Requested by 696969withknuckles 

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   The sun was being quite expressive today. It laid on the blue sky as clear as day and brighter than any star in the Milky Way, although its rays were gentle on the life below. The heat was bearable and a breeze occasionally accompanied it.

  For ___, it was the perfect time to do what they did best: gardening. They wore thick clothing and gloves and had all of their materials they needed. They opened the door to the house and took a deep breath of all the flowers that thrived in their soil. The flowers gently swayed to the breeze as each species was assorted in rows. All flushed and full of color.

   ____ couldn't think of where to start. So much to choose from, yet with so little time since they had to work in the Smash Cafe in Smashville. They decided it was simple to just trim some of the roses and lilies in the front. Those plants seem to be growing at an outrageous rate to the point they might compete with each other for sunlight, causing disproportions in size. That has no business in ___'s garden.

   So they got out special scissors and knelled carefully next to the batch of lilies and roses carefully enough to not do any harm to not cause any unneeded damage.

   Her first target was a lily that was the largest of them all and began trimming away petals, tiny branches, and buds. She did it to every lily that needed a trim. After she reached the last one, she noticed right next to it was a lily that never even bloomed.

   "This one should have bloomed already," ___ said. All the lilies were planted at the same time, and so she didn't know why wasn't fully grown. "Could be a late bloomer." Perhaps a possible explanation, but not for sure.

   They closely examined it. It doesn't look harmed or scribbled, and so bugs weren't the problem slowing down its process. Nether-less, it was a special lily. It looked so fresher and livelier than the rest of the lilies. "It definitely is a beauty." ___ couldn't help but stroke its underdeveloped petals.

   As soon as they touched it, a small shriek came from underground, muffled by the soil. ____ pulled away as they watched the plant sink into the ground, leaving a pit behind. But once they look down the pit, nothing was down there. "The hell was that?"

   It could of have been some sort of animals like a mole or ground squirrel, but no ground animal was that strong enough to pull down a whole plant underground in just the matter o seconds. What kind of creature could have done this? Was there creatures native to Smashville that ___ had no knowledge of? All these questions swirled in their head to make sense of what happened.

   Suddenly, more and more plants started disappearing. ___ could feel the very Earth morphing under their feet like some monster was crawling through the depths of their garden. Without saying a single word, they dashed into their home, leaving the "beast" to do whatever bidding it was doing.

   They slammed the door shut and ran up the stairs to their room. They locked the door and crashed onto their bed where they could at least find some source of comfort, not even caring it the dirt rubs off of them and onto their sheets. They clutched their heart, feeling it popping in and out of their very palms. They couldn't even mutter any words, just sat there like a deer in headlights.

  'What the hell is going on? What is happening?,' they thought repeatedly in their head. After a minute of questioning their existence, ___ pulled back the blinds to their room and looked down at their garden. The dirt wasn't moving, yet the flowers remained missing. That doesn't mean that they thought it was near approachable.

   They couldn't steer their eyes off of the sight until their phone rang. They jumped at first but realized it was just their alarm. They rolled their eyes at their own silliness, pulled out the phone, and disabled the alarm. That was the queue to get ready for work. They sighed, knowing that they couldn't skip a day of work. They couldn't use their garden mishap as their excuse. What boss would believe that the reason you couldn't go to work was that of a "garden monster". It could perhaps be an illusion, and so ___ sucked it up and got ready for work.

   "I-I'm just going through the back door," ____ said pitifully.

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___ spent hours upon hours of filling out super specific coffee. They were dashing from every corner of the store to get the ingredients they needed for just one order. Yet, that was usual for them. They had to work hard to get that "paper" she needed for her house and other essentials.

  Eventually, the torture was over and the evening was settling in. Although, they still had to walk home, which took about ten minutes, but still tiring, especially from sore legs. They slumped as they walked, making them look like some coffee shop employee zombie. "I wish I had a car." They groaned.

   Thankfully, they reached home and they immediately plopped onto the bed. They smelled like cocoa beans but the dirt from early gave it an earthy ting to it. 'Just like my garden,' they thought as they closed their eyes and smiled. Then their eyes shot open. "That's right, the garden!"

   ____ peered out their window once more. Like earlier, the ground wasn't morphing and the missing flowers were still missing, but that wasn't what they were staring at. Tiny creatures smaller than ___'s arms were scurrying around the garden. Some playing chase, others sat on the ground and ate the dirt, or sang in shrill voices.

   "Lord, just kill me. Kill me now. I just want this to be a normal day!" ___ began banging their head with their fists. Something has to be done!

   They went to their closet and got out a broom. "Yes, this will do nicely." A wild grin appeared on their face. "They will think twice about destroying my beloved garden! B-besides, this all a dream! No harm in doing so! Haha!"

   ____ barged out the door, the door slamming against the wall. The slam caused the plant creatures to stop all activities to focus their attention on them. "Come 'ere pretties! Want the taste of my broom?"

   They all shrieked and scrambled along the garden. It was dark out and their nimble bodies were identical to the flowers, but ___ swung the broom anyway, not even knowing if they hit their target.

   "I'll get every single one of you!" They screamed, causing a few neighbors to look out their windows to see what the commotion was all about.

   After each swing, petals, dirt, and all sorts of greenery were tossed into the air as ___ pursued the creatures. They completely lost their mind at this point.

   "No! Please, stop!" ___ heard a masculine voice pleading them to stop. They turned around to see a little man in a space suit.

   "Olimar?" ___ said with disbelief and lowered their broom. That explained it all! The oddly colored plants were his minions, the Pikmin.

   Olimar stopped right infront of them and was panting like a madman. "S-sorry for the mishap!" When they spotted their leader, the Pikmin ran towards him and formed a line behind him.

   "N-no, I should be sorry. I almost hurt them. They were in my garden and I just freaked out when I saw them."

   "It's fine, this usually happens."

   "It does?!"

   Olimar rubbed the back of his helmet and chuckled dryly. "Er, yeah. You see, I plant them in the garden of the smash mansion as seedlings. Although, they left as soon as they grew arms and legs."

   "And so they go into other people's gardens?"

   "Precisely! I don't know why this is, but I have a theory is that they prefer certain conditions that other gardens have that our garden lacks." Olimar smiled. "As I approached, I saw them enjoying your lovely garden."

  ___ took a glance at their garden and only saw flowers that were torn to shreds and pieces of dirt lying on top of them, crumbling them under their weight. Even the ones that weren't assaulted by the broom started to wilt from the Pikmin's activities that caused much stress for them.

   He saw the pain in their face from the horror you just witnessed and winced. "Well, ugh, once lovely. I'm sure we can fix it."

   ____ sighed, knowing that will be the only solution to make this garden great again. "Yeah, I suppose."

   "H-How about I help you? You can teach me how to garden and I'll incorporate those teachings into the mansion's garden."

   Hell, what else do they have to lose? Mind as well since extra hands will increase the process. Besides, learning more about the lovable smasher would be fun. "Why not?" They shrugged. "Meet me in the morning."

   "Excellent! I shall bring the Pikmin as well. Don't fret, I'll keep them in check." Olimar waved goodbye and went off with the Pikmin as he whistled. ___ watched as the Pikmin ran in circles around him as they sang along with his whistling.

  ___ couldn't lie, they were really adorable and so was Olimar. They chuckled and looked at the destruction of the garden once more, knowing the amount of work that was about to come. "Tomorrow's gonna be one hell of a day." Yet, that only made them chuckle even harder and they went inside for a long night's rest.