Breathe.
...
Inhale. Exhale.
...
Inhale.
He was greeted with a void of darkness, no light could be seen from all angles, no light could penetrate the dark. No light for him to hold on to. It smelled of confusion and uncertainty.
Exhale.
He had no idea where he was. A second ago he was met with the towering structure of a Zombot, it's glowing Crimson eyes menacing and intimidating. The Chomper had no idea what made him to get so close to it. Let alone even stand a long long distance away.
But here he was, barely being able to breathe. He felt sore all over, his body writhed with pain in every attempt to move, even just an inch. His head was pounding, he could feel his own blood oozing down to his leaves. He felt exhausted, every bone in his body protested everything he tried to do. From stretching to even opening just his mouth. A sudden bitter feeling bubbled up in his stomach. He felt hopeless.
His breathing caught in his throat as horrifying thoughts swarmed in his mind. Was he stuck here? Where's every body else? Are they okay? Is anyone okay? He'd mused longer if it weren't for the sudden feel for panicking. He felt outmatched by something that wasn't even here. The feel of hopelessness only prolonged.
He felt like his whole body was shaking. But it wasn't. He felt like he was dying. But he wasn't. Was this heaven, or was this hell? His breathing slowed raggedly. He felt more than just exhausted, he felt more than just hopeless. He felt more than just dead.
In this hellish void. He could not panic, could not scream, could not die. Or was he already dead? And just banished into the darkness as a punishment to his sins? This was a far worse than death, it was purgatory.
He abruptly felt indignant and poignant at the same moment. He felt anger and annoyance, but yet also felt regret and sadness. He bared his teeth, at least attempted to. It smelled of moody behaviour.
He suddenly felt air rushing from his lungs with a startled gasp as light filled a portion of the darkness in front of him. It was reluctant as first, switching between white and black in seconds before It formed into a square of sorts. It easily towered over the shocked Chomper, but he did not flinch nor tremble. He couldn't do either things anyway.
Static filled the white screen, acting like an old TV that had just gotten turned on. It churned as it struggled to form to what look like the remains of L.E.A.F HQ.
The screen was finally able to focus after a few seconds of labour. It was exactly what he guessed. It was L.E.A.F HQ, the remains of it anyway. The rampaging Zombot was still stomping down the helpless Plants who trembled before it, their screams of agony echoed across battlefield.
Ane felt sick to the core. He could not help them in anyway possible. He could only watch them, he could only witness the various Plants' last moments, he couldn't do anything. It smelled of Death and Despair.
The screen suddenly zoomed in, focusing on a all too familiar Cactus who was surprisingly close to the Zombot. Sarah. That's was all the Chomper could say in his world of thoughts as he watched the grieving Cactus, swift tears pouring down her face as her equivalent of hands covered her mouth in aghast and shock.
Words could not describe the Chomper's guilt. Words could not describe the anger he felt towards the Zombies, towards Zomboss. This was all his fault. Absolutely none of this would've happen if he didn't end up making those horrible experiments. He would not have turned into a Zombie and nor would any other human. The war, the pain, the guilt. The blame was all towards him. He could've lived a life definitely better than this. A war could have never transpired. Pain and grief could've been much less common.
But instead, he chose this willingly and deliberately. Dave should've never have trusted him to be his partner. But the human was too oblivious for his own good. He trusted the cunning, the manipulative, the dubious and the delinquent.
And he could only watch. He could not comfort the Cactus, he could not tell her that "Everything will be fine." He could not say anything. He could only watch the Cactus mourning for him, mourning for everyone that had and will die.
"YOU!"
The screen shook and static replaced the image of the grieving Cactus, only to be replaced yet again by a familiar Peashooter. His brown eyes were daggers as they stared up at the Zombot ahead of him, ignoring the possible outcomes that could result in his perish.
If the Chomper had eyes it would be at its widest. The Peashooter had only maintained minor cuts and bruises but nothing too major, and he was the one who actually fought the gigantic robot head on. Impressive could not even begin to describe.
The Zombot turned their attention from what looked like to be Peater's brother, the Fire Peashooter seemed to be holding onto a bleeding wound on his stem while Icee stood near him, appearing to have not sustained any injuries.
