A/N: … I just really wanted to write something Pikmin related since this is my favorite Nintendo series.

I may write more about the Hocotatians later, if this goes over well. I really like them.

OoO

It was fun.

He couldn't think of any other way to describe it. Not once in his life did he ever expect… to be a part of such a grand adventure. Granted, it wasn't so much grand as it was repaying the company debt he himself caused, but the sights and mechanics of the mission was enough to overlook that minor detail.

The little carrots – Pikmin, as his senior had named them – were interesting. Interesting enough to eat, even, but Olimar always scolded and reprimanded him whenever the thought went through his mind. Shame. But they were fascinating nonetheless, those creatures. Each color and type had their own unique traits and abilities, and they worked so well together. Much better than if they were to fend for themselves.

Kind of like Olimar and me, he thought as he looked out of the glass window of the cockpit. The stars whipped by him in luminescent streaks; it would be impossible to count each and everyone one he saw.

A hint of disappointment settled in his chest. They were going home now, back to that desolate wasteland they called a planet. Sure, there were some positive traits about it, but for the most part he just couldn't care less for it. Nothing ever happened there, even on the job. The rabid space bunny story was a lie to cover up the deed he had done, but sometimes he wished it was actually the case.

And the only person who would actually be awaiting his arrival was…

"Your aunt misses you, you know," Olimar said to him the day before, handing him a letter written in the calligraphy he only knew to be hers. "You wouldn't believe the mass of mail we received after you stopped responding to her letters. I'm pretty sure you ended up giving her a heart attack."

"What a shame that would be," Louie muttered, taking the letter gingerly from his senior's hands. "She should calm down a little. One week without a response isn't enough to warrant such worry."

"Eh, I'm pretty sure it is," the shorter male laughed and turned to press a few of the autopilot buttons on the control pad. There was a moment of silence until, "You're lucky, though. You have someone who actually misses you."

Louie raised an eyebrow. "You do too. Your wife and kids, right?"

"… Maybe. I don't know anymore. It seems that whenever I try to spend time with them, something always comes up. It could be work, or something else entirely." The younger male knew exactly what the other was referring to, but decided not to comment on the matter. "We've been growing distant. My children will only talk to me if they want me to give them something their mother would never allow, and my wife seems to just be focused on superficial goods lately. Her letters after earning back the debt and more have never been happier." He trailed off with a slightly dramatic sigh, having said what had been on his mind for quite a while.

Louie bit his lip, unsure of how to reply. He didn't have a family of his own; what could he say that would cheer his senior up? He wouldn't know what he was talking about. But maybe… "You know, Olimar, if you ever get lonely, maybe you can come to visit me and my aunt."

Now it was Olimar's turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to face his partner, confused. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind," the blond continued. "I… never really had much interaction with others to begin with anyway. You're the first person I can honestly call my friend. I've only ever interacted with bugs before. But after these past few months of Pikmin guiding and treasure collecting… we are friends, right?" There was a beat of silence where nothing happened, and then –

"Yeah, Louie. Of course we're friends. I'd be glad to come over."

He smiled, holding his hands close to his chest. Happiness was an odd feeling, one that didn't come to him very often. Memories rolled through his mind, and with each passing one his smile grew wider and wider. Encountering the red Pikmin for the first time, to reaching out and finding the others… collecting hundreds of treasures that he wasn't quite sure what exactly they were but were apparently worth a lot anyway… to taking down colossal beasts with nothing more than a genius biologist smaller than himself and an army of colorful carrots. There was only one thing about his journey he didn't want to remember, and he strived to keep the thought away.

A loud snore rumbled through the room and shook him out of his thoughts. Eyes open and widened, he turned his head to look for the source of the noise – and nearly groaned aloud when the President rolled over onto his back and continued having the loudest snores Louie had ever heard in his life.

Due to the limited space, the ship had advised them all to sleep in the same room each night. Back when it was just himself and Olimar, they were both small enough to have both sides of the room to themselves and still have sufficient space left over. With the addition of the president, however… it was hard to get any sleeping room at all, and poor Olimar was always stuck in the middle, sandwiched between the two.

Olimar had mentioned offhandedly that he really didn't mind the sudden claustrophobia, but Louie knew better. Sometimes he wished he could just toss the President out of the ship midflight (did anyone like that guy? Even his own wife didn't seem to like him from the letters he's read…), but he knew the ship would never allow it. And thus, the only thing left to do was suck it up and live with it.

At least it was just for one more night, he thought. He smirked when Olimar, in his sleep, unconsciously reached up to wrap the soft pillows around his head to cover his ears. Even that won't help you, I'm afraid, Louie thought. Quickly, he reached over his senior's body to shove the President away before the man could roll over and squish his poor employee.

Satisfied and positive Shacho wouldn't crush Olimar anytime soon, he pulled back and allowed his mind and sight to wander again. Eventually his eyes rested on a wound upon Olimar's left arm and instantly the memory he had been trying so hard to forget came rushing back to him, the moment his senior had received that injury…

"Louie!"

"Olimar, stay back!" Shacho commanded, reaching forward to pull his smallest employee back closer to him to avoid the incoming danger. Not about to be delayed, Olimar ducked under the large man's arms and continued his sprint towards his former partner and friend, Pikmin trailing loyally behind him.

