The Burning: Prologue (Pikmin AU story)
TRAUMA WARNING!! Scenes of fire and painful injury/mild blood
Alph felt like he was going to throw up.
The S.S. Drake was losing altitude. Somehow, they weren’t able to clear PNF 404’s atmosphere and the ship was sent hurling downward. All of the warning lights were on at once, only made worse by the tears blurring his vision. He was yelled at by the Captain to fix it. How could he? There was no way to fix everything at once!
How could this happen? I checked everything; it was fine. Everything was fine.
The clouds were disappearing and the tree would soon become visible. Charlie was panicked, screaming vague orders to do something and Brittany was just screaming for the sake of it. Alph couldn’t take it anymore. There wasn’t anything he could do.
He cried. The ship hit the ground.
Something scraped and then cracked violently. Pain ripped through his side and his head began to swim. Fire blazed through the bridge and the smell of blood was strong in his nose. It was likely his own.
How could I let this happen?
Someone tugged at him, causing his eyes to painfully snap open for a second. Olimar was trying to free him. Only then did Alph fully realize what had happened to him.
I can’t feel my legs. I can’t-
A support beam had fallen on him, and a patch of fire licked at the soles of his feet. Charlie was knocked out and Brittney tried in vain to bean everyone out of the ship. The ship creaked as if in agony itself.
Wait, where’s … Louie?
“Alph! Alph, listen to me! Grab on to my shoulders! You need-”
He’s in the cargo hold. I requested that he be put there, in case he interfered with take-off. He’s still tied up. H-he couldn’t even get out if he wanted to.
This is all my fault.
Olimar’s words fell on deaf ears. In fact, Alph heard nothing but a dull ringing. He shut his eyes.
The last thing he felt was Olimar gently hugging his neck.
“Automatic fire suppression system activated.”