Viridi's Last Stand, Part 3

Chapter 3: The Ways of Pikmin

Unknown Location

Arianna lay unconscious in someplace deep and dark, not a single speck of light. As the girl awakened, rubbing her sore forehead, she flinched when she felt her space helmet was gone. However, she could apparently breathe where she was, so it didn't matter.

"SOO, you finally awakened."

Arianna gasped, jumping around at the sound of this loud, feminine voice.

"Thought you could disguise like bugs and sneak in to my lair, huh? Well, don't underestimate your fellow tree-hugger."

Arianna gasped, realizing who it was. "You!...You are-"

A spotlight shone, exposing the Nature Goddess on her wooden throne. She looked just like she did in the hologram, a long, bright-blond ponytail wrapped with rose thorns, long red dress, and brown, wooden sandals on her feet, designed like tree stumps. "That's right." Viridi spoke, smirking. "You guys fell into my flash trap like the simple kids you are. But as it JUST happened to turn out, you were my guest of honor!" Viridi said as she got up and approached the Harnitan, the giantess making small quakes in the ground with each step. "WELCOME to my lair, Arianna."

"Whoa!" Arianna gaped at the sight of Viridi's tall, imposing figure. She looked as tall as a mansion. "I… didn't imagine you being quite so enormous."

"How could you not think I was ENORMOUS?? Haven't you seen my hologram?"

"I'm sorry. It's just… I expected you to be much smaller in person."

"For REAL?" Viridi gave a disbelieved sigh. "Okay, if you say so." And with a raise of her staff, Viridi immediately shrunk down to the size of a mouse. Arianna stared amazed at the mini goddess, walking over and bending down for a better look at her. "There! Happy?" she asked happily, in a squeaky voice.

"Mmm hmhmhmhm!" Arianna giggled. "Well, at least this way, you look MUCH less imposing." She lightly scooped Viridi up in her hands.

"It's just natural goddess magic." She said simply. "As a forest spirit, I'm able to change my size to any height, and I can do this with other things, too. That's why you're normal sized, now."

"Oh!" Arianna remembered she was tiny when she was with her friends. "Um… where are my friends?"

"Oh, I left them where they are. They're probably bonding with the little bugs by now. YOU'RE the only one I care about." Viridi leapt off Arianna's hands and used her staff to re-enlarge herself, becoming the size of a regular teenager as Arianna stood and looked up at her. "You and me have a lot in common, Arianna." She said with a friendly smile. "The two of us BOTH want what's best for the environment. But those good-for-nothing humans and OTHER aliens just care about their own needs! I mean, what kind of friend is Vweeb if he won't SUPPORT you??"

"Well… Vweeb actually thinks I'm too nice. He says I should act meaner if I want people to support me."

"And he is TOTALLY right." Viridi exclaimed, slapping her hand on Ari's shoulder. "Because when it comes to humans—or OTHER intelligent species, they only understand one language: hate and lust. To get mankind to follow you, there's only one way to do it: through FORCE. If THEY won't listen to us, the only way to do it is SUBMIT them to our will!"

"But…" Arianna felt very unsure, "they wouldn't be supporting us out of their own decision. I want people to understand the value of forest life; not just help out because they HAVE to."

"Arianna, the only way to GET THEM to understand is to teach them through force. It's the only way anybody learns anything."

"But I don't see why that has to be. For once, I'd like something to happen out of simple choice." Arianna said glumly. "Anthony was practically forced to become friends with Vweeb. And Vweeb's told me about that whole incident with Kimaya. I just want things to happen in a simple, nonviolent way."

"Well, in this day and age, nonviolence is something that's long been forgotten. If you want something, you're gonna have to FORCE your way into getting it. But you shouldn't worry about a thing!" Viridi grinned deviously. "Because if you doooo…" Viridi held the head of her staff by Arianna's face as its eyes brimmed with an evil green, "everything will be fine."

"Everything will be… fine…" Arianna felt enticed by the staff's glowing eyes.

"And aaall green will thrive for millions of years."

"All green will thrive… for millions of… years…"

Virginian Forest; Minish Woods

The forest grounds were crawling with ants, worms, and other such bugs, as well as tiny Minish children. Sally and Harvey Harper rode together on an ant, with Aranea walking beside them, still admiring all of the colossal sights. "Boy, this forest always looked so boring before." Sally said. "But looking at it from this height… it's like a whole different world!"

"It kind of is." Sappo spoke, he and his sister leading ahead of the trio. "The Minish World is supposed to be a dimension all in its own. It lies just on top of your dimension on the same plain. But because of that, it's scaled down to size; we look small to you guys, but you're big to us."

"Does that mean that other dimensions could exist right under our noses?" Sally asked.

"Maybe. There might be worlds that go beyond the size of an atom." Sappo said. "And you guys might be incredibly microscopic life forms in the eyes of some other entity."

"Whooa. That's a lot to take in." Sally said, dumbstruck at the fact that she may only be the size of an atom.

As they turned around the foot of a tree, Aranea stared terrified at the gigantic spider in its web. "AAAAHHH!!" she backed up, heart racing rapidly, extremely thankful that the spider apparently didn't notice or care for her. "All I can say is I don't wanna be ANY smaller than I already am."

