After securing all the available prisoners in the dungeon, Team Rupert returned to their ship and signaled other operatives about the dungeon. Afterwards, they made flight to the Tree of Beginning. They were told Supreme Leader Lenari would be waiting outside the tree's mountain entrance, alongside Cheren Uno.
The presence of the full-size human near the Minish-size entrance confirmed this. Cheren looked up expectantly as the small, disc-size ship made for landing, joined by the Onions. Rupert, Timothy, and Mujika stepped off to meet Lenari, while Cheren sat down to get more comfortable. "I'm glad you made it back, Rupert. I heard what happened to Gibli. I…I can't believe Plankton did this…"
"I know… and we don't even know how Sappo is." Rupert replied. "He was taken to a different farm."
"His Pikmin actually returned here. And they brought that nun."
"You mean Index?"
"Hello!" The nun in question walked around Cheren's big red, rubber shoe.
"I flew down here because I heard she was brought here." Cheren replied. "So, what do you mean a different farm?"
"Yeah." Lenari agreed. "And who… is that girl?"
Mujika bit her lip nervously before answering. "I'm Mujika… of the Gupna race. The creatures that Plankton took control of. Plankton has revived a disaster that took place 5,000 years ago."
"Five thousand years? I knew it! They really were the same monsters!"
"Five thousand years?" Cheren repeated. "Isn't that around when the Earth KND was founded?"
"She said she would explain herself." Timmy stated.
"I-I will!" Mujika said. "Okay…ahem… Well, I don't really know how long we've been around… but we Gupna used to exist as microscopic beings. We devoured whatever food we could get our hands on, and we were able to inherit the qualities of that food. For instance, if we ate a water bear, we could gain water bear traits. Of course, those were pretty hard game even for us…"
"Go on?"
"But ages ago, the Spirit of Growth visited us. She divided herself, leaving a piece of her to watch over us while she spread her light to the rest of the universe. That piece possessed its own conscience, an evil conscience. It learned of our abilities. It used its power to shrink a massive number of Earth's inhabitants. Their 'growth' was then given to us Gupna, allowing us to grow as large as their current sizes. Then… we began to devour those people."
"The Great Reduction." Lenari repeated. "It coincides with our legends."
"Doesn't another story describe Titans invading the world around that period?" Index asked. "The mutant creations of the demons?"
"We believe the Titan story takes place years before the Reduction happened. Some believe they're somehow related to each other."
"So, what happened next?" asked Cheren.
"Well," Mujika continued, "because humans, Minish, and other races possessed sentience, we Gupna inherited their sentience. We became aware of our existence and even the force that helped us grow. Naturally… the Gupna back then were grateful for what happened. But if we continued to eat and grow, we would overrun the world, and that would be awful."
"And so our hero, Malarko put a stop to the curse." Lenari said. "At the cost of his life."
"Malarko?! You mean that's how he died?!" Rupert exclaimed.
A recap on Minish Lore: Malarko was the founder of the original Minish KND and a legendary Pikmin Master who amassed hundreds of every Pikmin type. He is Lenari's ancestor. He was acquainted with the Human KND founders, Carl and Sherry, as well as GKND leader, Dimentia.
"Yeah. But considering Malarko had descendants, he died sometime after leaving the KND and having kids. So, that gives us a better time frame."
"Does your story mention this part?" Mujika began. "The Minish Hero teamed up with a Gupna to defeat the evil spirit. A good one who wanted to restore everything. That Gupna was my ancestor."
"Your ancestor?"
"The truth is… my family are priests whom were blessed with intelligence and awareness so we may worship the Spirit of Growth. And the spirit's name was Synthia."
"I see…" Index acknowledged.
"So," Cheren began, "if Gupna inherited intelligence by eating humans… then that would mean you've done the same. Are you trying to say you're different?"
Mujika bowed her head shyly. "I…I am. I was raised with our ancient history and the knowledge of our sins. I was taught why it was wrong to eat fellow intelligent beings, why we shouldn't be a part of the bigger world, all because of what Synthia's spawn did. That spirit caused the disaster that would endanger the larger species while converting us into monsters. My ancestor and Malarko worked together to defeat the evil spawn and seal it inside a great seed. The curse wore off and our races returned to our normal sizes. But without human diets, their intelligence and forms began to deteriorate. The Minish drove our reduced forms back underground, while my family continued to look over the spirit's seed."
