Decomposing Citadel

Decomposing Citadel is the first level on Pikmin: Ultimate Doom. This is the area where the effects of the Breakdown are most evident. Olimar and Louie were assigned to clean up the area for treasure excavation. There are many bug-like enemies here such as the Beady Long Legs, Angry Dweevils and Decorated Cannon Beetles. This area is large in size and has three caves. Found here is Red Pikmin and their onion. This area is completely littered by Lilas.

The player may wish to explore all of the area at first, but can not pass a certain point from the landing site due to a flooded pond. When Blue Pikmin are acquired, the player can destroy the classic drain corks in the pond basin. But beware; the flooded pond is full of Infected Amphitubers.

Points of Interest
At the entrance to Titan's Denizen, there is a massive tree stump with a single metal rod protruding from it. The deep scorch marks on the bark and metal suggest that there were fire fights here thousands of years ago. If you command your Pikmin to attack the giant stump it actually reveals a strange metal object with deep scorch and rust marks on it. Attempting to attack this object repels your Pikmin a good distance away. If left idle, Pikmin nearby this object seem to be drawn to this strange artifact.

After the Beady Long Legs is killed, a small clearing opens up nearby. Inside is a large rod made of some wood/metal hybrid material with a vibrating aura around it. When Pikmin are ordered to unearth it or attack it, they panic as if a Mitite was attacking them. Also, every two minutes this strange staff lets out an electric charge, killing all Pikmin save yellows nearby. Caution is suggested when examining this artifact. The nature of this artifact suggests that it is man-made, but no further research can continue about these artifacts, under a strange automatic order from Hocotate.

Caves

 * The Basement
 * Dead Den
 * Parasite Pit
 * Titan's Denizen

Area Story
When the player first visits this area, the words Decomposing Citadel appear on the bottom of the screen, slowly fading into ashes. The Trailblazer sits atop a fairly higher up hill, with rotting tree roots nearby. Surrounding the landing site in an oval is a shallow pond of brackish water, making passage only viable for Blue Pikmin. Not too far away from a small cliff next to the landing site, a strange circular pattern of white grass separates the burned ground from the healthy grass, and a hibernating Red Onion is burrowed in the center of this circular area. Olimar and Louie approach the Onion and predict that it will spring to life. Instead, it sits there, motionless. Olimar notes this strange anomaly and attempts to awaken the still mothership. Louie grabs the lower rim of the Onion and uses all the strength he can muster to partially lift it out of the ground. His space suit flashes a blue color and a metal cycling sound can be heard. Olimar jumps up and gets on the other side of the Onion, lifting also. It lifts up even higher, and together they lift it as much as they can. Olimar’s suit glows red while Louie’s suit glows blue and a button prompting the player to rapidly tap “A” is shown above Olimar’s head. When it is tapped enough, a button prompting the player to rapidly tap “B” is shown above Louie’s head. When that is tapped enough, both button prompts are shown and the player taps both for about four seconds, successfully uprooting the Onion. The two Hocotanians’ suits quit glowing and the Onion plops on the ground, still dull red. Its legs do not unfold and it awkwardly falls at an angle, resting on uneven ground. Olimar makes a curious sound and Louie sighs, just as the Onion’s flower starts spinning. Louie’s eyes partially come out but then recede as the flower stops spinning. Louie turns away just before a small tree stump pops out of nowhere next to the dormant Onion. Louie spins around in shock whilst Olimar creeps over to the tree stump. A single vine breaks through the sturdy bark and whips around Olimar, tightly grabbing him. He struggles as Louie paces around, and more tree stumps unearth themselves. Many vines form together to wrap around Olimar, who is already covered in vines. Most of the tree stumps recede and Olimar sinks into the ground. A few of the remaining tree stumps smack Louie as he sprints away, effectively scaring the heck out of him. He finally reaches the Trailblazer and types a distress message to the space station, closing the boarding ramp and turning off all of the ship’s lights in total fear. Back at the Onion, vines pull the Onion’s legs back into the dirt, returning it into the state it originally was before the unsuspecting Hocotanians arrived.

A day later, Louie is sitting in the dark, cold ship still shaking. He gets a message saying to deal with it himself. He gulps as he carefully walks over to the armory pod. He punches in a code and it unlocks the pod, readying it for his use. He pulls the pod bay door up, stepping inside with reluctance. The door closes and Louie is surrounded with mechanical arms. His space suit is fitted around him, every part of it locked in place. His cryptic-looking helmet is lowered down onto his head, fitting perfectly. It locks with a shrill squeal and his breath fogs up the helmet’s visor. It automatically clears and he reaches over to the titanium-plated console to unlock the door, but it won’t accept his code. Soon the console retracts into the wall, locking Louie inside the pod. Louie makes a curious sound and paces around the small capsule for a room. Finally he walks over to the steel door and pushes as hard as he can on it. The dim room glows deep blue as he struggles to open the door. He then decides to try and ram the door, slamming it open and knocking him down. His visor gets a tiny crack on the bottom left, and he gets up. As he brushes himself off, his suit’s blue glow fades. Rushing over to the exit room, he grabs a small device in case he needs it and tries to open the boarding ramp. It won’t open, and he walks over to the emergency power switch, pushing it. Orange tungsten lights flash on, blinding Louie for a second. He puts his hand up to his visor while his vision returns to normal, and sees a strange figure in front of him. Naturally he freaks out and backs up quickly, gripping the device. The silhouette turns out to be a familiar sight- a Red Pikmin! Louie sighs with relief and walks over to the Pikmin. It has its leaf primed for combat, shuddering with fear. As the metal-clad Louie stomps closer to the Pikmin, it shakes harder. Louie flinches in confusion for a second but then realizes he needs to take his helmet off. He checks to see if the ship’s life support systems are online. It is online, so he takes his helmet off by twisting three separate locks on three neck locations. Holding the helmet with one hand, he extends the other arm out to the cowering Pikmin. The Pikmin makes a squeal of joy and jumps on Louie’s arm, dancing around. Then the Red Pikmin jumps off and signals to go outside. Louie sighs and puts his helmet back on. He opens the boarding ramp to see a group of four other Red Pikmin, and nods with triumph.