“LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU OVERGROWN BOWL OF SALAD!!!” Joey screamed as he tried to defend himself. Luckily, Jean-Luc and Julie busted in to confront the beast.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU OVERGROWN BOWL OF SALAD!!” Jean-Luc shouted at the beast, causing it to suddenly turn around. Jean-Luc powered up his hands to blast the beast, but the giant plant swings its large vines at the two and knocks them down. The beast then climbs over the two and begins to run away. Jean-Luc quickly brushes off the knockdown and then heads to the cupboard that Joey was hiding in and pulls him out.

“You alright, little buddy?” Jean-Luc asks in a fatherly tone and Joey nods his head but also clings to the fox boy’s fur. 100% Julie slowly gets up and rubs her head while slowly asking, “What in the heck…?”

“Maybe that plant thing knows where Ryan is,” Jean-Luc pondered.

“O-O-Or it ate him….” Joey shivered while Jean-Luc patted his back. Jean-Luc was about to suggest to destroy the beast, but a shiver of thought inserted into his mind. It was if there was an aura that wasn’t necessarily aggressive, but instead was afraid. The fox then picks up 100% Julie and begins to run in the direction of where the plant beast went. Jean-Luc scooted himself outside to find slithers of plant vines attempting to hide atop a tethering high-rise of the fortress defense zone. Jean-Luc then put Joey and Julie atop his head and then stretches his way to the beast. Both Joey and Julie plea for him to stop, even by knocking on his head but to no avail. Jean-Luc climbs into one part of the high-rise and watches as the beast begins to wrap its vines around the place in order to protect itself. Jean-Luc begrudgingly makes his way into the nest of vines, shimmying and sliding and squeezing himself and his partners through without damaging the plant beast.

“Big b-brother…” Joey asked in a fearful tone, “Why-why are we following this thing…?”

“Shhh…” Jean-Luc hushed, “there’s something about this thing that isn’t what it seems. We have to be really quiet so we don’t frighten it.”

“FRIGHTEN IT?” Julie asked in a stern whisper, “How THAT thing would be frightened is BEYOND me.”

“You’ll see,” Jean-Luc replied, “All we have to do is to NOT startle it. If Jean-Luc could not have jinxed himself any further, he then accidentally crunches a lone plant stem. A huge roar is heard from above, causing the gang to gulp at the same time. They are then suddenly grabbed by the necks and slammed all around the walls. The trio are then thrown upward, crashing through the ceiling and onto a misplaced helipad.

“Ughh…. Is everyone okay…?” Jean-Luc muttered as he slowly lifted his head up.

“Uhh… think again, my friend…” Julie replied in a feared manner as she points to a surprising object in front of her and the dynamic duo. In no surprise, the gigantic plant monster stood before the gang, wrapping a barrier around the trio so they don’t escape, sharpening its teeth, and roaring a deep, echoing roar across the skies. Jean-Luc carefully sets Joey and Julie down, then slowly tip-toed over to the beast. The plant monster slowly stepped back and was about to get defensive, but Jean-Luc quietly began to talk to him.

“Shh…. No-no-no-no. Don’t move. I’m not gonna hurt you,” Jean-Luc started as he carefully walked over to the beast. However, the tall tower that withheld the four was slowly losing his bearings. Each step Jean-Luc took, and each time the plant monster slinked further and further to the edge. Jean-Luc attempted to float over to the creature with open arms, but in surprise, the creature hopped back and cracked some of the bearings, causing the wooden plank to suddenly crackdown, causing the plant beast to slide off and fall. Jean-Luc quickly flew over to the plant’s aid and caught it by one of its support roots before it could it the ground far below. However, because of the sudden break of the wooden holdings, Joey and Julie began to slide and fall as well. Thankfully, Joey grabs and holds Julie then they both grab onto ends of his hat, making the hat puff up like a parachute as they float down safely. The fox then lays the plant down onto the ground in front of them, and then sets himself in between them and the beast as he begins to speak to it.

“There now, isn’t that better?” Jean-Luc began as the plant slowly looked at him, “we’re not gonna hurt you one bit. We just want to ask you a few things.” Julie was about to retort to him that the plant doesn’t know English but Jean-Luc quietly hushes her. He first asks the beast about the green fog that’s been emanating throughout this place, and with a bit of body language, the beast tells them that this is how he will survive, and the fog can also be toxic if hunters are discovered. The last part gave a lump in Joey’s throat as they’ve been around scaring the beast since they spotted it and is hoping that the plant hasn’t tried to poison them while they’ve been here.

“Well,” Jean-Luc cleared from his throat, “What about you? Where’d you come from, big guy?” The plant then took a small crate and a few objects laying across the ground, and set it down in front of Jean-Luc. The plant then took a piece of itself and rested it on the table. The plant then took the small objects surrounding the vegetation sliver and began to smash them onto it like a kid throwing around their action figures. Jean-Luc looked up at the beast and gently rubbed and patted its vine to comfort it.

“Guys…” Jean-Luc began like a caring parent, “This thing was tortured and just wanted to be alooonneeee….”

“Aaawww….” Joey said in a caring tone as he held onto Julie.

“But what about the defense zone?” Julie argued, “We NEED a place to keep overwhelming crime handled or something.”