"You sound like you know a lot about dimensional plains." Harvey said tonelessly, flicking his yo-yo as he still rode atop the ant.

"Yeah, I'm sort of a nerd around that department." Sappo said sheepishly. "I was the one that designed the Minish portal. Since my sister wouldn't help."

Gibli glared. "You're the one who was too lazy to cut open the holes!"

"How did that stump thingy work, anyway?" Sally asked.

"My Minish portal?" Sappo asked. "Oh, that's easy. You just lay some Minish Dust around the bottom of the center, keep the room lit with fluorescent shroomlight, and it becomes attracted to the open air from above. Shrinking anyone who's standing over the entrance. But you actually need Minish to operate it. We shade the fluorescent light, and let it go whenever you're ready."

"Well, that makes perfect sense!" Aranea exclaimed in sarcasm.

Sappo chuckled. "Normally, we only let kids into our world. Good kids, I mean. Minish are normally beings of lighthearted energy, so kids that have dark hearts have a hard time seeing us. The same rules apply to adults; but your friend's mom can see us 'cause she's as lighthearted as any child."

"I wonder how Anthony's doing, anyway?" Sally wondered aloud.

"Prithee, let us hope he hast not ended as chow for a bug." They looked up as Fybi Fulbright flew overhead, flying alongside several butterflies and giant dragonflies. To them, she looked like a little butterfly herself, flapping her wings quickly but lightly in the forest air. "But I am sure he ist fine. Who wouldst feel the slight bit grump in an air so enticing?"

With Anthony and Chiri

"So, Anthony, how do you like the Minish World so far?" Chiri asked as she walked with Anthony through an emptier region of the forest.

"Ehh, it's okay." Anthony said, not looking interested at all. "But how long do I have to STAY like this?"

Chiri laughed happily. "Angie told me about your little experience. …No pun intended. The Minish World really isn't a bad place. Sure, we deal with giant predators at a daily basis, but when you look closely, we live just the same lives as humans do."

"Yeah, like George Shrinks didn't make that clear enough for me." Anthony said with an eye-roll. "I still don't see why we had to come HERE to practice my earthbending. Besides, aren't you Minish more of plantbenders if anything?"

"Some of us are plantbenders. But lots of Minish bend other elements, too, like Water, Earth, or Shadow. Just like you humans. And same goes for other races. Normally Merpeople are waterbenders, but there are particular Merpeople, who live in the rather polluted areas of the sea, that can bend Poison."

"Oh yeah." Anthony remembered. "Vweeb told me about it once; his parents fought a poisonbender mermaid."

"Exactly. And, you remember Phosphora, don't you?"

"The lightning lady?"

"Yeah. She was a Nimbi from Skypia. But a stormy region of Skypia, in which—whereas Nimbi are usually airbenders—the people there are lightningbenders. Races dwell in the domain of certain elements, but they aren't totally subject to those elements. …Well, they kind of are, but still."

"I see what you mean. But that doesn't help with my whole earthbending dilemma."

Chiri laughed. "It's hard not to get sidetracked. It's just in this cave; I'll explain everything."

The two got to a group of huge stones (which would look as small as stepping stones to a regular person), in which the center, biggest stone had an opening in the bottom. Chiri crouched and crawled in, followed by Anthony, as she led him to a shrine, lit up by several different brimming stones, and huge murals engraved onto the stone walls. They were murals of human beings surrounded by Minish, and each one had a particular rock surround it. "What are these?" Anthony asked.

"Hundreds of years ago, there were special earthbending families whom became friends with the Minish, and had special bonds with the earth, and their family lines still exist today. You and your mother are part of the Granite Family. There's also Quartzite, Hornfels, and Sovite! They're families of powerful earthbenders, and their skill gets passed down the bloodline. Your mother was an extraordinary earthbender as a kid; and Michelle is, too, because they were given these traits. Also, the women in the family normally had small feet, while the males' feet were much larger."

Anthony looked at his feet. He didn't like being reminded how big they were. "Well, that doesn't explain why my earthbending's so cruddy!"

"Hm hm hm! The thing is, Anthony, the Minish here who are earthbenders are rather talented, too. Because of their small size, they're closer to the earth. Earthbenders channel their energy into their feet, and your sister's and mother's small feet make them closer to the earth. The only way the males of your family develop their skill is by entering the Minish World. By reducing your height and getting closer to the earth, your earthbending can reach new heights. Literally! He ha!"

Anthony eye-rolled again.

"Now… try it out, Anthony!" she said encouragingly.

Anthony shook back to his senses, closing his eyes and bending over as he lay his left hand flat on the ground.

"Use your diminished senses to feel the earth around you. Listen to the earth with your ears and see it through your feet. Your micro size will give you the force of a thousand Minish."

Anthony kept his firm stance and kept his mind at ease, focusing intently on the ground beneath him. Amazingly, he could see everything. From his gigantic, resting mother, his friends strolling through the forest, and the happy Minish children, he had a strong vision of everything touching the earth.

