Chapter Warning: This chapter contains language and war violence
Perched upon the highest level of a creaking tower in Zomburbia was a heavily aged pirate captain named Captain Deadbeard. Captain Deadbeard was recruited by Dr. Zomboss after being discovered aboard a stranded ship, frozen in ice for roughly 400 years. After thawing him out and explaining the era he was now in, Dr. Zomboss trained him to use a sniper rifle (which doubled as a shrapnel shotgun) fitted with a spyglass for a scope so that he could assist in suppressing the Plant resistance. Captain Deadbeard was reclined against a wooden wall and fast asleep, while his parrot friend, named Cracker, rested on his shoulder and overlooked the city for him. Cracker had been modified with Zombie technology to be used as an aerial support drone, complete with laser weaponry and airstrike signaling.
Suddenly, Cracker spotted something in the distance. The Plant militia was advancing to the east side of the city, intending to break through the wall and invade. Cracker pecked the side of Deadbeard's head, immediately waking the old pirate.
"Wha? What is it Cracker?" Deadbeard cried out, rubbing his head where Cracker had pecked him.
Cracker pointed toward the distant Plants, causing Deadbeard to detach the spyglass from his weapon and peer through it to see what his parrot was telling him about.
"Avast! It be those scurvy Plants!" Deadbeard exclaimed.
Deadbeard reattached his spyglass and stood up on his peg leg, shaking as he tried to balance himself.
"Cracker! Alert the others! Alert Dr. Zomboss!" Deadbeard ordered his parrot.
Cracker squawked with obedience and took flight, heading towards the Foot Soldiers guarding the entrance to Zomburbia to warn them. Deadbeard loaded his weapon and cracked his neck, ready to take action.
"Time ta' crack some heads!" Deadbeard said to himself.
Deadbeard grabbed onto a wire connecting his tower to another tower with his hook hand and proceeded to slide down the wire. The wind blew swiftly against his beard and eyes as he accelerated faster and faster down the wire. There would come a time when Deadbeard would grow too old to use such an extreme form of traveling, but that day was not today.
"Yar har har!" Deadbeard yelled in exhilaration.
Agent Pea, Law Pea, Commando Pea and Peashooter had evaded the giant Zombot turrets by crawling through shrubbery and had reached the east wall of Zomburbia. They each took different sections of the wall to blast open with Chili Bean Bombs.
"Altogether now chaps." Agent Pea said.
"Ready…" Law Pea relayed to the others.
"NOW!" Peashooter cried out.
The peashooters tossed 4 Chili Bean Bombs toward their respective sections of the wall, fleeing from the area to avoid the resulting blast. After all of the Chili Beans had exploded, the Plants ran through the holes in the walls and began their mission.
"I will be leading some Weeds to my point. You do the same chaps." Agent Pea communicated to the other peashooters.
"Roger that." Peashooter responded.
Dr. Zomboss had contacted his future self and struck up a conversation with him, having nothing else to do on such an uneventful day.
"…and after that embarrassing incident, I never played tennis ever again! Ha ha ha!" Dr. Zomboss quipped.
"Yes, I know. I still don't want to play tennis." Future Zomboss concurred.
"However, it would seem that one of the All Stars was inspired by that incident, as later the next day, he asked me to create a weapon that would fire tennis balls at lethal velocities." Dr. Zomboss continued.
"Ah yes, the Tennis Star. I swear I can still hear him giggling at me, even when he's not around." Future Zomboss muttered.
"But you see, my future self, it raises a burning question. Do my actions directly affect you or not? I am your past self after all, so it would be logical for my decisions to change the course of the future and therefore alter your perception of the future, is it not?" Dr. Zomboss inquired.
"Well, you see…" Future Zomboss began to say, before being interrupted by a certain bird.
Cracker had flown into Dr. Zomboss' office and began squawking in an irritating manner.
"Argh! What is it you stupid bird?!" Dr. Zomboss angrily shouted.
Just then, an alarm notification came up on Dr. Zomboss' computer screen. Upon clicking it, the computer brought up camera feedback of the east wall being blasted open by Chili Beans and the Plants rushing through the resulting holes. Upon seeing this, Dr. Zomboss flew into a fury.
"Cursed Plants! Don't they know when to quit?!" Dr. Zomboss fumed.
"You would be astonished." Future Zomboss calmly responded.
