Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/4108036.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
  Fandom:
      Invader_Zim, Johnny_the_Homicidal_Maniac, Squee_(Comics)
  Relationship:
      Dib/Zim, Todd_"Squee"_Casil/Gaz_(Invader_Zim)
  Character:
      Dib_(Invader_Zim), Zim_(Invader_Zim), Gaz_(Invader_Zim)
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-06-09 Completed: 2015-06-10 Chapters: 18/18 Words: 98783
****** Beyond the Stars ******
by Pearlinprocess
Summary
     Badly written IZ/JTHM crossover fic. Contains lemons in a couple of
     chapters. Zim/Dib and other ships.
***** Chapter 1 *****
Truce
Dib's head hung so low that his chin touched his collar. The things Gaz had
said earlier that night... She'd said some messed up things to him before, but
he'd always assumed that she was joking. He always assumed they could make it
the 18 to 21 mandatory years they had to spend together as co-dependant
siblings, and would even look out for each other when need be.
But tonight, she'd laid it all on the table. She said she'd hated him, that he
was a nuisance, that he was insane and stupid at the same time, that she'd be
better off if she didn't have to save his ass all the time, and Dib had been
forced to reflect and realize that, he really had only ever saved Gaz from
something he'd caused in the first place, and she was in fact the one saving
him ninety percent of the time. Maybe she was right. But so was he, damn it.
She couldn't understand. She was like his dad, just like all the other humans…
Just like the other humans… That had made him think about something else she
had said.
"Why don't you just go fly off into a black hole with your little green
boyfriend, space boy? Or go get mauled by those werewolves you're always
chasing, I don't care, just go and never come back!"
Truth be told he had been considering trying to negotiate some kind of
agreement with Zim for a while now. But he'd, until now, assumed that he was
welcome on Earth, or at least in his home. But his father had given him the
ultimatum of attending a strictly scientific college and pursuing a strictly
scientific job, or being completely cut off from the family and it's funds upon
his upcoming eighteenth birthday.
"I'm sorry son," He'd said, in a way that made it clear he wasn't sorry. "But
if you want to be a paranormal investigator so bad, you can pay for the tuition
on burger money. That is if you'll have enough left over after rent."
So obviously his dad didn't give much of a damn about him either. So maybe,
just maybe, Earth wasn't where he belonged. He still loved the planet so much
that it hurt, he loved the beauty and balance of nature that still existed on
the planet, but hated what the overpopulation of dumb people was doing to it.
He hated what those cruel moronic people did to each other. The good ones were
so few and far between, and even most of them were hopeless simpletons.
He sighed in irritation remembering his first and so far only girlfriend, an
unbelievably awkward relationship with his former classmate Gretchen. He'd
begun dating her when she suddenly blossomed into a rather attractive young
woman last year. Admittedly it was mostly for that reason that he'd dated her
in the first place. She was pretty, but still socially awkward from being ugly
for so many years, and she did still have those braces at the time.
But Dib had told her she was pretty despite the braces she was forced to wear,
and made her so shy. On her part, she was a little slow, but she was a good
listener. Dib could tell she only believed him half the time, and would never
actually go out and participate in his paranormal excursions if she could help
it, but he thought she was nice enough just for listening to his crazy-sounding
stories, and not tell him she thought he was crazy. But the braces finally came
off, and when they did she was immediately recruited by a modeling agency. She
became conceited and mean, and dumped Dib for a hotter and infinitely duller
guy.
So there was that. Basically the fight with Gaz was just the moldy whipped
topping on the mudpie that was his godawful life. So it led him to think, maybe
he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing. And god knew Zim would never
conquer Earth while he was around. So maybe some kind of negotiation could be
met between them after all. He wasn't quite sure yet what kind, but he was
thinking maybe he could convince the Irken to leave the planet and the smartest
people on earth alone and simply kill off it's parasites? He didn't really want
to hurt anyone, but since these same people would usually kill themselves one
way or another, it was a worthy sacrifice for the more worthy. Eh, well, it was
worth a try anyways.
So he slipped past the defenses of Zim's base with only breaking out into a
light sweat. He made it down to the innards of the house, lightened of his
bribe of chocolate to GIR. There he noticed Zim was talking to his leaders via
the big screen. Dib hid to listen.
"So you see my Tallest, if I could simply be allowed some extra supplies this
year, I'm sure I could have Earth conquered by this Earth summer! The Earth is
going through an economic struggle right now due to a war, and it's the perfect
time to weaken it for conquest! I just need some extra Irken dietary
supplements, I'm afraid I ran out awhile ago, and although Earth sugar and
carbohydrates are relatively safe to eat in small amounts, it's not at all as
fulfilling or tasty as SUPERIOR," This word he suddenly screeched out, then
immediately returned to normal. "Irken cuisine. Also, it'd be really super neat
if I could get one of those awesome new Megalomegadoomers from the artillery
catalog, the ones you don't have to plug in!"
Dib broke into a sweat at that. The absence of a plug would be a huge
disadvantage to him!
Tallest Red sighed at that. Stupid catalogs, forever on every invader's mailing
list, even when that invader wasn't even an invader anymore.
Tallest Purple proceeded to poke his cohort annoyingly. "Hey. Hey. Hey."
Red swatted his fingers away, knowing what he was going to say. "What?"
"If you don't tell him, I will." He warned. They'd had a talk about Zim a while
ago. It had been funny, stringing him along all these years, and in complete
truth, Red actually did start to hope Zim might someday turn into a decent
invader when he noticed the little snot had gone through a surprisingly quick
and dramatic growth spurt over the few short years on Earth. Now he was a
mildly impressive height for an Irken, a few inches over five feet tall. He
might even be as tall as the tallest Irken invaders. But he was still godawful
at doing anything but mindless destroying, and it was getting old now. The
Resisty was actually starting to put up a good fight recently, recruiting
planets that hadn't yet been taken over for help. Irken resources were getting
a bit less plentiful too, and the joke was now an expense. Purple had much less
patience for Zim than Red. And Red only gave Zim any time of day for one
reason. A reason he'd never even fully acknowledged… Until today.
Red nodded. "I'll do it…" He cleared his throat. "Zim. It's time we stopped all
this. I know you know about the origins of your DNA. I knew too." Not as long
as Zim had, but he'd figured it out after a while, and even though he still
didn't want Zim anywhere near Irk or involved with their plans, he no longer
wished him dead as he once had. But even if didn't wish death on the moron, he
still didn't want anyone else knowing about Zim's origins, or anything about
Zim. There was a reason they'd once brought Zim to the existence evaluation,
because they questioned it. It seemed everything Zim touched was doomed. Which
would be a good thing if they could just get it to work for the Irken empire
instead of against it.
Red continued, "I know you know that I and a research scientist named Zirra
were the two Irken's whose DNA was mixed to create you. But then you must also
know," He added just as Zim's eyes began to widen with pride and delight at his
admittance. "That you are FAR from the only one created from my DNA. Tall
Irkens like myself are always selected first for that. I can't and won't treat
you like you're special because of it. And besides that, even though you have
some of my taller and therefore superior DNA, you only grew as tall as your
maternal donor. But again, you're not the only one that turned out like that.
So it's really because of your all too apparent incompetence at invading that I
am forced to tell you, we cannot continue to support you as we have been any
longer. You were supposed to be banished a long time ago, Zim. If not for pure
luck you would have been dead a thousand times before. You're unbelievably
prone to mayhem. I'm sorry Zim, but you're just a gigantic liability!"
Zim interrupted in desperation, "Please, my Tallest, I understand that I may
have been a little awkward and clumsy as a young Irken, but I-"
Red interrupted back, and as his superior Zim had to back down. "Awkward and
clumsy? Zim the amount of destruction you've caused cannot even be held in the
same context as those two words! You've caused the death of two Tallest in your
lifetime, and destroyed various portions of various planets, including your
own! You are cursed somehow, I don't understand it, but you need to get it
through your head that you'd be doing your race a huge favor by just staying
away from us! I mean, really, you're not even the only Irken that's prone to
being so awful at EVERYTHING-"
At this point Purple joined in. Just because Zim was Red's smeet didn't mean he
couldn't address him too as a superiorly tall Irken. Really the fact that Zim
was Red's byproduct wasn't even supposed to matter. He didn't understand why
Red gave Zim that extra leniency to begin with just because of that fact, given
the vast amount of failures he tallied up, both in height and performance. But
Red was right, he wasn't the only one either. "Yeah, there's Invader Pesto! I
suppose there's a reason he got called Pesto, eh? Get it? Pest, o? Cause he's a
pest! O!" It made perfect sense to Purple.
Red blinked, "I thought he was named after that mixed greens and nuts
concoction that goes on pasta and sammiches and stuff?"
Purple blinked too. "Mmm. That sounds good right now." As carbs always did. So
he barked at a shorter Irken nearby to get them a plate of sammiches with the
green stuff on them. Then he continued, "But yeah, Invader Pesto! He's more in
that awkward and clumsy stage you were just talking about. We sent him off to
some planet we weren't sure existed like you too! And Invader Kim! Funny to
note though," Here he eyed Red pointedly. "Both Invader Pesto and Invader Kim
also share your DNA, Red…"
Red glared at him, "I do hope you're not suggesting that any defect the three
might have stemmed anywhere but their maternal donors, Purple." He stated
warningly.
"Of course not." Purple smirked a tiny smirk. "Plenty of your other smeets
didn't turn out to be total failures."
Red growled and continued on, "ANYWAYS. I'll-" He glared back pointedly at
Purple, then forged on, "I'll send you one last shipment of dietary
supplements." He ignored the half-choked protest Purple coughed out. "But
you'll need to make it last you a while, because from now on you're banished
for good, Zim. You were supposed to be banished for good a long time ago."
"PLEASE," Zim eyes began to collect a strange clear and light-pink liquid. "My
Tallests, I beg you to reconsider! There is so much I could do for the Irken
Empire! I don't know what I would do if I couldn't serve the Irken race that I
am so devoted to!" The love and longing for a reason for his existence showed
clearly in the smaller alien's wavering voice.
"ZIM!" Red shouted, trying to hide the fact that, deep down, it caused him pain
to do this too. Purple couldn't understand. He was one of nearly half the
population of Irkens that had lost not only gender identity, but the ability to
feel the emotions that had once been more important to the race than it was
now. But of course technological advances had long wiped out the need for them,
beyond that of the issue of loyalty to the race… Romantic love was now an
embarrassing taboo when once, far enough back into the past of the Irken race,
it was enjoyed.
Red knew Purple and a few of the closest members of the Armada knew that he
himself had indulged in the occasional romantic fling with a few other Irkens,
mostly females, as he preferred them, but of course since he was Tallest it was
never brought against him. Purple did not do sex or romance. He employed a
small personal team of Irken masseurs, but they were strictly for the relief of
tension. Purple had never kissed another, felt longing in their equivalent of
the heart for another, and therefore he did not know what it felt like to be
attached to another that shared your DNA, to want the best for them just as you
wished for the best for yourself.
But Red also understood the logic his cohort and their type employed, how
emotions could get the better of an Irken and cause them to do foolish,
detrimental things. Things like supporting a crazy, cursed little Irken that
was supposed to be banished. So he held his paternal feelings in check and
addressed the younger, shorter Irken. "The most considerate thing you could do
for your species and our agenda would be to STAY on that little mudball you
landed on and quit bothering us! Or better yet, you could go get lost and
disappear completely like your fraternal unit Invader Yoogli!"
Zim gasped at that, hurt all-too evident in the choking sound. Even though
Irkens had much more subdued emotions than they used to, they were still loyal
to one another. No Irken would be left to die by enemy hands unless there was
good reason to do so. That was the reason why, even though Invader Tenn had
failed her mission, they'd still expended the resources to save her. The fact
that she was also one of Red's smeets also got her in good favor. And it was
the reason why putting Zim before the existence evaluator had been a last
resort. One Red truthfully didn't want to have to repeat now that he realized
Zim was his offspring. But Zim had to think the opposite was the case, or else
he would just keep crawling back.
Red averted his eyes from the smaller Irken, who's eyes were wide in shock, not
yet crying, mostly because the dire situation had not completely sunk in yet.
"…Goodbye, Zim."
And then the transmission screen went black.
Dib couldn't believe it. He actually felt worse for the little alien than he
did about himself. His own father not only had never acknowledged him at all
until this point, but had basically just told him that he didn't care if he
lived or died. How could anyone be so cruel to their own child? Then again,
from what Dib had gathered from the information he'd stolen, Irkens were raised
as test tube babies, and their DNA was put together by scientists in a lab
instead of two lovers in a bed. Still, it was obvious that Zim still had
feelings, and they'd been greatly wounded.
Hesitantly, Dib stepped out from his hiding place. "Zim." He called softly, but
even despite that Zim turned on him in a flash, watery eyes narrowed in hatred.
"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE, YOU EAVESDROPPING PIG-MONKEY?" The little green
man shrieked, throwing the nearest thing to him, a ceramic mug, at the earth
boy's head. But his aim was way off due to the liquid gathering in his eyes,
and with the emotion overtaking him, Dib easily dodged the utensil.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on that." He apologized reasonably, even
though he normally wouldn't. "But believe it or not, I actually really know how
you're feeling right now, Zim. I know what it's like to feel like no one in the
world cares if you live or die." Zim had been about to rip something out of
it's bolts to throw at Dib, but his words reached him and he stopped. He didn't
look back at the human, but one of his antennae twitched. He was listening.
So the human went on, slowly approaching the alien that he'd realized years ago
was one of the greatest sources of purpose and enjoyment in his life. "Hey.
Look at me." Zim didn't, so Dib went on anyways. "Come on. You may be accident-
prone like they said," At that Zim did look back at him to shoot a deep glare.
"But you're not a bad invader. Zim, you're passionate about what you do. You're
creative and intelligent. Don't let them make you feel bad just because you're
not perfect. Nobody is perfect, not even the Tallest." He reached out quickly
before he lost his nerve, and set his hand down on Zim's shoulder in a sign of
support.
"You don't understand, you stupid Earth Pig-Monkey!" Zim screamed, wrenching
away from the hand of the much taller human. If Dib was an Irken he'd be tall
enough to be the Tallest himself. He'd grown a staggering amount in the few
short years Zim had spent on Earth, and now at the eve of adulthood he stood at
six feet and four inches, towering over Zim by almost a full foot of height,
just short an inch or two. Despite the human being taller than him, Zim didn't
act any differently. He was still the superior species, that would still be
true if the human were a hundred feet tall. Plus, Zim had gone through a rather
drastic growth spurt for an Irken too, and was very proud of the near foot of
height he had achieved in only seven years. Seven! Practically nothing to an
Irken. But that didn't console him now, and he was sure nothing could.
Dib stubbornly put his hand back on the shorter being's shoulder and lightly
squeezed, sighing lightly. "Zim… We've been fighting so long, and it's becoming
apparent neither of us ever needed to be. Even though it was fun sometimes… I
used to hate you and want you dead and I know you did too, but I think we both
realized years ago that we're better off with each other around. I know it's
weird, but… I'm here for you if you want me to be. And to be completely honest…
I've kind of been wondering for a while what it might be like to be friends
instead of enemies. I really wish I had a friend right now…"
The sappiness of the situation made Zim feel queasy, and there was a small part
of him that distrusted Dib's true intentions. But underneath the nausea and
paranoia was a strange longing reaction to the young man's invitation.
Obviously he didn't mind being an alien, but it really sucked to be alienated.
And all these years on Earth, of all the pig-monkeys that called themselves
human that lived here, only the Dib had ever remotely entertained him. He'd
never needed Dib more than he did at this moment, much as he wanted to deny it,
he couldn't, at least not to himself. And anyways what did it matter if it was
a trick? He had no reason to continue to exist now that he'd been utterly
rejected by his empire, planet and species.
So he accepted his invitation and/or doom. "Fine... I've lost the respect of
all of my Irken comrades, what does it matter anymore what they'd think about
this..." Reluctantly, he held out his three-fingered hand.
Blinking in surprise, Dib returned the gesture, wrapping his five fingers
around the gloved hand, and lightly squeezed. It was a strange sensation,
shaking hands with the enemy with no tack in between, feeling each other's
pulse and heat. It was nice, but it was also incredibly awkward. After a few
seconds, Zim gave him a raised eyebrow that Dib could tell translated to
something like, 'Okay, what now?'
Dib cleared his throat first and began to speak, "So, Zim… You've been to
plenty of different planets. Which was your favorite? Besides Irk, of course."
Though he interrupted the moment by asking his question, Dib did not
immediately let his alien go. He was still inwardly marveling as how close to
his own skin temperature Zim's skin was. It was just a little cooler, though
that was probably due to living in a cold, metal base.
Zim was the one who finally wrenched his hand back and looked up at the human
quizzically. "Why do you want to know this, Dib-human-who's-apparently-really-
gone-insane-this-time?"
Dib ignored the insult, determined to get the answer. "Answer me first and then
I'll answer you."
Zim sighed and then hummed for a moment in thought. "Mm… Hmm… HMMMM… Hmm-dee-
hmmm… Hum. Hum. Hummmmuumuummm…" Okay, more than a moment.
Dib interrupted after about four and a half moments. "If you have more than one
favorite, that's okay…"
"SILENCE ZIM IS THINKING-Okay, well, I stayed a night at Resortia, that was
nice, even if it was a bit expensive… And the food at Foodcourtia is pretty
good, if only that weirdo Frylord wasn't around all the time…"
Dib interrupted him, "Um, Zim," He sighed a little sigh. "Isn't there any
planets you found… I dunno, awe-inspiring? Beautiful?"
"Irk, of course!"
Dib smack his forehead. "I know you like Irk best, Zim! I like Earth best! But
what other planets are beautiful to you?"
Zim sighed back, and took a moment to think a little harder. "Well… There was a
planet I once crash landed on and had to spend a few weeks repairing my ship…
Irk had it labeled as Fooboo-14. But I overheard the natives there calling it
Walima. The natives of Walima were a race of limbless, snake-like people. They
probably would have eaten me if they could have, I was wounded and weak, but
they couldn't chew, and could only eat things small enough to be swallowed
whole. Most of them avoided me. But one didn't. A child, a female I think. She
was curious about me. Despite being a different species, she had green skin and
red eyes, so I suppose she must have taken pity on me because our similarity in
appearance. She brought me food."
Dib interrupted, fascinated with the story. "How did she bring it to you
without limbs?"
"The native's tail is skinny and dexterous, they use it like a hand. She
dragged a giant leaf with native food on it. There was a pink egg with red yolk
inside that was too spicy to eat. Then there was a smelly green chunk, that
looked like a wad of moss or pond scum, I didn't even taste it. But then there
was some fruit. There was a fruit the size of my hand with a purple rind and
sugar-sweet red flesh. And some orange berries that were sweet and sour.
Besides Irken food and Earth waffles, it's probably the tastiest things I've
ever eaten."
"I prefer pancakes, myself." Dib smiled. "But I'd love to taste them too, if I
could. What about the scenery of that planet?"
"It consisted of many mountains and canyons, but it was a very green planet.
Most of the flowers were red. The river that flowed through the canyon was so
pure you could see the pink sands at the bottom. But there were also a few pink
predators that lurked in them, so I tended to avoid them." He paused there,
indicating that was the end of his recollection.
But Dib was nowhere near satisfied. "Any others?"
Zim sighed and tapped his lip with a claw as he thought. "…Planet Kryndal, also
known as Fooboo-19."