Anthony's eyes opened, a serious glare within them as he faced directly at the granite stone. The McKenzie child dashed forward and swung his foot powerfully against the stone. He immediately froze stiff, an intense surge of pain flowing through upon contact of his bare toes with the granite. "Nnnnn! Nch, nch, nch, nch!" Anthony gripped his foot tight and hopped around frantically.

Chiri kept her smile and shook her head. "We still need a little bit work."

With the rest of Sector W

Sappo and Gibli led Sector W to a region where Minish children were ordering around strange, small, colorful creatures, with smooth, naked, barren bodies, small, circular eyes, and little leaf antennas on their heads. Their hands and feet were stubby, and they were half as tall as the Minish. "What're these?" Nea asked.

"They're called Pikmin." Sappo replied. "You know how you human Kids Next Door use hamsters? The Minish use Pikmin."

"So these kids are Kids Next Door?" Sally asked, she and Harvey still riding the ant.

"Yeah! We all are!" Gibli bounced.

"We use some of the bigger trees as treehouses." Sappo mentioned. "Since there's trees all over, they're a lot more secret. …You humans oughta learn from us." The four blushed, agreeing that their treehouses could be a lot more discreet.

"But since you kids are hanging out with us, we thought we'd show you!" Gibli said happily.

"When you're in the small world, you always gotta know how to fight." Sappo followed, "And Pikmin are the best way."

"They don't even look very strong." Nea said, noticing their rather small, fragile stature. "How can they help fight?"

"Get a bunch together, you'd be surprised." Sappo answered as they stopped before a wall of grass blades, with three narrow paths cutting through. There were tiny leaves and flower buds sprouting from the ground. "And each one has a special power. Red are fire resistant, yellow are electric-proof, blue are good swimmers… they have other powers, too, and there're others. You'd get to know them as you train."

"Here! Try it out!" Gibli smiled, tossing each operative a wooden whistle.

As Harvey caught his whistle, he asked, "A whistle?"

"Yah!" Sappo smiled. "You use them to order your Pikmin. You call them back or have them separate by color. Or have them all gang up on a target."

"When you're on missions, it's best to plan your strategies." Gibli mentioned. "If you have a lot to do, get several of them to multitask."

"Sounds kind of complicated." Sally said.

"Just try them out!" Sappo encouraged. "That way is the Red Pikmin trial." He pointed to the left path. "That way's Yellow Pikmin," he pointed at the middle path, "and that's Blue Pikmin." He pointed at the right path.

"What're we doing exactly?" Harvey asked, flicking his yo-yo coolly.

"You're finding fruit and bringing it back to your specified Onion." Sappo explained. "Those're our ships. You can bring back fallen predators, too, and the Pikmin will make more Pikmin."

"Sweet!" Harvey smiled coolly. "I'll take the blue ones."

"I'll get the red!" Sally smiled.

"Guess I got yellow." Aranea figured.

Fybi landed down and asked, "Prithee, ist there a special Pikmin for me?"

"You can try Wing Pikmin!" Gibli smiled. "They're some of the easiest to work with!"

"There's some up on that tree." Sappo said, pointing to a small ledge along a tree high above.

"You can only have a hundred at a time, but I doubt you'll get that many!" Gibli beamed. "Good luck!" (Play "Tropical Wilds" from Pikmin 3.)

Stage 10: Pikmin Training Course

Mission: Train with and learn the ways of the Pikmin.

Sally plucked the five Red Pikmin from the ground and passed through the opening to the Red Pikmin Trial, where a Red Onion ship was stationed at the start, designed like a seed pod with stringy bug-like legs and a flower propeller. A small moat went around most of the area, but Sally knew she couldn't cross it because of the Pikmins' inability to swim. She took the path to the right, which was guarded by some pill bugs, the size of dogs at her size. She grabbed the Pikmin and tossed them at the pill bugs, and the tiny creatures began to chase the bugs around as they beat them up.

Each of the Pikmin grabbed a pill bug and brought it back to the Onion, where the strange pod absorbed it into its hull, and the flower released several seeds that sunk into the ground, sprouting leaves. Sally plucked the leaves to get 5 more Pikmin, making 10 total. Sally proceeded to guide the Pikmin down the right path, where they crossed a tiny stick-log over the river, and reached a small island with a Fire Slug. Sally tossed the Pikmin onto the flaming slug and beat it easily, immune to the slug's flames.

She had 3 Pikmin carry the slug back while she guided the rest over to a cherry rested on the ground. She ordered one Pikmin to carry the cherry back to the ship before focusing on a slightly tall wall made of sand, rather thick at their height. She blew her whistle and sent her 6 Pikmin to start beating the wall, and it was slowly coming down. In the meantime, she hurried back to the Onion to find the first three Pikmin, who had carried the Fire Slug, standing and waiting patiently. She used the whistle to call the Pikmin back before plucking the three sprouts that emerged because of the Fire Slug.

When the one Pikmin finished bringing the cherry back, she called it back, and they all went to join the Pikmin breaking the sand wall. She had the rest of her squad help tear it down, and the wall was gone in seconds as they crossed a bridge to a new area. There was a pretty red butterfly (several inches bigger than Sally) seated on a leaf on a small plant above them. Sally figured she could throw a Pikmin and damage it, but she didn't wanna hurt it and chose to leave it be. Meanwhile, there was a strawberry on the ground at the end of the path to their left, and Sally needed three Pikmin to bring it back.