"Hmm…" Cheren looked over the tiny girl with sympathy. "So, the Gupna weren't exactly at fault. They were just acting on predatorial instinct. But after gaining intelligence… I'm not sure if I can feel bad for them."
"We're monsters. That's what we were raised to know. Some of the Gupna resorted to eating each other to keep that residual intelligence. And my family was cursed with remembering all of this… so that we could keep our race in check."
She looked up when a giant finger lay before her. Cheren sported a warm smile. "I'm sorry you were stuck with this burden. Thanks for helping us."
"Uhh…" Mujika blushed.
"Hehe, he's got a soft spot for cute girls." Index giggled.
"He ain't the only one." Rupert plopped a hand to Mujika's back. "No matter who's at fault here, you're certainly not a monster!"
"Um…thank you."
"So, how did Plankton come into the picture?" Lenari asked.
"Plankton appeared a couple years ago. He came leading an army of mutant Pikmin…"
About three years ago
Plankton sat buried in the underground for months. Every once in a while, sunlight would peer through the earth onto his patch. His twin leaves grew into buds. And eventually, those buds blossomed into flowers.
Near him was a small fleet of Onions. The Onions that once belonged to Malarko, containing his thousands of Pikmin. Those Pikmin would come out of the Onions now and then to collect food and sunlight. They would check on the recently-planted Pikmin with two antennae. They were joyous when the Pikmin finally grew flowers… but when they came to see these flowers, a noxious green gas sprayed from them. The Pikmin became ugly green cyclops. They lured out the other Pikmin in the Onions and had them cursed.
"Urrrrh…urrrrh…hurrrrr-YAH!" Plankton pulled himself out of the ground. "Man, how long was I out? Huh?" He looked over the small army of devious minions. "Ahhh…so, that's what was happening!" His conniving mind already began formulating the potential. "Heh heh heh… Congratulations! You are the first Pikmin in the new Plankton Army! Our first job will be to build up our numbers. Once we have enough, world domination can resume production!"
For the next year, Plankton began harvesting the creatures of the underground, converting them into more Pikmin. He turned most of them into nasty minions that he began to call Plankmin, but he learned to control the normal ones, too. And in the midst of his underground travels… "What in Neptune's name?"
It was an underground garden of glowing, violet flowers. And wandering amongst these flowers were millions of tiny creatures. "Ow!" When Plankton stepped into their territory, some of them tried to bite his stubby legs. "Well, we're hungry today, aren't we? Have a taste of this!" He sprayed his green gas over the creatures. "Now, bow to me!" The creatures bowed. "Ah, so this works on you, too, eh? I don't know what good these tiny minions will bring, but the more the merrier!"
We called our home Neverland. Named for the promise that we would never return to the realms above.
Plankton trampled around the entire flower cavern and infested all the helpless creatures. Eventually, he reached the center of the cavern, where it seemed a large (normal size) seed was mounted on a spire. The curious Pikmin decided to travel up the spire, infecting any more of the creatures in his wake.
"STOP!" A group of Gupna in robes stood before the seed, their hands raised as they projected a barrier to block the cyclops. "Begone, monster! No one must disturb this seed!"
"Oh, lookie! Some of them are trying to resist! Out of the way, fools!" Plankton ordered his Pikmin to begin pounding the barrier, and he himself lent his strength. The sacred forcefield was overwhelmed by the combined forces, even as some Pikmin decayed from exhaustion.
"AAAAAHHHH!" The Gupna screamed as Plankton's gas suffocated them. A younger Mujika watched horrifically from within a tiny crack, her family having hid her there before the cyclops arrived.
"Hmmm…doesn't seem to work on you." Plankton observed. "That's a shame. KERSPLAT!"
Mujika would pale as her family's lives were ended beneath Plankton's foot. The cyclops grabbed a ripple in the seed and tore it open—"EEE!" he seemed to vanish on the spot.