Dib interrupted, "What does Fooboo mean?" Since it had been repeated twice.
"It's an Irken word for a planet that's being considered for conquest, but is
still years away from the actual invading process, as opposed to a Foofee
planet, which is being invaded but is not yet conquered. NOW BE SILENT!" He
screamed suddenly after 'patiently' explaining the lingo. "Kryndal is a planet
inhabited by a subspecies of rock people. Most types of rock people are large
and dull, but the Kryndals are usually more on the smaller size, and they're
relatively intelligent, though of course nowhere NEAR as intelligent as the
mighty Irken race." Zim nodded sagely to his own opinion. "But it is not the
Kryndals intelligence that makes them memorable - It is their physical
appearance. They are pleasant to look at. Their bodies are made of crystals and
gemstones, and they come in just about every color you can think of. I've never
been to their planet, though I've heard it's just as beautiful as it is
dangerous, but the people themselves are awfully pretty. Almost too pretty to
conquer… Almost."
Dib had been smiling as he listened to Zim's stories, and now it had stretched
itself into a grin. "I really want to see one of them! Wow, rock people, how
does that even work…?" He mused, mostly to himself, before turning his
attention back to Zim. "What are the other rock people like? Do they eat? What
do they eat? What are their-"
But Zim cut him off in the middle of his bombardment of questions, "SILENCE
Dib-monster, I've answered enough of your questions!" Also he didn't know what
the rock people ate. "Now it's time you answered mine - Why do you want to
know?"
"I want to see them." Dib answered immediately. "I want to go to the places
you've been. I love Earth, but it seems to be doing just fine with or without
me, and I'm not getting any younger protecting it. Humans don't live nearly as
long as you Irkens. I want to live my life while I still have time. I want to
see the universe. I want you to show me."
Zim stared at him in silence for several seconds, thinking. He certainly didn't
want to be stuck on this dirt ball of a planet any longer than he had to be,
but he couldn't go back to Irk, either - Not without asking for his doom on a
silver platter. So the only other alternative would be to go… Anywhere else in
the galaxy. True, he didn't need to take the Dib-human along with him, but the
alternative to that was traveling alone with GIR. Though the Dib was constantly
accused of being insane by his peers, Zim knew that the definition of true
insanity was his little robot servant. It would be nice to have another
sentient being around, and it didn't take much considering to know that the
pig-monkey was the best choice. He was intelligent enough to commandeer an
Irken ship, he'd proven himself in battle on countless occasions, and most
importantly… He was asking for this. He would be in debt to Zim and in Zim's
ship he would be at Zim's command.
Best to make sure he knew that, though. "There will be conditions to such a
request, Dib."
Dib nodded slowly, expecting as much. "Name them."
"First of all," The alien began. "On my Irken vessel, I am in charge. If you're
coming with me, you are my slave."
"No." Dib replied immediately. He was willing to negotiate with the alien, but
he knew that little green bastard well enough not to let him make all the
demands. Conquering was in his blood, after all. "I agree that the ship is your
property, and that you know more about it than me. I agree to be your second-
in-command, your subordinate. I will follow your orders if I believe they are
reasonable, but I am not and never will be your slave. Next condition."
Zim glowered at the human for his refusal, but admittedly the compromise was
more than he'd expected of the willful human, and he was still in charge, so it
was acceptable. "SECOND, you WILL follow my orders even if you aren't sure if
they're entirely reasonable or not. Between the two of us, I am the one with
the most knowledge about what we will encounter in the deep of space." He
growled, more at himself than at the human, for the next words to come out of
his mouth. "Rrr-I will not ask you do anything… Unnecessary. Like licking my
boots." The alien grinned wickedly at the thought. "But you WILL be doing your
share of maintenance and manual labor around the ship."
"Of course." Dib replied, more eagerly than Zim expected. But then, to Zim,
ship maintenance was a chore. To Dib, it was exciting and out of the ordinary,
and the chance of a lifetime to really learn about the Irken technology that
beforehand he'd only had experience near-blindly tinkering with. Well, by his
usual standards, anyways.
"Very well, human." Zim crossed his arms. "Then my last condition is this: If
you come to regret this decision later on, for whatever reason, you will
remember that you ASKED for this. If you want to go crying back to Earth later,
you are responsible for getting your own big head back here."
Dib narrowed his eyes. "If that happens then I will get my only-slightly-above-
average-sized head back, without your help. Now, I have a couple of conditions
myself - If we're 'friends' now, that comes with some expectations. We don't
need to gab like girls all the time or paint each other's nails or whatever,
but no more betrayals. If we get into a life or death situation, we're
responsible for ourselves, but if it's possible to help one another, we will.
We've only got each other now. So, I won't leave you behind like I did that one
Halloween years ago..." He secretly had always felt really guilty about that.
It was a dick move to pull, even on your worst enemy. "As long as you don't
leave me behind, either."
Zim's eyes narrowed at the reminder. "I make no promises, Dib-thing. I won't
risk my life for you..." He growled as he reluctantly admitted, "But I will...
Assist you, if it comes as no inconvenience for me."
Dib nodded, "Right. So then-" Whatever he was about to say after that was
muffled as a very messy, chocolate-covered GIR suddenly latched onto his big
head out of nowhere, his metallic voice shrieking into Dib's ear.
"ROOOOAD TRIIIIIP~!"
"GIR! There are no roads in space!" Zim sternly reminded him.
"...Oooh yeeeeah..." GIR released Dib's head and jumped on Zim's instead,
licking the side of his face and leaving a trail of chocolate behind as the
robot amended, "SPAAAACE TRIIIIIP~!"
"GET YOUR SWEET-SMELLING HUMAN DOOKIE-FOOD AWAY FROM MEEEEE!"
Dib briefly wondered what he was getting himself into... But there was nothing
behind him worth looking back on, so he didn't.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 2 *****
Faring the Hopeless Well
They had to stay on Earth the extra six months for Zim's last dietary shipment
came in, and during that time Dib had stayed at Zim's base instead of going
home, except for once to sneak in to get the few personal things he needed,
which he packed away in Tak's ship and took back to Zim's.
Of course Zim had protested to this arrangement at first, but after explaining
to him his reasons, Zim had reluctantly agreed. Part of that being 'friends'
thing the Dib had mentioned was not purposefully dooming each other, so it
would probably be considered 'unfriendly' to force him to go back to his
demonically scary sister after she'd told him to go and never come back.
Besides that, they were about to effectively trapped themselves together in the
vastness of space, at least until they found a planet to part ways at if they
wanted to, so bunking together as roommates for a few months was probably the
best way to practice for what was to come.
Between the idle bickering, they spent most of the six months preparing for the
voyage ahead - Zim taught Dib the basics of the Irken language, enough to
identify the parts of Tak's ship as they disassembled it and put it back
together, connecting it to Zim's ship to make it big enough to accommodate the
both of them. Dib was reluctant to hand control of the ship to Zim, but he
didn't have the necessary Irken PAK needed to fully utilize it, so he had no
other choice.
Dismantling the ship did come with a near-fatal run-in with Tak's last dormant
security drone, which revealed itself when they'd finally finished connecting
the ships and attempted to delete Tak's personality and upload Zim's. The drone
had nearly electrocuted them to death, but luckily for them, GIR had randomly
decided to 'share' his chocolate-cola slushie with the drone, fritzing it to
uselessness with the icey, sugary drink just in time.
"ZIM IS GREAT!" The conceited alien had proclaimed afterwards.
And of course Dib couldn't resist reminding him, "You didn't even do anything!
GIR did!"
"Yes, and GIR is MY robot!" Zim had 'reasoned' back. Dib just rolled his eyes
and let it go, which he'd long-since learned was the best way to avoid a fight.
When he wanted to avoid one, anyways. Sometimes he purposefully started them
anyways, just so it wouldn't get boring. They might be friends now, but that
didn't mean they couldn't still be rivals too. They were too good at it to give
it up completely, after all.
When the supplements finally arrived, Dib made a run to the nearest Wack-Mart
to buy a bulk supply of the basics that he would need, as well. He bought all
the necessary toiletries, of course, and canned foods, as well as snacks. He
also secretly snuck on a few cases of bottled Earth-water, though Zim's ship
had a purifying water renewal system on board, which he insisted was better for
Dib than the polluted swill he'd been drinking all his life. He did make a good
scientific argument for it, so Dib had tried it and admittedly it tasted much
better and he'd gotten used to it. But if push came to shove Dib wanted to have
an ace up his sleeve, and besides, who knew - Maybe Earth-water might contain
some kind of nutrient Dib might need later. Better safe than sorry.
...Nah, who was he kidding? He'd snuck a water-gun on board too.
Finally the day of departure came, and although Dib had been eagerly awaiting
it, he found it still had managed to come too soon. This was it, he realized.
He was about to leave his home behind, and for all he knew, he might really
never come back again. He certainly had no intentions of returning, anyways.
Still, he filled a small jar with Earth-soil and set it up in his personal
quarters as a final keepsake.
As he started up the finished ship, now twice as big as it had been before, Zim
told him, "Last chance, Dib-smell. Are you sure this is what you want?"
Dib just nodded silently as he stared out of the window, memorizing the sight
of his gorgeous home-planet for the last time as they flew away. The blue
waters, the brown and green land-masses, the white clouds swirling around the
atmosphere. Dib couldn't take his eyes off it.
Zim quickly got annoyed with the sentimentality. "I don't get it. I know this
is where you began your existence, but other than that, what's so special about
it?" He huffed. "Some of the scenery is nice, but your species has ruined most
of it. There's countless more planets with everything Earth has and much more,
why even bother giving this puny dirtball a last glance when being here has
only made you miserable? Maybe we should blow it up and make this a proper
goodbye-"
"Zim, shut the fuck up and don't even joke like that." Dib warned him sternly,
so serious that Zim was shocked into silence for just a moment to listen to
him. "I told you, I love my planet just as much as you love yours. There might
be a million more planets out there, but Earth is still special. Just because
it's smaller than other planets-"
"Thirty-two thousand times smaller than Irk." Zim reminded him, but Dib went on
as if he hadn't heard him.
"It STILL doesn't mean it's not amazing in it's own right!" The human insisted,
never taking his eyes off the planet. "That world is full of mysteries and
wonders. Just because it's small, and fragile-"
"Incredibly fragile, only one moon to rely on, could knock it off orbit right
now and doom the whole thing-" Zim once again supplied.
Dib growled out a sigh, quickly getting fed up with being interrupted, and he
didn't even want to get started with the Irken on how special that moon was,
which he also wanted to get one last look at. "LOOK, if you can't appreciate
it, will you at least just give me a few minutes to? I know most humans have
been terrible to me, but the planet itself was majestic. Magical." He added,
smirking at his own choice of words.
Zim scoffed, "Don't tell me you believe in nonsense like 'magic'."
"You -definitely- wouldn't get that part, Zim." Dib insisted, and went on
before Zim could bitch him out for assuming that his 'superior' Irken brain
wouldn't understand something about his primitive world. "Let's just say, I
made an oath once, to protect this planet. To never harm it, or anyone on it,
except in self defense, and to especially always avoid killing, and I really,
literally can't break that promise, at least when it comes to Earth and the
human race. If you try to harm my planet again, I'll have to try to kill you,
so just leave it alone and we can continue to get along, okay?"
Zim was supremely confused and flustered and trying not to get violent over it.
"Eh? Whatever, you silly, stinky supersticious human! I don't even have to
remind you that my race could wipe yours out with the greatest of ease if it
really wanted to, if your PUNY planet actually had anything worth sending a
fleet so far for. Enjoy your last look, but I'm telling you, there's nothing on
Earth you'll miss. You'll forget all about your pathetic 'magical' planet once
you've seen what the rest of the multiverse has to offer!"
Dib wanted to believe Zim was right, so much so that he almost did. But as he
watched the colorful orb that was once his home get smaller and smaller in the
distance, his heart ached. He knew he was leaving something big enough to leave
a hole in his heart behind, but he hoped and trusted that what was to come
would be grander yet.
He watched and watched until the Earth was no more than another speck among the
billions of stars and planets, and only then did he finally rejoin Zim at the
ship's control panel.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Meanwhile, on Earth, Gaz stared up at the night sky. Her GameSlave5 was turned
off for the first time since she'd gotten it, and it hung loosely from her
fingertips by her side. She watched the alien ship speed off beyond the stars,
and as it finally disappeared from sight, a single tear slowly slipped down her
left eye. The tear was warm at first, but the night air chilled it in a second
flat, making her shiver.
She ignored the cold. She would spent the rest of the evening ignoring the
cold, staring at the stars in the heavens like her brother so often had. And
she would be silent for the rest of the night, except only for the words she
now spoke, although her audience would never hear her.
"I'm sorry, Dib..." She choked out through a thick voice. "But I know you'll
happier out there than you ever would have been here..."
She said it in her heart, but she refused to say it out loud, just like she'd
always done. If, by some miracle, her stupid brother managed not to die, then
maybe it wouldn't really be 'Goodbye' after all...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Except for sightseeing out the window, the first few weeks out in space were
actually pretty boring. Earth was a long way on all sides from any other
planets with life on them, so they had a ways to go before they'd find one.
Even so, at first Zim was flying in the general direction of Irk. He was going
to change direction in a short time and head towards the general area of
Kryndal. Not of course to Kryndal itself since Irk was probably in the process
of taking over it by then, but to another set of rock-people planets nearby for
Dib to see and explore, before they too fell to the might Irken empire.
Zim and Dib kept themselves busy with ship maintenance, and the occasional
argument, it was GIR they had to worry about. Fortunately Dib had the foresight
to download a library of music and tacky movies to the ship's computer, to
entertain himself, but also the dangerously insane robot. It had managed to
keep him occupied... Most of the time.
"I WANNA FLY THE CHOO-CHOO NOW~!" The robot suddenly announced one day while
the ship was on autopilot and Dib and Zim were resting in their seperate rooms,
since they should have had about four hours of free space to fly through in the
direction they were going. The second they heard the exclamation, however, they
both jumped to their feet and ran to the main control room.
Zim growled, "GIR, DON'T YOU DARE-" But he only got as far as that before GIR
had set the controls to hyperspeed, and it shrieked with delight as the ship
lurched into a sudden burst of uncontrollable speeds. Then GIR began to smash
buttons on the direction panel, and Zim and Dib were sent flying all across the
room, smacking into each other more than once, as the ship violently zig-zagged
through space.
After clipping an asteroid, GIR was knocked off of the driver's seat and away
from the array of buttons it had been smashing, and after few dozen more
tailspins, Zim managed to land on the control panel and took the opportunity to
shut off the hyperspeed.
Still propelled by the inertia, the ship spun a few more times before it
managed to slow down, and when it finally had righted itself, Zim had wound up
splayed over Dib's waist.
"Uugh..." Dib rubbed his head, not immediately aware of the position until a
second later, when Zim's hand pushed down on his lower stomach as the Irken
struggled to get back up to his feet. Dib blushed suddenly at the pressure on
his squirming stomach, but he didn't say anything except for, "Oof..." It WAS
just an accident, after all...
Once Zim was up, he grabbed his robotic 'servant' and shook him. "GIR! Do you
have ANY idea how much I want to BLAST YOU OUT INTO SPACE RIGHT NOW-?!"
While Zim was busy with GIR, Dib had risen to his feet and approached the
control panel to find out just where they'd landed. But, looking out of the
window, he was confused at first to find that there were no identifying stars
to be seen, only the darkness of space. Then Dib's eyes went wide with terror
as he realized what that meant.
"Z-Zim! We've got a SERIOUS problem here!" He shouted over his shoulder, unable
to take his eyes off the screen.
"Eh!? What is it Dib-smell?" As annoyed as he was with being interrupted, Zim
could tell by Dib's tone that it was as serious as he claimed, and he threw GIR
across the room before joining the human at the control panel. "Hey, where did
all the stars go-Oh, snurflak..." Zim hadn't yet taught Dib Irken curse words,
but he put it together for himself what 'snurflak' obviously meant. GIR's wild
ride had put them perilously close to the event horizon of a black hole, and
the strong gravitational pull was dragging them closer to the point of no
return every second.
GIR ran back to them and hugged their heads together tight, one hand pulling
Dib's hair scythe, the other pulling one of Zim's antennae, and screaming as
they flailed to free themselves, "YAAAAAY WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE~!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 3 *****
Of Finding Lost Things
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Zim growled loudly, almost about to scream in frustration, and ripped GIR off
their heads, throwing him across the room. Dib had already been setting the
thrusters to take them in reverse, though Zim impatiently shoved him aside and
resumed doing the same thing. Any human vessel would have already been pulled
in, but even Zim's superior Irken vessel was straining to pull back from the
outstanding gravitational pull.
They were making slow but steady progress in getting away, beginning to just
see the ring of red and purple stars surrounding them, but the alarm systems
suddenly warned them a few seconds too late of an asteroid coming their way.
Normally there would have been plenty of time to evade it, but it was being
pulled too by the black hole, which caused it to cross the space between them
much faster. The huge, heavy rock hit their ship from behind, knocking it off
it's course and sending it spinning forward. Zim tried desperately to right the
ship in time, but suddenly, everything went still and everything went dark.
Pitch black.
For a second that was actually hours, Dib and Zim were both sure they were
about to die. Crushed by tidal forces before they even reached the singularity.
It took them a while to realize they and everything else, even time itself, had
stopped. Everything they thought they knew about black holes told them they
should be ripped apart by now, so neither knew what to think about the fact
that instead, they were suspended, for who knew how long, in dead silent
blackness.
After a pause that could have been any other length of time, but either way it
felt unbearably long to the living creatures within - Suddenly, GIR's blue eyes
lit up in the darkness, though only Dib could see it, and nothing else. He
still couldn't move, he just saw those blue eyes staring at him surrounded by
darkness. Then the robot told him simply in his usual happy, dopey voice, "Your
future will be decided by quantum fluctuations! Select either the number one or
the number two~ One of these numbers will produce a future in which you
survive! Your future cannot be determined until a number has been selected!"
At the same time, unbeknownst to Dib, Zim was seeing GIR's serious red SIR eyes
gleaming at him in the dark. It said the exact same thing to him, only in his
urgent, stern voice, "Your future will be decided by quantum fluctuations!
Select either the number one or the number two. One of these numbers will
produce a future in which you survive. Your future cannot be determined until a
number has been selected!"
A simple game of chance that neither knew both were playing, that's what their
fates were riding on. And by pure chance, Dib quietly mumbled, "Two..." just a
second before Zim gasped to scream, "ONE!"
But now both of them saw GIR's blue eyes and heard his dopey voice respond,
"You have selected the number TWO! Your future is now being determined!"
Now able to move, Zim reached over and tried to smack Dib, "You IDIOT! Who
chooses TWO instead of ONE-?!"
Dib didn't have time to argue what difference it made - Although deep down he
felt guilty that he might possibly have chosen wrong - Because before he could
say anything about it, they suddenly went from suspended perfectly still, to
falling fast into a dead drop.
Tremors ran through the frame of the ship as they fell, hitting debris along
the way that couldn't even be seen. It was the strangest sensation, they could
actually feel their legs and feet, the parts closest to the hole, falling
faster than the rest of them.
Then Zim and Dib's stomachs and spooches lurched as the falling feeling changed
direction with no warning - Gravity itself shifted from a vertical fall to a
horizontal one. Their feet had almost been touching the control panels, but
suddenly they fell onto their backs on the floor. The human held his stomach
painfully, resisting the urge to vomit after having been thrown around like a
rag-doll. Zim was woozy for a moment himself, but recovered much more quickly.