The bridge that crossed to the next isle was broken, but on that isle, there was a pile of blue stone tiles, a few inches bigger than them. It was too far to throw, but Sally remembered her yo-yo, and decided to use her toy to grab the Pikmin and throw them over the river, where the tile pile was. After hauling them all over there, the Pikmin began to grab the tiles and use them to fix the bridge. There wasn't anything else to do, so Sally could only sit and wait patiently until they finished. Once the bridge was complete, Sally crossed and called them back with her whistle.

They walked along a path on their left, going around a small, central isle, where a flame wall blocked their way. Behind the flame wall were several empty nuts, and a small shore that allowed entry into the river. Sally thought she knew what the nuts were for, and she tossed the flame-immune Pikmin through the fire as they each grabbed a nut, brought it to the water, and scooped some water inside, and afterwards returning to dowse the flames with the water. Sally was able to pass once they had been put out, calling the Pikmin back as they approached a huge bumblebee hovering above them.

The bee aimed its stinger and swooped down, but Sally dodge-rolled to her right. However, 2 of the Pikmin ended up caught on the stinger, and they immediately turned to red ghosts, emitting depressed moaning sounds. Sally's eyes furrowed as she tossed the Red Pikmin up onto the bee, beginning to beat it furiously as the bee dropped to the ground. The Pikmin kept it earthbound before successfully defeating it, and three of them proceeded to carry it back.

Yellow Training Course

Concurrently, Aranea had plucked her five Yellow Pikmin and brought them to the Yellow Course. Already, they encountered a tall, electrical gate. Even though the Yellow Pikmin were electric-immune, the metal gate looked pretty sturdy, but Nea decided to throw the Pikmin against it, anyway. The Pikmin were surprisingly strong, as different sections of the gate became disabled after a while. They took a long time to finish, but when the gate was down, they were allowed to pass into an open area with several worms.

Aranea threw the Pikmin onto the head of the first worm, and as they dealt the first bit of damage, the worm quickly shook them off. Aranea blew her whistle and quickly called the Pikmin back before the worm dove headfirst at them. She had to repeat this maneuver until the worm was finally down, and the 5 Pikmin carried it back to their Yellow Onion, where it was absorbed and turned into 5 more Yellow Pikmin. Before going ahead, Aranea noticed a strawberry on a ledge above them. It was rather high up, but the Yellow Pikmins' light weight enabled her to throw them up (and since she was the shortest anyway, it's fitting she gets the lightest).

The Pikmin easily brought the strawberry to the Onion, and Aranea afterwards continued along the path. There was no straight path from the worm field, but there was a high ledge above one of the walls. Aranea saw there was a pile of thin sticks atop the ledge, and she proceeded to toss the Yellow Pikmin up there as they began to form a ladder. They dropped the ladder down and allowed Aranea to climb up, and she saw a cave lied at the top of the ledge. She gathered the 10 Yellow Pikmin and entered.

The cave was very dark, and the only things keeping it alit were blue fluorescent mushrooms. As long as there aren't any spiders. Aranea thought as she pressed forward, worried of what might be in the darkness. Her feet were suddenly drenched with water, and she found herself walking through a small, shallow river. She heard tiny screams and splashes behind her, and gasped when she saw her Pikmin struggling to swim. She hurried back onto land and blew her whistle, and they managed to squirm their way onto land just in time. They walked around the river the normal way and encountered a giant water bug. The bug snatched one of the Pikmin in its stubby arms and was about to eat, but Aranea quickly threw some onto its antennas and had them yank.

The bug yelped, dropped its Pikmin prey, and shook the rest off. Aranea led them behind and found a weak spot on its rear, and proceeded to throw the Pikmin on. The water bug was knocked out, and Aranea had 5 Pikmin carry it back. They guided the remaining five ahead, and they found a huge electrical outlet and a bug lightbulb, disconnected by broken cords. Aranea had some Pikmin stand alongside each other, with one touching the end of the sparking cord, and watched as they suddenly sparked with electricity. By their size (and according to the little counter floating above them), she would need to fit 20 Pikmin in the row.

She summoned those five back and, before going back to the Onion, decided to explore around the cavern some more. A slope led down into a darker, lower area, where she bumped into a large, oval-ish-shaped object. By the smell, and the dim lit color, she could tell it was a lemon. She had the five Pikmin grab the lemon and begin to carry it back. She proceeded to run ahead (able to cut through the river) and make her way back to the Onion.

By the time she returned, the first 5 Pikmin had finished bringing back the water bug. It sprouted 5 more Pikmin, and she proceeded to pluck them. When they came back to the worm field, there was one more worm they hadn't taken care of, so Aranea tossed the 10 Pikmin onto its head. It shook them off, and Aranea called them back quickly before the worm dove at them. While they were fighting, the other five Pikmin were just now carrying the lemon out of the cave. The worm tried to go for them, but Aranea tossed her Pikmin on its head again and stopped him. Eventually, the worm was knocked out, and she had the 10 Pikmin carry it back to the Onion.