Dr. Zomboss began inputting several commands into his computer to activate the Zomboss statues scattered throughout the city and spoke to all the Zombies via a microphone stand.
"Attention my undead minions! We have Plant intruders coming from the east! Head over there and crush them! Immediately! This is not a drill!" Dr. Zomboss commanded.
The camera feed, integrated into every statue in the city, displayed the Zombie citizens and soldiers rushing to the east wall, bringing any weapon they had with them. Foot Soldiers loaded their Z-1 Assault Blasters, All Stars carried their heavy Football Cannons, Scientists filled their weapons with Purple Goo #2, Engineers sped toward the battle on Jackhammers, and the Browncoats brought their Roadcones, Buckets, Screen Doors, and Flags. Dr. Zomboss grinned deviously, delighted by seeing such obedience and dedication to his cause.
"Ah, it feels good to yell every once in a while. Such an effective method of venting stress and frustration." Dr. Zomboss said as he reclined in his chair.
"Indeed." Future Zomboss agreed.
Dr. Zomboss suddenly glared at Cracker, who was confusedly looking around the room.
"Why are you still here? Go kill some Weeds!" Dr. Zomboss sharply commanded.
Cracker squawked with obedience before flying away, leaving only Dr. Zomboss and his future counterpart.
"One last thing before I sign off…do you still love buttons? I love buttons." Dr. Zomboss asked his future self.
"Like you would not believe!" Future Zomboss replied with a wide smile.
Dr. Zomboss cackled maniacally before breaking contact with Future Zomboss, satisfied with his conversation and confident in his success.
"Those Plants stand no chance! Soon they will cower before me and beg for my mercy, and I, Dr. Edgar Zomboss, shall deny them!" Dr. Zomboss said to himself before laughing maniacally once more.
Peashooter, followed close behind by Fire Flower, led his unit of Weeds to a coordinated point codenamed Graveyard D. Once there, he pulled out a seed packet for growing Gardens (spawning points for Weeds) and shoved it into the ground in front of the Graveyard. The Graveyard rumbled for a couple seconds before shattering, giving way to the growing Garden underneath.
"I'm taking Point D!" Peashooter shouted through his headset.
"Nice job partner!" Law Pea's voice chimed through the headset.
"Smoke bomb incoming!" Fire Flower cried out.
A purple cylinder flew towards the Garden and began spraying a toxic purple cloud in an area. The Foot Soldier that threw the smoke bomb began firing his weapon at the Weeds, quickly subduing the weaker ones. The more armored Weeds thoughtlessly ran toward the Foot Soldier, their minds set only on attacking him. The Foot Soldier responded by crouching down and aiming a rocket launcher strapped to his back directly at the Weeds, firing a large ZPG rocket that exploded on impact and fatally wounded the entire group of Weeds. Peashooter retaliated by firing a large pea at the Foot Soldier's head, removing the Zombie's head from his shoulders and killing him.
A fellow Foot Soldier saw his comrade perish and began shooting at Peashooter in rage. Fire Flower spat a small fireball into the Foot Soldier's face, incapacitating him as he cried out in pain and fell to the ground covering his face.
"How did you like that?!" Fire Flower jeered.
Peashooter looked up at the towers and saw a couple Camo Rangers taking aim at their location and reacted promptly.
"Snipers! Get down Fire!" Peashooter cried out, jumping over to Fire Flower and pulling her down beneath a metal barrier to dodge the sniper shots.
The Camo Rangers (two brothers) fired their ZPGs in unison to get Peashooter and Fire Flower out of cover.
"Get out!" Fire Flower cried out.
Peashooter and Fire Flower both jumped away from the wall as it was blown to smithereens, sending metal shrapnel flying and striking a few Weeds in the head, killing them.
"The Garden's almost up! Let's get out of here Fire!" Peashooter yelled to Fire Flower.
"Got ya!" Fire Flower responded.
Peashooter and Fire Flower ran from their location just as the Garden fully formed, splashing sunlight as it overtook the Graveyard.
The Camo Rangers continued shooting at them until one of them stopped to reload. At that moment, he was shot through the head by Camo Cactus, instantly killing him. His brother saw this and ran over to him, cradling his now lifeless corpse. Realizing that his brother had died, the Camo Ranger clutched him tightly and sobbed, completely forgetting about Camo Cactus.
"Don't cry Zombie soldier…your brother is waiting for you." Camo Cactus whispered.