While Dib was still composing himself, wiping saliva from his mouth, coughing,
and thanking the stars that he hadn't eaten anything that 'morning' before this
unexpected 'detour', Zim approached the screen, staring at all of the new stars
around them. Completely new. He could tell just by looking hard enough, but he
silently punched in a command to the computer to confirm his suspicious
anyways. It indeed confirmed that the star patterns were completely
inconsistent with those that they had been flying through before getting sucked
into the black hole. But then again, the speed gauge claimed they were going
'Infinity', which of course was impossible, so there was more than a good
chance the ship had been damaged and wasn't reading correctly.
Dib groggily spoke up after he managed to get his stomach to settle, "Are we
seriously still fucking alive right now...?" He clearly didn't sound like he
believed the notion himself just yet.
"Well, I feel pretty alive, how about you?" Zim replied sarcastically, still
focusing on what shape the ship was in - After all, it hardly mattered if they
survived if the ship had been too greatly damaged to take them somewhere
hospitable. It was too scary to think about the other implications of what
they'd actually just been through yet.
But Dib couldn't get his boggled mind off of it. "Z-Zim - This is serious! We
just got sucked into a black hole, and we're ALIVE!"
Zim abruptly left his work and stomped over to the human, reaching up to slap
him right across the face. "ARE YOU REALLY THAT SIMPLE-MINDED, MONKEY-MAN?!"
"HEY!" Dib's face went red with indignation, the three-fingered palm print on
the right side of his cheek redder than the rest. "I am NOT sorry to be glad
I'm alive after surviving something that should have been impossible to
survive! What's so simple-minded about that?"
"BECAUSE, Dib-worm, now neither of us are EVER going to get back home!" The
alien yelled back at him, pointing to the screen and the stars beyond. "The
computer doesn't recognize any of the star patterns around us! We have NO idea
where we are, or even WHEN we are! We could be a million years in the past or
the future! But even if we're in the same time, we're most assuredly in a
completely different dimension! If we're even able to find another habitable
planet before the ship runs down, we may never see another Irken, another
human, or even another sentient being ever again!"
Dib suddenly realized why Zim was so paranoid about that. There was a good
chance they might be stuck together, each the last of their species in this
world that might be completely inhabitable to them, forever - However long or
short that might turn out to be. A deep chill went through Dib's spine at the
prospect, but he still tried to be as optimistic as he could be. "Okay, that IS
pretty huge... But at least it's better than being crushed into a singularity,
right?" But even as he mentioned it, a feeling of deep isolation settled over
Dib. He'd left Earth behind thinking that he could still go back to it someday
if he wanted to. Now, the chances of that ever happening was slim to none.
"Speak for yourself..." Zim growled in response.
"Oh, come on!" Dib spoke back, "Seriously, it is a freaking miracle we're alive
right now! I think I lost one of my teeth and I'll have bruises all over me! I
am in a great deal of pain!" He announced it as cheerfully as he could, but
wincing all the same. "But I REALLY thought I was going to die for a second,
so, this is pretty good compared to that! And you're welcome for choosing the
right quantum fluctuation for us, Zim. Obviously if we had chosen the number
one, we wouldn't have survived!"
But Zim wasn't the least bit pleased by that reminder, and he reached over to
smack Dib again, but this time Dib put up a hand to block it. "That's another
thing human! How dare you presume to make that decision before me?! Regardless
if it was the right one, which is still very much up to debate, I am supposed
to be in charge and making decisions!"
"You're right, Zim. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Dib put both hands up now
trying to pacify him. If they were going to be stuck together forever he was
going to have to get used to it. "It's just, GIR's blue eyes just seemed to be
asking me, personally. I don't know why, the black hole must have been messing
with my head-"
Zim cut him off, "Cease your lies! GIR's eyes were red when he asked the
question and he was directing it to ME!"
Dib's eyes went wide and he stared at Zim, "I only saw blue eyes throughout the
whole thing, Zim. I swear."
Zim sighed irritably, too drained to disbelieve him for the moment. "Alright!
So we're alive! Big whoop! Let's see how long that lasts! But heed this last
thing I say to you DIB," He suddenly reached up and grabbed Dib by the face on
his shirt, dragging him down to eye level. "If you ever make a decision without
consulting me first, you will-You will pay dearly for it!" He couldn't bring
himself to say he'd destroy or kill him though, and Dib knew full well why.
They might really only have each other from now on...
Zim let him go and then instructed his ship to search for a hospitable planet,
and then retreated to his room, taking GIR along with him. Dib sighed and
looked out at the unfamiliar stars. Unfamiliar, but still just as beautiful,
just as colorful. Fiery red stars, emerald green stars, royal blue - He stared
out at them for a while, noting all the colors they had in common with this new
world.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
They had been traveling through the new, unfamiliar space for about two weeks,
and during that time Zim had mostly stayed clear of Dib while keeping an eye on
his robot at all times. But Dib did manage to catch him out of his personal
quarters a few times, and tried to talk to him about mundane things, such as
the new stars or their old lives. At first Zim wanted none of it, but he
eventually remarked one day that he craved waffles, and he sat down with Dib in
a comfortable silence while GIR made them some.
"GIR actually makes some pretty good waffles..." Dib mentioned after eating
half of his.
"Now he does. He used to use pretty much nothing but salt in them..." Zim
replied, and then abruptly, he sighed. It wasn't an irritated sigh like it
would normally be, though. It was tired. "Look... I know this isn't the grand
adventure you were hoping for... I..."
Dib looked up from his plate with wide eyes. Was he actually trying to
apologize?
"RRR-GIR! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT US LOST IN A BLACK HOLE!" Of course
not.
"Hey, it's - Well it IS entirely his fault." Dib couldn't help but agree. "And
it definitely isn't what I had in mind at first, but I'm still glad I went on
this trip. I'm getting to do stuff no human ever has! If that's not adventure,
I don't know what is!" He pointed out.
Zim shook his head in amusement. He was about to insult Dib and his simple-
minded ways, but the ship suddenly alerted them for the first time since
emerging from the black hole, flashing red lights and loudly declaring,
"Habitable planet detected four hundred and seventy-nine thousand miles
northwest. Breathable air, water and plant life are detected, and fauna is also
present."
They both abandoned their plates and went to go see what the computer was
telling them about, although of course they were still too far away to see
anything yet but what the computer claimed was the habitable planet among a
thousand others that looked just like it from this distance. But it was their
only hope so far, so they set course for it.
A few days later they cleared the space between and were within a reasonable
distance from the planet's atmosphere. Dib was excited to explore it, but Zim
was clearly worried about something. "What the matter? I thought the computer
said the planet was habitable?" The human inquired.
Zim growled and laid his head in his hands, his elbows on the dashboard, as he
stared out at the planet with his superior Irken eyes. "It looks like it most
likely is, but... I've been having some serious doubts about the ship's
performance since emerging through the black hole. As you could already see,
the speed gauge has gone insane. It says the planet is habitable, but it also
alerted me to something yesterday, and... Well, it's just not possible..."
"What is it?" Dib insisted on knowing.
Zim shook his head, but then seemed to reconsider. "Do you remember my Tallest
Red speaking of the other invaders who were also banished? That one of them,
Invader Yoogli, disappeared completely?" Dib nodded, so Zim went on, "Well...
Now the computer is telling me that it's discovered a distress signal from
Yoogli's ship, and it's coming from this planet."
"Seriously? Well then, we gotta help him, right?" Dib suggested naively.
Zim resisted the urge to smack some sense into the human, only because it never
worked. "Dib-worm, this shouldn't be possible! We all assumed Yoogli and his
ship must have been destroyed by enemies, to have disappeared so abruptly-"
"Well, WE should have been destroyed too!" Dib pointed out. "What if Yoogli
just happened to somehow get caught in the same black hole we did? Come on,
Zim, lets at least check it out - We were going here anyways, it's the only
planet so far where we have any chance of finding some extra supplies," They
weren't destitute yet, but there was no point in continuing to fly around until
they were. "If Yoogli just happens to be here, what's the harm in at least
checking in on him?"
Zim rolled his eyes and twitched his antennae in a derisive way. But he
couldn't actually think of a good reason not to check in on his comrade. He
remembered with no small amount of shame how he'd laughed with the others when
Yoogli was banished. And then the others had turned around and did the same
thing to him... It wasn't the same though, not at all - Yoogli wasn't just
terribly clumsy like Zim, he was a coward to boot! It was nearly unheard of
among Irkens, to not be so inflamed with pride for the Empire that you'd be
willing to lay down your life in glorious battle. Yoogli had done quite well on
the written exam, in fact Zim had cheated off him a bit. But when it came to
the physical training, he was close to useless. At least Zim was as bold and
brave as any other Irken worthy of their title.
"Even if he DID just happen to survive a trip through a black hole," Zim
insisted, "I seriously doubt he would have survived by himself very long. But,
I suppose since we're going here anyways, we can at least sweep through the
area he supposedly landed at..."
So they did, waiting until the spot that Yoogli supposedly was emerged into the
sun-lit hours of the planet. Exploring an unknown world in an unknown dimension
was daunting enough without starting off doing it in the dark of night.
They landed early that morning close by a beach that was only a few dozen miles
from where Yoogli's ship was supposed to be. The new world was a primitive one,
almost twice as big as Earth, and though there was lush green life all around
and many creatures crawling, flying and swimming within, nothing moved quite
the way the new visitors did, on two legs and thinking their "complex"
thoughts.
They got out of the ship with their protective gear on at first. The sands near
the beach were multicolored shades of black, white, tan, brown and navy blue.
There were blue crabs here and there, and then to Dib's amazement and delight,
he spotted a batch of dark purple baby turtles, struggling over the sands to
get to the waters. GIR had wanted to eat them, but Dib sternly told him no, and
the robot reluctantly obeyed.
The equipment said the air was fine to breath, but Zim had advised him not to
trust it. However, it was too tempting for Dib to see if the air here smelled
as salty, and there were so many similar things on this planet to his old one,
he decided to be bold and give it a try.
Taking off his helmet, a misty breeze immediately refreshed his face, and he
gave it a whiff. The air was salty, but there was also a hint of something
green, like spinach, but slightly more bitter, and also something floral, like
lavender, but heavier. Zim smacked his shoulder, angry at him for taking off
his helmet, but Dib shrugged it off. He felt more than fine, the furthest from
dying - He felt like in that moment, he'd finally just started to really live.
"Zim, knock it off, it's fine." He assured him. "Consider me your guinea pig
here - Now you know the air here really is breathable." But stubbornly, Zim
kept his helmet on.
The left the beach and went further into the surrounding 'forests'. There were
many tall green shoots, like gigantic blades of grass, growing nearly
everywhere. Dib could see that occassionally some had holes chewed in them.
Some of them contained various creepy-crawly bugs, beetles and centipedes. Some
others contained nests of a particular kind of bird, which was almost like a
miniature stork, about the size of a house-cat. The feathers were a very lovely
shimmering green-blue, and some of them presumably males, had an almost furry-
looking "beard" of downy black feathers, which they kept fluffing up to make it
look bigger for their mates. The birds also had a long, pointed beak, which
they used to dig grub and build nests out of the shoots, and sharp talons to
grab onto the shoots and dig in to keep them balanced while they fed.
Dib was so enamored by the gorgeous new sights that he didn't mind at all that
one of the birds suddenly landed on his shoulder - Until it suddenly started to
peck at his head, which naturally gave Zim a very good laugh. Dib howled with
pain and smacked it away, chasing it off, and kept his helmet on after that.
GIR, on the other hand, laughed gleefully at one of the bird pecked incessantly
at his metal-head, declaring loudly, "AWW, he likes me!"
Further into the forest, there wasn't anymore birds in the trees, but they were
finding half-eaten bird carcasses and bones here and there. Dib gulped,
unnerved, and asked Zim through their shared intercom, "What do you think has
been eating the birds?"
Zim kept his hands closed to the laser-guns at his hip. "Lets hope we DON'T
find out..." Dib agreed, but he took his helmet off again and kept his ears
open. Zim's hearing wasn't as good as his, his sense of vibration was much
better. The latter usually more than made up for the former, but on an alien
planet, every advantage was needed.
They were still several miles from the area that was supposed to be where
Yoogli's ship was stationed, but it had since gotten dark. Zim ordered that
they stop and Dib get some sleep. The alien could have gone on a few hours more
before becoming exhausted enough to need to sleep, but it was a better idea to
let the human rest first while he took first watch, that way by the time he was
tired enough to really need sleep, Dib would be well-rested enough to take the
next watch.
Several silent hours passed by in the cold dark. Zim's antennae had been rigid
with attention the whole time, but nothing made as much as a rustle. Even GIR
was in sleep mode. Zim was determined to make it through his shift, but it
became incredibly boring. During his last hour, he nodded off into a dark,
quiet unconsciousness without even realizing it. He was dreaming that he was
still on his watch, so he didn't notice the difference because he very rarely
dreamed.
Dib had slept soundly while Zim was watching him, but by the time he was
supposed to take over his watch, he naturally began to wake himself. Still, it
was cold, so he wasn't in any hurry to get up until Zim made him, either.
That was, until he began to hear a very quiet, subtle rustling noise
surrounding them. He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to the side.
And then he froze.
The head of a gigantic green snake, at least twenty feet long was less than
five feet away from Zim, whose head was drooped over in sleep. That jerk would
never let him get away with falling asleep on the job! But Dib quickly reminded
himself there was more important things to consider right this second. The
snake was easily big enough to swallow either of them, but Zim, the smaller
target, was the one it had it's eye - It only had one - on.
One eye. That was it. Grabbing a fistful of dirt, Dib suddenly hurled it at the
snake's cycloptic eye, blinding it. The creature shrieked and turned to where
the dirt had come from, striking instinctively and deadly fast at the threat.
Luckily, Dib rolled away just in time, and the snake struck more dirt instead
of him. Zim woke up as soon as he heard the commotion, his spider-legs shooting
out of his PAK and propelling him into the air, his head whipping around to
find the threat.
The snake was turning it's head around, trying to locate them by vibration, so
Dib went completely still so that it couldn't find him. Zim, on the other hand,
used his spider legs to leap soundlessly to a tree across from the creature,
pulled out his laser, pointed it at the snake's head, and fired.
The snake made one last choked cry as the white-hot ray burned a hole right
through it's brain. It writhed in it's death throes for a moment before it
finally went still.
"ZIM IS GREA-"
Dib did NOT let him finish that sentence this time. "You are an IDIOT, ZIM!" He
yelled at him in frustration and lingering fear. "You were supposed to be on
watch! If you were tired you should have woken me up to take over the shift!"
Zim admittedly felt a little guilty about that, but he hated being yelled at.
"Silence, Dib-thing! How dare you admonish your superior?!"
But Dib yelled right back, "I will NOT be silent, and you're NOT my superior
anymore! You don't know any more than I do in this place and you almost just
got the both of us killed! I can deal with dying, but I'm not going to let you
leave me all alone!"
Zim growled, not immediately wanting to come back down from his spot, suspended
in the tree. "I didn't mean to! I didn't even realize I fell asleep! I was
watching the area and then the next second I've got a snake in my face! I... I
guess I must have been more tired than I realized..." He admitted reluctantly,
"...Th-Thanks for... For making a good distraction!" Of course he couldn't
admit that Dib had saved his life, though.
"WHEE, LOOKIT ME! I'ma saber tooth squirrel!" GIR suddenly announced, having
taken the front fangs from the snake and put them in it's own mouth.
Dib glanced over at the robot and then sighed with a small smile. "It's fine...
Looks like the sun will be back up soon." He mentioned, and indeed the first
red rays of daylight were peeking over the horizon. "Are you rested up enough
to go, or do you-"
Zim quickly interrupted him, taking the chance to again insist upon his
superiority. "Zim is fully rested! Mighty Irkens such as myself need only an
hour of sleep a day, and I've had 45 minutes! Well more than enough to get by
on!"
But Dib shook his head. "I can wait another fifteen minutes. Go ahead and get
your full hour in."
So the Irken slept in another twenty minutes while Dib took GIR on a brief
walk. When he got back the Irken was groggily rubbing his eyes, having finally
decided to take off his own helmet, since it was getting stuffy now that the
sun was up and burning bright.
They set off again by the light of day, and found that the green shoots were
colored blue around these parts, and were accompanied by trees that looked like
several bushes stacked up on each other, and colored like red wine. Dib was so
distracted looking around at them, he tripped right onto his face not realizing
the ground beneath him had been disturbed. When he got back up and wiped the
dirt off his face, he realized that it looked as if something heavy had been
dragged through the dirt, or, more likely, had crashed here and came skidding
to a stop.
He and Zim followed the path in the dirt, not sure if they should hope for the
best right away. Even if the ship had landed here, there was no telling if
Yoogli was still alive in it. The trail led to a gigantic tree - It looked
almost like a willow, but it was lavender-colored, and bent over unnaturally.
Turning on his flashlight, Dib parted the hanging lavender willow-wall and
shined the light in. Zim peeked in next to him.
It had long been covered with moss and other plant life, and the front of the
ship had smashed into the tree, causing it to bend over as it grew around the
obstruction which had since never left.
Zim slowly approached the ship as Dib continued to shine the light towards him.
When he finally settled next to the spacecraft, he was't quite sure what to do
with it at first. After a slight hesitation, Zim reached up and quietly rapped
his knuckles against the side of the ship, sounding off a hollow, metallic
sound.
A moment passed, then two, but nothing happened. No one answered back. So Zim
shrugged, approaching Dib again, "Eh, maybe no one's home?"
But as soon as this was said, a sharp, creaky-scratching sound came from behind
them, which they realized was the hatch trying to open against the plants that
had grown over it. It seemed to be having difficulty at first, then it fell
open suddenly and a short little Irken came tumbling out - It had apparently
been ramming the door in it's desperation to get it open.
Zim's eyes went almost as wide as the bug-eyed creature in front of him, who
had gotten to his knees and was staring at Zim the way a man dying of thirst
would look at a pitcher of ice-water. Then, to both their shock, and with no
warning whatsoever, the smaller Irken, Yoogli, ran after Zim with outstretched
arms and tackled him to the ground in a near-crushing hug.
"COMRADE!" The other Irken cried out in disbelief, rubbing his head against
Zim's chest like an overly-affectionate cat. His clothes were old and ratty,
torn in several places, but Yoogli apparently cared not for modesty. He was
even rubbing his antennae against Zim's neck and under his jaw, which was
making Zim's pale green skin grow bright red.
Even Dib could tell this was not normal Irken behavior, and he blushed as well,
coughing a little as he asked, "Uh, I take you guys already know each
other...?"
Zim sputtered back at him, struggling to free his arms from the restrictive
hug. "Not nearly as well as he thinks we do-!" He answered in a very squeaky
voice. He was completely thrown off guard by the Irken even being there, let
alone his behavior. He went on to his brethren in their native tongue,
"Soldier, I ORDER you to get a hold of yourself! What has gotten into you?! How
dare you smother me with this vulgar and unwanted display of affection?!"
Yoogli replied in a guilty tone, but did not lessen his embrace one bit,
"Please, comrade! I'm sorry, but you don't understand! I thought I'd never see
another Irken again! I've been trapped on this planet over fifteen YEARS!
ALONE! Please, comrade... Comrade, please..." He repeated piteously after his
initial outbursts, and the way he kept addressing Zim, he couldn't help but
feel badly for his brother. 'Comrade' - It was a standard greeting among fellow
Irkens when they didn't know their first names, but the way Yoogli said it...
