✿ Return to PNF-404 (A "2-Player" Pikmin 3 RP for Whiteh and Misteh) (Yes, you may watch if you wish; see first post) ✿

Charlie continued marching forward as well, right next to Alph. His squad of Pikmin mingled with his crewmate's, forming a much larger army; if the group wanted the best chance at survival, they would have to stick together.
"About how far away are we from Brittany, Alph?" Charlie asked, beginning to march ahead and take the lead. "I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long journey..."

"Let's see..." Alph started, checking his KopPad's radar. He paused for a moment and waved a finger across the air a few times, seemingly mapping out a route to himself. "Looks like we do have a long journey ahead of us, I'm afraid; we'd best keep up a good pace if we plan on going very far today."

As Alph checked his KopPad, Charlie paused, turned around, and waited for a moment, his hands on his hips. Several of the Pikmin in the group went to his side and mimicked his pose as he stood. "Right," he responded with a nod of his head once Alph had finished speaking. "We'll just keep moving, and press through anything that comes up. I don't know if we can afford to spend another night out here, after all; we're lucky to have survived last night!"
At this, Charlie turned and continued on his way once more, with a look of determination and bravery on his face.

"Agreed, captain; we can't afford to stall in the slightest today...!" Alph replied, following Charlie as soon as the captain had continued moving, a similar look of determination on his face.

Meanwhile, back at the S.S. Drake, a Winged Pikmin had made its way over and was curiously investigating the ship. This particular Pikmin, however, had just come here on its own, and had no relation to those that were assisting the Koppaites.

Meanwhile, with just as much determination as the others, Brittany continued on her quest to find Alph and Charlie. With the help of a few Winged Pikmin, she got a bird's-eye view of the area from the top of a tall flower. Why didn't I think of this earlier? she thought to herself, perched atop the plant. These Winged Pikmin are both super-adorable AND extremely helpful! ... Though I can't see the others from here...
Giving her whistle a single blow, Brittany once again summoned her Winged Pikmin, who then carefully carried their leader off of the lofty flower and placed her safely on the ground. After thanking the Pikmin, she quickly continued ahead.

The Winged Pikmin who was just investigating the Drake soon continued on its way, little wings fluttering rapidly as it moved along, perking up when it noticed what looked like a small cluster of other Winged Pikmin in the distance. Instinctively, it headed in their direction.

When Brittany's Winged Pikmin noticed the single unfamiliar one of their kind approaching, some of them hovered in place, letting out a soft squeak in greeting. This caused their leader to pause, then glance curiously over her shoulder. "What's up back there?" she asked, wondering what exactly had caught the attention of her Pikmin army.

Upon seeing Brittany amongst the group of its own species, the Winged Pikmin almost ended up fleeing. It ultimately decided against it, however, as these other Pikmin didn't seem to be in any kind of danger.

At first, Brittany didn't notice anything upon turning around and approaching her Pikmin. However, after a few moments, she noticed that one of the Flying Pikmin looked a little different than usual; the flower on its head was a softer purple than the rest. Additionally, the Flying Pikmin seemed slightly more-numerous than before, though she wasn't sure if she was imagining things or not, so she quickly counted them in her head. Sure enough, there was one more present than before. "Huh... Did you guys find a friend?" she asked with a cheerful smile, getting a closer look at the new arrival.

As Brittany approached the Winged Pikmin, it stared directly at her in an observant manner, letting out a small, quiet squeak as it did so. It was relaxed enough, but also prepared to flee if necessary.

"Well, an extra set of hands... paws... whatever... is always welcome," Brittany commented, motioning towards the rest of the group. "C'mon; join us!" With a blow of her whistle, she ran forward along her path once more. Cheering, her swarms of Pikmin followed close behind.

Taking a brief moment to make a choice, the Winged Pikmin quickly decided to join Brittany and her squad on their expedition, staying particularly close to its new leader for extra protection.

The swarm was heading along at a good pace, when suddenly, they ran into trouble. All of a sudden, from around the corner came disaster in the form of a deadly orange monster; an Orange Bulborb.
Brittany, who was caught as soon as she let her guard down, yelped in shock and tried to stop, but it was all too sudden. "Ye-ye-yeagh!!" Tumbling over her own tangled feet, she went careening towards and collided with the creature's leg. In her frantic state, she instantly ordered her Pikmin to charge the beast without hesitation.