Camo Cactus took one more shot at the Camo Ranger, killing him as well. Cactus was standing close by, providing her own sniper support.
"Good shot Camo!" Cactus commended.
"Just doing my job…" Camo Cactus replied.
Suddenly Cactus cried out in pain as she was shot by Captain Deadbeard from a distant tower. She fell over and clutched her chest wound.
"Cactus!" Camo Cactus cried.
Camo Cactus dragged Cactus behind cover to examine her injury. Cactus had been shot with a large gold coin that was deeply embedded into her flesh. Cactus began crying from the pain she was experiencing.
"Cactus is hurt! I repeat, Cactus is hurt!" Camo Cactus cried out through her headset.
"Oh my god! Get her out of there Camo!" Sunflower responded through her headset, shocked and fearful for her friend.
Camo Cactus carried Cactus in her arms and ran from their sniping position as quickly as she could as she dodged sniper shots from Deadbeard.
"You're going to be okay Cactus! I won't let you die!" Camo Cactus said to Cactus.
Meanwhile, Deadbeard began directing his attention at other Plants, having dealt with Cactus and Camo Cactus.
"That's it, run! There can only be one sniper in this city, and that's me! Captain Deadbeard!" Deadbeard jeered.
Sunflower led Chomper to Graveyard B, where Law Pea was taking the point with his team of Weeds. Sunflower and Chomper joined in as they defended the Garden from approaching Browncoats. Even as Sunflower was shooting Sun Pulses, she thought of Cactus and was worried for her well-being. From the sound of it, Cactus's injuries sounded serious, and Sunflower prayed hard that she would be okay. Law Pea was taking out Browncoats in quick succession, reloading just as quickly to continue his defense. Chomper was biting many Zombies' heads off, and would occasionally swallow one whole. Whenever he did this, he instinctively stuck close to Sunflower so that she could save him from any dangers that came his way while he was chewing.
All Stars and Engineers began firing their weapons at the group, to which the team reacted calmly. Law Pea activated his Hyper ability, sending a surge of adrenaline through his body at will, and began running toward Zombies and picking them off with blinding speed. Sunflower rooted herself to the ground and began firing a Sunbeam at an All Star. Due to the mystic energy she had collected in her body, her Sunbeam was more intense than normal, and as a result burned straight through the All Star, killing him along with some Zombies unfortunate to stand behind him.
"Whoa! Is that my Solar Therapy working?!" Sunflower yelled in surprise.
"Watch out madam!" Law Pea cried out.
An Engineer had set up a mounted Bolt Turret and was aiming straight at Sunflower. Sunflower reflexively jumped out of the ground and jumped out of the way as the Engineer began firing large bolts at her. Sunflower hid behind cover as she tried to catch her breath.
"Chomper! Burrow!" Sunflower called to Chomper.
Chomper dug himself into the ground and began burrowing underground. He targeted the Engineer, jumping up from underneath the Turret and holding the machine in his mouth. The Engineer yelped in terror as he jumped off the machine to escape Chomper's grasp. The Turret exploded as Chomper closed his mouth, leaving the Engineer helpless. Chomper spat purple goo at the Engineer, covering him in a sticky, digestive fluid that immobilized him. Chomper casually walked over to the Engineer and swallowed him.
"Good job boy!" Sunflower cheered.
Peashooter and Fire Flower went over to Graveyard A, where Agent Pea was struggling to capture the point on his own.
"Thank goodness chaps! Would you kindly help me defend the Garden?" Agent Pea called out in a frantic yet collected voice.
Peashooter and Fire Flower jumped in and assisted Agent Pea in taking out the swarm of Browncoats. Fire Flower heard a loud warping sound as a Scientist teleported behind her. She reflexively jumped away just before the Scientist could pull the trigger. Hearing the Scientist fire his weapon, Peashooter spun around and shot a large pea at the Scientist, striking him in the back and damaging his spine. The Scientist shrieked in agony as he fell unconscious.
"Thanks Peashooter!" Fire Flower said, high-fiving Peashooter.
"The Garden is secured! Time to move forward!" Agent Pea said.
"Let's go to Graveyard C! Commando Pea could use some help!" Peashooter instructed.
"Eat lead Zombie bitches!" Commando Pea yelled as he mowed down Browncoats with his Gatling ability. Sun Pharaoh had connected a Heal Beam to Commando Pea and was hiding behind a wall to stay safe.