“Oh, when have we ever used that place anyway? We never even needed to use it until those robots suddenly barged in,” Jean-Luc retorted, but the plant monster shuddered and grumbled, not wanting Jean-Luc and Julie to fight. Jean-Luc, Joey, and Julie begin to ponder what to do with the plant monster. If they take it home, it might not entirely survive without the needed gas to sustain its life, but at the cost of poisoning other animals and humans. But if carry it to a further location than it already is, it might be hunted down due to the surrounding environment being more conspicuous because it possibly has been abandoned. However, Joey just remembered the reason why they were there in the first place and unknowingly drops Julie to the floor and stated, “Wait. Have you see our friend, Ryan? We lost him in this place and don’t know where he is.” A small gurgle is heard from the belly of the plant monster. Fox boy floats back as the plant begins to choke itself and then began to cough, gag, and hack until a large, glowing pod excretes slowly out of its gaping maw. The slime it produces has a very goopy texture while the pod itself pumps more as it shakes in tone to that of a living creature’s heartbeat. Jean-Luc gave a justified gag as he immediately began to look away after seeing the process of what had just happened. The poor boy gagged a few times before swallowing whatever lunch attempted to come out while Joey walked to the pod and gently poked it, causing the pod to vibrate. Curious, the bunny then places the side of his face on the pod despite the goo dripping and salivating all over his face.

“Sayyyy,” Joey began while pressing into it like he is hugging a giant friend, “I think whatever this thing is…. Its’ alive in here.”

“I-Urk… I can tell…” Jean-Luc commented while somewhat regurgitating. Joey then began to pick up the pod and carry it over to the Groovemobile. Julie began to ask Joey where he’s going, only for Joey to reply that they should take this thing home. Julie took a last look at the plant monster, then went and helped up Jean-Luc and walked him back to the car. The plant monster climbed over the walls and watched as the trio get in their vehicle and prepare to drive off with the pod. The plant made a low-sounding moan to the skies as it watches the Groovemobile drive back into the green smoke to the way home, but then glumly slunk down back into the decrepit defense zone and wrapped into its vines of depression once it slid back into the hole it crawled out of. Meanwhile, as the trio began to drive away, Julie looked back at the green fog as a feeling of worry began to open up Julie’s mind. She then looks over at Jean-Luc and asked him, “I don’t feel good leaving that… plant thing behind. I feel like something about it would end up… disastrous…” Jean-Luc looked over at Julie with somewhat worry, but began to reassure to her by stating, “I hope not… besides. With that pod over there, we might have a closer chance to finding Ryan, OR… understand why that plant monster resided there in the- "AAAHHHH!!!!!” Jean-Luc screamed as a deformed creature crashed atop of windshield of the Groovemobile and then flew over while the Groovemobile spun out until screeching to a halt JUST before it could tilt over.

“What in the great mother earth and beyond was that?!” Jean-Luc shouted just as he put the Groovemobile into reverse and backed up. The Groovemobile creeped slowly to the offending obstruction and stopped just close enough so the trio can get out and investigate.

“Whoa… what… is that thing?” Jean-Luc said as he kneeled down to it.

“It looks like someone went and mangled that thing…” Julie commented in a disgusted tone. The obstruction looked like a deformed human body, with half of its skin covered in some disgusting green pigment. Jean-Luc looked deep into the body’s dead eyes, and peeled back some as the body slowly rolled its eyes to stare deeply into the fox’s own eyes. Julie walked over to the body and pulled out a remote control. The remote control then began to beep, detecting immense amounts of radiation from the mangled, run-over body. As Julie stared at the beast, a sudden spirit feeling invades Julie through her eyes, turning them into a slow, dark green color. Julie began to shiver some but then also shake her head to go back to normal. Julie then put away her invention and declared, “I don’t like the way this body looks. It needs treatment and to be dev-…Decontaminated and tested. We better take it home for… investigation.”

“Investigation…?” Jean-Luc and Joey gulped while biting their fingers profusely, prompting Julie to continue, “Yes, you goofballs. Whatever this thing is, that plant beast back there, and that POD. We might be able to tie up what’s going on around here. Now open the trunk so we can stuff this thing in there and get a move on.” Jean-Luc watched at how serious Julie looked and slightly gulped at the thought of carrying this beast home, but he complied and opened the trunk, made a protective aura around his arms and placed the body in the trunk while the others got back inside. Jean-Luc slowly looked over at Julie and saw a vein slowly bulging from the back of her head.

“Oh dear…” Jean-Luc spoke in his mind, and then got back into the car, strapped into the driver’s seat, and drove off. However, as the trio drive miles back home, Jean-Luc can’t help but feel something very off with Julie. She didn’t seem like her normal self…. Like something was coming over her. Meanwhile, back at the decrepit defense zone, the plant monster had slithered its way back into its hole, and encroached back into the position it had once fell slumber in, making everything very quiet… until….

“Ah… rest up mein Gemüse…” a voice spoke, waking the plant beast, only for the beast to get shot by a mysterious dart, causing it to pass out. The voice then continued by stating, “…denn es ist zu leistenden Arbeit.” A vicious laugh emerged from the voice, as all that could be seen from the plant’s vision was the blur of a red, glowing eye, while its vision went black, making everything be nothing but an echo.