User blog:Plant Protecter/Fanfiction: The Horrid Lawn of Doom

My 17th fanfiction. As always, I appreciate feedback and accept requests.

Now before the fanfiction starts, I'm going to say that I have tried a new writing style (as suggested by ). It may work, it may not. But I have left a poll at the blog's end, so you can choose which style you prefer the most.

Synopsis
The Lawn of Doom holiday has descended upon Suburbia and Zomburbia, and the locals are celebrating with candy and all sorts of spooky things. But some people are getting TOO into the Lawn of Doom spirit...

The Horrid Lawn of Doom
October 31st. Many people know it has Halloween. But in Suburbia and Zomburbia, it goes by "Lawn of Doom." There are many lawns in these two suburbs.

Now, the thing is, these suburbs (and the surrounding areas) are always a bit spooky. One suburb is filled with walking, talking Plants, and the other with reanimated corpses (commonly known as Zombies).

The Lawn of Doom is that once-a-year tradition where the Plants and Zombies express their love for costumes, candy, and (most importantly) everything scary. One way they do this is via trick-or-treating, the fun activity that everyone likes.

"I HATE the Lawn of Doom! Why do we even celebrate it?!"

Oh. There's always one spoilsport who is never into the holiday spirit. On the street named "Laura Lane," we see our protagonists in a variety of costumes, trick-or-treating and generally having fun. Well, except for one. A certain Parasol Zombie.

"Spoilsport?" she says while looking around. "Who said that?" she wonders. Maybe being a scientist is affecting her sanity.

"Don't worry about him." Dusk Lobber answers, while sporting a plaid newsboy cap. "He's the narrator. Ever since the writer changed his writing style, the narrator just appeared."

"He's weird." comments Fishy Imp, who is wearing a pink dress with black polka-dots.

"At least we have another friend to join us in trick or treating!" says Glitter Zombie, wearing a costume fit for a pop star, which includes glitter (obviously), face paint and a microphone. "It's just too bad some of our usual group isn't here." she laments.

Indeed, some of the usual cast is missing, for different reasons: Shrinking Violet (being the timid flower she is) has taken shelter in her house, away from the ghosts, ghouls and frights of the holiday. Sunflower is working on a secret TV-related project. Ghost Pepper is at the community hall and is hosting the Lawn of Doom ball, along with Jack O' Lantern and Witch Hazel. Sweet Potato is finishing the final touches of her costume. And finally, Imp Mermaid Zombie and Imp are trick or treating on the other side of town, accompanied by their father.

"Technically, that's a good thing." Bikini Zombie comments, while wearing nothing different from her normal outfit, sans the many pieces of seaweed on her. "Less trick or treaters means more candy for the rest of us, which means more candy for me and Toadstool." she explains.

"So true." the frog-mushroom hybrid joins in, seemingly wearing nothing different from her usual attire (which is nothing).

"Well, there will be even more for you, because I won't be joining in." Parasol Zombie says. "Besides, I have... reasons... to dislike this holiday."

"Is there going to be somebody sort of flashback?" Blooming Heart questions, her curiosity having peaked. She is wearing a small halo attached to the petals atop her head, while also donning a pair of fake angel wings.

"No times for flashbacks!" Parasol Zombie sharply remarks. "And besides, here comes Zombie Commander."

As soon as she says that, Zombie Commander walks onscreen. She is wearing a red shirt with black stripes and black shorts. She is also wielding a shovel with a gold-plated head.

"What's with the shovel?" Weasel Hoarder questions. Her outfit resembles that of a cat lady, and each of her Ice Weasels is wearing a pair of cat ears and a collar (much to the weasels' annoyance).

"Tonight, I am on a mission. A mission to find the Spooky Squash!" she explains while raising the shovel into the air.

What is the Spooky Squash, you ask? He is a large fire-breathing jack o' lantern that only appears once a year on the night of the Lawn of Doom. However, many think he is but an urban legend.

"Zombie Commander, the Spooky Squash is an urban legend." Parasol Zombie states. "You do this every year, and you don't find him."

"Well tonight will be different!" Zombie Commander counters, firmly believing the Spooky Squash's existence. "That Squash has haunted our town for long enough. Tonight, I will find him. And then..."