He clearly never expected to say the word again, and he loved hearing himself
say it.
Zim wasn't completely sure how to address what was happening. On one hand he
was, of course, incredibly embarrassed to have this be happening at all, but
especially in front of Dib. On the other hand, he did pity the poor Irken for
his situation, and related to it. All those years he spent banished from his
empire and his people, there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't crave
just this - The familiar touch of a fellow and the sound of his native language
with no strange accents. As awkward and uncomfortable as it was, it also felt
really good.
But the antennae-rubbing was far too much, and they really hardly knew each
other. Even if they were the last two Irkens in this whole dimension, being
this clingy this fast was just annoying. Once he'd finally freed one of his
arms, Zim reached and grabbed the poor creature roughly by the appendages -
Grabbing another Irken's antennae was normally a huge social taboo, but then
again, so was touching another Irken with your antennae when they didn't give
you permission.
Yoogli cried out in pain and his eyes watered up, and he finally pulled back
away from Zim and took his arms back to himself. "Please, I'm sorry-!" He
began, but Zim interrupted him.
"CALM yourself, comrade!" He commanded him, and hearing himself being addressed
that way by Zim did indeed calm down the frantic little Irken. "I understand,
okay? You've been alone here for a long time, and you're glad to see me. I
don't blame you for that." He nodded arrogantly. Who wouldn't be glad to see
Zim? "But I do not approve of your disgusting displays of affection! Look,
you've probably got the human thinking... Weird thoughts!" He concluded,
letting go of his antennae and gesturing over to Dib, who was still blushing.
Yoogli finally looked past Zim at the pale, tall alien behind him, blinking
owlishly at the creature. He repeated uncertainly, "Hyoo... Man?"
Realizing he was being addressed, Dib fought to drop the 'WTF' expression on
his face and replaced it with a small smile, waving with one hand. "Uh -
Fashla?" He was pretty sure that was Irken for 'Hello'.
Yoogli raised an eyebrow at him and then turned back to Zim, "Why did he say he
stinks?"
"Because he does, and he just thought you should know." Zim replied
dismissively. He would explain to the Dib-thing later that it was 'Vashla', not
'Fashla'. Maybe. It was kind of a funny mistake, actually, so he might just
leave it be.
Yoogli shrugged it off, "It matters not yet - You're here to save me, right?
Bring me back to the empire?" He concluded desperately.
Zim sighed and shoved the shorter Irken off of him, then got up to his feet
himself. "...No." He answered honestly after a short pause, taking no delight
in how the other Irken's face fell. "We're trapped here with you. We didn't
even know you were here until yesterday. Look, I AM glad I found you-" He added
quickly as tears started to gather in Yoogli's eyes. "I just honestly wasn't
really looking. I guess you can stay with us, BUT, no more of your weird
hugging or rubbing!"
The shorter Irken blushed himself this time, nodding right away. "Yes of
course, I'm so sorry-Zim." He addressed him by name, now both realizing and
caring who the only other Irken in this dimension just happened to be. "I would
never had done that, normally, of course... I just couldn't believe I was
seeing another Irken, I didn't even care who it was at first. I just-I had a
MIGHTY need to be near you!" He explained in a huff, clearly still resisting
the urge to wrap his arms around him again, even despite knowing this wasn't
just any Irken, but arguably one of the most dangerous and insane Irkens alive.
Zim pushed him back gently by the chest. "Yes, yes, Zim is too attractive for
his own good, he knows this-"
"Wait!" Yoogli suddenly exclaimed, actually pushing Zim aside this time and
going up to Dib. "Hyooman- Are you... Mem... Membrane?" He inquired hesitantly,
and Dib's eyes went wider than ever.
"Did-Did he just say what I think he said...?" He aked, clearly not believing
his own ears. How did this alien he'd never seen before know his name? He'd
been paying close attention to what he and Zim were saying. Though he couldn't
understand it, he put together the gist of what they were saying for the most
part by their tones and body language. But Zim had never said his name, only
called him 'human'. Where did Yoogli get 'Membrane' from?
Zim stomped over to the other Irken and grabbed his shoulder, demanding an
explanation. Dib watch as Yoogli explained something to Zim very quickly. He
quirked an eyebrow at Zim, waiting for an interpretation.
Zim seemed unsure, like he didn't believe what he'd just heard at all and
didn't want to look stupid repeating it. But Dib insisted he tell him what had
been said, so finally Zim relayed it back to him, "He says... He says he found
something that he thinks belongs to you."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 4 *****
The Inheritance
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"He said what now...?" Dib of course couldn't believe what he'd heard any more
than Zim had. Obviously the poor lonely alien had gone crazy while in
isolation. But he was curious, and Yoogli had already gone back inside his
dusty ship to find the item in question, so he simply raised an eyebrow as the
shortest sentient came back with what basically looked like a slightly-bigger-
than-basketball-sized, shiny, silver metal sphere, floating next to him in mid-
air. There were several grooves in in various sizes and in square and circle
shapes - Some might be buttons or compartments, Dib guessed.
"Eeh?!" Zim immediately expressed more confusion at the sight of it. "Have you
gone defective, soldier? This is obviously not a human device!" Zim admittedly
couldn't really tell what exactly it was or what its function was, but the
technology was too advanced to be human in origin. It looked more like it was
created by some kind of advanced being, but since he had no idea what it was it
was hard to say what kind of creature had created it.
Yoogli insisted, "I don't think it is either! But it told me you guys would
come for me someday, and that when you did I was to give it to the 'Human
Membrane' that came with you! You've come, so now, although this orb has been
my only source of companionship all these years, I will do as it asked me..."
Zim shook head head slowly, "You're crazy..." He was sure of that, and he said
as much to Dib in his language, "Forget it, Dib-worm, he's crazy-"
"I'm not crazy!" Yoogli suddenly lunged after Dib, grabbing his index finger,
and shoving it towards one of the smaller circular shapes. The metal moved
aside and his finger went in, and Dib jumped and pulled his hand back as his
finger was pricked from inside.
"Hey!" The human shouted, sucking on his slightly bleeding finger. Before he
could inquire what the big deal had been, the device had started to make a
whirring sound, and the grooves in the metal glowed red for a moment.
Then, the device began to speak, in Dib's language, and in a voice that was
somewhat robotic, but also somewhat like a female's tone. "DNA sample
identified. Dib Membrane."
"What the zork..." Zim murmured, looking at the device with eyes even wider
than the human's.
The device continued with no care for Zim's opinion, "Dib Membrane's access to
the information stored within the database is... Denied." Dib almost wanted to
ask what and why, but the machine went on without his input too. "The device
and its vital information can only be accessed by Gaz Membrane. She was the one
that was expected to arrive at this time and place, not Dib Membrane. Please
bring the device to Gaz Membrane to access the information within."
The red glow faded and the newcomers stared in shock at it's request. Dib
didn't like to consider the possibility that he was going insane often, but he
had to admit, now was the time to do it. Gaz was more than a billion miles and
years behind or ahead of him. He thought he'd never hear her or see her again,
and he thought he had been rather glad of that too. She'd very seldom treated
him any way but shabbily, to say the least. But now, in less than an instant,
he went from being glad to be gone from her, to wanting desperately to see her
again. He HAD to be going crazy to want that, even if the promise of secret
information was awful tempting. That was, of course, assuming this wasn't a
hallucination.
But Zim had heard the exact same thing, and he confirmed it when he exclaimed,
"What?! Now your scary sororal unit has something to do with this madness?!
Machine, you will not disobey me! I demand you tell me what you want with the
Gaz-beast!"
The machine's grooves now whirred in a cyan blue colored glow, and answered
back in the same calm, robotic voice. "The device may communicate with you
voluntarily, but you cannot force it to do so. Attempts to hack into the device
for the information guarded within, or to destroy the device, will be met with
painful and possibly fatal consequences." To drive home the point, several
grooves opened and pointed various miniature deadly weapons at them, lasers and
pointy things mostly, before retracting back into their slots.
Zim growled at the threat, and the confusion that was making him more than
flustered. He wanted to scratch and bite at it, but wary of it's warning, he
instead just childishly kicked some dirt in it's direction and pointed
menacingly at it. "It doesn't matter what your big secret is! We'll never be
able to find her, because in case you didn't notice, we're on the other side of
a black hole!"
"The device was already aware of that fact." It argued back at Zim, "It is also
aware of how you many return to your own dimension, and it may show you-But
only if you faithfully follow my direction while you are still in this
dimension, and agree to bring the device to Gaz Membrane, to whom the device
truly belongs, once you are again in your own."
Hope weighed them down as much as it lifted them. They were desperate to
believe it could be possible, but none of them trusted the mysterious machine
or it's motives. Dib got over his shock first, being the least worried of the
three about getting home. "Can you say why you were expecting Gaz?"
The machine was quiet for a moment except for the airy whirring noise. Then,
finally, the etches in the metal went purple, and it replied, "Gaz was told to
come to this place and time by her mother, who built this device. For some
reason, she sent you instead. But the information stored within the device can
only be utilized by Gaz. You must bring the device to her. In return, the
device will aid you on this endeavor in every way that it was programmed. Your
Earth and all it's creatures are in danger, Dib, and only Gaz and the
information within the device can save it."
Dib felt more than a little shaky. "...What did you mean, 'her' mother... We
have the same mother, don't we...?"
The orb backtracked, "Yes, you misunderstood. You DO have the same maternal and
paternal unit as Gaz Membrane, Dib Membrane."
"Then what happened to my mother?" Dib asked desperately, "Why was she even in
this dimension? What the HELL is going on here?!"
The silver sphere was silent for a full moment, "...Your mother is now
deceased. Creating the device was one of her last acts in life. The device
contains much information imparted onto it by your maternal unit, but only Gaz
Membrane may access it. The device will only aid Dib Membrane in getting the
device to Gaz."
Dib slowly sunk to his knees, feeling the need to sit for a moment. He had no
memories of his mother whatsoever. His father refused to say anything about her
the rare few times Dib had asked. A couple of years ago Dib had insisted on
knowing, and his father finally admitted he had cloned Dib and Gaz, and would
say no more than that. But Dib wasn't an idiot, he knew that even if they were
cloned, which he was inclined to believe more than his dad actually getting it
on with a woman, there still would have needed to have been an egg donor.
Dib had thought that she was probably just a random lab assistant that had been
sent away with a hefty sum. He'd entertained himself only once or twice
thinking his mother might be someone more interesting, like possibly some kind
of vampire or demon if Gaz was any indication.
But like Zim, he realized that this machine was most likely beyond the scope of
human capabilities. So hesitantly he forced himself to ask, "Is..." He
corrected himself sadly, "WAS our mother... Human?"
"That information is classified."
Dib shook his head and chuckled humorlessly. By refusing to answer the question
it pretty much already had, not in as much detail as he'd hoped. It was
something he'd thought about before, but only as a joke to himself, only
because the human race seemed so foreign to him at times. But what kind of
being could his mother have possibly been? And - Oh god, a thought had just
come to him, "Wait, then, our dad, did he-?!"
"That information is also classified."
Actually, Dib was kind of glad for that one. If his father had been telling the
truth about cloning them, he had to have known WHAT he was cloning his DNA
with, of course. But if he hadn't cloned them... Dib shivered and shook his
head to clear away the thought.
Besides, that wasn't what was important. He suddenly was filled with the
burning need to know about the part of him that had been missing so long, and
the key was to get this device back to Gaz. However, as much as he wanted so
desperately to know, he was still reluctant to go back to Earth. It wouldn't be
much of a 'space adventure' if he just went straight back to Earth, after all.
But if his planet was in danger, he had to do it, and would. He had promised a
long time ago to protect his home-planet, and when he made a promise, he took
it seriously. He just had to figure out how to convince Zim to take him back or
find a way to do it himself.
Speaking of the little green devil, he finally spoke up again, guessing at
Dib's line of thought. "I have no interest in returning to Earth, Dib."
"The device will not show you how to return until you have agreed to bring the
device back to Gaz within a reasonable amount of time. Once you have agreed,
the device will terminate you if you do not comply within a reasonable amount
of time."
"Bah, you could try! And just what do you call 'reasonable'?!" Zim scoffed.
"The device will be able to return you to your dimension more or less two years
after you left it. Then you will be given four additional years to return the
device to Earth. It should only take you a year if you left immediately, but
the extra time will allow for unseen variables. After that, the situation on
Earth will reach a critical standpoint. If you do not reach your sister by that
time, Dib, you will die, and your planet may soon follow you. The device still
cannot fathom why Gaz chose to risk such a fate sending you instead of coming
herself like she promised she would..."
"Probably sheer laziness." Zim rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "If I know
anything about the Gaz-beast, it's that if she can pawn a task off on the Dib-
worm, she will."
Zim's explanation was almost believable, Dib had been thinking along the same
lines himself. But he knew his sister slightly better - She WOULD pawn her
mediocre chores on Dib whenever she could, but this was so out of the same
ballpark as cleaning up the dinner dishes. If a task was actually important,
Gaz would do it herself, let alone if the Earth was on the line - She wouldn't
risk leaving something this important to Dib without a good reason, would she?
Well, Dib supposed the only way to find out was to find her and ask her.
"...I'll do it. And I'll find my own way back if I have to."
Zim was about to tell Dib how very stupid he was, but the machine acted first,
taking out some kind of needle from one of it's compartments and punturing the
top of Dib's hand. The young man winced for a moment, but it was over quickly.
He rubbed his hand as the needle was taken back, feeling over the small metal
chip left behind.
Afterwards the orb went on, "It is advisable that you now gather as many
supplies as you can and then leave the area."
But Dib had one last thing to ask, "Wait - Why did my mother even come to this
place? Why did she leave you here, and how did she die?"
The machine whirred for a moment, "...The device can only say this to you, Dib
Membrane. Your mother was a brilliant scientist. But she was also a believer in
the forces of the paranormal. She went to many places and found many things,
the memories of which she stored in me. But ultimately, she chose to terminate
her own life."
Dib's stomach dropped. He had been painfully familiar with that kind of despair
a few times in his life, and though he had never known his mother, he felt
closer to her than ever. His father always went on about how much like him Dib
was, but it seemed that the boy took after his mother just as much. "But, why-
?"
"Classified."
The human sighed deeply. "And all this classified stuff, only Gaz can access
it. But would you tell me after she has?"
"Only if Gaz authorizes it. But the device is reasonably sure that she will, if
she trusted you to come get it in the first place."
"Are you sure it was really that important to Gaz in the first place?" Dib
couldn't help but press, "She must have been really little when she made that
promise, and people change as they grow..." He was pretty sure Gaz at least
cared about their planet as much as him for the sake of the creature comforts
she enjoyed, but she was so mysterious, it was hard to tell now that he knew
she'd been hiding something this big from him all along.
"She must have had something equally important to do on Earth." The device
deduced.
Zim growled in annoyance, but before he could chime in, Dib went ahead and said
what he knew Zim was going to say. "Yeah, right. She probably just wanted stay
home playing video games and eating pizza..."
Suddenly, the sphere turned red and actually scolded him, it's voice now
sounding more sentient, even somewhat maternal, rather than robotic. "Dib, your
sister loves you just as much as you still love her deep down, even though you
BOTH never showed it very well. Don't underestimate her. There's a reason your
mother chose her for this task instead of you."
"Ouch. Right in the feel-maker." Zim commented with a grin.
Dib glared over at him. "Will you PLEASE shut up, Zim? This IS kind of
important to me." Then he turned back to the orb. "Then I guess if you're so
sure about that, then there must be a GOOD reason Gaz 'sent' me."
"This has yet to be determined. But the machine deduces that with its
assistance, it is more likely than not."
Dib rolled is eyes and crossed his arms, still petulant from his scolding.
"Pft. Sure. Whatever. Lets just get to this already - What's edible around here
- Oh, and, uh, is there something I can call you besides 'device' or...?"
"You may call me whatever you wish to." The orb responded.
Dib only had to think about it for a few seconds, "What was my mother's name?"
He was saddened to realize he didn't know that, and hoped that it too wasn't
classified.
"Your mother passed her name to your sister, so it was also Gazlene." The glow
turned to deep purple, like the color Gaz sometimes dyed her hair when she got
sick of her usual magenta.
"Huh, weird..." Well he couldn't name the machine after his mother and also his
sister, so with a shrug he decided, "Eh, I guess I'll just call you Orby then."
"Temporary name accepted."
Tired of not being the center of attention, Zim shoved Dib with a growl, "Yes,
yes, this is all very life-changing for you. But now lets focus on getting back
to our own dimension-You CAN really do that, right 'Orby'?" He focused his
scowl upon the device.
"In theory. Which is better chances than you've got without me." Orby replied
coolly. "But first, there are a few chores you'll need to complete before you
leave this planet..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Yoogli's ship had not fared well from the crash, and it had been enduring the
elements for far too long to boot. There was no way to repair it completely,
the only thing that could be done was to salvage as many spare parts as
possible and store them aboard Zim and Dib's Dual-Craft, just in case they were
needed later.
While Zim and Yoogli worked on doing this, Orby assisted Dib in collecting raw
materials from their surroundings. In particular, she instructed him to collect
several buckets of sap from the giant grass blades nearby, and only from the
young plants that hadn't yet been hacked into by bugs and birds. Orby explained
that the sap was edible, but it was better used as a balm for the skin, and
that it had healing properties for wounds.
Yoogli also led them to an area not much further beyond his ship where a kind
of berry bush was growing. The stems and leaves were prickly, and they bore
berries that were shaped like limes. Some were green like limes too, but more
were red, which Yoogli told them were the ripe ones. Dib selected one of the
brightest red berries, rubbed it clean on his shirt, and nibbled off one of the
ends first. It tasted like an extra tart cherry-plum, with just a slightly
bitter aftertaste. Dib tossed the rest of it in his mouth and scrunched his
nose up a bit at the sour sweetness, relishing the odd taste before reluctantly
swallowing.
Just a bit beyond that there was another fruit-bearing plant, a tree this time,
with arrow-shaped lavender leaves and white bark. Lots of patches of lavender
flowers surrounded the trees, which Dib realized was where the floral scent had
been coming from. The fruit on the trees were about as big and round as
oranges, with dark indigo skin, almost like a gigantic blueberry. When Dib cut
it down the middle, the flesh inside was white with with blue seeds throughout.
It had the consistency of an apple, and it also tasted somewhat like an apple,
but with notes of something similar to blueberry and lavender.
They collected as much as they could and loaded it all aboard the ship, then
set course for space. Orby told them that they would be traveling onwards and
outwards for at least six months before they reached the general area where it
would give them further instruction on how to get back to their own dimension.
Dib and Zim would usually pick fights to pass the time, but Yoogli would become
skittish whenever they started getting hostile with each other, so for his sake
Dib kept it to a minimum. Especially because, although Yoogli hadn't hugged Zim
again like he promised he wouldn't, he had been constantly hovering as close to
Zim as he could get away with. When he overstepped his boundaries, he tried to
offer Zim assistance in whatever he was doing.
Zim quickly got quite sick of it, and only a few weeks into their journey, he
suddenly snapped at the shorter Irken one day after catching him trying to inch
his way close enough to touch shoulders with him. "Will you GET AWAY from me,
you annoying, needy little shrimp?! What is wrong with you?!"
What was actually wrong with Yoogli was more than just extreme loneliness.
