Plant Nick vs Zoombies

AN: So, on the ZAA server, there's a channel called free ideas. Free ideas for stories that others could pick up. From massive plot ideas to little things… I thought that if there's any that take my fancy, I could do a little oneshot for them and stick it in this collection. This first one was one of my ideas, but a good place to start. For those who don't know what Plant Nick is… Look up the art by blueberry carrots, most easily be done by finding the link on ao3.

Anyway… Plant Nick. And then I had a brilliant idea.

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"Oh Sweet cheese… Oh sweet cheese…" Judy slammed the door to her house shut behind her, quickly locking the doors and propping a chair against it as well. Just seconds later, the whole frame shook, a groan coming from behind it. Her eyes narrowing, Judy lunged for her kitchen knife and opened up the window, throwing the weapon straight into the zoombie sheep's head.

It collapsed onto the ground, stuttering and gurgling, before returning to its resting in peace.

Judy sighed, relaxing as she slipped out to retrieve it, before jumping back inside. Making sure that everything was locked up, her shoulders slumped as she took in everything that had gone on. Walking into her lounge, idly flicking on the television, her ears picked up the repeated reports of Dr Dawn Brainwether and her experiments with bioplant necrotics, before she turned it off again.

Old news.

Collapsing onto the sofa, she groaned.

"Well," another voice spoke, "we're dead."

She looked up to see a product of just plain, happy, non-evil bioplant studies, as developed by her old friend Professor Emitt 'Craze-E' Otterton. Her indoor 'foxlove', a little plant with four or so leaves, a healthy green stem, and a fox head on top. She frowned at it. "No, we're not dead, Nick."

"Well," he mused. "The dead are rising, everything's gone crazy, and my 'aunt' is responsible. And she's not a nice aunt."

""No, but we're going to win," Judy resolved, before frowning. "Dammit, why didn't we listen to Craze-E Otterton?"

"Because all he did was ramble on about the nighthowlers."

"Yes," Judy groaned, wishing she could punch herself. "Might as well start listening to him now though," she spoke, going over and picking up the phone. Her ears raised as a set of rambles came out, her eyes narrowing, and she almost put it down…

Almost.

"Okay then," she said. "If you think it will work."

It wasn't long before the crazy otter turned up with his van, saucepan on head, offloading a bunch of new seeds and material. Judy took them through the house, this way and that, Nick looking on concerned. He paused as he saw Craze-E walking in, a whole bunch of wooden materials held over his shoulders. "Is this really the time?" he asked.

A bunch of rambles came back. "Zabwabbawu wabbuwu…"

Nick frowned. "If you insist." The otter did, also insisting on patting Nick a good few times, even planting a kiss on his crown. The foxlove grumbled, though his mood lightened a bit when he got a sprinkle from a watering can.

Meanwhile, Judy looked out over her back lawn. The zoombies were coming again, so she stuck her gardening gloves on and got going. First off, she planted a few sunhausers, the cheery looking flowers crooning over the excitement of everything and, after insisting she put on a Gazelle album, all grooving to the tune. Gathering the sun, spitting little condensed drops of it out, Judy began going on the offensive. About time too, as a standard lumbering sheep zoombie was about to arrive.

First off, she planted a wolfthorn, it's grey flower-head looking up at him before staring forwards, spitting out a thorn. It flew, hitting the advancing zoombie and penetrating into him. It shuddered, stopping for a second or two to pat it before lumbering on. The next few hits were ignored, Judy getting nervous as the undead moved forward. Finally, though, a hit jolted him and he fell, collapsing to the floor.

"YES!" Judy cheered, Craze-E giving his own few rambles. "Zabwannawannna The Nighthowlerz…." Even plant Nick, now brought out and enjoying the sun, smiled.

"Maybe we're not going to die."

"That's the spirit," one of the sunhausers cheered.