With a malicious smile, she suddenly smashes a nearby jack o' lantern, its shell and seeds flying everywhere, much to the shock of her friends (don't worry readers; the actual Jack O' Lantern is safe and sound).

"...I will smite him! No longer will he set fire to everything. And for those who want to join me on my quest, I will be in front of the movie theatre next to the Aqua Centre."

"I want to join!" Fishy Imp agrees, walking towards Zombie Commander.

"No Fishy Imp, don't go with her!" Parasol Zombie says, until she realises what her friend is holding. "Wait a minute, Zombie Commander, is that my husband's shovel? You stole it again, didn't you?! Honestly, you are such a-"

She stops her tangent, after realising that the two zombies have already left. In anger, she decides to shout her insult so that it is not wasted.

"BLOCKHEAD!" she screams in the direction. Zombie Commander can be so annoying sometimes.

"Yes?" an unknown voice comments.

Parasol Zombie turns around, and suddenly gains an unamused expression on her face. Behind her, Blockhead Zombie has a costume consisting of a yellow shirt with a black zigzag pattern across the middle, along with black pants. Seeing where this joke went, Parasol Zombie immediately walks offscreen to join her friends.

A LITTLE LATER

A few minutes later, Bikini Zombie and Toadstool have strayed away from their group, and have teamed up to trick or treat. Bikini Zombie starts thinking of something, before turning to her friend.

"Toadstool, where is your costume? You're the only one other than Parasol Zombie to not wear a costume.

"But I am wearing a costume." she answers, before spitting out a blue flyer, which Bikini Zombie catches, opens and reads.

"Come visit the world's only living bottomless chasm. Take photos! Buy souvenirs! Have a chat with the chasm herself!" she reads. Toadstool has spent a lot of time on her costume, based on the merchandise she is currently spitting out. Bikini Zombie grabs a novelty snow globe and drops it into Toadstool's mouth. After a while, they hear a 'plop' of the globe falling into water. Toadstool quickly covers her friend's mouth with her tongue.

"Tell no one, otherwise I spent $500 on making this stuff for nothing!" she tells her friend. She then releases Bikini Zombie, and they move towards a house, unaware of the two bats flying down the house's chimney.

"It's OK, I won't tell." Bikini Zombie assures her friend. "Besides, we won't be able to get more candy than Trick-or-Treater if we don't team up. That guy is a MASTER of the art of trick-or-treating." Her words are true; every year, Trick-or-Treater gets more candy than anyone.

They knock on the house's door, and it slowly opens, revealing Vampire Zombie and Vampire Flower, evilly looking at the two characters in front of them, who unfortunately don't know the danger they're about to get themselves into.

"Woah guys, those are fantastic costumes! So life like! You have to tell me where you got them!" Toadstool comments, enamoured by the realistic features. Bikini Zombie also looks in wonder.

"Our clothes are a bit exclusive, but we can give you some." Vampire Flower comments. "Right now!"

Vampire Flower laughs, before lunging at Bikini Zombie. Vampire Zombie joins in and tackles Toadstool. After two loud 'chomps' and two faint 'poofs,' Toadstool and Bikini Zombie rise from the ground, changed.

They now sport black and red cloaks, and a pair of sharp fangs (which is weird in Toadstool's case, since she hasn’t no teeth). Bikini Zombie and Toadstool have officially become vampires, creatures of the night.

"So," Vampire Zombie starts while walking next to the two new vampires. "Do you two want to join us and a few friends on a little horror-filled trip around town?"

"Heck yeah!" Bikini Zombie enthusiastically agrees, before the four transform into bats and fly into the night. This is going to be a night to remember for the whole of Suburbia and Zomburbia.

MEANWHILE

A few blocks away, the others are trick-or-treaters (except for Parasol Zombie, who is sitting on a bench still being a spoilsport and is refusing to participate).

"OK, he is starting to annoy me now." Parasol Zombie comments, now slightly ticked off with me, the narrator. Blooming Heart hops to her friend and starts talking.

"Is there any reason you hate the Lawn of Doom? Maybe we can talk about it." she calmly says, while Parasol Zombie angrily decides to tell.

"Fine. When I was young, I liked trick or treating. But one night, I went to a house and knocked on the door. The thing was, that house was abandoned for years, and a sac filled with baby spiderlings was attached to the underside of the porch's roof."