Upon realizing what had just approached, the Winged Pikmin flew straight towards the Orange Bulborb''s eye and started attacking; though Pikmin of its specific type were somewhat weak in physical strength, it had stubbornness on its side as it stayed latched onto the large creature.

Before long, many other Flying Pikmin followed after the newcomer, assisting it. Roaring, the Orange Bulborb shook its head violently when its eye fell under attack, sending Pikmin flying in many directions.
Seeing this, the Red Pikmin of the group decided to rush in during the Bulborb's brief moment of unguardedness. They swarmed its clawed feet, with some climbing its legs towards its massive body.
It was during this moment that Brittany made her escape, fleeing from beside the monster's leg. Taking a running leap and whirling around in midair to face her enemy, she landed amongst the rest of her Pikmin, who were awaiting orders from their trusted leader. "That's more like it!" she shouted, now much more prepared for a fight. Calling a group of Rock Pikmin closer, she hurled them mercilessly at the Orange Bulborb's beastly, piercing eyes.

As Rock Pikmin came flying upwards, straight towards the Orange Bulborb's eyes, the soft-purple flowered Flying Pikmin speedily darted out of their way for a moment before diving back down to continue attacking.

Suddenly, the Orange Bulborb shook its entire body violently, stomping its feet on the ground. Pikmin flew in all directions, with some slamming into the faces of cliffs and being stunned.
Blowing her whistle, Brittany rounded up as many of the scattered Pikmin as she could, but some weren't quick enough and ended up being snapped up into the creature's jaws. "Oh no you don't...!!" Locating the nearest Rock Pikmin, she frantically hoisted it over her head and flung it as hard as she could, once again aiming for the beast's yellow eyes.
Upon taking a harsh blow to its weak spot, the Orange Bulborb spat out the Pikmin that it was so close to swallowing. This enraged it even further; with a roar, it charged directly at the Pikmin's Koppaite leader, being more than just a little annoyed with her.
This sudden direct attack caught Brittany by surprise; for the moment, she stood there, frozen in her tracks as the monster approached at a furious pace.

The Flying Pikmin, like the rest of the Pikmin in Brittany's squad, was sent careening off of the Orange Bulborb and landed hard on the ground. At the sound of their leader's whistle, it forced itself back up and, with a small shake, quickly flew back to her side, not prepared to give up so easily.

When the little Flying Pikmin went to her side, Brittany, in a moment of panicked confusion, looked over at the little creature in surprise. All of a sudden, however, the Orange Bulborb was standing directly before her. It grabbed her in its jaws, then, quite shockingly, flung her high into the air with all its might. The suddenness of the attack, followed by the sight of the ground growing further away by the moment filled her with horror. "HwaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHH!!" she shrieked, helplessly flying up into, then falling from the sky. "HEEEEELP!!"

Seeing its new leader suddenly being thrust into the air, the Flying Pikmin almost instantly flew up and grabbed onto one of Brittany's arms. The size difference combined with the little creature's limited strength made it difficult to keep her up, however, so it proceeded to let out a loud squeak in an effort to call others of its type for help.

Brittany gasped when the little Flying Pikmin came to her rescue; it had only known her for a short time, but was already the first Pikmin on the scene when its leader was in grave danger. Soon enough, the rest of the Flying Pikmin squad came to assist their new friend in saving their leader's life.
Several of the Pikmin on the ground simply stared up at the ordeal from below. Many concerned and frightened murmurs flew between them at first, but when the Flying Pikmin came to save the day, they cheered. At this point, even a few of the Pikmin who decided to continue fighting and were clinging onto the Orange Bulborb's back momentarily turned their gaze to the sky.

Once the little Flying Pikmin had gotten the assistance it needed, it slowly began to lower itself to the ground, still carefully holding onto Brittany's arm to assure that its leader would have a soft, gentle landing.

As she was being lowered to the ground, Brittany let out a triumphant laugh. "Haha; nice try, beast!" she shouted as her feet made contact with the ground once more. "Now let's finish this; go, Pikmin!"
When their leader flung her hand forward, pointing, and gave her whistle a harsh puff, the entire swarm of Pikmin gave a battle cry, then charged headlong into battle at once. Before the Orange Bulborb could react, every inch of it was covered in frenzied Pikmin, and before long, it was all over.

The newest Flying Pikmin was, of course, amongst the rest of the swarm as they bravely charged at the Orange Bulborb once more, persistently fighting alongside its fellow Pikmin until the large orange beast was defeated.