Judy nodded, making sure to get a basic set-up going. A line of sunhausers, an empty line in front of them for additional planting, then the wolfthorns. A second line of them was being laid out, taking care of the slowly increasing mobs of zoombies. Especially useful too, given that they were beginning to wear traffic cones and buckets on their heads, or even a football helmet. The latter one charged out, both Judy and Nick looking at each other nervously. He hit one of the wolfthorn's, chewing through it (to its displeasure), before hitting the one behind. A few chews, the sunhauser behind shivering, before the injured wolfthorn put in a terminal blow. Judy immediately began repairing the damage, wiping her brow. "Phew, that was…"

"Carrots!"

"Where?" Judy asked.

"I mean you Judy! Look!"

She turned back to him, then glanced forward and shivered. A limo was pulling up, a zoombie jaguar stepping out, throwing away his hat, and then lunging forwards on all fours.

"We're dead!" Nick spoke, only for Craze-E to run forward, rambling nonsense as he planted something out. It was a twig. A Mr Twig, the end frowning into the face of a shrew. It frowned at the lunging jaguar and spoke. "Ice-EM!"

It exploded into a flurry of snow, the jaguar freezing solid as he was chipped away by the wolfthorns. He broke free of the ice, but the cold only let him pace along. He stood no chance, and was chipped apart.

"We need some more defenses," Nick warned, Judy nodding. She paused, looking at Craze-E's catalogue before clicking her fingers. It was just in time too, as a zoombie pig appeared. A razorback, jumping down and combat crawling, ducking under the wolfthorns shots. At least until it met the newly planted bogonut, climbing up it and beginning to nibble through, exposing itself to the wolfthorns once more.

"Come on," Judy called. "Fight back!"

The bogonut ignored her. "I don't care."

"Oh come on," Nick grumbled. "You're literally getting your face bitten… off… -Carrots?"

"Yeah."

"Idea."

The razorback died quickly, but the next one died instantly. Even before he could start to nibble at the bogonut planted in front of him, he was screaming as a ferocious set of teeth lunged for him. "You like this, HUH!?" screamed the finnick fly trap planted behind the bogonut, as it tore off the zoombies face.

"I don't care," the bogonut spoke, pausing slightly as he caught the tune that Judy had been playing the sunhausers.

Judy and her friends began settling into a groove too, a defensive groove, fighting the enemies off. The enemies though brought in new tactics. With two lines of sunhausers, three of wolfthorns, some spare lines, the finnick fly traps and bogonuts, and then the killing grounds stretching to the edge of her property, they were facing a formidable defense with room to expand. They reacted by sending troops en-masse. The wolfthorns worked them down, but slowly; the finnicks bit and bite, but had their teeth cut out; even the bogonuts looked like they might actually be about to care. And then, slipping through, came the weaselzoms. "How you looking now, rooties!" they jibed, sidestepping between the bogonuts and finnicks. A few of the latter got some lethal bites off, while the weak weasels were being cut down by the wolfthorns, but they were getting dangerously close. Especially as the very first bogonut looked ready to give. Judy got ready to plant down a Mr Twig when it went, freezing them and giving her enough time to replace it. At the same time, the weaselzoms were getting worse. Especially as Judy saw one with a "BOMB!"

"Step up from the bootlegging," it jibed, racing to blast apart the wolfthorns before suddenly vanishing.

Judy blinked. "What the…"

Nick chuckled, before looking up to Craze-E. "We brought in an old friend."

The otter nodded. "B'cuzzz I'm crrraaaazzzzyyyyy!"

Judy watched on as another bomb weasel charged, only for something to burst out of the ground to its side. As if emerging from a bunker, a honeytackle leapt out and grabbed him. "GOTCHA!" she cried, holding on tight. He was then dragged down and vanished.

And that made the zoombies mad. Another jaguar zoombie turned up in a limo, this time not bothering to get out. The thing rumbled along, thankfully not very fast or strong, but still taking a beating. It was frozen solid by a Mr Twig, put down to let Judy replace the just eaten bogonut, but then it rolled on once more.

"Right, think Plant Nick," he mumbled. "Stop a car. What stops a car? Red lights? No… Mechanics? Faulty mechanics? But how do you fault them up...Or maybe get rid of the driver… Make him drunk… Too tired to drive… Not able to be bothered, or… -I got it!"

