The Tick vs. El Seed

*I didn't even want to be involved, I got jumped by a hedge. Where are the cops in this town?! AAH!*
— **Die Fledermaus**

**"The Tick vs. El Seed"** is an episode of the animated television series *The Tick.*

## Synopsis

After Tick is covered in a villain's chemical, which animates plant life, Tick begins turning into a vegetable, and he and Arthur must find the antidote before it's too late.

## Plot

All over The City, plants are coming to life and causing chaos: an elderly woman is attacked by her flowers, a bunch of saplings steal a truck, golfers are grabbed by bushes, and Tick and Arthur fight a gaggle of nasty cacti. We then see a greenhouse, inside is a giant machine filled with chemicals. El Seed, a sunflower with arms and legs, is giving a speech to his henchwomen, the Bee Twins, about his hatred for the "animal oppressor", telling them about his plan to spray the whole city with his plant "vitalizer" using a crop duster.

El Seed flies over the park, spraying, but Tick jumps onto his plane. They fight, and Tick is splashed with all of the vitalizer, falling from the plane. They are attacked by the trees, but the Civic-Minded Five arrive in time to save them, but get badly injured themselves, and Tick begins to grow plants from his body. El Seed is depressed because his formula was wasted on Tick, but the Bee Twins manage to motivate him, and he has in epiphany: to make more formula and use it on the corn field surrounding them. The heroes are rushed to City Hospital, where Tick receives the diagnosis that he is turning into a vegetable.

Arthur comes to the conclusion that El Seed must've rented his crop duster from Jeff's Pay 'n' Spray. They question Jeff, and he says he rented El Seed a crop duster, and that he lives down the road "a ways." Tick and Arthur come across El Seed's now-living army of corn, and attempt to infiltrate it. They are discovered by the Bee Twins, but manage to subdue them, and make their way to El Seed's greenhouse, where he is giving a speech to his troops. They interrogate El Seed, who reveals that he has the antidote.

The Civic-Minded Five arrive to help, but quickly run away after their car is covered in attacking corn soldiers. After using it on Tick, he and Arthur fill the duster with the antidote, and de-animate the corn army, saving the day. The episode ends with the Civic-Minded Five arresting El Seed, Arthur and Tick soaring off, Tick giving a speech about life, and the saplings driving down the country road.

## Characters

### Main Characters

* Tick
* Arthur

### Supporting Characters

* Civic-Minded Five (first appearance)
	+ Four-Legged Man (first appearance)
	+ Captain Mucilage (first appearance)
	+ Carpeted Man (first appearance)
	+ Jungle Janet (first appearance)
	+ Feral Boy (first appearance)

### Antagonists

* El Seed (first appearance)
	+ Bee Twins (first appearance)

### Other Characters

* Die Fledermaus
* Jeff (only appearance)
* Saplings (first appearance)
* Sally Vacuum
* Human Bullet's wife
* Doctor (only appearance)
* Sapling deliveryman (only appearance)

## Locations

* The City
	+ Angry Hank's Texas Fat Pig Bar-BQ (only appearance)
	+ El Seed's greenhouse (only appearance)
	+ Jeff's Pay 'n' Spray (only appearance)
	+ City Hospital (only appearance)
	+ City Park (only appearance)
	+ Human Bullet's house

## Notes

* The woman buying the saplings is Human Bullet's wife.
* **Ending Line**: "You know, when a tomato grows out of your forehead, it gets you thinking: what do we know about anything? Life is just a big, wild, crazy tossed salad. But you don't eat it. No, sir , you live it. Isn't it great? Isn't it great?!"