Dreams of the Distance :PvZ: Ch.10

Chapter 10: Hope and Despair



“Peashooter? Peashooter, answer me.”

“Go away!”

Repeater was outside the door, knocking (and perhaps even banging) on the door as much as he could while calling out his little brother's codename. He was very determined to get his little brother open the door.

“Peashooter!” cried out the older once more, but all that he received was silence. He was getting impatient. “Peashooter, open this door or so help me I'll break it down!”

“Fine! Then you'll have to pay the damages to Master!”

He flushed with anger and banged on the door even louder yelling and commanding him to open the door, but to no avail.

“XANDER, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!!!” he yelled as loud as he could and let out a last loud bang.

That was when he heard footsteps.

… And Peashooter finally opened the door and peeked behind it so that only half of his face may show.

“What is it, Peter?” he said in a hush tone. His face was contorted in utter disgrace and sorrow, and his eyes were red and puffy.

“Xander, we need to talk inside. Now. Let me in.”

***

“I didn't mean it... I didn't... it just suddenly came out of my mouth... I didn't mean it...” said the confused youth over and over as he hugged his pillow. “I didn't mean it... I didn't... I didn't mean it...”

Repeater looked down at his younger brother and wrapped his arm around the youth to draw him closer. He then urged him not to cry anymore, as he saw that his younger brother had no more tears to let out.

“It's okay, Xander. It's okay.”

“It's not okay!” countered the youth. “I'm a disgrace! I should have left when I was ahead. I should just leave this place tonight...”

“Xander, that's the coward's way out.” answered the older with so much disappointment and worry.

“Well, I am a coward. There's no denying that.” he said as he shook his head with so much regret. He then looked up at his brother with reddened eyes. “Peter... please look after them for me.”

“Wait, what? What are you gonna do? I can't let you go.” said his brother and held him by both shoulders.

“Peter, I must go... I can't face them like this...” said the rueful youth as he stood up and looked outside of his balcony. “Please... I promise I will not do anything drastic... I just need time alone...”

“What about Ayaka?”

The younger was suddenly stirred. He turned to his brother and looked at him sadly.

“Ayaka... please look after her for me.” he was full of shame. “Peter, please take care of her for me.”

“... Xander, there is one more thing I want to tell you.”

The younger awaited.

Peter hugged his little brother tightly. It seemed that he was not going to let go anytime soon. Xander didn't know how to react, but it seems like he shed the last of his tears and hugged his dear brother back.

“Just don't do anything stupid, okay?” said the older in a whisper.

“I won't... I promise...” said the younger.

After a moment of embracing, they then bade each other farewell. It seemed like the younger boy had set his mind on this as his things had already been packed. He then went outside the balcony and looked back at his brother one last time. They both nodded at each other and exchanged small, trusting smiles. That was also when Peter showed his pendant with his engraved name and gem, to which Xander showed his own.

Before he knew it, his little brother was out of sight. By the balcony's side was a ladder which the latter used to run away from their home. It was intended for an emergency fire exit, but it could also be used for other emergency purposes.

“Be safe, Xander.” whispered Peter to himself and went out of the room.

***

“Yes, who is it?”

Snow Pea stood up and called out once he heard the doorbell ring. And, as he and Chomper were both in the living room, he volunteered to open the door not too far from where they were.

“Yes?” he said once more as he opened the door and met a stranger. “May I help you?”

“Ummm... I'm looking for this place I have in my map.” said the stranger, which was a young girl probably in her preteens. Her hair was very short and she wore a purple dress with matching striped socks and Mary Jane shoes.

“This is the place you've been looking for.” answered Snow Pea after he had seen the map and gave it back to the girl. “What can I help you with?”

“I'm here to protect your lawn, Sir!” she brightened up her mood and saluted to him. “My codename is Puff-Shroom, Sir! Here's my badge, Sir!”

Snow Pea was utterly speechless and confused. He did try to explain that he was just another agent and that he wasn't the owner of the house, but the girl just shoved her ID and badge in front of his face.

That was when Chomper sensed that the ice prince needed help and went to his side.

“So you're also an agent, little girl?”

“Yes, Sir!” the girl answered rather excitedly. “Do the two of you live together, Sir?”

“Ummm...” Chomper found it a rather awkward question to answer. “Well, I guess you could put it that way. Listen, we're also agents. We don't own this house.”

