopefully you'll all agree.

Main reason I'm in such a rush to post something is that I know if I don't post something tonight or soon after I won't be able to for about 3 months and I really just want to get this thing finished and off my plate because I feel like I have this whole thing planned out exactly and the only thing left to do is to actually do it.

But yeah, to think that I had originally planned to do Day 7 all in one single shot seems a bit absurd to me right now given that I still have a fourth or so of it to go. At this point I've pretty much given up on the whole one chapter = one day thing I had going initially mainly because the willpower required to work on chapters for so long kinda drives me insane. So I'm weak, whatever.

Anyhow I'll stop rambling now.