Plankton was afloat in a vast, monochrome space composed of millions of cells. "Ah…when was the last time I had a visitor?" a voice asked. A spirit with a white, cellular body, and a head composed of horns and a large eye looked over him.
"…!" Plankton's own eye widened at seeing him. "Wait… haven't I met you before?"
"I've never seen you… however, you do possess a familiar aura. I wonder if, perhaps… you've met one of my others?"
"Others? You mean there were more of you?"
"Yes… I was the one left on this planet. Left to oversee the Gupna. Allow me to explain…"
Mujika waited outside the seed for a while, wondering what could be happening. But suddenly, Plankton exploded back out to normal size. "Heh heh heh heh…how could I be more lucky? With this power… there will be no one to stop me from conquering the world! COME, GUPNA! Let us prepare for our revenge! Let's make Earth SUFFER for what they did to you! AH HA HA HA HAAA!"
Plankton used his newfound power to produce Shrinking Vida, flowers that could channel the spirit's chi. I knew I couldn't wait in my hiding spot forever, so I left and tried to find other Gupna that could help me. But I wound up being run out of Neverland. Even with their limited intelligence, the Gupna despised my family. They despised the fact we got to remain beautiful and pure. I had no one else to turn to, and my only choice was to leave. I wandered the underground for a long time… until eventually…
Mujika gasped: a huge, pink creature with a flower antenna and blue eyes peered over her. It was a Wing Pikmin. …The Pikmin reached and patted the tiny girl, Mujika flinching. But once she felt no ill intent… Mujika walked closer and patted its face, barely a tickle to the Pikmin. The winged creature picked Mujika up and put her on its head.
I made friends with a lone Wing Pikmin that had no Onion. She helped carry me around, attacked small prey to feed both of us, and she was able to produce more Wing-types over time. With their help, I began to track down Plankton's movements, learning that he set up farms and was planning to implant the Shrinking Vidas into the Treehouse Roots. I tried to warn the Minish of his evil plan… but they wouldn't listen.
A pair of Minish were staring curiously at the group of Wing Pikmin. There seemed to be a tiny, white "ant" in one's hands. Its teeny voice was incomprehensible. "Plankton'sgonnashrinkallthetreehouses, hehasfarmsallovertheplace, wehavetostophim, heenslavedallmypeopleandkilledmyparents, pleasewehavetodosomething…"
"What kind of bug is that?" one Minish wondered.
"I dunno. Maybe these Pikmin want us to squish it."
"Let's!"
"AAAH!" Mujika screamed, and the Pikmin fled before their master could be crushed.
It wasn't until Plankton carried out his plan that I was able to talk to you like this. By shrinking the KND down, we Gupna were able to grow once again.
Current time
Mujika patted a Wing Pikmin on the cheek. The very same one that first helped her. "So, that's why you couldn't do anything before." Timmy figured.
"Yeah. I tried to get the attention of other Minish, but I was just a bug to them. If it weren't for these Pikmin… I would be too helpless to do anything."
Rupert gently turned her to face him, pulling her mask off. Mujika's vertical eyes were on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry… It's my fault for not finishing Plankton off. I thought he would be more peaceful as a Pikmin. Heck, I didn't even think he would keep his intelligence."
"When intelligent creatures are converted into Pikmin, they become special hybrids." Lenari explained. "They can even influence other Pikmin with their pollen. I guess we should've gone down to check on him, but everything was so dramatic back then that it sort of… slipped from our minds."
"But we should've." Rupert said. "Because of us…" she had to watch her family die.
"It's alright." Mujika replied. "We're all just monsters in the end-"
"Don't say that!" Timmy shouted. "No matter if you're monsters, you shouldn't be alright! You should've told me that earlier! Plankton needs to pay for what he did to your family!"
"I…I know he has to be stopped, but… we Gupna are beneath the larger species. We did terrible things-"
"Hey, quit lying to us." Cheren stated. Mujika craned her head up at the human leader's strict visage. In her former size, she could barely comprehend the presence of a full-size human, let alone be acknowledged by one as any more than a microscopic blur in the eye. She never imagined a human would look at or speak to her so compassionately. "I can see your tears even from here. Tell us what you really want."
"Yeah, Mujika." Index smiled warmly. "If you want us to help, you have to be honest with us. You're not beneath us, anymore."