“Really?” the girl seemed doubtful and eyed them. “Then show me your badges!”

Chomper just sighed and took his badge from outside his wallet to prove her he was telling the truth. Snow Pea, however, can't seem to find his own badge. He figured that he lost it when he was abducted, but their leader and the gunner proved him that he was indeed codename: Snow Pea, though he can't remember anything much.

“Well, I guess you are an agent.” said the young girl. She turned to the pale man. “What about you?”

“I... uh... lost my badge. But I do have this gun.”

“Ah! Okay, okay! You've convinced me!” the girl giggled. “That really looks like a gun from Bloom and Doom. So may I go inside now? Please? It's freezing out here!”

The two gentlemen then led her to the living room, where she made herself comfy sitting on the soft sofa. Chomper volunteered to call their master about this and told Snow Pea to watch over her. Wall-Nut seemed to have lightened his spirits up a bit and went near the sofa where the visitor and the ice prince sat.

“Hello. What's your name?” he said with a smile.

“My codename is Puff-Shroom!” she said as she bowed her head. “I'm going to take care of your lawn, Sir!”

“Hahaha, how cute! But I'm not the owner of this house. I'm just another agent.” he then took out his badge. “See? I'm Wall-Nut.”

“Wow... I thought I was the first agent to be here, but I can see that there are a lot of you! Hey! Hey! Is Sunflower here?”

“Ummm... yes she is, but she's busy in the garage.” Wall-Nut answered.

“What is she doing there, anyway?” Snow Pea knitted his brows.

“I really don't know, but I'm guessing that she's really tired by now.”

Puff-Shroom bloated her cheeks and pouted. She didn't seem to like their answer, as she did want to meet Sunflower. But there was nothing that she could do, and so she just waited for the master to come.

After a while of waiting, their master came along and gave her a grand tour of the place. She was awed with how big her master's house was, as her eyes fleeted from one direction to another, looking at all the beautiful decorations and furniture, as well as the vast rooms. They started the tour from the grand living room, to the majestic dining room with the long table where they eat their meals.

The dining room held a lot of chairs (which looked rather like the conference tables back in Bloom and Doom, thought Puff-Shroom). They also went to miscellaneous rooms, such as the cellar and the game room, where some of the sports and video games were (except for the game console that Peashooter owned and played with Cherry; they played that in the living room).

They then went to the rooms upstairs (as there were 5 floors for bedrooms, the second floor of which the master of the house and the day plants shared), where the master showed his new agent her room in the 3rd floor. The first floor was were all the main activities were done, and where the living room was. He thought it was rather plain for his tastes, and begged her pardon for such a quaint room.

“QUAINT ROOM??” Puff-Shroom was taken by surprise. To her, this wasn't a “quaint” room at all. In fact, to any other average person, the room looked like a standard hotel room complete with high-class facilities and a topnotch ventilation system. “Sir – er, Master – this room is perfect for me! Even my room isn't this big! And comfy!”

“I'm glad that you like it, then.” chuckled their master. “Do make yourself at home. Goodnight!”

The master then gave a nod and a smile then went out of the door. The newcomer took off her shoes and dove on the bed, hugging all the fluffy pillows and rolling from left to right, enjoying every softness and coolness the room had to offer.

***

“At last, it's done...”

Both Chomper and Snow Pea looked quite shocked when they finally saw who everyone had been looking for.

“Sunflower, what happened to you??” Chomper took the initiative to ask her. “You feel so... haggard.”

Snow Pea, in particular, was indeed very surprised to see Sunflower like this. He thought that she had always looked so fresh and sunny. She looked haggard; very haggard in fact, that she looked like she hadn't had enough sleep for days. Her hair was left untended, as she may not have had time to even fix it every now and then, and her hands had dirty working gloves; different from that of her normal silky cotton gloves.

“I've worked on an invention I've started on days ago.” said Sunflower, taking off her gloves with a tired voice. “I figured that the zombies would try different strategies soon... so I had to work on our new strategy as well.”

“And... what would that be?” Chomper asked, rather intrigued by Sunflower's statement.

“Come with me, and all will be clear.”

The girl led the two young men to the dim garage, where only the moon was the light shining in it. They could make out a vague figure just next to the car, but couldn't exactly guess what it could have been. Sunflower then opened the lights of the garage...

They still couldn't make it out. Whatever it was, it was under a white sheet.