"Are they still coming?! We just planted this Garden!" Sun Pharaoh exclaimed.
"I'll hold them off for as long as I need to!" Commando Pea yelled back.
"What did we miss friends?" Agent Pea called out, jumping into the fight and assassinating some Browncoats.
Peashooter and Fire Flower ran in and provided their own supporting fire. The Garden rose up and spouted sunlight just as the team picked off the last remaining Browncoats.
"Excellent work gentlemen! Now we make our way to Dr. Zomboss!" Agent Pea commended and instructed.
"Incoming!" Commando Pea shouted, spotting a large purple orb fly toward their location.
Peashooter, Fire Flower, Agent Pea, Commando Pea and Sun Pharaoh jumped away from the Garden as it was instantly destroyed by the orb. The team looked up to see a muscular Zombie wearing a superhero outfit standing on top of a nearby house. It was the super powered Zombie of legend, Super Brainz.
"It is I, Super Brainz, here to smite you with my heroic justice! Tremble before me, foul Plants!" Super Brainz proudly hollered.
Super Brainz jumped high into the air and swiftly flew downward with a super powered kick, knocking away Peashooter and Commando Pea from their respective healers.
"Run!" Fire Flower cried out to Sun Pharaoh, who followed her lead as they fled from the area.
"You cannot run from me, cowardly flowers!" Super Brainz called out to the two sunflowers.
"Look over here, wanker!" Agent Pea spouted to Super Brainz.
As Super Brainz turned to look at Agent Pea, Agent Pea fired a bullet at his head. Super Brainz quickly blocked the bullet with his cape, smirking as he saw Agent Pea's expression of horror.
"Nice try! Now taste my Heroic Beam!" Super Brainz taunted.
Super Brainz clenched his fist into a ball and began firing a laser at Agent Pea, who quickly activated his Hyper ability to escape the attack. Peashooter and Commando Pea took one shot each at Super Brainz before using their Hyper ability to run from him.
"Your puny bullets cannot harm me! I will find you and hunt you down!" Super Brainz triumphantly cheered.
Super Brainz was suddenly surrounded by a large group of Weeds, each of them eyeing him with a hostile glare.
"I laugh at you, Weeds! Turbo Twister!" Super Brainz yelled.
Super Brainz began spinning around very quickly, so much that a small tornado had formed around his body. The Weeds frantically tried to flee from him to no avail, as they were sucked into his tornado and torn asunder. As Super Brains slowed to a halt, he shook his head to subside his dizziness and looked at his feet, smiling as he saw the tattered remains of the Weeds he destroyed.
"Let that be a lesson to you! Justice served once again by Super Brainz!" Super Brainz cheered, puffing out his chest and placing his hands on his hips.
"Well, my work here is done for now. Time to go home and assume my secret identity! Away!" Super Brainz exclaimed, flying high into the sky and disappearing with a whoosh.
Peashooter, Agent Pea, and Commando Pea caught up with Fire Flower and Sun Pharaoh, both of them trying to catch their breath.
"Well, that could have gone better." Agent Pea said.
"What do we do now?" Sun Pharaoh asked the group.
"Just a moment, I think Law is trying to contact me." Agent Pea responded.
"Yes, what seems to be the problem?" Agent Pea asked Law Pea through his headset.
"I've lost Graveyard B partner, and we're gettin' pinned down by Engineer Turrets." Law Pea replied in a panicked voice.
"Hold on old chap, we're on our way!" Agent Pea assured.
Law Pea, Sunflower and Chomper were hiding behind two walls as the Engineers began aggressively deploying Bolt Turrets and were firing relentlessly. Agent Pea and Commando Pea met on Law Pea's wall, while Peashooter and Fire Flower met on Sunflower and Chomper's wall.
"Are you two alright?" Peashooter asked, sounding quite concerned.
"Now that you're here, we're golden!" Sunflower said with a smile.
"I'll try sending out more Weeds." Law Pea said, whistling to some distant Weeds to signal them over.
The Weeds began rushing toward the offending Engineers, some of them instantly decimated by turret fire while others persisted. Suddenly, a Zombie Imp, covered in futuristic armor and weaponry, began firing dual plasma blasters at the Weeds, quickly destroying them. When more Weeds arrived to attack him, the Imp activated his jetpack and began spinning around wildly, firing his blasters in every direction and swiftly killing the Weeds.