Yoogli had disappeared at a critical point in an Irken's life, more or less the
age of puberty. Irken growth hormones were stimulated most by physical contact
with other Irkens, which was usually achieved simply by brushing by one another
when their masses congregated together. Zim's growth had been supplemented by
human hormones in their absence, but Yoogli had been completely isolated for
years, which explained why he was still so short and why he was so needy. He
subconsciously craved contact with his fellow Irken, and the rejection was
almost too painful to bear. Only the prospect of seeing other Irkens soon gave
him the hope to go on, but he sulked around the edges of the room after that.
Dib felt bad for the little alien. It was understandable why Zim had always
been such an extraordinary jerk to him, but it was hard to get why he was
acting this way towards his own brother, other than just the casual touching.
One night, after Zim had retired to his quarters (which he refused to share
with Yoogli) for the night, Dib came out of his room and met Yoogli in the main
control room. The poor thing was curled up on the floor with his only spare
blanket, staring out into space.
His antennae perked up as Dib approached him and he looked over. Dib gave him a
shy smile and raised a hand in greeting, "Fashla."
The Irken slowly smiled back, and shook his head. "Vashla. V-V-Vashla." He
corrected the human.
"Oh. Vashla." Dib corrected himself afterwards, and then came over and sat next
to the alien, leaving a few feet between them.
Until now, Yoogli hadn't paid Dib much heed, as he'd been too busy trying in
vain to get Zim's attention instead. Instinctively he didn't trust the human,
especially because of his affiliation with Zim, but also because from what Zim
had told him, he wasn't even the right 'Membrane' that Orby had spoken to him
of. But the creature seemed friendly, and Orby had accepted him, so Yoogli
decided to give him a chance. Beggars couldn't be choosers, after all.
He stared up and down at the human-thing, especially at his hands. Dib noticed
and held one up for the Irken to inspect. The green being reached up and traced
all five of Dib's fingers with one of his. "Dahl lakt..." He murmured to
himself in Irken.
"Hand?" Dib guessed, then tried again, wiggling the digits at Yoogli. "Or,
fingers?"
"Fingers." Yoogli confirmed. "Five fingers, you have."
"Dahl?" Dib held up one finger, then all five. "Or, lakt?"
Yoogli stared at him uncertainly for a few seconds, but then he seemed to make
up his mind, and shook his head. "...Dahl. Flib, wik, som, rak, dahl." He
counted off Dib's fingers one at a time.
"One, two, three, four, five..." Dib repeated, his lips stretching into a grin.
Then he hesitantly held up another finger on the next hand. "Six?"
They ended up exchanging various simple Irken words all night, mostly numbers
and body parts and food, whatever was nearby. Dib soaked in the new information
like a sponge, whilst Yoogli was just glad to have someone around him, who
actually wanted to be there.
But soon enough Zim started to stir in his quarters and gripe at GIR for
drawing something on him while he slept, and Dib knew he wouldn't be happy to
see him and Yoogli getting along, so he asked the shorter Irken before he
retreated to his own room, "It is okay if we do this again tomorrow night?"
Yoogli nodded right away, then reached up and brushed his fingers against
Dib's. Dib briefly caught and squeezed the two skinny digits, which were cool
against his warmer flesh. The alien blushed a little, then Dib quickly released
them before heading back to his own room.
The next night Dib came out again once Zim had retired, just as he'd promised,
eager for his next lesson. They did the same thing every night, using the
ship's computer with the volume down to it's lowest settings to bring up new
pictures and label them with their Irken word. Yoogli also taught him Irken
writing and a few basic things about Irken etiquette.
One night, he was teaching Dib the rules about casual touching. "It's never
okay to directly touch or grab the lekku-" This apparently was their word for
their 'antennae'. "Or touch anyone else with your lekku, without the other
Irken's permission... So I guess it's no wonder Zim wants nothing to do with
me." The alien suddenly sighed. The lessons had helped him forget about that
embarrassing moment for a while, but now it all came back to him. "I still
can't believe I did that to ZIM..." He groaned, blushing bright pink.
"You shouldn't beat yourself up over it." Dib advised him. "Zim's a jerk, he
makes a big deal out of little things all the time. It's completely
understandable why you'd want to be close to another member of your species
after being alone so long. Zim's the one I don't get - He's been gone almost as
long as you have. You'd think he would have been just as glad to see you. I
guess he's just an antisocial jerk everywhere he goes..."
Suddennly, Orby floated over to them, it's grooves glowing cyan-blue. "Yoogli's
desire for touch is natural, he has nothing to be ashamed of for having those
feelings. But Zim's desire not to be touched is just as valid. He must have his
own reasons for feeling the way he does, and it should be respected."
Dib stared at the sphere, then slowly nodded. Most of the time Orby only spoke
up to give them advice about the ship, or to warn them about hazards in space,
or when GIR had mixed something inedible into their waffles, practical things
like that. But sometimes, like just then, it seemed to give them the sort of
advice that could be called 'maternal'. Or maybe that was just Dib projecting
his feelings about his mother onto the device she'd made.
Still, he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so..."
Yoogli went on to explain that brushing against other Irkens when walking
through a crowd was acceptable, but that extended contact of any kind was only
to be done with permission. Guiltily the alien then looked back at Dib, "Um,
sorry for touching your fingers the other day, by the way. I was curious, but I
still should have asked."
Dib shook his head, "It's okay. I didn't mind."
Yoogli's cheeks burned a brighter pink, and hesitantly, he went on, "Then...
Would you, uh, that is-Well, you've been an excellent student so far, so I was
wondering, uh..." Dib raised an eyebrow at him and motioned for him to just
spit it out. Yoogli blushed harder than ever as he forced himself to ask in a
fierce whisper, "C-Can I please embrace you like a comrade?"
Dib blushed back as he finally heard the request, but the prospect actually
didn't bother him at all. Hugging was supposed to be a normal thing among
humans too, though obviously Dib didn't have much experience with it either.
He'd only been hugged by his father on a few occasions, by Gretchen a few times
after and during their awkward kissing sessions, and once, he'd gotten a quick
one-armed hug from Gaz when he'd unexpectedly decided to give her a bouquet of
purple tulips on her sixteenth birthday, instead of the usual tired plush
animal or video game. That was it, but that was probably still a lot more
experience than the average Irken had with such things. So he simply nodded,
and got down to his knees so they could reach each other, opening his arms in
invitation.
Yoogli immediately accepted the invitation, falling against Dib's chest and
nuzzling his face against the crook of his neck. Like his fingers had been the
other day, the rest of his skin was cool to the touch. Irkens weren't naturally
cold-blooded though - Yoogli was just accustomed to being cold and isolated.
But he craved Dib's warmth and he soaked it in, snaking his skinny arms around
his midsection. A little awkwardly, Dib loosely wrapped his much bigger arms
around the little alien's back and shoulders. There was no denying how weird it
was, this alien who looked so much like Zim being so affectionate with him, but
it was also rather enjoyable, in a strictly platonic way.
After a moment or two Dib began to wonder how much longer Yoogli wanted this to
go on, and just as he was thinking this the alien went on to ask him, "Would it
be okay if I slept next to you for just a few minutes?"
Dib nodded silently, lying down on the floor of the ship while Yoogli got
comfortable snuggling against his chest. Dib was planning on waking the alien
up after a few minutes, but soon Yoogli's cool skin became as warm as his, he
found himself getting comfortable, and after a few moments more, Dib had
unintentionally fallen asleep himself.
They shared a nice nap, but unfortunately they were awoken from it quite rudely
when Zim came out of his quarters, for once silently as GIR had been taking a
nap itself when it's master awoke, and discovered the two of them still
sleeping. At first he simply stared for a moment, multiple negative feelings
brewing inside of him for both the human and his comrade. It was partially his
own fault - He'd been stubbornly evading Dib almost as much as Yoogli ever
since the human had saved him from the snake - An error he resolved to never
repeat. He hated to be reminded of his weaknesses and shortcomings almost as
much as he hated being touched by clingy, annoying 'comrades'.
But this was too much, from both of them. Mustering a deep growl, he then
stomped over to the two of them and shrieked, "WHAT is this ABOMINATION?!"
Yoogli's eyes immediately went wide and fearful, but Dib only rubbed at his own
still-tired eyes, unimpressed with what he saw as one of Zim's usual
overreactions. "Ugh, Zim, will you please shut-"
Suddenly, Zim reached down and grabbed the back of Yoogli's shirt, and threw
him off of Dib and across the room. Then, before Dib could protest what he'd
done to the poor little Irken, Zim reached down and sealed his mouth with his
hand, "NO, YOU shut up, DIB!" Then he got back up and advanced quickly on
Yoogli using his spider legs.
Yoogli tried to back away, but once his back hit the wall, Zim had him trapped.
"DIB doesn't get why what you just did was so DISGUSTING, Yoogli, but you do!
You know what you did is only acceptable with fellow Irkens! You will explain
yourself NOW!" He ordered, dragging the little alien up to his feet but still
keeping him pinned against the wall with his spider legs.
Yoogli sputtered uselessly for a moment, which made Zim angrier. He put a claw
to Yoogli's neck menacingly, and he finally blurted out, "I don't need to
explain myself, because I am convinced that Dib Membrane is an Irken hybrid,
and therefore it IS acceptable for me to share simple affections with him!"
Zim's eyes went wide and be backed away a few steps at Yoogli's unexpected and
downright insane declaration. "You. Are. CRAZY!" He yelled back at him.
And Dib yelled back at him awkwardly in the Irken Yoogli had been teaching him,
"No he is not, Zim! He does not need to explain to you his actions and he could
be right!"
Zim advanced again and reached to strike Yoogli, and Dib rushed at him and held
him back. Still, Zim screeched at the poor little alien, "You've been teaching
him Inner Irken?!" It was the language comrades used among each other versus
the 'Outer' version of Irken they used with other species. "You'd better be
sure you're right about your insane claim, Yoogli, because what you just did
will get you executed if you're wrong!"
"Yes, I do know that, but I am sure of it!" Yoogli shot back, "That exact rule
is why I'm sure of it, because Orby has been speaking to me in Inner Irken all
along! So the creator of Orby, who is Dib's maternal unit, must have been
Irken!"
Dib's eyes went wide at Yoogli's claim, then he turned them towards Orby. "Is
what he's saying true? You have to tell me if he's right!" He demanded
irrationally.
But the sphere actually admitted after a short pause, "...Affirmative."
Zim stopped struggling against Dib's hold, in shock, as he heard it, and in
similar shock, Dib let him go soon after. Zim mumbled, "It can't be... He
doesn't look anything like an Irken at all!" He pointed out fairly.
Dib suddenly retreated to his quarters. Zim was about to follow after him, but
he came out just a second later with an electric razor he'd been using to shave
his daily stubble. Instead, this time he sat with his head over a waste bin,
and with only the slightest hesitation, he began shaving all of the hair off of
his skull.
Ever since he was a kid his father would periodically cut his hair for him on
the few occasions he ever saw him in person. He had always insisted on it as a
bonding ritual, as his father chose to 'style' his hair the same way. But now,
as each strip of hair fell away, Dib slowly realized that, like most of the
things his father had ever told him, was a lie.
Underneath the hair that grew over it, his 'scythe' had been hiding a single
lekku.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 5 *****
The Sacrifice
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
After Dib had finished shaving all of the hair away from the strange new
appendage, which was black just like his hair and felt rather like a super-
skinny and smooth rat-tail, Zim demanded of him, "Wait, you seriously never
felt that thing before?"
"Not really?" Dib answered helplessly, actually touching it bare for the first
time. But he couldn't really feel anything until he tugged on it, and he still
couldn't distinguish it from the feeling of simply tugging on a lock of hair.
"I can barely feel it now..." Then again, it was hard to focus with how his
heart was pounding and his mind was reeling with all the questions and feelings
that came with this new information.
Yoogli spoke up in a bit of a sputter, "M-May I see it?"
Zim gasped outright at the smaller Irken, "How DARE you-?!"
And Yoogli quickly squeaked back at him, "It's NOT like THAT! I used to be a
medic before I became an Invader, remember!"
Dib rolled his eyes. "Quit freaking out, Zim. Mine doesn't feel anything like
what yours are supposed to. Go ahead, Yoogli, I trust you."
Yoogli stepped forward, but Zim pushed him back. "NO! ZIM will do it!"
Dib raised a doubtful eyebrow at him, "Were YOU a medic, Zim? Do you know what
you're even looking for?"
Zim blushed and quickly turned on Yoogli to avoid the embarrassment of
answering the question himself, "Do YOU know what you're even looking for?"
"Well, yeah, kind of?" Yoogli replied with a 'duh' sort of expression. "If he
can't feel it there's only one reason I can think of, but I'd have to check
under the base of his lekku to confirm it."
"-I- will do it!" Zim insisted.
But Yoogli insisted right back, "Only if Dib says you can!" And he hit a nerve
there. Zim had been bossing him around for being shorter, but short or tall,
that was one rule everyone had to obey.
Zim growled and forced himself to ask Dib as politely as he could, "DIB-WORM -
May I, for scientific research purposes ONLY, touch your lekku?"
Dib's doubtful eyebrow had never really come down, and he shook his head in
disbelief at first, a grin slowly stretching across his face. If he didn't know
any better he could swear Zim was getting jealous. That was too rich. Well, why
not let him? It wasn't as if it would hurt anymore than usual if he decided to
be an asshole and pull it. "Fine, Zim, whatever, I guess..."
Even after getting permission, Zim hesitated. He had never touched any other
lekku but his own, let alone some freaky, mutated lekku that just happened to
be sprouting out of his greatest enemy-turned-friend's head. But he refused to
let Yoogli be the first Irken to touch the Dib's lekku, either. In his head, he
had more than earned the 'honor' after everything they'd been through over the
years - And this WAS purely for research purposes. Dib claimed that he couldn't
even feel it, after all, so there nothing... Weird about this at all.
Still, his green hand was shaking slightly and the blush never left his cheeks
as he reached out towards the newly-revealed appendage. He at first grasped it
lightly at at the tip, as if he was handling a weird snake. "Gross, why is it
so limp...?" He mumbled.
Dib glared at him and Yoogli answered, "Pull it up a little more so I can
see..."
Zim queasily did as he was asked, and soon both Irkens were covering their
mouths to stifle a gag, thoroughly grossed out by what they saw. Yoogli
flinched in disgust as he confirmed, "It's what I thought..."
After taking a moment to recover, Yoogli reached up and pulled one of his own
lekku down for Dib to see. He pointed to the underside of his at the base of
his skull, where a curved groove sat underneath the base of the antennae. "This
is a vital part of our lekku. It keeps it rigid, but it's also where the
largest amount of nerves is concentrated, so it's what allows us to feel the
lekku and the signals we get from it... But it seems..." Yoogli had to take a
moment to stifle another gag. "Yours was, in infancy... C-Cut." He forced the
word out like it actually tasted bad saying it.
Dib's eyes went wide. There was barely about doubt as to who had done it, by
how grossed out the Irkens were about it, his mother surely never would have,
so it had to be his 'father'. The only man he'd ever had as a role model, the
man who supposedly was one of Earth's greatest intellectual assets, was turning
out to be a pretty abhorrent individual in Dib's opinion. Oh, he'd probably say
he did it for 'Dib's own good', but fuck that, it was Dib's body, not his, and
he should have been honest instead of hiding it from him and trying to pass him
off as human. Which he still mostly was, but he mind raced wondering now, what
else?
"Why not just cut the whole thing off?" Dib asked morbidly, but also genuinely
curious, so he wasn't proud afterward of how Yoogli and Zim both turned and
doubled over for a moment, clutching their spooches.
It was Zim that recovered first and snapped back at him, "The shock of having a
lekku completely removed would kill any smeet! And most adults..." He
reluctantly added. Of all the various tortures Dib had inflicted on him, the
shoves, kicks, punches and all else, the worst by far had been the few times
when he'd gotten it in his big dumb head to pull on his lekku.
Realizing it too, Dib felt a little guilty about that now. But thankfully,
Yoogli spoke up before he could dwell on it too long. "Zim, Dib, could you guys
do one more test? Zim, I need you to rub a bit at the area that was cut, and
Dib, I need you to tell me if there is any remaining sensation. There shouldn't
be, it's probably long since healed over..."
Zim looked unsure, but Dib just sighed and shrugged. "Go ahead, Zim. Or if
you're too grossed out, I'm sure Yoogli wouldn't mind-"
He knew he wouldn't have to finish that sentence. Zim immediately reached over
again, taking the tip and holding it up with one hand, and with the index
finger of his second hand, he felt down the underside of it, reluctant to
immediately touch the actual injured area. Dib couldn't really feel where Zim
was holding the tip at all, but when his finger had reached the bottom of the
underside, an electric feeling started to go up and down his spine. At first it
was mostly like a forced shiver, no pleasure or pain associated, just a vague
discomfort since it couldn't be controlled.
But the closer Zim got to the cut area, the more intense it got. When he was
nearly at the base, his back was rigid and his head was starting to throb with
a fast-growing headache. He was about to mention it to Yoogli, but suddenly,
when Zim finally touched the cut spot, a literal electric spark went off
between them, shocking the both of them.
Zim yelped, scurried back, and quickly pulled his singed finger back into his
mouth to cool it. Besides the momentary shock he was fine. But Dib was now
rolling on the ground howling in excruciating pain. His head felt like it was
splitting for a moment, and it felt like every nerve, every vein in his body
was being individually electrocuted. The pain shocked him over again about
three times, and then the fourth was more like a throb. It was still painful,
but not as overwhelming as it was before. The shock had been white-hot and
unbearably painful, while the throb was an uncomfortable heat and moderately
painful. It was like a pulsing bruise throughout his body, but not so bad as to
cause him to cry out again, though he did groan.
Then, in only a matter a seconds, the lingering pain just as quickly turned
into an equally overwhelming sense of euphoria. All the nerves that had just
been shocked now felt as if they were simultaneous being massaged by
microscopic fingers. Dib's spine rolled involuntarily with electric shivers,
and his head, well frankly, it felt like there was a gigantic rave going on
inside.
But it was too overwhelmingly good to actually be enjoyed, especially because
of how fast and unexpectedly it had come on and in front of the present
company. Dib struggled to regain control of his limbs and get out of there
quickly. He fell the first time, and wobbled the second, before finally getting
up and sprinting to his room, setting the door to lock-mode behind him. His
face completely red and most of the rest of his skin bright pink, he tore off
his clothes faster than he ever had in his life and dove beneath the covers of
his bed.
Honest to god, he didn't even really want to do what his body was demanding of
him - He literally needed to. And he couldn't even pretend he was thinking of
Gretchen or Jessica or ANY of the girls from his high school, his mind was
consumed, possessed, by thoughts of Zim. Thoughts of green skin writhing just
like his was now, thoughts of his tongue sliding over ever inch of his alien
body, especially his antennae, and oh god that was so weird and SO wrong, but
his body responded to it like fuel to flame, and despite biting down hard on
his pillow, the Irkens could still hear the uncontrollably loud groan.
Blushing brighter than he ever had in his life, Zim glared over at Yoogli, "Did
you KNOW-?"
"I swear to Irk I didn't!" He squeaked back. Zim was about to reach over and
smack him anyways, but the smaller Irken was saved when GIR suddenly fell on
top of Zim's head and grabbed his cheeks, causing him to flail.