The fruit was delivered safely, and the worm was chopped into five more Pikmin. With 20 Pikmin in tow, she brought them back to the cave and had them all line up to form the rest of the cord. The electricity flowed to the lightbulb, and Aranea shielded her eyes as it flashed and lit up almost the whole cave. Consequently, a couple of giant dandelions that stood in the lower gorge suddenly bloomed into wide, white platforms, allowing them passage across the gorge.

When they crossed, they encountered a giant, flying stingray, which sparked with electricity as it swooped down at them. Aranea dodged to the side, but the manta snatched a few in its wings. She quickly tossed more Pikmin onto its back, but they weren't able to beat it enough before it ate the 3 Pikmin. The stingray shook and sparked with electricity, but it couldn't get rid of the the electric-immune Pikmin. The manta ray was knocked out, and Nea had to use 10 Pikmin to carry it back.

Aranea came to what looked like the cave's exit, but she walked further into the dark corner and found a set of giant grapes. She blew her whistle and had her 7 remaining Pikmin carry the first seven grapes. She was hoping they would come back and help bring some more, but she knew it might take a while, so she headed out the exit.

Blue Training Course

Harvey Harper plucked his first five Blue Pikmin and proceeded to his trial, where the Blue Onion was stationed at the start. All that was ahead was water, so Harvey stepped forward and began to swim across, with the Pikmin following behind him. There was ground a few meters below the surface, and the underwater path was blocked by a sand-wall. Since he and the Pikmin were already able to swim over, they did so, and came to an area with three little tadpoles. Harvey sent his five Pikmin at the first tadpole using the whistle, and they grabbed onto it and beat it in seconds. He then sent the five at the second tadpole, and later the third tadpole. He swam down and had one Pikmin each grab a tadpole, but they weren't able to swim and carry it, and had to walk along the seafloor.

They couldn't get back because the sand-wall was blocking the way (he questioned how a sand-wall was thick enough to survive underwater), so Harvey summoned the Pikmin back and had them all attack the wall. After a few minutes of head-bashing it, the Pikmin managed to break the wall, and Harvey had them carry the tadpoles to the ship. When they delivered the creatures, they sprouted into three Pikmin, so now Harvey had 8. They swam back over the water and came to a shore, where they had a clear, straight path between some shallow water. On their left, a shrimp-like crab creature, called a Hermit Crawmad, came out of a mound of dirt in the water and tried to eat the Pikmin. Harvey quickly threw some onto the bulge on its rear, and the Pikmin managed to beat it before it took anyone.

Harvey got 5 Pikmin to carry it back to the ship while the rest followed him forward as they encountered another Crawmad. Harvey threw the three Pikmin onto its bulge, but with less Pikmin to fight it, it was able to shake them off. The Crawmad managed to grab one of the Pikmin and gobble it up, and Harvey rounded his remaining two and threw it onto the bulge. Before the shrimp could shake them, Harvey called them back quickly, then hurled them onto the weak spot again. After a few more hits, they managed to beat the Crawmad; but Harvey couldn't carry it back with only three Pikmin. X(

He hurried back to the ship to see the first Crawmad sprouted 8 Pikmin, so now Harvey had 17. They crossed the path and reached a wide, round pool of deep water. In the center was a small island with a lemon, but it was a little high to climb to; there were two ends of a bridge on Harvey's land and on the island, but the bridge was gone. Harvey decided to swim underwater, having four of his Pikmin attack two tadpoles; two each, and then had those two carry their tadpoles back after they were beat.

Along the left wall was a strange pipe blocked by a cork, so Harvey swam over and had 5 Pikmin tug on the cork. They pulled it loose, and the Pikmin were immediately sucked it, coming out on the higher foothold above the surface. There, the Pikmin found parts to the bridge, so Harvey the rest of them up there to help. Harvey resurfaced for a breath of air, then decided to go back to the Onion as the other 4 Pikmin brought the tadpoles back. They gained two more Pikmin, making 19, as Harvey plucked and led them back. He recalled the fallen Crawmad, so he had the current 6 Pikmin carry it back as well. He returned to the bridge and saw the others were finished; and Harvey proceeded to call them all back.

They crossed the bridge as Harvey had 5 of them carry the lemon; he now had 8 with him. They swam across the rest of the pool, to an area on land where a giant, green crab, with a huge right claw; a Peckish Aristocrab, got in Harvey's path. Harvey attempted to throw the Pikmin onto the crab, but it blocked most of the Pikmin with its claw and snapped them to death. It got 3 Pikmin, so Harvey had 5 left. Harvey immediately called the 5 back with the whistle as they hurried away. Harvey returned to the ship, and the 6 previous Pikmin had brought the Crawmad and chopped it into 8 Pikmin. The other 5 Pikmin brought the lemon back, so Harvey gathered them all, and had 24 in his group. (Are you doin' the math, kids?)

Harvey hurried back to the Aristocrab, and ran back-and-forth, left-to-right to try and get behind it. Harvey tossed a few Pikmin to his left, distracting the crab, and he was able to get behind. He sent the remainder of his Pikmin onto the crab as they began to deal their round of blows. The crab shook them off and grabbed 6 Pikmin, but Harvey called the rest of them back quickly to let them attack again. Once the monster was defeated, it coughed out a lime before fainting. Harvey had 5 Pikmin carry the fruit and 7 carry the crab. He guided his remaining 6 across another short pool, coming to an exit.

