Nebula followed Static through the lower slums of Suburbia. She had seen pictures and read articles about the area, but none of it was even close to the real thing. Everywhere she looked the buildings were run down and the paint had completely faded. They passed by plenty of alleys full of groups of shady looking plants and one peashooter that tried to sell them plant fertilizer.
Static finally stopped outside of a small, green structure. It had one window and a hole in the wall where Nebula assumed the mail went. Static looked under a rock and pulled out a key.
Static gave Nebula a quizzical look before asking "How much longer are you gonna hold onto me?"
Nebula looked and saw that she had wrapped her vine around Static's without realizing it. She quickly pulled away from him "Sorry, I guess I got a little scared on our way here."
Static just shook his head at her and walked over to a door that had the Plant Academy logo painted on the door. Static looked at Nebula and motioned to the door "My aunt painted that on the door when I got my acceptance letter. I'm kinda like the son she never had."
"So who do you live with" Nebula asked as she looked around the tiny house. The walls were covered with pictures of a younger Static doing various academic events. There were pictures of him at his school reading bowl, spelling bee, science fair, and various other events. The most impressive achievements were in a display case located right by the door. It was taller than Nebula herself and each row contained trophy after trophy from debate events and history challenges.
"I live with my grandma, my aunt, and my uncle." Static responded after coming back from one of the rooms. He was now wearing a red bandana with various plant heads drawn over it. "They've raised me for as long as I can remember. As you can see they love to brag about my achievements." Static gestured at the case.
It was refreshing for Nebula to see a family who cared about academics as much as hers. She had known too many plants whose parents wanted them to be the fastest or the strongest. Plant Academy was the one place that truly stressed how important it was to know subjects like history and science. From what Nebula had heard, the military academies were more focused on how to sit in one spot and shoot forward.
Static again interrupted her from her thoughts "You think a lot don't you?"
"Well aren't you observant" Nebula quipped back. "Ready to go?"
Back at Winston and Grace's apartment
"Making myself a sandwich, cause I am number one. Making myself a sandwich, cause I like to have fun. Those zombies didn't stand a chance they didn't last long. Nobody can get me down while I sing my sandwich song."
Winston was happily making himself a sandwich to celebrate th success of the mission. They now had the support of a secret government agency, planting the garden to combat the zombies advance had proven effective, and most importantly his team had shown fantastic composure and communication. Winston had seen it as a complete success with no failures, but he knew that Grace wasn't thinking the same thing.
She had been quiet the whole trip back and she had hardly even looked at Winston while he was singing his sandwich making song. "She always provides a beat to the sandwich song" Winston thought. He walked over to the couch where Grace was sitting and looked at her face. Her expression was emotionless and she appeared to be staring off into space. Winston walked back over to the fridge, took out a popsicle, and brought it back over to Grace.
She took it from him and ate it in one bite. "Thanks" she mumbled to him as she sat up and stretched. Winston knew that the first step to getting Grace to talk about her problems was to give her an icy treat.
"So, what's the matter?" Winston began to question.
"Where do we start? First off how were there so many special class zombies? You and I both know the average in an army is 4-6, so why did we fight over 20?" At this point Grace had stood up and was pacing around the room. "And another thing, how did those gargantuars move so fast?!" Grace had begun yelling now and Winston was just staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Grace looked back at Winston and she began to calm herself.
"So what's really on your mind?" Winston asked her, knowing that she never worried about zombie operations.
"Truthfully I'm worried about Nebula and Static." Grace confessed. "They have so much potential and work so well not just with each other, but on their own. What if they start to regret this decision?"
Winston gave a small laugh before responding "If they decide to quit this team, then they are clearly not the plants we thought they were. Neither of them showed any signs of giving up, and I firmly believe that they are here to stay." Winston turned around and began walking towards his room. "But if you're still unsure, then you can call up Nebula and ask if she wants to hang out tomorrow. Find out first hand if she has any doubts about her decision."
Grace pondered his idea for a second before calling to him "Ok but I'm taking some of the money we earned."
"That's fine, goodnight." She faintly heard Winston call as he shut his door behind him. It was only 7 but he had a horrible habit of locking himself in his room for hours doing research.
"Night" Grace mumbled to herself as she sat back down and thought about tomorrow. She had never considered spending time with either Static or Nebula outside of missions, especially without Winston. "This will be good" Grace thought to herself. "I can get to know Nebula more, learn if she is serious about this whole deal, and possibly get over my hatred of sunflowers." The last one was unlikely but she was pretty confident that she would learn to love Nebula. After all, the two had worked well together in fighting the gargantuar.
Grace picked up her phone and began to dial up Nebula.
Nebula's Neighborhood
The walk through Nebula's own neighborhood was a lot easier for her than the walk through Static's. It's not that she hated his house, she actually found it quite cozy, but the surrounding area was a nightmare for Nebula.
"So what does your family do?" Nebula asked. She wanted to get a better understanding of what Static's life was like, and what kind of life his family had.