"MASTER~! WHYYYY IS DIIIIB MAKIN' BUFFALO NOISES?!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib didn't come out of his room for a full three days after that. Yoogli only
once knocked, that night when Zim had retired to his own quarters, to inquire
if he was alright. Dib stiffly responded that he was fine, but requested to be
left alone for a while. Zim didn't try to talk to him at all.
When he finally did come out, he did so with a red face and his trenchcoat
pulled tightly around his body. Zim was at the control panel, and when he saw
Dib emerge, he immediately averted his eyes and growled a little. But Dib
wouldn't let him get the first word in, he immediately spoke up, "Look, Zim!
What happened the other day, was COMPLETELY -involuntary-! I had absolutely NO
control over my body, okay!"
Zim looked back at him, his expression more than a little disgusted and
embarrassed, but it was mostly in himself, and he actually wasn't as judgmental
as Dib had expected him to be. "Ugh... I know, Dib, I believe you..." He
replied as if he was just as mentally exhausted as Dib was, despite both of
them getting plenty of sleep. "That sometimes happens if the lekku is touched
gently - We didn't expect any of your nerves there to still be intact, but, uh,
I guess some of them still are. But clearly faulty. Or that shock might have
had something to do with it maybe, but we're still not sure what that was even
about, never seen a lekku do that... Then again, we've never seen a case of
someone having their lekku cut like yours was... Either way, I suggest we just
not talk about what happened afterward ever again..." He concluded in an
awkward rush.
Wow, he really lucked out on this one - Dib had expected Zim to never let him
live it down. "Yeah, agreed..." He sighed right away and sat in the chair
opposite from him, crossing his legs and trying to play it cool. Zim at least
didn't know what he was thinking when it happened. Besides that, there was much
more important things to think about. "It's still pretty hard to believe... All
this time, I was an alien just like you..."
Zim glared at him, "Don't kid yourself, Dib-worm. You are NOT just like me. You
are NOT an Irken just because you share some of our DNA. You are a Hybrid, and
that comes with a -completely- different set of rules regarding your status in
Irken society."
Dib didn't really care about Zim and his people's stupid rules, just like he
never cared much for the rules humanity tried to impose on him either, but just
out of curiousity he asked, rather derisively, "Like what?"
"Well first of all, you'd have to actually be accepted as a proper Hybrid, and
you never would be!" Zim snapped back at him. "If all you got from your Irken
DNA is a single lekku that doesn't even work right, it's just -not- gonna
happen. I've never even seen an official Hybrid that didn't at least have green
skin and two lekku. If the empire finds out about Yoogli teaching you Inner
Irken without you being approved as an official Hybrid first, he'll probably
still be executed..."
He conveniently declined to mention that technically, he too would be executed
if the empire ever found out about what he'd caused Dib to experience. "As
Yoogli said before, simple touches between Hybrids and pure Irkens is allowed,
but sexual contact is strictly forbidden." He gave him a very intense stare
that clearly translated to, 'So don't get any ideas.' "Though, sexual contact
is forbidden even between pure Irkens too, unless it's been approved..." He
added.
Dib just glared back, his face still red. "Who makes all these rules anyways?
Your Tallest?" He guessed.
Zim reached over and flicked his ear. "No, idiot! The Tallest have the most
influence over introducing new rules and getting rid of pre-existing ones, but
it still has to be approved by the Control Brain."
He rubbed his ear but didn't reciprocate the violence. "Control Brain...?"
Sounded like some straight-up Orwellian shit to Dib.
"Yes, the Control Brain!" Zim confirmed. "It decides the rules that we live by
and governs over us via our PAKs!" Or at least, it was supposed to...
"So, a machine controls how you guys live your lives...?" Dib was starting to
be pretty glad to have been born on Earth again.
"Duh! It's a Brain, and it Controls us! What's so hard to get about that?" Zim
crossed his arms.
Dib's mouth fell open slightly. "Um... Everything? Like, why? Just why?"
"Eh?!" Zim glared at him, "You hypocrite - Don't you stinky worm-babies have
your own stupid version of the Control Brain, 'Government'?"
Dib immediately shook his head, "Uh, no. I mean I guess it's close, but still.
That's a bunch of stupid humans getting together and making rules - If it's a
stupid rule you don't agree with, you don't have to follow it, you just got to
make sure you don't get caught. But you're saying, a machine somewhere,
actually literally controls how you live your life via the machine you are
dependant on to live, and you have no problem with that...?"
"Exactly!" Zim nodded, "And by the way, this is why you'd never be accepted as
an Irken, Dib. NO Irken would ever question the Control Brain."
"That's really not true, Zim..." Yoogli quietly spoke up from the back of the
room.
Both Zim and Dib stared back at him in shock for a moment. Dib had begun to
smile a little, hopeful for his mother's species, just before Zim declared,
"You really have gone defective, Yoogli. You're SO going to get yourself
executed when we get back."
"Maybe I am defective!" Yoogli snapped back, suddenly more bold than usual.
"And a coward too, because I would have never been one of the ones who would
speak out against the Control Brain if I weren't in another dimension where I'm
sure it can't reach me... But I know there are some Irkens who oppose the
Control Brain. Much more than that are like me too, they don't approve of it
but they're too scared to speak their true thoughts aloud around the many who
are fully under the influence of the Control Brain!"
"This is nonsense, Yoogli-" Zim began to talk over him, but this time, the
shorter Irken wouldn't let him.
"NO, it's not, Zim! A lot of the rules imposed on us ARE stupid and unfair! And
frankly, I'm really surprised you of all Irkens is saying this, because somehow
you've managed to get away with breaking more rules than anybody! Especially
that one time - Many of us know the truth, we know you were working for Tallest
Red, and a lot of my best comrades were saved by your actions, but you KILLED
Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Orange to get Tallest Red into power so he could
change the rules about-Mmf!"
When Zim realized what he was getting at he very quickly and harshly clamped
his hand over Yoogli's mouth, glaring intensely down at him. "Yoogli, if you
ever speak of that matter again, I will leave you in this dimension to rot." He
stated very seriously, making Yoogli turn pale with fear. Then Zim added, his
voice both ice cold and heated with fury. "And besides, we both know the only
reason you're bothering with the Dib-worm is because you're desperate. Once
we're back in our dimension you know you'll abandon him for your real Irken
comrades in a squee-beat."
Yoogli mouth dropped at the cruel comment, but he knew it stung more because
Zim was mostly right. He longed to see his old best comrades, the ones he never
realized he even had until he was sure he'd never see them again. What a fool
he'd been, succumbing to his despair and trying to kill himself in that black
hole - And like a coward, the second he actually crossed over into the darkness
he immediately regretted it and wanted nothing more than to live to see his
friends again. Now he finally had that chance, and he couldn't deny, as
eternally grateful as he was to Dib for being there for him the last few
months, and even more so to Orby for keeping him sane over the long years of
solitude, neither of them would keep him from finding that one special Irken he
really wanted to see.
But he refused to let Zim shame him for it, either. "Yes, I admit it, Zim - I
want to see my best comrades again more than anything. But desperation is NOT
the only reason I treated Dib like a comrade - He's actually just a genuinely
nice being, unlike you!" He glared back up at the taller Irken defiantly, and
when he began to speak again, this time he was speaking Inner Irken, quickly
and quietly so that Dib couldn't catch what was being said, "So if you just
happen to like him yourself, you really ought to start showing it, because if
you think you're the only Irken in -trillions- who would be interested in Dib -
Well, -I- wouldn't bet on those odds, comrade. And you can hit me if you want,"
He added in a hiss as Zim's hand twitched. "But I'll still be right and I bet
Dib would agree with me, too."
Yoogli's words struck Zim harder than a fist ever could, and right in the feel-
maker. He actually hadn't ever considered that other Irkens might find interest
in Dib, and it didn't settle well with him at all, though he refused to admit
why just yet.
Zim hissed fiercely back in Inner Irken, "Teach him whatever you want about our
culture, and it'll be on YOUR head for doing so, but if I catch you saying
anything about me to him, or touching him again at ALL, I will -maim- you."
Threatening another Irken was almost unheard of, but Zim had had it up to his
lekku with the uppity shrimp.
Yoogli wasn't about to press Zim any further than that, and quickly retreated
away from him. Dib also returned to his own room, but not before getting in the
last word, "You know, Zim, I put a lot of trust in you the other day, letting
you touch my lekku... I kinda wish you'd trust me back." Then before Zim could
reply, he shut the door behind him.
Zim sighed, thinking, 'Great...' As if he needed another reason to regret doing
almost everything he'd ever done in his life...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib was sleeping peacefully a few months later, when he was suddenly woken up
by Orby flashing colored lights in his face. "Dib, wake up. You are needed to
perform a task."
He groaned lightly and then yawned, reluctantly getting up from his cot and
running a hand through his hair, which was growing back although it hadn't
reached it's previous length yet. He felt for his lekku underneath. No
noticeable changes had occured. It was still hard to feel except for the very
bottom of the underside, but nobody was going to chance touching that part
again after what happened the last time. "Whadya need, Orby..." He asked past
another yawn, still waking up.
"Follow me, Dib." The device replied seriously, floating out the open door. Dib
obeyed and followed after it, and it led him to the control panel. Yoogli was
sleeping against a wall nearby, which meant Zim was probably sleeping too,
while the ship was on autopilot. Orby then instructed him, "Dib, I need you to
move the ship slightly Northeast forty thousand miles ahead and then head in
that direction."
"What." Dib dropped the word in immediate confusion, looking out across the
screen and using his new Irken vocabulary to identify what was beyond. Going in
the direction Orby was telling him to would lead them into another black hole.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
"I'm afraid it's the only way, Dib." Orby replied regrettably. "Whenever there
is a wormhole to get into a dimension, there has to be at least one other that
leads out of it again. But this is the only one in all of this dimension that
will lead you back to your own. And unfortunately, it will be much harder to
get back than it was getting here. This black hole is much more turbulent than
the last. Your chances were about fifty-fifty last time, this time, the odds of
you surviving, even with Orby's help, is slightly less than ten percent."
"Shit..." Dib hissed through his teeth. It was terrifying enough to go through
a black hole when he had no choice, but to actually do it purposefully knowing
the chances were that dire? Well, it was a huge leap of faith Orby was asking
of him, to say the least.
"This is also why the device woke you before Zim awoke. He would very likely
object and try to stop you, but it IS the -only- way. So you must hurry before
Zim wakes up and realizes what you're doing."
"Uh, no, hold on - Fuck that." Dib glared defiantly at the machine, "I'm kinda
not so sure I want to do that myself? At least, not until you tell me a few
more things. Don't give me that 'classified' bullshit because I'm not going to
do this unless you tell me what I want to know - And I have a right to know!
I'm just as much her offspring as Gaz!"
The device didn't reply, the purple glow only turned to a slightly more magenta
hue. So Dib went on, "Why did our mother leave us to come to this dimension?
What is threatening the Earth? Why was Gaz so important to her but not me, why
choose her, probably the most selfish person in the world, to save the Earth
and not me? I would do it in a heartbeat and Gaz obviously didn't want to be
here! And most of all, why on Earth did you choose to create me and Gaz with my
father and then leave us?" That part had been bugging him especially, and he
couldn't hide the thickness of pain and anger in his voice.
Orby suddenly stopped glowing, it's levitation seemed to power down and it
floated to the ground with a soft 'thump'. Then, from a circular groove
directly at the top of the sphere, a ghostly holographic figure emerged. An
Irken female, with rare golden-brown eyes and pale olivine skin, and of a
rather tall height for an Irken, about 5'9. Dib had to stare at her eyes in
particular for more than a moment - His eyes were a darker, chocolate brown,
but he remembered his sister's eyes having that sort of golden hue...
And the look in his mother's eyes - They were stern with him, but also full of
regret and disappointment in herself. "...Alright Dib, if you really want to
know." She resigned, her voice now sounding almost completly like her old self,
with barely any metallic hint left to her tone. "First of all, in regards to
creating you and your sister... My consent was not a factor."
Dib's eyes went wide and he covered his mouth in shock. And here he had thought
he couldn't hate his father any more than he already did...
Gazlene's spectre went on without his opinion of her past plight. "I was the
first Irken to ever land on your planet, and I paid a high toll for it... But
you should know first how I came there. On Irk, my eye color is considered
inferior to all others, so I was already resented for having my height in my
eye color caste. But I was different from other Irkens in another way too. I
was a rare defect of Irken that was not properly connected to the Control
Brain. I loved to study technology and science, but I had another passion, one
that was supposed to be hidden and forbidden - Tajik!" She exclaimed
reverently, and though Yoogli had never said such a word, Dib immediately know
instinctively that it was their word for 'magic'.
"Since I was a smeet I experienced weird happenings that most other Irkens
couldn't, wouldn't, understand or try to explain... I learned early not to
scare them with my oddities for my own sake. But I embraced my differences in
secret, and I studied every recorded paranormal phenomenon that existed on my
planet, met some of the few others like me... But it wasn't nearly enough. For
such a massive planet, Irk has very little tajik. Most planets are the same,
tajik is usually small resource. So in my spare time, I created a machine that
searched for tajik. As you well know, the planet Irk is massive compared to
your home planet. And yet strangely, this tiny little mudball had more tajik
than anywhere else I'd ever seen, more than a hundred times more than Irk. I
had to see this strange place for myself. I was not allowed to leave my station
as a research scientist at that time, but I did it anyways..."
Then, the look in Gazlene's eyes turned sadder than ever. "I abandoned my own
home planet to come to yours... But the second my ship passed your atmosphere,
I was seized by a terrible tajik. It was terrifying - My ship went completely
dead and fell into an ocean, I was trapped. Then a horrible creature, with
curled horns and sharp teeth and hateful, hungry eyes manifested itself in my
ship, bounding me with a tajik much stronger than my own. It said it was one of
the guardians of planet Earth, and that as of the first of my kind to trespass
on this planet, I owed it a sacrifice, or else I and all future Irkens to visit
Earth would be killed. I had no choice but to agree. The next thing I knew, I
was bound instead in the laboratory of Professor Membrane..."
Now fury was gathering in his mother's voice, "...He took my DNA from me and
combined it with his own. He created several copies until two stable ones
emerged. Then he forcibly used my body to incubate them..." Dib burned with
shame knowing this terrible truth, while his mother went on, "The demon
guardian visited me once more, just before the HORRID birth-" Her spirit
shuddered visibly at that memory. Her species obviously didn't typically do
things that way anymore, and it was especially traumatizing to have been forced
to do it. "And it told me that I would be the one to pick which would be the
sacrifice, and which would be spared..."
Gazlene shook her head with regret. "When you two were born..." Dib suddenly
realized as she said this, Gaz was never his 'little sister' after all, another
of his father's lies - They were actually more like twins. "I looked at you
both, and I didn't even have to think about it before I chose. The girl looked
more like me, but you... You looked just like -him-." Her voice was so full of
hate. Dib knew it was more for his father, it still hurt to know he caused her
pain too. "So I chose you to be the sacrifice..."
Dib swallowed painfully and lowered his head while his mother's ghost continued
to explain, "Apparently, your planet needs at least four sacrificed souls at a
time to continue it's frail and constantly teetering existence. One of these
souls is chosen to be driven to madness at a time, and it collects the energy
of stolen souls to feed to the Earth's tajik forces, sort of like a cannibal.
Without this recycling process, the tajik on Earth would become unstable and
destroy the planet. Your father was supposed to be one of these sacrifices, but
apparently he sold his soul to the guardian to avoid his fate and have someone
else take his place."
Jesus fucking Christ, Dib thought, could he get any worse? Reproductive raping
the first Irken to ever come to Earth, then forcing her to bear a child so he
could basically sacrifice it to what sounded a lot like the DEVIL?
But apparently he could indeed get worse, as his mother continued, "The first
year after the birth, the professor tried to keep me. He disguised me as a
human and paraded me around as his wife. I despised it, I loathed him and I
NEEDED to get away. No matter how beautiful and special your planet was, I
couldn't appreciate it as a prison. I wanted to bring Gaz with me, but I
couldn't, I was barely able to get my craft away from your father and escape by
myself. Your sister always had superior Irken intelligence, and I taught her
early how to speak with me. She promised to come after me when she was older
and stronger, and in the meantime, I searched for a new source of tajik."
Dib finally interrupted, "You weren't scared to go looking again after what
happened on Earth?"
"I guess I should have been." Gazlene answered sadly. "But I was power-hungry.
Somehow, giving birth to you and Gaz made my natural tajik abilities ten times
stronger than they had ever been. As terrifying as my experience on Earth was,
what I gained from it astounded me, and I wanted more. My device detected a
huge source of tajik beyond the black hole, and desperate for the power I
desired, and feeling at the time like I had nothing else to live for, I went in
search of it. I made it to the planet where the tajik had originated from, and
my tajik grew so much so fast my body could barely contain it. It was
everything I ever wanted, I suddenly knew things about the past and the future.
But the power came with a catch - I finally had enough tajik to do what I
always wanted most to do, but I barely survived the experience, and I knew I
wouldn't for long. I knew my weakened mortal body wouldn't last long enough to
be reunited with my daughter, so I had to use my remaining time wisely to leave
her a legacy worth seeking instead..."
"Orby?" Dib guessed unnecessarily. "But she said you..."
"I was already dying, but I took control of my own fate at the last moment - I
had to, to transplant my memories, my tajik, and my very spirit, into the
device." She explained shortly, then looked soulfully down at her son. "Dib...
If I had known then what I know now, I would have wanted to choose you instead.
You look just like him, but you're really nothing like him at all... You've got
a caring soul." Dib was starting to feel himself tear up before she even added,
"...I'm proud of you." And then he couldn't fight them any longer.
"However," Gazlene went on seriously, "I -still- would have had to do things
just the way I did. Gaz has an unprecedented amount of tajik, more than I've
ever seen in a single mortal being. Only she has the power to achieve my life's
greatest purpose. But she sent you instead. You see Dib, the only way it would
even be possible for you to leave Earth's atmosphere alive is if your sister
willingly took your place as the sacrifice. She promised she'd help me achieve
my dream, and I want to believe she meant it, but it's clear to me now that
protecting you from the fate I so selfishly imposed on you was just as
important to her..."
Dib still wasn't sure he could bring himself to believe his sister had actually
always been just as altruistic as she was selfish. Fuck being part alien and
his mom being a ghost-in-a-robot - Gaz being nice, that was the part that was
really blowing his mind. "Then, the force that's threatening Earth..." Dib
focused on instead, beginning to guess at it himself.
"The so-called guardian of Earth." Gazlene confirmed. "Gaz will not endure
being under his control any longer than she needs to. As soon as I realized she
sent you and took your place, I knew what it would mean. She will only tolerate
her role under him as long as she needs to gather her strength. I am sure your
sister could probably become strong enough to defeat the evil one who is in
charge of the destructive tajik system the Earth runs on and who chooses it's
sacrifices, but I am not sure if she would be able to create something in it's
place to control the Earth's massive tajik flow. If she cannot, you must take
your place as sacrifice back, and give the device to her so she can fulfill her
promise."
Dib's tears were starting to dry, and new ones weren't joining them. He just
felt kind of numb now. Deep down he always wanted to believe there was just a
little love between him and his sister, but he'd always had very strong doubts
about it too, and despite everything he'd just heard, he still did. "But,
Gazlene..." He went on, using her name since we was not sure if she'd
appreciate him calling her 'mom'. "What if Gaz really doesn't want to do what
you asked her, what if she wants to stay on Earth?" He couldn't help but wonder
if his mother's spirit wanted to believe in Gaz's goodness because she 'looked
more like her', just like she'd resented Dib for resembling Professor Membrane.