Parasol Zombie starts losing her composure, and starts shaking in fear.

"A-And the force of me k-knocking on the door caused the s-sac to fall down on me. A-and t-then t-t-t-t-"

She is unable to finish that sentence, and she struggles not to cry as she shields herself away from the world with her parasol. Blooming Heart, now realising that she hit a nerve, goes and tries to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." she goes, but Parasol Zombie just moves away. Glitter Zombie skates up to them, and instantly notices her crying friend.

"I-Is she OK?" she questions, genuinely concerned for her friend. She reaches into her candy bucket, and pulls out a green and white swirled peppermint candy out of it, before motioning it towards her crying friend.

"I-I-I d-don't want any c-candy right n-now, I've b-been r-r-reminded of a horrible childhood m-moment." Parasol Zombie remarks, before moving away from her. Glitter Zombie looks at the piece of candy and shrugs.

"More for me then." she states, before taking a bite out of it. After chewing and swallowing it, she starts feeling very jittery and energy-filled, before gaining a crazed look on her face. The other remaining characters notice, and look at her with unsure looks.

"Is she going to explode?" Weasel Hoarder asks, before Glitter Zombie suddenly leaps high into the air in a sugar-fueled craze, shocking her friends. She then falls down to the ground and speedily skates in circles around a tree.

"WHOO-HOO!" she yells, while her friend stare at her. The piece of candy she bit falls near Parasol Zombie, who picks it up and sniffs it, before feeling a faint jittery feeling course through her.

"This piece of candy is so packed with sugar that I managed to get a bit jittery just by sniffing it!" she comments while looking at her sugar-crazed friend. "Glitter Zombie is going to be in a sugar rush for a while. I wonder what her mother would think of this?"

As suddenly as she started, Glitter Zombie stops rushing around and dons a worried face. She knew her mom, and she'd usually be back from trick or treating by now, pigging out on candy. And yet, there is no sight of her.

"Wait, have any of you seen Bikini Zombie?!" she quickly says, looking around in a panic.

When her friends shake their heads, she starts panicing and zooming around for her mom, saying "Mom?" wherever she looked, from the ends of the street to inside houses and trash cans. She then zooms back to the end of the street, where she runs into Bikini Zombie and Toadstool, who are still vampires. Elated, she hugs her mom, while her friends follow her.

"Mom! I was so worried because I didn't see you come back from trick or treating and I started searching for you and I'm on a huge sugar rush and-"

She pauses as quickly as she started. Her mom is smiling evilly at her, exposing her two sharp fangs, gleaming in the moonlight. Glitter Zombie lets go of her and backs away.

"Mom? Were did you and Toadstool get vampire costumes? Please stop looking at me like that, it's scaring me and unnerving the others!" she quickly says, not checking whether her mom is actually scaring her friends.

"Uhhh..." Bikini Zombie goes, not fully sure how to handle this situation.

Glitter Zombie, after getting another look at the fangs, decides to try and yank them out. She grabs one, and tries to pull it out.

"Mom, did you superglue costume parts to yourself again? Cause these teeth aren't budging." she quickly comments as she tries to yank them out. After a few seconds, she slows down and eventually lets go, realising that the teeth may not be fake. "T-They're real, aren't they?" she says in fear.

Bikini Zombie nods, and Glitter Zombie is thrown into a panic attack.

"B-But if that's true, then you and Toadstool aren't dressing up as vampires, you ARE vampires! And I'm just standing next to you bumbling about it in a blind panic!"

She screams in horror, and bolts in the opposite direction, leaving a trail of dust behind her. Her friends nervously look at the two vampires, who hiss at them.

"Surely there can only be two of them." Dusk Lobber asks, before Bikini Zombie snaps her fingers, causing six bats to fly next to the two vampires.

The bats transform, turning into Baron von Bats, Vampire Zombie, Vimpire, Ancient Vimpire, Count Chompula, and Vampire Flower. The eight vampires start moving towards the group.

"Before anyone asks, yes; I do blame my big mouth for this." Dusk Lobber comments, before she and the other non-vampires run away, with the vampires turning back into bats answers chasing them.

A FEW BLOCKS AWAY

Away from the vampire trouble, Zombie Commander and Fishy Imp are outside the movie theatre, waiting for the Spooky Squash to arrive.