Mujika never imagined humans would care for her this much. She was less than an insect to the humans… but now their eyes were level. "I…I…" She let the tears flow and spoke the truth. "I wanna kill Plankton! I want him to pay for what he did!"
"That's what I like to hear!" Cheren smiled. "Now, you said Plankton planted those flowers in the Treehouse Roots, right?"
"Yes. If we can destroy the Vida Seeds in the roots, that may be able to save the treehouses. But that wouldn't stop any other Vidas he planted in the farms. We may have to find Plankton and force out the piece of Synthia that he absorbed… even if it means destroying him completely. But now he has Synthia in his grasp. If he's able to absorb her power as well… there's no telling if we'll stop him."
"Then we better stop him as soon as possible!" Lenari decided. "Where is Plankton's hideout? Is he using Neverland as a base?"
"I don't think he ever returned to Neverland since the liberation. I've been trying to investigate the farms, but I don't think I even found them all."
"Then I guess we have some work ahead of us." Rupert smirked. "We need to liberate the farms, anyway. Mujika, can you tell us the locations of any farms you know about?"
"Yeah! There's one in…"
Lenari wrote the list down and Index simply recorded it in her Perfect Memory. "Let's return to Moonbase and tell the others about these places." Cheren said. "Index, you wanna come? We should check on your teammates."
"Not before I return to normal first! Since I wasn't exposed to the flowers, all I should need is Minish Dust antidote!"
"We'll get you fixed up." Lenari agreed.
"Hey, Muji." Rupert said. "One of those farms you said was the Parky's Farm, right?"
"Yeah. I think it's in Ohio somewhere."
"Before we were separated, I think Plankton ordered his minions to take Sappo there!"
"Sappo's there?!" Lenari exclaimed.
"Why don't we make that our next mission? We'll go to Parky's Farm and save Sappo! I'll be counting on both of you!"
"M…Me?" Mujika asked.
"Yeah, Muji! We'll need you to help us find it. And once we get Sappo back, he can help you get back at Plankton!"
"Then… I'll keep helping you!"
"Um, Rupert…" Timothy began nervously. "To be honest… I also wanted to fly home and check on my sister. I know our house isn't too close to Sector V, but I still wanna make sure…"
"Oh…well, sure! We can do that first!"
"No, we don't have to go together. You're way better at Pikmin than I am. I just wanna check on Hikari, then I'll try to meet up with you guys."
"Well… okay. But it's gonna be hard without both of my best buds. Besides, I was just captured!"
"Only because of an ambush! I'm sure you'll be fine this time. You're the best Pikmineer there is!"
"I know, but you better be careful yourself! If you're flying out there, maybe you could check on Lilac, Berry, and my parents for me. I wanna hope they didn't wander by the treehouses. Tell them about what's happening."
"Provided those cats don't eat me first."
"D'aw, Lilac just wants to kiss you!" Rupert slapped his belly.
"Ahem." Lenari coughed. "Not that the banter isn't sweet, but you really should get moving."
"Ah, sorry." Rupert blushed. "Well, be back soon, Timmy."
"You got it, Rupee!"
Rupert lent Timothy some Pikmin, and both friends went to separate ships. Mujika boarded Rupert's Celery as his Pikmin began to operate it. "Let's go!"
KND Moonbase
Once Index was restored to normal size, Cheren flew her back up to Moonbase. On their way out of the hangar, they walked by Sector MG, accompanied by their newest companion, Victini. "Heh, I guess it's a good thing we decided to stay on Mushroom for a while." Index heard Romeo say.
"Yeah! It sure was lucky~!" Maria emphasized.
"Come on, Maria, have a little more sympathy for the others." Wendy said.
"I wonder if the Newborn would be affected by these flowers?" Romeo thought aloud. "Maybe we could send Victini to help other operatives."
"(What if I end up shrunk, too?)"
"It would be an improvement." Maria remarked.
"Victiiii!"
Index raced to the cafeteria, where several glass cages were placed on tables with operatives standing guard near them. Among these ops were three of Index's teammates, Morgiana, Goombella, and their newest cadet, Asada Shino. "Index!" Goombella exclaimed. "You're still normal!"
