CHAPTER 28: Failure and Disgrace
We plants spilled out onto the arena. First, we just had to deal with regular zombies. I took them out with a few peas to the head.
"Hey ― spread out!" I hissed through the corner of my mouth.
"Fight them with fire! Fire, I say!" Roosevelta yelled as she punched a balloon zombie out of the way.
"Punchy-punchies won't always work, Dahria coward!" Zomboss yelled through a bullhorn. "
Tear them apart, Roosie." Carol whispered as Roosevelta's face threatened to become drowned in tears.
Using her anger as her strength, she started kicking and rolling to the other end of the arena.
"This is how we roll!" Mareya sang as she attracted metal objects and tossed them at the incoming Coneheads.
"Gaahh!" they croaked as their heads popped off.
"Interesting technique you got there, Mareya . . ." I mumbled.
Just then, something that looked like a greenish bird soared over me.
"Pole vaulting zombie at six o'clock, Elyssia!" Albert warned me.
I turned around 180 degrees, and there was a pole vaulting zombie.
"Prepare to die!" I yelled as I sent one of my icy jets at the zombie, decapitating it in an instant.
"Heeyyy, that's cheating!" an Imp complained as he came charging towards me, a gun in his hand.
The crowd of zombies agreed spontaneously with boos and derogatory shouts, while the crowd of plants was screaming with delight, and Crazy Dave was hooting and hollering.
"God damn you to hell!" Temi growled as he scraped his roots in the dirt and came rushing over to the Imp.
But at that moment, Martin charged towards it, and the two Chompers ended up crashing into each other, and getting into a heated argument over who should eat the dead Imp, cussing each other out in the process.
"Hey ― teamwork, you two! The ones who argue get absolutely nothing, and go absolutely nowhere!" I reminded them as I separated them.
"Temi, tackle the left. Martin, tackle the right."
Going off in their own directions, that left me and an army of Bucketheads. Because Mareya was busy killing off football zombies, that left me without an assistant on this battlefield. As I counted them, I realized that there were well over three hundred.
"God be with me . . ." I mumbled as I looked at the crowd of zombies.
"Yes, say your prayers, Maccabaeus girl!" Ash taunted through yet another bullhorn.
Adrenalin pumping through my veins, I launched a huge blast of ice at the huge, seemingly invincible army. Just when I thought I had got them, my ice had deflected because of some paranormal, supernatural power, and ended up hitting me.
Next thing I knew, I was sinking to the ground, and finally, I out for the count.
I woke up on a cold bench of some sort. Everyone in my team was gathered around me . . .
. . . And they looked as pissed as heck.
"You damn disgrace!" Roosevelta yelled as she yanked me into an upright position, causing me to become extremely dizzy.
"We lost, and it'll be on our heads! Not only did you just disgrace us, but you just disgraced the whole entire plant race!" she screeched.
"Roose, wait!" Mareya tried to protest, but to no avail.
"Shut the hell up, Mareya, and put some dog crap in order." Brian growled.
"Yeah, spring clean your brain of all that water and crap ― if you have one left!" Albert taunted.
Temi put a leaf on my stem. Martin held my leaf, while Mareya bowed her head.
"Thanks guys. At least y'all don't think I'm a failure . . ." I murmured as I wiped away my tears and stood up.
I walked around, taking no notice of the weird photos of war zones on the walls. I realized that I was walking into some sort of haunted hallway, for there were cobwebs everywhere, and I could have sworn that I saw the ghosts of several angst ridden plants walking about before disappearing the next second. Just then, a yell shook me out of my thoughts.
"Elyssia!" I turned around, and I saw Peater walking towards me, a look of anger on his face, and a bandage on his head.
When he came close enough to me, he gave me a thick skinned slap.
"You truly are an idiot. You're a disgrace, and you'll never look before you leap!" I gasped, and staggered backwards. I then had an extremely violent flashback.
FLASHBACK TO A CRAZY LONG TIME AGO
"Elyssia, today's the day. The day you'll have your tests. Don't disgrace us, or else there'll be hell to pay." my mother reminded me as she laced ribbons into my crystals.
"Okay mom . . . I'll try my best . . ." I mumbled as I grabbed my bag and went out the door.
"Hey, girl! You'll fail. I'm positive!" Ellen jeered as I sat in the classroom, impatiently waiting for the test book.
"Dream on." I whispered. Albert and Brian winked at each other.
"Elyssia's so dumb, that she'd probably drown in .7 millilitres of water!" Brian yelled, for the whole class to hear.
"Yeah, Elsi's that dumb! She'd probably flunk out!" Albert snickered.
The whole class began to laugh ― and the teacher didn't even give a crap! I sank lower and lower into my seat as the jeers increased in volume. As the test was handed to me, it felt as if my mind had gone blank. I didn't know what the hell to do. I just rushed through . . .
"Elyssia, you disgrace!" my mother screeched as she came running up to me as I went along the sidewalk to my house.
She then cussed me out right then and there, for the whole street to hear. She called me an ugly pimple, and that I was truly a mistake. Then came the worst: a slap. Plants and the occasional human would poke their head out of a window or a door and laugh. I started crying like crazy ― I wanted to kill myself at that second. I finally managed to run into the house, and up to my room. I'd give a leaf and a root to just run to Humber River, jump into the water and die of pneumonia ― when I realized that I couldn't die of cold temperatures . . .
PRESENT TIME
"See how stupid and foolish you are? Constantly disconnected from reality, trying to kill yourself wherever you go!" Peater yelled. I gasped, and felt my instincts take over, no matter how many times I tried to repeat my mantra.
Don't kill anybody today . . .
Don't kill anybody today . . .
To my mind, that was bullcrap, and once more, it felt like this beast was controlling me, turning my actions into a dream-like blur.
I started firing ice at Peater, when he finally grabbed me, swept me off the floor, and flipped me into submission. I got up and ran into my cell, feeling dismal.