"He's coming soon, I can feel it." Zombie Commander says while throwing the shovel up into the air like a baton. "I've placed bait, and I even hired a dog to help us defeat him."

Nearby, Wolf Imp, wearing a beagle costume, is sitting on top of a small house, typing on a computer.

"The Life of Wolf Imp. Now THAT will be a good book title." he thinks, and starts typing.

Suddenly, the ground starts to shake, and Spooky Squash emerges from the ground.

"It's the Great Gourd, Zombie Commander!" Fishy Imp says while looking in awe. Zombie Commander brandishes the shovel and hits him with it, causing it to harmlessly bounce off him, gaining his attention.

"You dare disturb me?!" Spooky Squash thunders as he hops towards them. Realising she has messed up, Zombie Commander runs away, with Fishy Imp not far behind. As they run, Spooky Squash chuckles to himself, and hides back inside the ground.

A few streets away, the two zombies are still running, and Blockhead Zombie is suddenly trampled by them, having no time to react. Fishy Imp quickly runs back and takes his bucket of candy, before bolting.

JUST THEN

The other group of protagonists are running towards the community hall, with the ideas that they would be safe there from the vampires still chasing them. At the doors, Zombie Commander and Fishy Imp open them, while the others rush in, startling them. They then enter the hall and close the doors, locking them in the process.

Inside the community hall, a full-blown Lawn of Doom Party is in full swing. There's a table of refreshments, games, music (with leading vocals courtesy of Ghost Pepper), a DJ (Jack O' Lantern), and a magic show by Witch Hazel. The main protagonists relax a little, except for Glitter Zombie, who is still panicking.

"Oh no, this is bad! There are vampires and they want to break in and we’re all doomed and-"

She suddenly feels extremely sleepy, before collapsing onto the ground. Sugar crashes, am I right?

"Must be a sugar crash." Weasel Hoarder comments as she drags Glitter Zombie onto a chair.

"What have we missed? It's been less than 30 minutes!" Fishy Imp states, annoyed that she doesn't know what happened.

"Long story short, vampires." Blooming Heart answers. Banging is heard, and throughout the windows, the vampires are seen trying to break in.

"We need to warn everyone!" Zombie Commander says, before being shushed by Parasol Zombie.

"And cause mass panic? How about no. I say, we just tell the party's hosts, and warn them of the upcoming danger so they can prepare defenses." she explains.

"On it." Dusk Lobber says, before she hops over to Ghost Pepper and the band. She goes into Ghost Pepper's sight and motions for her to come.

"I have some business to attend to." Ghost Pepper states. "The band will play while I'm gone."

She floats over to Dusk Lobber, who is getting Jack O' Lantern's attention. He leaves and joins the group. Finally, she gets Witch Hazel's attention, who creates bubbles to entertain the crowd before she leaves. The small group meet the protagonists, who discus the problem.

"OK, so how should I put this?" Dusk Lobber starts, before being moved away by Zombie Commander.

"There are vampires outside and we need to evacuate!" she tells them.

The three party hosts look at one another, before Ghost Pepper and Jack O' Lantern burst out laughing. Witch Hazel, however, hop still closer towards them.

"Judging by your facial expressions, I know you're not joking." she says. "I have a friend who is married to a vampire. The vampire and some other vampires usually haunt the town on this day, but they're never this aggressive."

"We need to defend ourselves." Zombie Commander says. She then looks at Witch Hazel's hat. "I heard this plant uses magic. Maybe I feel I wear her hat, I’ll be able to use magic as well. Then I could fight the vampires."

Zombie Commander suddenly picks up Witch Hazel's 'hat,' startling her into turning Zombie Commander into a Puff-shroom.

"No one touches my hat. You touch the hat, I turn you into a Puff-shroom." Witch Hazel remarks, before turning towards the others. "We do need to defend ourselves."

"I know!" the transformed Zombie Commander says. "A vampire's weaknesses are sunlight, garlic, and steak."

"Isn't it 'a stake through the heart'? As in, a wooden stake?" Blooming Heart comments, earning her a look from her mushroomified friend.

"A wooden steak? Are you mad?!" Zombie Commander says, clearly not knowing that there is a thing called 'homophones.'

