Pikmin: Hybrids/Conclusion

Olimar and Louie landed. Olimar unbuckled his seat belt and looked out the crystalline window of his starship. Sludge, poison, and murk as far as the eye could see. To the Northwest a massive black shape sat.

It was waiting.

Olimar went to each of the Onions in turn, pulling out the exact number of Pikmin he would need. The Pikmin stared nonchalantly at Olimar as he sorted them into groups. Red. Yellow. Blue. Purple. White. Cyan. Hybrid. He got out two bottles of spray; one of Hotskin Berry, the other of Coldskin Berry. He carefully applied the sprays. The Hybrid Pikmin glowed with heat and cold, the light of the golden sun dancing on their skin and making odd colors. Olimar turned to Louie.

"Ready?"

Louie nodded in reply.

Slowly they made their way to the wooden shack to the Northeast. Olimar stopped at the entrance.

"This looks Hocotation." he said, turning to Louie.

He looked right into Louie's eyes.

"Why is this here, Louie?"

Louie looked uncomfortable.

"I don't know. Maybe someone else left it here."

Olimar squinted at Louie. After a few moments of dead silence he turned away.

"Onward."

It was the most challenging trial of their lives. The cave was filled with cages that had been broken open, poisonous mist that would destroy life, escaped creatures running rampant. And the Vile Candypop Buds were everywhere. The deeper they got, the more hazardous the place was, and the more sickened Olimar was at the infestation. The place felt unnatural, unreal. The monsters stumbling about in the fog behaved oddly, unlike others of their species.

It was a descent into the unknowable and unfathomable.

Though they could hardly believe it, they reached the end. It was a massive chamber, chemicals splashed everywhere on the dirt walls. In the center there was a great black root. Olimar quickly counted his remaining Pikmin. One-third of what they had started with. He sighed and unclipped the Golden Berry Spray from his belt. Louie nudged him.

"Before you spray it, I have to tell you something I'm not proud of."

Louie told Olimar everything. About this place. About what had happened.

"This was my lab, my kitchen. While I was on assignment on the planet I would send back enough treasure to make the boss happy, but that wasn't my real goal. I was striving for the ultimate recipe, the ultimate concoction. I would keep creatures I captured down here and use them in my recipes. Shameful, I know, but nothing could have stopped me from going after my goal. One day I began experimenting on Candypop Buds."

Louie stopped and gestured towards the massive black root.

"You can guess the rest."

Olimar closed his eyes for a minute. Then he opened them.

"Let's put all this behind us."

He sprayed the root...