Which made Dib realize, apparently Gaz didn't really look like what he thought
she had all his life. He concluded, "And, what IS it you wanted her to help you
do?"
The spirit sighed a breath it could no longer really take. "...If Gaz does not
wish to help me after all, my life will go unfulfilled, and you will be free.
No one else but your sister has the power to manifest the legacy I left to her
and fulfill my fondest but most impossible dream... As for what that dream of
mine was..."
The holographic image faded away for a moment, but her voice remained, "Steer
the ship towards the black hole, and I swear I'll tell you..."
Dib took a deep, slow and shaky breath, approaching the control panel and
setting it's new course. The gravitational pull became stronger by the second,
quickly pulling them closer to the pitch black disc of emptiness. Just before
they reached the event horizon, Dib looked expectantly back at the device.
Gazlene's image reappeared one last time, but it was flickering, struggling to
maintain itself. It must have taken a cosiderable amount of tajik to manifest
her spirit to talk to him. But her spectre was smiling at her son, full of
pride and gratitude. "Thank you, Dib... I will now tell you my dream, which I
dearly hope you and Gaz can work together to help me fulfill. I hope you can
save both our planets, countless humans and Irkens alike, and many other
planets and species too. My dream was..."
Her image faded away completely and Orby rose into the air once more, glowing
purplish-red. "...To destroy the Control Brain."
The blackness swallowed them, and the ship began to violently shake.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 6 *****
The Puppet
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib's torso slammed against the controls as the ship lurched forward in the
darkness, spinning and hitting unknown debris along the way while being pulled
down in a massive drain. He could hear the ship creaking, as the metal itself
was being stretched.
Dib clutched onto whatever he could, willing the ship by thought alone, please
just stay in one piece, please come out of the other side, please let everyone
come out of this alive...
But then, abruptly, the ship came to such a sudden stop, Dib's whole body
slammed against the dash and front window. For a moment, in the disorientation
of the impact and the terror of the unknown, he thought for a brief second that
they surely had just been compressed into a singularity. But the lucky fool had
merely smacked his head too hard.
While under his dizzy spell, Dib thought he could see his mother's spirit
again, hovering above him and urging him, "Dib, get up. Wake up. Get to your
knees and bow." She instructed him seriously. Dib groaned and struggled to
move. He felt sore all over and extremely heavy, as if his bones were made of
lead. He managed to obey her, though it took him what felt like hours.
When he was finally on his hands and knees, looking down and out the window
into the black stillness, he felt a strange and sudden sensation, as if the
darkness he was looking at, was looking back at him, and it was scarier than
hell. Dib suddenly realized that the ship was suspended in a nosedive at the
very bottom of the black hole. He had one chance to get right whatever he had
to, and if he didn't, they really would be crushed into a singularity,
pulverized by their own ship.
The darkness suddenly asked Dib and Gazlene, completely silent but also roaring
louder than a thousand oceans, directly into their minds, their very souls, 'DO
YOU THINK YOURSELVES GODS? HAVE YOU THE MERIT TO JUSTIFY YOUR SUPREME
ARROGANCE?'
Gazlene spoke up first for Dib, who was grateful for that, because he really
had no idea how to answer that, and he was more than a little distracted by the
blood he knew should be running down his face, but felt instead like it was
crawling, and the concussion making him think of such silly things at such a
serious time. "Forgive us for our arrogance, but we swear we will justify it in
time - We swear we will entertain you, just give us safe passage this one last
time..."
'YOU WERE GIVEN SAFE PASSAGE BEFORE AND NOW YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TEMPT FATE...
WE DO APPRECIATE SUCH BOLDNESS.' The void admitted, and it felt as if it were
smiling so large, it was big enough to consume them. 'JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK
YOU CAN OFFER US...'
Gazlene growled like a purr back to the black expanse. "We're going to affect
our entire multiverse. We're going to fight hoards and tame dragons, change
minds and save lives. You WILL be entertained." She insisted.
Dib could suddenly feel the darkness staring directly and only at him, 'DO YOU
THINK YOU CAN ENTERTAIN US, DIB MEMBRANE?'
Dib balled his fists, sticking a thumbs-up against the window, and forced
himself to stretch his lips into a smile - The simple gesture that would
normally take two seconds felt like it had taken ten minutes to achieve, and to
his ears, his voice sounded like it was coming out in super slow motion, and
felt like it was being strained through a colander to come out of his throat.
"Suuure thiiing, noooo prooobleeem..." His answer wasn't sufficient, but it was
all he could manage under the massive pressure he was fighting against.
Suddenly, from the corner of Dib's vision and just beyond Gazlene's specter, he
saw GIR's eyes glowing in the dark. Strangely enough, his glow wasn't blue or
even red, it was purple. He looked to be in serious mode, eyes narrowed. Then,
to Dib's slowly-forming shock (even his emotions were going in slow-motion, it
seemed) his sister Gaz's voice emerged from the pint-sized robot's metal mouth.
"You'll be so fucking entertained you'd shit yourself if you had an anus."
"Gaaazzz...?" Dib groaned weakly in recognition.
"Shut up, Dib. I'm trying to save your stupid life here." Her voice snapped
back at him irritably, and then she addressed the darkness once more. "I will
conquer the conquerors, tame every beast that lives in darkness and light. I
will rise above even my own mother's -astronomical- expectations. You'd better
believe YOU, and several other species, will be VERY -entertained- by the time
I'm done existing, to say the least. But I NEED the contents of this ship to do
it..."
'THAT SOUNDS PROMISING... BUT THERE IS ONE MORE THING WE WANT TO BE DONE...' It
wasn't clear who exactly was being addressed, but they all listened intently to
the request, which seemed to take forever, as the disembodied voice groaned it
out slowly, 'FAAAALL... IIIIN... LOOOOVE...'
"Ugh!" Gaz's voice groaned back as soon as she heard it, clearly less than
pleased about the request, and the violet robot eyes got grumpy-looking too.
"Come on, you've got to be kidding!"
The ship suddenly felt as if gigantic hands had taken it and shaken it. Dib
knocked his big head against several things he couldn't even see, until Gaz's
voice finally relented, "Alright, alright, I'll do it! Damn!" The robot fixed a
terrifyingly intense stare at the human who was staring at it. "Dib, you owe me
BIG TIME for this!"
The shaking didn't stop, and the feeling of falling resumed. The darkness
droned one last word, the volume of the disembodied voice tapering away as they
were sucked down the exact middle of the vortex. 'DEEEEAL...'
Dib smacked his head one last time on the way down, and then all of his
sensations went dark.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Dib? Dib! Wake up!" Zim smacked Dib's cheeks lightly, and Dib's eyes
flickered. Zim sounded kinda worried.
The human hybrid swallowed at his dry and thick throat and slowly forced his
eyes to remain open, though he was still dizzy. "M' up..." He half-answered.
Zim took a breath of relief. "Good! STAY AWAKE now, smelly concussed Dib-fool!"
He shouted right after, and then both he and Yoogli began to patch him up -
Apparently they had a very temporary truce about Dib-touching only while he was
severely injured, though they both looked pretty banged up and exhausted too.
Waking up halfway through your only hour-long nap a day in the middle of
falling down a black hole was probably about the rudest way to wake someone
ever, Dib suddenly realized, and was doubly grateful for the help considering
that.
The Irkens patched his head and everywhere else that was openly bleeding,
thankfully though it was mostly bruises. Then they gave him some water, and he
slowly began to feel himself start to revive.
But then both Irkens forgot about Dib for a moment when their PAKs began to
beep, alerting them of incoming messages. Zim merely looked surprised and
vaguely interested by the phenomenon, but Yoogli outright gasped, shaking as he
took out the same kind of handheld device that Zim was checking. Dib watched
the two aliens as they read the messages they had gotten. Zim's face looked
intense for a moment, then it brightened into an excited expression.
Yoogli, on the other hand, looked so incredibly happy he seemed to be almost
about to choke on his own joy. His eyes quickly overflowed with tears, the
liquid rushing down his cheeks like a river. "Oh, by Irk...!" He breathed,
wiping uselessly as his cheeks with the back his hand. "You guys, you guys!
Listen! I've just suddenly got a huge backlog of messages, fifteen years worth!
And they're all from -Leevee-!"
Dib raised an eyebrow, the corners of his lips quirking upwards. He didn't
recognize the name but he could tell by how Yoogli said it that it was a very
special person. "Who?"
The littlest alien was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "My best comrade, his
name is Leevee! He's been sending me messages every year since I disappeared!
He just sent another one a few days ago! He never forgot about me! Here,
listen-"
Yoogli briefly cleared his throat and began to read the most recent text from
his long-lost friend. "'Yoogli - It's now been fifteen years since you
disappeared, and I miss you as much as I ever did. They say time heals, but I
don't want it to. I don't want to accept you're dead, and I won't. I won't
accept that the ones who sent you away were justified in how they treated
you... You and I were never very bold. I think that's why we got along so well,
we were a lot alike. I'm still not very bold, but your disappearance changed
me..."
He took a shaky breath and went on, "Do you remember our comrade Shala? She's
invited me to a gathering three months from now. I could get into quite a bit
of trouble if I'm found at this particular gathering... But I'm going anyways.
It sounds like it's going to be fun, and I'm tired of living my life the way I
have so far, ever the dutiful slave... I want more, and if it costs me my life
to finally get to live, then so be it. I just wish I could do it with you. I
know it's a long-shot, but Shala said I could invite someone if I trusted them.
You're the only other person besides her that I trust, though. So if you
actually get this message, you're invited to come. And hey, if you've made any
new friends while you've been away, go ahead and bring them too..."
Yoogli chuckled softly, still wiping at his tears as he finished the note,
"I'll write you again next year, and the year after that, until I'm dead or
you're back, whichever comes first. Love always, your comrade, Leevee..."
"Aww, Yoogli, that's so great to hear!" Dib supplied, smiling big for the
little Irken. "I bet you can't wait to see him again. And hey, you even got
invited to a party!"
Yoogli couldn't reply, fresh tears had come to his eyes and his throat was too
tight. But Zim went on over his sobs, deeming his news more important than
Yoogli's blubbering. "Yes yes, that's very sweet and sentimental, IT MAKES ME
SICK TO THE BELLY - But ZIM just won the LOTTERY!" He exclaimed, excitedly
putting his hands up in triumph.
"The lottery?" Dib repeated doubtfully.
"Yes!" Zim confirmed, "And it's the GOOD lottery too!"
Oh yeah, nothing about that sounded weird at ALL. "So what, there's a BAD
lottery...?" The human inquired, brows raised.
"Duh, Dib." Zim simply scoffed.
"Whatever..." Dib returned, shaking his head. "The only thing that matters is
that we're finally back home in our own dimension..."
Zim blinked, realizing this indeed was the case. He'd been so busy not caring
about Yoogli's good fortune and focusing on his own, he'd only just realized
the newly arrived messages had to mean that they were indeed back in the
dimension that those messages originated from. It would also explain what all
that insane shaking he'd woken up to had been. "Well, that is good news..." He
replied suspiciously, fury slowly passing over his features as he glanced back
at Dib. "And how did we just happen to find ourselves so fortunate, hmm, Dib?"
"Well..." Dib began awkwardly. "Orby told me that the only way to get back home
was to go through another black hole - So I did. And here we are!" He concluded
with a nervous smile.
Zim did not smile and he was not the least bit nervous. His left eye twitched
and he snapped, absolutely shrieking, "HAVE YOU A BLACK HOLE IN YOUR -BRAIN-,
HUMAN?!"
"What? Oh come on, Zim!" Dib's jaw dropped. "It WORKED! We're back! You're
seriously gonna bitch me out-"
"YOU TOOK CONTROL OF ZIM'S SHIP WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION!" Zim continued to
screech right back.
Dib backed down a bit - He was right about that, and he should feel guilty. But
bottom line, they were all alive and back home again, so he kept his nerve and
steeled his voice. "I did, and I'm sorry, I should have consulted with you
first. But Orby said you'd freak out if I told you, and I knew she was right,
and we WERE right-"
"You have NO EXCUSE for this, DIB!" Zim interrupted fiercely, "You said you'd
get Orby back to Earth on your own if you had to, but let's see your human
hubris actually live up to the hype! You put my ship and by extension my LIFE
in jeopardy! Not only OUGHT I abandon you on the next breathable planet, THAT'S
EXACTLY WHAT I'M GOING TO DO, YOU PIECE OF WORM SHIT!"
Yikes, little green shorty really was mad this time. It was a pretty bad insult
itself to be called a worm like he normally did, but worm shit? That was going
about as low as you could go. Dib couldn't deny the sour-piss feeling it gave
him, stirring him to shout back, "FINE! Go ahead and do it then! I do NOT need
you, Zim!" Wow, was that a dumb thing to say. Dib knew it right away, but he
was too pissed off to listen to his rational side.
Yoogli was getting nervous just like he always did when they started to
quarrel, but this time he actually intervened, "H-Hey guys, calm down! Dib, it
wasn't okay to take Zim's ship without permission-But Zim, Dib would be
entitled to a vessel of his own if he was accepted as a hybrid-"
But Zim quickly put the smaller Irken back in his place, and getting right in
his face, "THE DIBWORM IS NOT AN OFFICIAL HYBRID AND HE NEVER WILL BE! HE'S AN
ARROGANT LITTLE WORM AND HE NEEDS TO REMINDED OF HOW MUCH HE NEEDS ME AND -MY-
SHIP! HE. IS. GONE!"
Zim then turned his back on both of them and headed to the control panels,
finding a habitable planet and setting course for it. "We'll arrive at Dib's
new home sweet home in four days. Neither of you speak to me until then." He
told them coldly, heading into his room to be alone, away from their
disappointed stares.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The days passed slowly, but they finally arrived at the planet Zim had chosen.
It was a medium-sized planet, about five times bigger than Earth, with saffron
yellow land masses and emerald green seas. It was pretty to look at, but Dib
just couldn't appreciate it knowing it could potentially be the last planet he
lived, and possibly, died on.
He looked back at Zim only once, after they'd landed and Zim had opened the
hatch to let the human out. "So you're seriously going to do this."
Zim growled back, "Do I need to literally kick your ass out of MY ship, Dib-
pig?"
Dib scoffed and threw the pack of essential supplies he'd prepared over his
back. "Whatever, I'm going."
The human jumped past the hatch and landed heavily on his feet, feeling like
he'd suddenly gained twenty pounds. Gravity seemed to be a bit stronger here.
It was at least breathable, but other than that there wasn't much going for the
planet. The saffron yellow color came from miles of sand and large, dry, yellow
bushes, but there didn't seem to be much in the way of edible-looking things.
Dib refused to beg Zim to let him back on. He was too proud to admit he needed
him. But he decided to say one last thing as Zim closed the hatch on him, his
voice thick. "...Thanks for everything, jerk."
Zim glared at him until the hatch had closed and obstructed his view, then he
retreated to the control panel and took the ship back up in the air.
Dib looked around at the expanse surrounding him. The planet had two yellow
suns, and both of them were beating down on him. It had to be at least a
hundred and twenty degrees. If he didn't find shade and water soon, he'd be
done for. So he headed off towards the second sun in the horizon, leaving a
trail of footprints behind.
After walking for only an hour, Dib found himself too exhausted to go on
without a rest. Between the heat and the change in gravity, his body was just
too taxed to go on. He sat down next to one of the larger yellow bushes,
letting the mass of it give him shade from the suns.
After he'd caught his breath he got back up again. There was nothing around
except for the bushes, so he decided to inspect the one he'd just been resting
against. There was nothing on the surface, but maybe if he was lucky there
might be something edible further within in.
So Dib reached his hands into the dry yellow brush, feeling inside. It was
rougher, like dirty cotton on the outside, but inside it was softer, like
feather-down. Just about half a foot in, Dib's hand settled against something
firm but also pliant, and warm. It almost felt like...
"Bwuaaaaack?"
Dib glanced to the left of him, where a yellow, feathery head on a long neck
had emerged from underneath the body, cocking it's head curiously to the side
at him. It had a huge, sharp curved beak, which it clucked curiously at Dib.
"...Shit. You're some kind of giant space chicken, aren't you."
"KWUAK!"
The long-necked fowl suddenly lunged at Dib, snapping at him with it's menacing
beak. Dib jumped back just in time and began running away as fast as he could
under the intense heat and the gravity. Thankfully for him, the lumbering
creature was somewhat slow itself, but it managed to almost keep up with Dib,
constantly snapping at his heels. It was only a matter of time before Dib ran
out of energy, but before that happened he dared to turn his head around and
holler at the beast, "SOME DAY PEOPLE WILL BE DIPPING YOUR RIB-MEAT IN BARBEQUE
SAUCE, BITCH!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Yoogli had been pacing anxiously since Zim departed, and just when they were
about to pass the atmosphere, he couldn't stand it anymore. "Zim! Are you
seriously not gonna go back for him? I'm sure he learned his lesson by now! He
could seriously die if you leave him down there too long!"
That did make Zim feel guilty, but that in turn only made him angry. He WAS
planning on going back for Dib in a few days or so, but the planet was a little
harsh, and Dib was still recovering from the injuries he'd sustained days ago,
as well-deserved as they were. Still, he wasn't interested in being lectured by
the shrimp about it. "Shut UP, Yoogli, or I may just go back and leave you
behind here as well!"
Something in the little Irken's head suddenly snapped, and he shoved at Zim's
chest with all his might, knocking him back a couple steps. "FINE! Go ahead and
do it, but you're gonna hear a thing or two from me! First of all, you KNOW you
were exiled just like me, and while you were, did anyone ever message you even
ONCE like my best comrade Leevee has been doing for me every year? WHO has been
paying attention to YOU all these years, Zim? HMM?!"
That cut deep, and the pain made Zim almost as irritated as Yoogli, but he was
also unnerved by his sudden boldness. It was true, over the long years of
exile, Dib was the one who made his life worth living. Still, he tried to cover
up his shame by stretching out the truth. "For your information, NOT THAT IT'S
ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS-Tallest Red himself had been checking in on me from time
to time!"
Yoogli let his mouth drop and slapped a hand to his cheek, feigning shock, and
replied in a heavily sarcastic tone, "You're KIDDING, Zim! The guy whose butt
is only still sitting on a throne because of your actions and your continued
silence about them, HE checked in on you?"
Zim growled deeply, "I have NO idea what you're talking about-"
"Of course you don't." Yoogli nodded, knowing that that was actually partly the
truth. "You really are oblivious to the fact that you're one of the most
selfish Irkens to have ever existed. You are completely unaware of the fact
that you get away with breaking rules and putting yourself above all of your
fellow Irkens all the time, something most of the rest of us really would be
executed for. For some reason nobody can understand, the Control Brain just
goes stupid whenever you're around - That's why you get away with things all
the time, that's why Red chose you for that particular mission, and that's why
virtually every other member of your species gets nervous whenever you show up
and wants nothing to do with you!"
Zim couldn't deny the hurt look that briefly passed over his features, but
Yoogli continued on without letting him reply, "That's why I'm telling you now
Zim, it doesn't make any sense for you to be using the Control Brain and it's
stupid standards as an excuse for why you won't accept Dib as your comrade. In
fact it's downright insulting to all the Irkens who have laid down their lives
defying the Control Brain! Dib has been there for you, and he's probably the
only Irken, Hybrid or otherwise, that even wants to be! You're crazy, Zim, but
you're not crazy enough to turn your back on the only real friend you've got,
are you?"