"Die, die, die!" Imp yelled as he performed his "Impkata".
"The Imps have weapons now?!" Fire Flower exclaimed.
"This is bad. Their firepower is too much for us." Peashooter said, pessimistic in tone.
"What's he doing?" Fire Flower asked, peeking slightly around the wall.
The Imp caught sight of Fire Flower, causing him to toss a round bomb-like device from his back in her direction. Fire Flower saw the bomb, realized it was coming her way, and dodged back into cover.
"He tossed something at us. Shit." Fire Flower swore.
The bomb landed at the group's feet and detonated, creating a gravitational field that pulled in both Fire Flower and Peashooter, suspending them in the air.
"Peashooter! Fire Flower!" Sunflower cried out.
Imp started firing at the two Plants, who could do nothing but block the shots with their leaves. The gravity field dissipated, dropping an injured Peashooter and Fire Flower. Sunflower dragged both of them behind her wall, examining their wounds and attempting to heal them with a Heal Flower.
"Don't worry, I'll help you both!" Sunflower panicked, attaching her Heal Beam to Peashooter while letting the Heal Flower take care of Fire Flower.
"I'm OK…I think…" Peashooter groaned in pain.
"I'm not hurting at all somehow." Fire Flower said.
"Really?" Sunflower responded, surprised at Fire Flower's statement.
"Maybe that's the Solar Therapy working. But look at my frickin' leaves!" Fire Flower exclaimed, holding up her leaves and seeing the many holes made by the Imp's weapon.
"Let's get you two out of here and back to the bunker. I have better supplies to heal you there." Sunflower said.
"Gentlemen! The Imp is doing something!" Agent Pea cried out.
Imp had taken out an old fashioned cell phone and was calling someone. The phone made a couple audible beeps before the Imp put it away. Suddenly, a large machine fell from the sky and landed behind the Imp. It was a Zomtech patented Z-Mech, a military machine designed in particular for Imps to utilize as an advanced tank weapon. Imp jumped into the machine and began piloting it. He started firing the Z-Mech's built-in laser cannon in the Plants' direction.
"We have to leave now!" Agent Pea commanded the team.
Sunflower carried the injured Peashooter while Fire Flower stood up on her own. The team ran from the area, with the Imp and his Z-Mech pursuing them.
"Crazy Dave, we are requesting retreat! I repeat! We are requesting retreat!" Agent Pea shouted into his headset.
"The Zombies are breaking the rules! You've got to get out of there!" Crazy Dave said in a worried tone, addressing all the Plants and Weeds in the field.
"Ya hear that partners? Get the hell out of there!" Law Pea shouted through his headset.
The few surviving Weeds began fleeing to the east wall, following the team closely behind. Some of the Weeds got caught in the fire of the Z-Mech and died quickly. When some Weeds attempted to retaliate by attacking the Z-Mech, it stomped its large robotic foot into the ground, crushing and killing the Weeds instantly. Sunflower could only look back in horror as the Weeds were massacred by the Z-Mech. Cradled in her arms, Peashooter looked to the pursuing Zombies and up at Sunflower, his eyes gleaming with sadness. In response, Sunflower planted a kiss on Peashooter's forehead and held him tighter, thankful that he was alive.
As the Plants escaped through the east wall, the Zombies stopped pursuing them and cheered ceremoniously. Dr. Zomboss, observant of the entire battle, grinned in satisfaction. Under his leadership, the Zombies had driven away the Plants once again, and after seeing the Plants struggle, he knew it would be a long time before they would attempt to invade the city again.
"Excellent work my undead minions! For your outstanding efforts, I shall make enough food for double rations during tonight's brain barbecue. Mwa ha ha ha ha!" Dr. Zomboss announced to the Zombies.
This announcement was met with a unanimous, celebratory cry: "BRAINZ!"
Dr. Zomboss reclined in his chair and smiled proudly. Even if he had not taken over every location in the world, he still felt as though he ruled it. The very thought of ruling the world made him feel very happy. Today was the start of a new age, the age of a Zombie world.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is a much longer chapter, due to it being a battle scenario. I'm quite happy with how this turned out, but let me know if it is too dark and violent for a T rating, and I will change the rating or make revisions. Thank you all so much for taking time to read my work! Your feedback and comments make me very happy to be doing this!