Louie frowned from atop the Titan Dweevil, emotions ranging from sadness to absolute anger boiling inside of him and making him a complete internal mess. He couldn't think straight and he didn't know what he was doing; the only thing on his mind was pure, unadulterated revenge. "You'd do best to listen to the fat man, Olimar! Stay back!"

The Dweevil quickly switched to its Shock Therapist, electricity cackling from within the contraption as it revved and started to warm up. Instantly Olimar dismissed the Pikmin and they scattered; only the yellow ones were hit by the attack in the end and thus completely unaffected. Louie scoffed and switched tactics to the Comedy Bomb; Shacho took over his employee's Pikmin and led them all out of harm's way.

Olimar held up a hand over his mouth despite the helmet negating any poison that he could possibly ingest and continued making his way closer to the creature and his friend controlling it. He had no Pikmin, what was he doing? Surely he couldn't possibly hope to take Louie on all by himself, could he? Olimar's common sense was always a bit off, even if he was very intelligent, but even he wouldn't think that this could possibly be a good idea.

"Olimar! What are you doing? Get back over here!" Shacho shouted, and Louie winced. How he hated that man's voice…

"Shut up!" The Dweevil quickly brought out its Flare Cannon and shot out towards the President. Panicking yet acting quickly, the only casualties were three blues and four yellows. The purples dove towards the ground and breathed heavily, just narrowly escaping the fire above.

Taking advantage of Louie's distraction, Olimar quickly made his way to the leg of the Dweevil's body. Hesitantly he held out a hand to rest upon it and it reacted instantly, jumping back and nearly causing its controller to fall off with the sudden movement. "Louie, please listen to me!" Olimar pleaded. "You don't have to do this!"

"What would you know?" Louie frowned. "You abandoned me! Left me for him! I'm not listening to you anymore. I don't care what you have to say!"

The Dweevil shot forward, legs raised high into the air, and all shot towards the red leader. Olimar yelped and held his hands up in a pitiful defense, having neither time to run nor any Pikmin to fend it off with. The sharp legs impaled themselves into the ground all around the small male, but one managed to slice through his suit and slashed the soft skin beneath, drawing blood and a frightened scream.

That scream brought Louie back to his senses. He blinked, realizing what he was doing to his former friend and boss, and instantly panicked. Killing them was never part of his plan. He just wanted them to understand the anger he felt when Olimar left… he didn't want to take their lives. He wasn't a murderer.

He slid off the creature and landed on the ground painfully. Quickly he shook it off and ran to his senior, grabbing his arm roughly to inspect the damage he had inflicted upon him. Olimar's body trembled and he shook his head from side to side, feeling sick. Blood stained the tattered fabric of the space suit throughout the wound and already the skin was beginning to turn an odd color… Oxygen didn't mix well with Hocotatians, and the sight in front of them was enough to quickly prove that.

"… Louie," Shacho said tentatively, walking up when he felt his former employee wouldn't lash out to attack him. The blonde glared up at him and he quickly stepped back, arms raised in defense. Olimar sniffed, tears at the corners of his eyes. Louie didn't know what would happen if they stayed out in the toxic atmosphere for too long, and he didn't want to find out. He placed his gloved hand over the room and steadily pulled Olimar to his feet.

"… I'm sorry," he muttered softly to Olimar once they were out of Shacho's range of hearing.

Olimar sniffed and was a step closer to crying, but he didn't respond to Louie's apology.

He didn't want to feel that way again, he decided.

The ship immediately freaked out at them upon their return. Louie's sudden reappearance, Olimar's injury, and Shacho's disappearance (though he did return by himself a few hours later, hauling the body of the Titan Dweevil and the four weapons it wielded; Louie assumed he had a much easier time defeating it since it didn't have a master controlling it at the time) was almost too much for it to take in, and it practically had the mechanical version of a heart attack. Louie didn't care for two of its reasons, though, and shoved his way through the medicinal cabins within.

It had taken days for Olimar to even acknowledge his existence again and even longer to get back to speaking terms, but as long as he was alive Louie found that he didn't mind. Olimar's confirmation of their friendship just the day before made the blond happier than he could ever remember.

"Louie, are you still awake?"

The ship's monotone voice startled him and he nearly jumped, but quickly calmed down and nodded. "… Yes. I'm awake."

"… It'd do you best to get some sleep, you know. I am a machine, and therefore I do not need the rest. How wonderful it would be if I could actually sleep… You Hocotatians have many luxuries. I don't get anything! Well, I get to be painted gold and you can't, so I suppose that's a pretty big plus for me. Haha."

Already it was on one of its sarcastic tirades. Louie sighed and lay down on his back, practically squished with Olimar due to the room's limited space and the President's massive girth. "That's nice, Ship. I think I'll go to bed now."

"Oh, sure, sleep as soon as I start talking. How rude. But I suppose I cannot stop you. We will arrive back on Hocotate in approximately five hours, so I suggest you get as much sleep as you can until then. What an exciting adventure this has been, don't you think?" Louie smiled.

"Yeah, ship. It has." And he wouldn't give up the experience for the world.