Before anyone can react, the vampires bust through the doors, causing the music to suddenly stop and the entire population of the hall looking at them. Cactus (dressed as a cowboy) approaches the vampires.

"All eight of you are vampires? You do know there is something called 'originality,' right?" she comments. Vampire Zombie walks up to her, and lunges at her. After a 'chomp' and a 'poof,' she is turned into a vampire, much to the shock of everyone.

The characters inside the hall (excluding the vampires) full on panic. There's screaming, running around, hiding. The general panicked mob traits. The vampires shrug, and hover towards the panicked mobs. However, before they can do more damage, a convenient plot twist arrives.

The doors burst open again, and Garlic (dressed as a European pilgrim, with a small black pilgrim-styled hat) and Sweet Potato (dressed as a turkey, complete with fake turkey feathers and a beak) enter the hall. The vampires instantly notices the former, and back away.

"Oh, I get it." Garlic says, amused. "Vampires are afraid of garlic. You guys are really getting into character."

"How about you hop closer and see what happens?" Sweet Potato comments, and Garlic does, scaring the vampires and making them back away. Parasol Zombie watches, and immediately comes up with a plan.

"Of course! Garlic, do you mind if we borrow some of your cloves?" she asks, hoping her plan might work.

"Sure! I'm a pretty resilient plant. Just don't use all of them. I still want to, you know, survive." Garlic responds, and Parasol Zombie gets some of his cloves, and hands them out to her friends.

"OK, we just need to get a garlic clover into the vampires' mouths, and the infected should turn back to normal, and the normal vampires?" she stops, thinking. "Well, let's hope Celestial Custodian can clean the ashes."

The protagonists split up, and try to force-feed the vampires garlic. The vampires don't take to this idea lightly, and start dive-bombing them. However, when Bikini Zombie dive-bombs Weasel Hoarder, the latter force-feeds garlic to the former. Bikini Zombie chokes, and immediately turns back to normal, with a confused look on her face.

"Woah, scene change." she comments, having no memory of what happened.

Cactus and Toadstool start repeatedly dive-bombing the protagonists in anger, only to be force-fed garlic cloves and, subsequently turned back.

"I have no idea what happened. Did I eat too much candy and pass out again?" Toadstool wonders.

The remaining vampires (the regular ones) decide that dive-bombing isn't the way to go. They actually get cornered by the protagonists, before deciding that enough is enough.

"Let's get out of here!" Baron von Bats exclaims. "Ve didn't know there vould be garlic here?"

The vampires turn into bats, and fly out of an open window. The people inside the hall start celebrating.

"That, was admittedly easier than I thought." Parasol Zombie remarks. It's actually a bit ironic how the spoilsport of the Lawn of Doom actually helped SAVE the holiday.

"OK, that's it!" she remarks, before brandishing her parasol. "Where is that narrator?!"

She looks around and suddenly finds her narrator, which is revealed to be me, Hot Date, sitting in a chair near her. She starts running towards me, and the narrator suddenly wishes he was narrating a nature documentary! OW, stop hitting me!

THE END

Timeline

 * October 31st
 * The day before "Suburbia's Got Talent!"
 * After "A Strange Plant," "The Search for the Lost Family Member," and "A Hunt for a Mouse"

Trivia

 * This is my first fanfiction that doesn't use transcript-styled writing.

Cultural references

 * The street called "Laura Lane" is a reference to Laura Shigihara.
 * The subplot with Zombie Commander and Spooky Squash is a reference to the Peanuts television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Multiple characters also reference Peanuts characters.
 * Zombie Commander's costume and belief in the Spooky Squash references Linus van Pelt.
 * Fishy Imp's costume references Sally Brown.
 * Blockhead Zombie's costume and unfortunate moments references Charlie Brown.
 * Wolf Imp's costume, story writing and sitting on top of a small house references Snoopy.
 * Spooky Squash references The Great Pumpkin.
 * Parasol Zombie's insult references Lucy van Pelt.

Changed content

 * Originally, I was going to add scenes based around Shrinking Violet, Excavator Zombie, Deep Sea Gargantuar, and Immorticia, but I cut them out to not make this blog extremely long.

Poll
Which style of writing do you prefer my fanfictions to be in? The previous style (used in every fanfiction before this one) The current style (used in this fanfiction)