"Well, I am now!" Index ran to join her team. "I was never exposed to the flowers."
"Neither were we! Like, I am SO glad that announcement came right before I decided to come to the treehouse, that was super lucky!"
"And I was still staying at Shino's place." Morg said. "I guess I owe her one."
"Heh, don't mention it." Shino smiled. "Unfortunately, our leader wasn't so lucky."
It was then Index studied the cage beside them. A quarter-inch Nagisa was resting in it. "Oh, dear."
"Yeah…" Morg frowned, looking over her boyfriend. "He stayed at the treehouse to watch out for missions."
"It's not a big deal." Nagisa said relaxedly. "It just means I get to kick back. My lovely ladies can take care of things for a while."
"What a model leader you are." Shino remarked.
"Well, Morgiana's the temporary leader now. I wouldn't trust anyone more!"
"Heh heh…" The Fanalis blushed.
"MAN, this sucks!" Jinta complained. The tiny JP operatives were eating bread crumbs that the full-size Yuzu sprinkled in their cage. "We barely recover from that Miyuki bullshit, now we have to live like bugs?!"
"Jinta, don't yell while you eat." Yuzu scolded.
"Gourmerry!"
"You two shut up! You're lucky you decided to work on Moonbase today!"
"I mean… we agreed that Megumi could fulfill my duties for a bit while I worked up here."
The blue-haired cadet in question looked on in surprise. "You hear that, Megumi?" Ururu smiled. "Thanks to you, Yuzu was able to stay big! Otherwise, you would've been at Arctic Base and gotten shrunk anyway, right?"
"Ehehehe… that's an awkward thing to take pride in." Megumi blushed.
"But yeah, these kinds of crises are pretty common in the KND." Karin said. "I hope you're sure about joining us."
"Well, at least I can still defend myself. But Ah don't reckon I'll be able to cook much like this."
Index observed the operatives present. "I see… These are all sectors who weren't stationed close to towns."
"Yep." Goombella affirmed. "The Minish helped recover them. Meanwhile, the town-based sectors are searching for any civilians that were caught up in the shrinking. Francis also contacted GUN and had them help other civilians evacuate."
"That's good… Anyway, Cheren and I just learned what caused all this." She began to recap the story.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Base cadets were inside their own cage, ordered by Marcus to spar with each other. Kazuma, a tan-skinned Japanese cadet, cast a glare to his side after hearing that. "So, that must be where they are."
"Yo, what's the matter?" asked Lexi Kubota, dealing karate chops and kicks against the taller boy. Kazuma merely blocked with his arms, until she jabbed against his head, did a swipe-kick, and knocked him down.
"Focus, Ikezawa!" Marcus ordered. "Just because you're puny, it don't mean you can't fight!"
"Why can't I go down and fight with my new team?!" Kazuma got up and resumed defending. "I don't wanna just wait around in this bug cage!"
"Cadets shouldn't have to take part in large incidents like this. You're not experienced enough."
"I helped in fricking Aincrad! I have experience already!" He threw a punch at Lexi's head, knocking her over with strong force.
"OW!" Lexi rubbed her jaw, spitting some teeth out. "Hmph…y'know, maybe he should."
"Fine then." Marcus stepped up. "Let's see if you're tough enough to handle me."
Kazuma glared and balled his fists. He threw fakeout punches, knowing Marcus would just catch them. He ducked right—but then went left, thrusting an uppercut, but Marcus craned back and grabbed his arm. He shoved Kazuma to the floor, pinning him as the cadet tried to struggle.
"Yo, Chef Yuzu!" The JP chef turned. A red-haired boy in a baseball jersey and tan skin approached.
"Masaru!" Yuzu was surprised to find the Hope Pirates. "What're you all doing here?"
"GKND contacted us." answered Shingetsu, the blue-haired boy in gray, patterned shirt and shorts. "They requested assistance from any available alien operatives. We've already been informed of the crisis."
"And they don't get more alien than Nagisa or Jataro!" Kotoko teased.
"Aren't you part-Fanalis?" Masaru asked. "You're alien, too!"
"Whatever! So…" she looked around, "is Yuta in any of these cages?"