Pink Training Course

Fybi had flown to the ledge alongside the tree and plucked 5 Winged Pikmin; which were pink Pikmin with round blue eyes and tiny bug wings. She flew higher as the Pikmin followed, and they were near the treetops where the Onion rested. Since all of them could fly, there were hardly any limits where they could go. Some bees were buzzing around the branches, so they flew over as Fybi sent her Wing Pikmin on one of them. The bee managed to shake them away, but the flying fighters regained composure quickly and flew in to finish the job. The first bee was defeated, and two Pikmin grabbed it and floated over to the Onion.

The bee sprouted 2 more Pikmin, making 7. Fybi decided to go for the other two bees. They took them on one at a time, and in the end, they gained 11 Pikmin. They flew a little higher and found an orange growing on a high branch. Fybi had seven of the Pikmin grip the orange and yank it off, to carry it back to the Onion. They flew around the tree and found a hole, leading into its dark interior. Above one of the ledges was a nasty spider in its web. Fybi sent some Pikmin on the spider, but it shook them off onto its web. Fybi tried to call them back, but one of the Pikmin got eaten. Fybi carefully sent more at the monster, and the spider was defeated in time, its web falling apart.

They floated further through the interior, and came to a den where giant squirrels zipped across the hall, entering various holes. The squirrels looked very terrifying at their sizes, and much too big to challenge, so they did well to avoid them. They reached the end of the hall, where an apple was seated. It took 10 Pikmin to lift it; they precisely that amount, and they carried it down the hall slowly. Squirrels came out to search around, so Fybi had to stop her Pikmin if the monsters got in the way. Once the squirrels left, Fybi kept her Pikmin going, and they soon reached the cave's exit and returned to the Onion. She then remembered the fallen spider, and had 3 Pikmin carry it back to the Onion, making 3 more Pikmin.

"Prithee, 13 is a very unlucky number. Methinks I shalt search for more." Fybi decided to search along the branches, and found some termites walking along in a row. Fybi tossed some Pikmin out, and they defeated some termites in only a few hits. The Pikmin grabbed 5 and brought them back, and they all sprouted into 5 Pikmin. "Hmmm… 18 is good, methinks. Let us look more." They flew over to a more distant tree, and saw another giant squirrel was blocking an opening, chewing on an acorn. Above it was another acorn on a branch, so Fybi flew up and had her Pikmin pull it off. The Pikmin hovered several feet away from the squirrel, who turned to notice the tasty nut. The tiny Pikmin dropped it to the ground below, and the squirrel immediately chased.

Fybi and her Pikmin were able to enter the hole, and flew straight downward to find a strange pool of rich, yellow honey. Beside the honey was a breakable sand wall, so Fybi had her Pikmin begin attacking it. When it broke, they were terrified at the sight of gigantic hornets swarming around the outside, flying upward immediately as the hornets gathered in and began devouring the honey. Fybi led her Pikmin outside and around downward to see the gigantic hornet's nest. Beside it was another apple, and the hornets looked too distracted by the honey. Fybi had all of her Pikmin grab the apple and begin to carry it back.

"Ahhh, another fruit safely stored for consumption." Fybi said once they brought it back. "Methinks I shalt see how the others are fairing." With that, Fybi led her Pikmin forward, across the training grounds where the others had gone to, and saw her three friends gathered at a spot where the three paths met. Fybi smiled and flew downward, followed by her Pikmin. Sally, Harvey, and Nea smiled and waved, seeing Fybi come down. (End song.)

Once Fybi joined them, Sappo and Gibli met them at the ending spot as well. "Okay, first of all Fybi, we kinda forgot you can fly, so that's cheating." Sappo said as they grinned sheepishly.

"We shoulda snapped your wings shut." Gibli grinned.

"Prithee, if I canst not use my wings, I see no point in attending yonder missions." She said with a glare.

Sappo laughed. "But still, you kids did good! Now it's time for the reward."

"What's that?" Sally asked.

"All the food you collected!" Gibli cheered.

They had gathered the Onions in one spot and released the food gathered within them. The gigantic fruit had been chopped into tiny bits, with some grinded into juices for drinks, as the kids happily ate the delicacies. "It feels like we're going against Kids Next Door protocol eating fruit instead of candy." Nea said.

"Well, as long as you're in our world, you're in our jurisdiction." Sappo stated. "Anyway, let's count how many Pikmin you have: Sally made it with 11 Red, Aranea brought 17 Yellow, Harvey made it with 18 Blue, and Fybi made it with 18 Pink! And the best part is, Pikmin usually stay loyal to their masters. So those 64 little guys'll come help whenever ya need 'em!"

"Couldn't we keep all this math in school?" Aranea asked, holding her forehead. "And besides, the Pikmin are nice and all, but they're not much when it comes to regular missions and fighting."

"The Pikmin get pretty fierce when they really need to." Sappo mentioned. "But while we're in the small world, they're a big help in gathering food and fighting predators."