“Behold!” Sunflower pulled off the sheet, and the two young men were left surprised.

And puzzled.

“Er... what is it?” Chomper asked, as his companion looked closely at it with great curiosity. “What do you think it is, Snow Pea?”

“Ummm... I don't know.” said the young man as he poked around with it.

“It's a sun generator, duh!” Sunflower replied. “If there's an electric generator, then I figured that we could make something like a sun generator with the same principles.”

The machine wasn't exactly too big nor too small. It looked as tall as Sunflower was and was made solely out of metal. There were plastic buttons on it that they presumed automated the system. There was a little chute just below the buttons, where it looked like something would come out.

“That chute down there is where the sun energy comes out.” Sunflower explained. “All this little baby needs is a little solar power, and it should be able to convert energy on its own!”

Snow Pea gave it some thought, but Chomper quickly retaliated. He gave out a puzzled look at her and spoke.

“That's the problem. We don't have sun during the night! How are we supposed to get sun energy when there's no sun?”

Sunflower knitted her brows at this and put her hands to her hips. “Of course I know that! But you know, even in the night, there is a solar source, though faint!”

Snow Pea gave it some more thought, and an idea sprung into his head.

“Could it be... the moonlight?” he said.

“Bingo!” Sunflower was delighted that someone caught her drift. “The light from the moon is essentially solar power. To clarify this, this machine I made was designed to transform lunar power to solar. So, there you have it!”

The mechanic then reminded her teammates that she can only produce sun power during daylight. She also explained that she was getting tired of producing raw sun from her concentration (as this was her gift), she decided to design a machine that could transform both lunar and solar power into their sun power, which was needed for their weapons.

“You could just charge your weapons here. There are initially 7 slots for this machine, but I hear that Crazy Dave sells spare parts. We could use those to make extra slots if we need them.”

Chomper stared at her for a while. Then to both his companions' surprise, he exclaimed “Sunflower, you're a GENIUS!”

***

“Took care of them, yes I did!”

The three went out of the garage and were surprised with what they saw. They saw the newcomer in the front lawn with retreating zombies. Her hands were to her hips, probably in triumph and pride over the defeated zombies.

“What the... hey, you! I thought you were with Master!” Chomper called her out.

“Oh wait. Me?” Puff-Shroom was a bit surprised. “I saw zombies go here and no one took the initiative to come out and fight, so I decided to take care of them myself!”

The two young men were puzzled, but Sunflower rushed to her and hugged her tightly.

“Puffy! I didn't know that you'd be here!” she said as she hugged the younger girl.

“Sunny!” Puffy smiled and hugged back. “I was looking for you! Man, what happened to you? You look like you just jogged a thousand miles!”

“Long story.” giggled Sunflower.

They then looked at the lawn. It was littered with little mechanical mushrooms with spouts, which Puffy explained that launched projectiles at the incoming zombies when their sensors pick the zombies up. She almost got seriously injured, but she looks fine enough. She said that she thankfully didn't meet any seriously tough zombie, like bucketheads and pole vaulters.

“But never mind that, Sunny! We've gotta rest!”

“I thought I heard a commotion out here?” Repeater came out of the front door and met with his teammates.

“Yes, but it's all over now thanks to Puffy here.” Sunflower answered, proud of the girl. “Puffy, that's Repeater. Repeater, Puff-Shroom. You see, she's my friend from my previous sector back in Bloom and Doom. She's a fellow inventor.”

“I'm all about talk! Sunny helped me a lot understanding mechanics!”

The two girls giggled to each other and hugged like they haven't seen each other in a long time. That was when the taller girl remembered something.

“Oh right, Repeater!” Sunflower's face turned a bit serious. “How is Xa... I mean, Peashooter? Is he okay?”

Repeater's face looked a bit iffy. “Well, yeah. About that...”

***

“I'll see you soon, everyone.”

Xander stood by the overseeing valley by the edge of the town. He could clearly see his Master's house, which apparently stood out as it was bigger than most houses in the village. The cold wind blew on his face, as he felt that his time had stopped at that moment.

He didn't want to make a decision whether or not to stay, he thought. But he must, as not making a decision at this very moment is a decision itself, and it also automatically means that he would not be staying with them, despite him not going away farther.

“I'll be back... I promise. I just need to be alone for now...”

He held his bag tightly and walked farther from the valley, and into the roads to wait for a bus going to another town quite some distance from where they lived.