The auto-piloted Robot's blood red eyes glared down onto the much smaller figure, robotic teeth clenching in annoyance that the Peashooter wasn't dead yet. Peater however kept his composure, not wanting the Zombot to see his weaknesses.
Peater's glare deepened as he snarled, baring his teeth. "Don't you dare hurt any of them, or you're going to be in a whole world of pain you bucket of bolts!" He jeered, a sly smile forming on his green face.
The Chomper watched with a gaping mouth as the Zombot roared at him, clearly angered. It charged at the Peashooter, the ground shook as it's metal feet came into contact with the ground. Peater's smile was still on his face as he took action, hypering towards another direction in a attempt to get it away from his siblings.
Ane watched as the Peashooter hypered throughout the remains of L.E.A.F HQ, not even thinking to stop as he pushed his boundaries to the limit. Despite how tired he was beginning to feel, he still held on, more determined than he ever could be.
The Zombot followed him, occasionally shooting out lasers, fireballs or iceballs that were all easily dodged by the Peashooter ahead of it. It hadn't even begun to think on how predictable it was becoming, it had not realise that the other Plants that resided in L.E.A.F HQ were beginning to get healed by different Sunflowers from not just the infirmary, but from nearby bases as well. They were all ready to fight either the Elites or the Zombot itself.
Reinforcements had begun to appear, Plants from different bases across the remains of Surburbia appearing left and right. Peashooters, Chompers, Cacti and every other species were all fighting the Elites in the area. All determined to end the war right here right now.
The Chomper watched with shock, mouth still gaped. His previous bleak thoughts disappeared as hope and determination replaced it. Someone must've alerted the other teams and bases before L.E.A.F HQ was fully destroyed and had no options for communication. It smelled of Hope and the feel of Freedom.
It felt like he wasn't in this black scary void anymore, it felt like he was actually there. Witnessing this truly inspiring scene before him. After what felt like a thousand years, a genuine smile formed on his face. Sure, it was a small smile, but it was full of hope.
He saw yet two more familiar figures running towards a large group of Plants, both Plants looking around for any Plants that they were familiar with. One had a look of amazement while another a look of relief. His smile widened as he realised who they were.
Hershel and Mystic.
The screen zoomed out and went zoomed onto Sarah again. There were no more tears, there was no more pain, but instead a look of mild shock and happiness was on her features. She stared at the Plants that were increasing by the minute, red eyes wide.
The number of Elite Zombies lessened while Plants increased, more and more teams were appearing on the ruins of L.E.A.F HQ. It was an amazing sight, at least to the Chomper with his gaping mouth of his.
The screen went into static once more and then again regained focus, but now Sarah was replaced by the smiling forms of Icee and Kendrick, who was recently healed by Mystic who dashed towards another injured Plant.
"Guess we shouldn't have underestimated Peater, huh?" Kendrick joked as his smile widened, looking gently at the Ice Pea next to him. Ane could not tell if the twins were relieved or happy, but it could be both.
Icee laughed slightly, looking at the direction where Peater was last seen. "I suppose so, he's grown up now. He had lived on his own for the past 4 years after all." Her smile widened as well, she spoke once again, relief coated her voice. "But I don't think hypering non-stop would kill the Zombot though, and I think he'd appreciate the help."
With a glance at her brother the Ice Pea began hypering towards the Zombot's direction, Kendrick swiftly followed her with a chuckle. The screen dashed into static once again, leaving the Chompers to his own thoughts for a little while.
The Chomper grinned, they were winning, actually winning! This could be the day, the day where the war would finally end!
He waited for the static to end, he waited for another switch in prospective. He waited with a delightful and hopeful smile, but that didn't stop the apprehensive thoughts from coming, though. But all he could do was to hope for the best.
But it never came..
Panic filled his thoughts. Why hasn't the screen switched yet? No no no! This could not be happening. Not now. Not when they're no close. So close to winning, so close to ending this dreadful war. It smelled of worry and fear.
Suddenly, the darkness faded into a dim grey. The Chomper looked around in fright. What was happening?! He knew panicking wouldn't do anything. He knew screaming wouldn't do anything. He knew-
The void was enveloped in a bright light.
A/N Well this took forever. This definitely didn't come the way I expected it. At first I wanted this to be a switch prospective thing between Peater, Sarah and Hershel but then it became this lol. But I'm very proud on how this came out though! Next chapter will either be the last or the second to last. :]