"Annnd what happens when some gigantic bully comes along and starts stomping the place?" Aranea asked.

"Well, that requires more advanced training." Sappo chuckled.

"You know, WE should teach them how ta do that!" Gibli cheered.

"Yeah! And they could use actual teamwork!" Sappo agreed.

"Teach us how to do what?" Sally asked, pausing in eating an apple piece.

"Swipe food off a picnic blanket!" Gibli grinned.

"HUH??"

"Heheh. Minish don't just bring stuff to kids. The Minish Kids Next Door likes to swipe food, too; namely from bad kids." Sappo explained.

"We've been swiping from Anthony for years! Heeheehee!" Gibli laughed.

"But I thought you guys just came over?" Sally questioned.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Gibli gave a mischievous grin.

"Anyway," Sappo stood up, "let's find our mom and Anthony's and see if we can head to Ashland Park. We can do the next part of the test there."

"And you guys can ride in the Onion!" Gibli jumped.

"As long as the Pikmin don't mend you into one of their own." Sappo winked.

"Anyway, let's go!" With that, the Minish kids ran ahead.

"If we're going picnic robbing, they better have decent sandwiches." Nea said. "This fruit's only tasty for so long."

"Ahhh, to dine on a luscious, tremendous burger that towers over me like a mountain." Fybi said, floating around with her hands folded to her cheek, a dreamy smile on her face. "My taste buds shalt dance like Heaven hath landed on Earth."

Harvey gripped his grumbling stomach, tongue sticking out as the sound of this tasty food made him starve. "Ohhh… if I eat another yucky fruit, I'll shrivel like a lemon. Nnnot sweet."

Sally chuckled. "Okay. Let's go find Anthony." The kids got up and began to hurry after the Minish kids.

Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Parlor

"HIII, kids!" the goofy man, dressed as a peanut, exclaimed as he danced upon the stage. "I hope you're all as GOOBERtastic as I am, 'cause weeee got new TRIPLE-Decker Sundae Mountain With Nuts, all ready to be GUZZLED by you rowdy tykes! Buuut remember, there's plenty to go around! Just, no matter what happens, DON'T lose your goober, kids! Hoohoo HOOHOO HOOOOO! Ohhh, I'M a Goofy Goober, yeah! YOU'RE a Goofy Goober, yeah!"

As this song went on, Cheren, Panini, and Francis sat in the back, darkest part of the restaurant, with Cheren shaking his head in a disbelieving manner, a smile on his face. "I can't believe we still eat here." he said.

"This place holds important symbolism." Panini stated jokingly.

"Should we be ashamed we're not as enthusiastic as those other kids?" Francis asked.

"We're super-powered kids who save the world from monsters." Cheren remarked. "Well, Francis isn't, but you get the gist."

The waiter came over then; he had a curved, French mustache, and wore the usual Goober garb as he spoke in a French accent. "Sorry about ze wait. Vhat vill you fine children be having?"

"Hey, didn't my dad say you used to be a waiter at the cheese place?" Francis asked.

"The business vent a little slump, since ze Cheese Ninjas stopped coming. I vent into ze ice cream. 'Tis not ze QUIETEST, but…. ehh, eet makes a living…"

Just then, the restaurant doors flew open, and in stepped a slim, slick man with a thin mustache, slick black hair, and chewing on a toothpick as he flipped a nickel, a grin on his face as he approached the counter with two buff guards by his side.

The waiter brought the kids their chosen ice creams and flinched when he noticed the men walk up. "'ey there, Mac. Mama wants her monthly payment, if ya catch my drift."

"'ey, BUTT off, Stachio!" Panini retorted. "This place is fer kids only! NO ADULTS ALLO-"

The waiter immediately shoved ice cream in her mouth, a sweaty, nervous grin on his face. "I-I-I'm terribly sorry, Sir. I-I vill get ze payment vright away."

"I should hope so. Ya know Mama don't like ta be kept waitin'."

"PLOO!" Panini spat the ice cream out and wiped the vanilla off her mouth. "Uugh! What is their problem?"

"Don't these mob guys have better things to do than hustle an ice cream shop?" Francis asked.

"I wouldn't get up in their business, Fran." Cheren cautioned. "That guy's chewing on a toothpick and flippin' a nickel."

They looked at the grinning man, watching as he chewed his toothpick, and in fact, flipped a nickel.

The waiter came back, pushing a load of refrigerators on a small cart. "Here is… ze payment." He panted.

The slim man opened one of the fridges and confirmed the rows of Triple-Decker Sundae Mountains With Nuts. He closed the fridge, flipped the nickel, and said, "Excellent load taday, Mac. Big Mama'll be happy ta have her supper. Careful with this cargo, boys. It's a long trip." The man walked ahead while the buff guards proceeded to push the cargo out of there.

"Yo, Mac, you in debt to the Mob or somethin'?" Francis asked.

"My name is not Mac." He said with a glare. "But ze restaurant is going under a few financial problems, too, shall we say. But so long as I am able to pay my dues, ze loyal customers shall not have to worry, no?" He gave an assuring grin and walked away.