"My uncle works in construction, he does government projects like schools and libraries. My grandmother is a retired veteran, but she now works as a school teacher." Static paused for a moment before continuing. "And my aunt works as an attorney."
"Wow your whole family is made up of government workers. Do you have any family members who work non governmental jobs?" Nebula asked.
Static laughed at her question. "Yeah every other member of my family."
"Ah, so why did you say yes to Winston and Grace?" Nebula had been curious about his decision all day, and now seemed like an appropriate time to ask. "I know you said we have an opportunity to end this war but you seem like the type of plant that would have a more thought out reason than that."
Static looked towards the ground, slightly embarrassed at her question. "Well truthfully, it sounded like a fun job. You get to explore the world, kick some zombie ass, and there aren't any regulations on how we have to fight."
Nebula grinned at him " everything through agreed to be part of some new and dangerous group because it sounded like fun? Guess I am smarter."
Static just shook his head at her, deciding to let her have her small victory. "So why did you accept?"
Nebula answered him without any hesitation "All my life I've been told where I could go and what I could do. This seemed like the perfect chance to do what I wanted to do. No rules, no following commands...only freedom."
Static was quiet for a second before responding "Well now I do sound like a fool."
The two of them shared a laugh as they finally arrived at Nebula's house. When they entered they saw Grayson and Barbara sitting on the couch, waiting for the two to return. When Grayson noticed them, he stood up and walked upstairs without a word.
"It's my brother's turn to pick out the game." Nebula told Static, seeing the confusion on his face.
Barbara led them into the dining room where Nebula's father was already seated. Grayson came back holding trivial pursuit, and Nebula mentally groaned to herself.
"Ok just a fair warning, my dad can get pretty competitive during this game." Nebula whispered to Static.
"Um, what is this game exactly?" Static asked.
The whole family looked at Static shocked. They had all assumed that everyone had at least heard of this game.
"It's simple, you just answer trivia questions. They are about one of six subjects, answer 1 question from each subject right and you win." Barbara explained to him.
"We always do teams, so how about Static and Nebula against the rest of us?" Grayson offered.
"No. You, your mother, and Nebula vs Static and I." Nebula's dad answered. Static shrugged and seated himself next to him. As soon as Static sat down he was whispered instructions "Alright here's the deal, I have never beaten my daughter at this game. Ever. If you're as smart as the Academy says you are, then you're my only chance at beating her."
"Alright, I'll try Mr...I still don't know what to call you." Static blatantly answered.
"Just call me Ted." He quietly answered.
"Alright, you two can start." Barbara drew a card and read it to them. "Who was the general that defended 5th street for two weeks straight?"
Ted waited patiently for them to read the choices when Static spoke up "Ulysses Plant."
Grayson and Barbara sat there with their mouths wide open while Nebula giggled to herself. "Static, it's multiple choice.
"Who cares, he was right." Ted exclaimed. "Please tell me you can do that for every subject."
Static gave him an apologetic look "Sorry, I'm only gonna be able to do that on history questions. It's kinda my strong suit."
The game went back and forth for 30 minutes, with both teams dead even the whole way. Any time one team answered correctly, the other team would respond a right answer. Whenever one team would miss a question, so would the other team.
"Alright, final question. If you two get this right, then you win. But if you answer incorrectly, then we have a chance to steal. Where did the bloodiest battle of the first Zombie-Plant war occur?" Barbara asked.
Static and Ted looked at each other before turning back to respond "We're gonna need the choices for this one."
Nebula smirked at him. She knew that Static would only be asking for the choices if he didn't know the answer, her team had won.
Barbara gave them their choices "Was it the Somme river? Amiens? Or Savy-Dallon?"
Static gave her a confused look before answering "Um, Amiens and Savy-Dallon were two different locations where the 100 day offensive was fought. But technically the answer would be Amiens because more troops were stationed there since it was the front line."
Ted looked at Static, then to Barbara, then back to Static. "Is he right or not?"
Grayson took the card from his mother "He's right." He quietly responded.
Ted sat there for a minute before realizing he had finally beaten Nebula, then he jumped onto Static's back. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Static carried him around the table in a celebration dance while Grayson and Nebula started laughing at their father. Barbara left the room to go answer the phone.
"That was amazing Static, where did you learn so much about history?" Grayson asked. Nebula had left the room to go see who her mother was on the phone with.
"I read quite a few books on the subject when I was younger. I wanted to grow up and become a general" Static answered truthfully.
Ted gave him a disappointed look "What made you give up on that dream?"
"I was told I would never make it, and I unfortunately started believing it...But that's all in the past. What's important now is that I focus on my current job." Static replied with a look of grief and determination on his face.
Ted smiled at him as he get up "Well whoever told you that clearly didn't know what they were talking about." As he left the room, he turned around and gave Static one more piece of advice "Never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do, especially people you don't even know. Once you start doing what everyone tells you, you accomplish nothing."
Barbara spoke up "Unless they are your significant other, then they will always tell you what you need to hear."