As he said so, the frozen limo slowly ground to a halt, the jaguars getting out and charging before they could run over the bogonut. To their side though, a second one came up, pausing as it saw a slothberry plant climb up, way in front of him. A pointed stick out, it began gesturing to an eye-chart.

"Arghhhh…." the zoombie driver groaned.

The slothberry slowly shook its head. "No…"

.

"That's…"

.

"An…"

.

"E..."

The zoombie driver frowned and gestured out. "ARGHHHH!"

"No…" The slothberry said, repeating himself. "That's…."

The driver, having enough, got out with his entourage, the limo left abandoned.

So the battle carried on. More zoombies swarmed, only to be knocked down, especially as Judy upgraded all the wolfthorns to rhino shaped double firing mcthorns. The living members at the back began smiling with hope.

It was just about that time that Dr Brainwether herself turned up, frowning at the lack of sufficient progress on the cranium munching project. She looked at all the shooting plants, firing stuff forwards out of their muzzles, and… She clicked her fingers.

Soon, she was joined on her side by a bunch of zoombie junior ranger scout chipmunks. She gave them a nod, and they burrowed onwards, down beneath the bogonuts and finnick fly traps. A few were tackled from the side by the honeytackles, but most emerged right in front of Nick, Judy and Emmit, shocking them back. One of them looked at Nick with a sick grin on his face. "You really think we'd trust a plant without a muzzle?"

Nick squirmed as the zoombies then turned back, slipping past the honeyhausers and then bringing out muzzles, shutting the mcthorns mouth tight. The plants shot into them, but it would be a while until they could break free. There was nothing to stop all the mcthorns, maybe even the finnick flytraps, being muzzled, letting the zoombies break through the bogonuts and charge forward.

Thankfully, the honeytackles only took up two of the six lanes in their row, leaving four spaces open for one of Craze-E's latest creations. The yaxka plant. Put down, they hummed, before releasing swarms of midges. The muzzling zoombies were super weak, easily chewed through, letting the yaxkas then turn against a new wave of the weaselzoms, knocking them out with the help of the honeytackles.

"Right!" Brainwether hissed. "Time to bring out the big guns."

The ground shook as a massive elephant zoombie lumbered up next to her.

"Hey, big guy, look over there."

He did, grunting, before lumbering forward. "No fox plant… In my store... Can't you read?"

"It's my house," Judy shouted.

The elephant grumbled. "Can't read… Right to refuse service." He then held up a jumbo pop and smashed it down. A Mr Twig slowed him down, but soon he smashed through the bogonut, through the finnick fly trap, through the yaxka plants. A honeytackle tried to bring him down but was shrugged off, and a slothberry just sat there before being squished.

"We do have the lawnmowers, to mince him, right?" Nick asked.

Craze-E made a mumble or two as the first of the mcthorns was taken out.

"Well, it'll also chew up those behind it," Nick commented.

Judy frowned. "But then they'll start coming again before we can repair the defenses."

Craze-E mumbled. "Zoombwanna ennabrenna…"

"Yes! I know they'll eat our brains!"

Nick frowned. "Dammit, I just wish I could help." He sighed, before his eyes widened. "Hang on, I can! Carrots!"

"Yes," Judy said.

"No," Nick said. "Not you, Carrots! Carrots!"

Judy looked to Craze-E, their eyes widening with the realisation, just as the elephant smushed the last sunhauser. Reaching the end, touching a lawnmower, they watched as it charged forwards, mincing the elephant and anything behind him (even a few zoombie jaguar limos).

In the path created, Judy placed Nick down and planted a new seed. Suddenly an orange root vegetable with twin green leafy tops burst out, looking at the foxlove with a smile on her… face? "Want to make the garden a better place, Nick?" she asked, drawing a gun from somewhere.

"Yeah," Nick said, catching it as she brought out her own. "After all, we don't want zoombies on our lawn, do we?"

The plants nodded, before somehow charging, guns blazing, into the breach.

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AN: Many thanks to the guys of the ZAA server who read through this, giving ideas such as more Craze-E ramblings and having McHorn's as Wolfthorn upgrades.