Cheren, Panini, and Francis put on serious looks as Cheren spoke, "That reminds me. According to reports, candy and dessert supplies have been substantially low in shops all across the border the past couple years. When I became Supreme Leader, one of my first priorities was to look into it. But I get held up with so much other stuff, like this Viridi War."

"Well." Panini stated in a stiff tone. "Explains why the candy bank wouldn't give me my 5 saved choco bears last week. Whoever this Mama person is, SOMEONE oughta tell her to stick to adult food!"

"Maybe it's a kid." Francis joked.

"Twist of the century." Cheren said with a laugh. Suddenly, his wristwatch began ringing. "Awww, what is it now?" He clicked the little button as Larry's image appeared onscreen.

"Numbuh 3621! Nebula's trying to contact you with another message."

"Siiigh." Cheren eye-rolled. "I'm not coming back up there; can't you tell her to pass the message?"

"Umm don't worry, she did. She says she needs you to go down to the Underworld and ask Grim for some kind of, poisonous drink. A special drink that can help you beat Viridi."

Cheren sighed in anxiety. "Do I haaaaave to go to the Underworld?"

"Nebula says it's a direct order. Hehe." Larry chuckled.

"Siiiigh." Cheren sighed again in defeat. "Some anti-dictator. Fine. I'll head down there as soon as I can. Numbuh 3621 out." With that, transmission ended.

"Got ta go?" Panini asked as Cheren began to leave.

"Sigh, yeah." Cheren said. "Hoping demons don't tear me to shreds. I'll see you guys later." With that, he left.

Unknown planet

Makava, Tronta, and Vweeb woke up dizzy after their crash. They were surrounded by enormous shrubs that blocked the sky, and through the little amount of openings between the shrubs, there looked to be trees that stretched to the heavens. "Uuuuh… what happened…" Makava moaned as they rubbed their heads.

"Some major plant lover wanted a snapshot of Viridi's troops." Tronta mumbled. "A really big one."

"Where are we, anyway?"

"Somewhere vegetated, I know that much." Vweeb said, fiddling with his Tri-gun. "Unfortunately, my Tri-gun got smoked." They saw that his device was indeed broken and black with soot. "I can fix up the usual shoot settings, but the size-changer's only got enough to resize one person. All right, who wants it more?"

"She's half-Kateenian, I'm not, biggify me." Tronta stated.

"A good point." Vweeb agreed.

"Uh, HELLO??" Makava retorted. "I've got swords, YOU got a fancy frisbee, not to mention I'm a girl, so YOU need me to keep you boys safe."

"Also reasonable." Vweeb said.

"Mama's boy." Tronta remarked. Vweeb glared.

"Sigh, look, can't you just shoot both of us, and we'll take whatever size we get?"

"Okay. If you say so." Makava and Tronta clutched each other tight as Vweeb readied the size ray. He was about to fire, but the device sparkled and cracked. "Ummm… but maybe not." Vweeb banged it a little. "Siiigh. It just doesn't have the juice. So, until I can get this repaired, you guys are stuck with me. Haha!" he grinned, liking that idea.

"Great. So we're one inch tall, and stuck on some alien planet with ginormous plants." Tronta said bluntly.

"Well, what planet isn't alien to us?" Makava asked.

"You know what I mean. Hey, wait!" Tronta began to look around worriedly. "Where's Arianna??"

The others looked around as well. "Good question." Vweeb said. "She musta landed somewhere further."

"ARIANNAAA??" Tronta yelled out.

"ARRIIAAANNAAA!" Vweeb yelled louder.

"You guys sure you should be doing that?" Makava asked. "The predators are a LOT more vicious at this size."

"Come on, Sis, we can handle a couple of bugs." Vweeb smirked.

"Arianna's probably lucky." Tron said. "Wherever she ended up, she can just TALK to these bugs."

"One of the missions me and her can be small together, she's missing." Vweeb mumbled grumpily.

"Come on, Bro, let's go find her." Makava laughed lightly. "Then we can walk away to let you have some equal-size kissing time."

"That's not why I wanna be SMALL with her!" Vweeb retorted as they began to walk forward.

"No, you just wanna flex your tiny person muscles." Makava smirked.

"Hey! I refuse to develop muscles as it would downgrade my cuteness." Vweeb stated simply.

"Siiiiiigh." Makava released an exhausted sigh after a few minutes of walking. "We can't ever have one mission that's simple does it. Now we can't even contact headquarters for some spare shrink ray parts. This better not be a planet of tiny-person eaters."

"Ehhh, I'm sure the people are reasonable." Tronta said. "If we're lucky, someone can provide us a ship and give us a ride to headquarters. Then we'll scout a search for Aria—WHOA!" A gigantic, brown, furry creature with beady eyes was sniffing around the ground.

The enormous animal took notice of the tiny kids upon Tronta's yell. "Kyu?" It stood up, shivering in fright. "Kyuuuuu! Itty-bitty aliens! She must've got them again!"

"Huh?" Tronta was confused. "Hey, who are you!" he shouted.

"KYUUUuuuu!" the giant creature; which had a plant on its rear, scampered away quickly.

The kids walked a little bit forward, watching confusedly as the animal ran, its quaking stomps growing fainter. Tronta gasped, eyes widening at what was before their eyes. "Wait! I know where we are!"