"Sector L?" Yuzu asked. "I think they're still in their treehouse."
"Oh…"
"What about Carmine's team?" Jataro approached one of the cages. "…?" He recognized someone familiar. A tan boy being wrestled against the floor.
Still struggling to escape Marcus's grip, Kazuma looked up. "!" A pair of dumb-looking, pale eyes watched his struggle. The very same, stupid boy with soft light-brown hair and an expression only a loser would have. Jataro still had the bruise that Kazuma embedded in his head. Was this idiot seriously looking down on him like a zoo display? Was he being entertained by Kazuma's struggle? It was seriously pissing him off. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?! GET LOST, DUMBASS!"
Jataro flinched and backed away from the cage. Yuzu cocked a brow at this. "Am I missing some context?"
"And that's basically the story." Index concluded.
"So, we'll need to take back the Treehouse Roots to hopefully fix everyone." Morgiana figured. "But I assume we'll be shrunk if we try to go there."
"Yeah." Goombella agreed. "The tiny operatives could go there, but the rest of us should probably stay big in case of other incidents."
"I'm not up for being shrunk either." Shino said. …She glanced over at the cadets' cage. Kazuma finally submitted as Marcus got off him. The dark-haired sniper approached the cage. "Excuse me? Instructor Marcus?"
The Drill Sergeant looked up at the giant cadet. "Nice to see you haven't been downsized, Phantom Bullet! But I hope you don't neglect your training."
"I know! That's why I was wondering if you could teach me Observation Haki. You suggested I should learn it."
"Why don't you look for Maddy Murphy? She's more of an expert than I am, and I got my hands full with these pipsqueaks."
"Haha! Okay, I will. Thanks, Instructor!" Shino walked off on that note.
She walked by Sector W7's table. April's cousin, Mary was playfully chasing the six girls around with her fingers. "If she wants to learn Observation, I wouldn't mind teaching her!" Aisa said. "I'd be glad to work with Morg's new friend."
"Gonna try and get her to lose the shoes?" Mocha remarked.
"She could be an earthbender." Aisa shrugged. "And I got nothin' else to do while I'm in here."
"Nothin' but play with Scary Mary!" Chimney shouted, trying to bite one of the fingers.
"At least Mary is a good caretaker." April smiled, splashing paint over one's nail.
"You know what's weird?" Apis asked, looking to Mocha and Aeincha. The Amazon was a few inches shorter than April, but taller than the rest of them, while Aeincha was taller than Chimney. "The flowers even matched Mocha and Aeincha with our sizes, but our heights are still different."
"Yeah, that is pretty weird, urh!" Mocha was wrestling with another finger. "I wonder how these flowers decided who was tall or short?"
"Hey, Sector W7?" They looked up at Larry MayHence. "The Minish secured two operatives from Sector GT. Is it alright if they share a cage with you?"
"Sector GT?" Mocha repeated. "Sure! Heh, this sure is a nice prison!"
"Heh heh…" Larry lowered his finger. Doran Dodley, the orange-clothed and skinned boy, climbed off with Biyo Winston, a big-headed boy that was notably shorter than them.
"Doran!" Apis ran to him.
"Wow, now we have boy dollies!" Mary beamed. "I'll match Apis with her boyfriend, but who should the other boy get?"
"Mary!" Apis yelled up in a blush. "Doran, where are the other members?"
"Th-th-they were captured." Biyo whimpered. "Konbu threw himself at the monsters so I could run. I was saved by the Minish."
"Sind and I were together in the garden." Doran said. "We were able to fight the monsters off before the Minish came. But Sind decided to let himself get captured so he could go help the others! He said… he was tired of being a cowardly giant!"
"Some of the Minish followed after him." Biyo said. "I really hope… they make it back."
Parky's Farm
Twilight was looming over the farm, but children were still happily frolicking around. Some enjoyed the decorative orange lights and fireflies that kept the park lively at night.
Sind Diego bolted from the pursuing Gupna, a small herd of Orange Pikmin following him. Unfortunately, two more of the monsters intercepted him. "You're a fast one, boyo! I bet you taste extra spicy!"
"I'll show you extra spicy!" Sind leapt and threw a kick at one's skull.