Zim gritted his teeth, unable to form a reply at first, and his fingers
twitched, sorely tempted to smack the smaller Irken for his insolence. In fact
he was about to, but then GIR showed up between them, sucking on some kind of
red drink. His eyes were blue at first, but then they started to flash between
blue and red, and then finally, they lit up purple, and to Zim's utter shock
and deep terror, the sound of the Gaz-beast's voice emerged from the mouth of
his robotic servant. "You really SHOULD listen to him, Zim. But I know you're
not gonna, so you'd BETTER listen to me, instead."
"EH?! GAZ?! WHAT do you think you're doing in my robot, filthy girl-monster?!"
Zim took two steps back from his metal slave, more unnerved than he'd ever
been.
"Hehehe..." Gaz's voice chuckled back coolly. "Did you know one of my favorite
past-times as a kid was turning my stuffed animals into demonic robot slaves?
Good practice for working on a real Irken SIR, busted though it was... But hey,
it was special. Not every day you find a SIR unit on Earth, let alone one
that's somehow been powered by tajik... Are you getting it yet, Zim?" The robot
gave his master a dark smile that sent a shiver down Zim's spine. "GIR has been
my puppet for years. I've had control of him pretty much ever since you landed
on our mud-ball."
"Th-That's not, it c-can't, y-you're-" Zim tried to stammer back, horrified as
he realized how many things that meant. Gaz had seen all of his base, Gaz had
multiple opportunities to poison him, Gaz had seen him NAKED in the shower-!
"Listen UP, Zim." She barked back, getting short with him. "I do NOT have all
day to piss around with you! You are gonna GO and GET Dib NOW and you're gonna
help him get back to Earth alive, because if you don't, and I have to drop what
I'm doing to come get you, I am going to DOOM you SO HARD, you'll wish every
ATOM in your body HAD NEVER EVEN EXISTED!"
GIR's eyes went solid red, and Zim screeched in horror as some kind of bright
red liquid started spraying from the top of it's head. It was just the ketchup-
smoothie it had been drinking, but it looked like something a lot more nasty
than that. So Zim of course turned on his heels and ran for the control panel,
turning the ship around and flying back to the planet's surface to look for
Dib. "OKAY, OKAY!"
GIR's eyes immediately went back to blue and it squealed in it's own voice
again, "YAY~!"
It took them a while to find the human, as he'd moved from the original spot
he'd been left. But then Yoogli suddenly shouted, "Look!" and pointed to the
corner of the window, where they could see Dib was being held by the tail of
his trench-coat in the beak of a giant yellow bird, and being shaken quite
aggressively.
Zim aimed carefully and fired one of the ship's lasers at the creature's neck,
severing the head from the body. Dib fell along with the decapitated head, and
landed with an 'oof' in the sand. Zim then took the ship down to the ground and
opened the hatch, marching up to Dib and stopping next to his big head, nudging
it with his toes. "Hey. We're even for the snake thing now."
Dib slowly smiled weakly up at the alien, accepting his hand as Zim offered it
to him. He was still kinda pissed off at him, but he couldn't deny how glad he
was that Zim had come back for him after all, and right in the nick of time.
"Right... Thanks for coming back. I'm sorry again for taking control of your
ship without permission. Neither of us should boss around or take control of
the other. From now on I promise I'll consult with you before doing anything
that concerns the both of us."
"Too right you will." Zim answered testily, but then he quickly added, "...But
thanks for getting us back home again, too. I guess that means I owe you a ride
back to your home planet, to make things even..."
Dib's smile stretched into a small grin, and instead of letting Zim's hand go
when he'd gotten to his feet, he gripped it even more firmly. "If you wouldn't
mind, I'd really appreciate that... Friend."
Zim took his hand back and waved away Dib's term of enderment, although the
side of his mouth was quirked just slightly upwards. "Yeah, yeah, whatever -
But first I'm going to collect my lottery prize. And I kinda feel like crashing
Yoogli's party, too. We have plenty of time, after all."
Dib's grin was now pretty big, and he balled up his fists in excitement. "I
definitely wanna go to a space party before I go back to Earth!" He answered
enthusiastically. After all, when he got back home, there was a chance he'd
have to stay there for the rest of his life. He was at -least- gonna go to a
space party first, damn it.
"Well then let's go already!" Zim called over his shoulder as he began to head
back towards the ship.
"Hey wait," Dib called him back, glancing at the newly-dead creature behind
them. "This thing is basically a giant chicken, right...?"
Waste not, want not. They were getting low on protein supplements, anyways. Zim
was repulsed by soiled Earth-meat, but without the added chemicals that humans
poisoned themselves with, he and other Irkens could occasionally stand to eat
another creature's flesh. In fact, Irkens generally believed that consuming
another creature was just another way of conquering it, and that in some cases,
one could absorb the strength of your foe by eating it.
They didn't take the whole thing though, it was too big. But they butchered a
few choice cuts of the breast meat, freezing and storing most of it for later.
Then they cooked up a slab for that night's supper.
"Mmm," Dib chewed loudly, his appetite ravenous after running from the beast on
the hot, heavy planet all day. It was a lot more fun to eat something you had a
personal vendetta against. "Tastes like chicken! Hah!"
Zim rolled his eyes at the terrible joke. "Shut up and pass me the barbeque
sauce."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 7 *****
The Healer
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Planet Tegma, the Irken-owned and mostly Irken-operated merchant corner of the
multiverse, was a place where you could find at least half of what was known of
exist, and for the right price, take it with you. This was the planet where the
lottery's headquarters were located.
After Zim had announced the planet they were heading to, Orby had spoken up
first, "Tegma? There is information about this planet in my database. There may
be an Irken Hybrid named Dram still stationed there in quadrant Goog-61. He is
a medic that specializes in working with other Hybrids. He has also been known
to have a special skill set - He's the only Hybrid doctor I know of that also
has experience with traumatized lekku."
Dib reached up and felt under his hair, "So, he might be able to make it work
the way it's supposed to again...?" He asked hopefully.
Orby whirred for a few seconds and turned from purple to blue, then replied in
it's metallic tone, "Orby deduces that the chances of what Dib hopes to happen
happening is just under zero point two percent, because the original single
lekku, even if left uncut, likely did not function the way the usual two do.
The chances of Dram being able to introduce a synthetic stabilizer to restore a
small portion of the lekku's original functions is fifty-nine percent likely.
The chances of making no improvement at all is thirty-eight percent, and the
chances of Dib dying in various ways is just under three percent."
Specific as always. "Well, I've had worse odds than that." Dib admitted with a
shrug, and then on a whim, he asked his robo-ghost-mommy, "By the way, just
curious... Did my father know what my lekku was supposed to be for, before he
cut it? Did he even ask?"
"...Yes. He cut it specifically because of what he was told about it. He was
afraid of you becoming more powerful than him someday."
Dib groaned under his breath. "Asshole..."
Zim hid his sympathy at first. Dib had to be pretty low before Zim would offer
him comfort - It was much more fun to mess with him. "Just how are you going to
pay for the procedure, Dib? Even IF we can find this Doctor-Dram, somehow I
doubt he'll work for free."
Damn it, that was actually a good point. Yoogli had been quiet for the last few
days, glaring at Zim behind his back, but he finally spoke up now. "I don't
have much monies, but you're more than welcome to them, Dib."
Though he was touched by Yoogli's offer, Dib was about to turn him down as
graciously as he could. But Zim spoke up first, in a jealous growl, "-I- will
pay for Dib's procedure!"
Dib quirked a curious eyebrow at him questioningly, propelling Zim to go on in
a slightly embarrassed sputter, "I mean- I HAVE certainly cost you quite a few
hospital bills in your life, and I AM going to be winning a fabulous lottery
prize soon, so... I don't know, consider it a late Birthday present. Or an
early Deathday present." He smirked.
Dib was surprised, to say the least. Zim was actually being nice? Winning the
lottery must have put him in a good mood. "Thanks, Zim..." He answered
sincerely, reaching over and putting a hand on Zim's shoulder for a brief
moment. "I'll find a way to pay you back sometime." He promised, to both his
friend and himself.
Zim seemed to be conflicted about the touch for the first few seconds, then he
finally slapped it away, though he seemed to be reluctant to do so. "Yes, yes,
Zim is unfathomably gracious!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Later that night, about three hours into Dib's usual 4-6 hours of sleep, Zim
crept into his quarters and shook him awake. "Dib-worm! We must speak NOW!" He
commanded in fierce whispers.
Dib groaned softly, reluctant to wake up. He was having kind of weird but kind
of nice dream that he was embracing Zim, the way Yoogli had once wanted to be
embraced. Still in this dream-stupor, he grabbed onto real-Zim, thinking it was
dream-Zim, and pulled him into his mattress, snuggling the alien like a teddy
bear.
Zim at first went very rigid, and his cheeks went hot. The rest of his body
quickly rose in temperature as well. Human skin was barely over one degree
warmer than Irken skin was normally, but to Zim it felt like his body's
temperature had risen at least ten degrees. And yet somehow, to the alien's
complete bafflement, it actually felt really nice. Kind of incredible,
actually. Zim couldn't help but let himself enjoy it for JUST a minute...
Until Dib mindlessly began nuzzling his cheek against one of Zim's antennae,
and Zim suddenly gasped sharply, and thrashed violently against Dib's arms,
"LET ME GO RIGHT NOW SMELLY-!"
Dib snorted awake and quickly let the alien go before he scratched his face
off, tumbling off the side of his bed trying to get away form him. "Zim?! What
the HELL-?" He blushed too, dearly hoping he hadn't said anything aloud while
he was dreaming.
Zim had fallen off the other side of the bed, but he used his spider legs to
jump over it, landing on Dib's chest and knocking the air out of him for a
moment. "Shut up, Dib!" He commanded. "We have to speak now, while GIR is in
sleep mode! I've been unable to trust my own robot slave for days because your
SISTER revealed to me through GIR the other day, when you were playing Chicken
on that yellow planet, that she's been in control of GIR almost as long as I've
had him! Did you ever know anything about that, Dib?!"
After taking a few more gasps, Dib shook his head. "No! I didn't know anything
about that. Well, except..." Zim gave him a hard stare, silently demanding the
truth, so Dib gave it to him. "I really DID have no idea that she's been in
control of GIR so long, but I heard her voice coming from it when we were
passing through the black hole... She pretty much saved our butts, I think..."
He admitted, still haunted by how his sister had spoken to the darkness, with
only respect and reverence in her voice, but never a hint of fear...
"You think." Zim repeated doubtfully. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to
think of you and your scary sibling anymore..."
"Yeah, well, you're not the only one." Dib deadpanned back at him. Then he
blinked. "Hey wait - If we're back in our dimension, maybe I can call her.
Here, get off of me-"
Zim blushed and got up without a word, then Dib joined him in sitting on the
edge of his bed, where he pulled out his old smartphone, which had been made
quite a bit smarter by Dib with a few tweaks and some 'borrowed' Irken
technology. Good thing it ran on it's own without need of a service provider -
Dib didn't even want to imagine how much they'd charge for a call that was THIS
'long-distance'.
It rang several times before Gaz's pre-recorded voice emerged. "Nice try, Dib.
I know it's you, you're the only one who would call this old number. Just get
the device back to me and I'll tell you everything you need to know. Until
then, quit bugging me and focus on staying alive by yourself. I have enough
problems to deal with right now, I can't afford to do you any more favors."
Dib turned the phone off without leaving a message. Apparently they'd have
plenty to talk about, when and if they saw each other again. "Well, that's
that." He stated simply.
"No, there's one more thing." Zim corrected him with a light growl. "We'll be
arriving at Tegma in five more days, and I've located this Dram that Orby spoke
of through the Tegma Directory, but when we get there, we're going to have to
disguise you to look more like a proper Irken Hybrid. People are going to
notice us no matter what, but we need to try to attract as little trouble as
possible. There's a few things that we'll be able to fix easily, other things,
not so much..."
Dib immediately glanced down at his fingers first. Zim saw this, and commented
on it. "It WOULD be easier to amputate a finger or two to make it look more
Irken. BUT," He grinned devilishly as Dib looked over to him with a gulp. "It
isn't unheard of for Irkens to have finger mutations, even more so for Hybrids.
The vast majority of us have three-fingered hands, but a small few of us have
four-fingered hands - I've even heard of a very few rare types of Hybrids
having five, six and seven-fingered hands."
Zim went on, studying Dib. "Of course we'll have to make your skin green too -
Your single lekku would be useless as a disguise, so we'll just have to tape it
down to hide it completely and graft two fake lekku on top of your head, which
you'll need to shave again... Most of the disguise should be simple enough,
really, there's just one thing... Your eyes."
Dib raised a brow. "My eyes? What about them? Can't we just make some
contacts?"
"DUH, Dib. That's not the problem. This is!" The irritable Irken reached over
and grabbed at Dib's glasses. He knew already that a few years prior, Dib had
gotten the tops of his ears pierced and had gotten special earrings that
allowed him to fasten his glasses to his ears, so that they stayed in place
when he got active. Zim removed the earrings first and then the glasses, and
not wanting to rip his ears, Dib let him.
"This archaic nonsense." Zim repeated. "No Irken would be caught wearing
something so ridiculous, and I must admit, I really don't understand why even a
monkey like you would, either. You've already broken two of your spare pairs
since our trip began, do you even have that many spares left? It doesn't
matter." He answered his own inquiry before Dib could. "Because you're not
going to wear them anymore. But I'm curious - Primitive though your planet is,
it still had laser surgery available to correct vision. Why didn't you just
utilize it instead of putting up with these stupid things?"
Dib sighed, grabbing back his glasses. "You know, I might kinda just like the
way they look on me! And would YOU trust just any stranger to shoot lasers into
your eyes?" The second point was the stronger one, as Dib realized he had only
ever liked how glasses looked because his father also was always wearing some
kind of sunglasses or goggles. So, since he now officially loathed him more
than ever, he started to think maybe it was time to stop instinctively
emulating him.
Zim simply shrugged. "Well, you're going to have to trust me to do it, because
you're not stepping foot out onto Tegma or anywhere else Irkens congregate
without a convincing disguise. Now hold still and this will only take half a
minute!"
Zim suddenly pushed Dib onto his back on the bed, climbing on top of his chest
and taking out what looked like a silver retractable pen, with six little oval
buttons along the side. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put together what
it was and what Zim was planning to do with it. Instinctively, Dib covered his
eyes with his hands to protect them, and almost squeaked out, "W-Wait! Zim, you
can't just expect me to be okay with this! These are my EYES we're talking
about!"
Zim sighed irritably. "I have eyes too Dib, I am aware of how important they
are. Which is why I figured you would WANT your incredibly inferior eyes
improved upon. Besides..." Zim seemed to struggle within himself for a moment.
"If... If you're going to be my comrade, I need you to be as useful as
possible! If I have to rely on your inferior human eyes, they won't be -
defective- inferior human eyes to boot! Contacts might work better than
glasses, but they can still fall out too and you'll be useless to me if they
do, so you're just going to have to let me fix your problem and stop being a
big worm-baby about it!"
Dib gulped and slowly peeked through his fingers, then finally, with a sigh, he
removed his hands completely. "Okay Zim... I'm putting my trust in you..." He
breathed out quietly, laying his hands down on either sides of Zim's legs.
They were both very aware of how vulnerable Dib was at that moment. The human
was trying his hardest to stay still due to the fear of moving too much during
the delicate procedure, while the alien restrained himself from shaking with
excitement. He couldn't deny how pleased it made him, to have Dib submit to him
like this. But he forced himself take a calming breath before steadying himself
for the task.
He moved his legs outside of Dib's arms, pinning them close to his sides to
keep him still. Then he leaned over, used two of the fingers on one hand to
pull one of his eyes wide open and keep it that way. "Stay as still as possible
and I can probably have this over in only twenty seconds..." He whispered, and
began before Dib could reply.
The laser was at a very low level, so it didn't sting or burn, it just felt
like an uncomfortable pressure was encircling his eyeball. Zim focused, making
no unnecessary movements until it was time to switch eyes. After he did, Dib's
vision momentarily faded to shades of grey. When the pressure went away, Dib
felt Zim get off of him.
"Zim?" He couldn't help but inquire, a little paranoid.
"I'm just getting something, Dib-worm." Zim replied shortly, and soon enough he
was back, applying some kind of balm to Dib's eyes and then placing some gauze
over them. "There, sleep another few hours with these on and when you wake up
your eyes will be better than ever."
Dib swallowed and nodded, feeling Zim get off of him with a little regret. The
lasers in the eyes wasn't great, but the feeling of Zim's lighter weight on top
of him, his cool skin warming against Dib's - The hormonal human couldn't deny
to at least himself, that part was decidedly not unpleasant. "Well, I'll
probably hold my thanks until then, just to make sure I don't end up blind
forever." He half-joked.
"Fine, and then you may bow down and kiss my boot in thanks."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you."
"Why wouldn't I?" Zim asked innocently, and Dib waited until he heard him leave
with the wooshing door before snickering immaturely to himself.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
As Zim had promised, Dib woke up the next morning with perfect 20-20 vision. He
stared around himself in awe when the gauze had been removed, looking at all
the familiar things, now no longer blurry outside the rim of his spectacles,
and no longer weighted down by the constant presence of metal frames on his
face.
"I gotta admit, this is pretty awesome..." He smiled over at Zim, and told him,
full of sincerety. "Thanks, Zim."
"I know, I'm amazing." The alien replied dismissively, then glanced up at the
human. "By the way... I think you look... Less stupid now, without them."
Well, Zim was never great at compliments, but Dib took it with a smile.
When they were close to arriving at planet Tegma, Dib noticed there seemed to
be two sides to the planet, one with lots of brown and white spots on it's
land-masses, the other with mostly gray. Zim had explained to him that one side
contained mostly independent merchants who basically lived in the same shabby
spot where they did whatever their deal was, while the other was inhabited by
more official businesses and actual corporations, and had big buildings that
could store many different items and people.
After parking the ship, Zim helped Dib apply his disguise, covering his skin
with a water-resistant green paint and attaching the fake lekku to his newly-
shaved head. They had also covered his ears by taping them down, but they had
to admit defeat to Dib's pig-nose, which couldn't be taped down enough to be
convincing.
Finally it was time to make him a pair of Irken contacts, and Zim instructed
him to pick which color he wanted. Dib, without thinking about it, picked the
one closest to his real eye color - Golden-brown. But Zim growled in irritation
at his choice. "We're supposed to be trying to avoid any extra attention, Dib.
It's going to be hard enough to hide you with your height."
Dib rolled his eyes. "Well fine then, why don't you pick the eye color out for
me?"
Zim hummed in thought, flipping through the selections. He then began switching
back between the various shades of blue, before picking one of the deeper,
darker hues. "These are best, I think... Actually, yeah." Zim quirked both an
eye and one of his lekku as Dib applied them. "You look a LOT better as an
Irken..."
Dib snorted, his cheeks pink underneath the green paint. "Well it's certainly a
step above your Earth costume."
Zim poked his chest and pointed out, "Hey, that's because most humans were so
stupid I didn't have to be that creative."
Yoogli was practically bouncing on his heels when Zim finally opened the hatch
to let them out. He didn't have any business to do, he was just eager to simply
go out and walk among his fellows. He was the first to jump off of the ship,
immediately rushing into the crowd, surfing through the mass of bodies.
Dib had a little bit of trouble focusing on following Zim when they were
surrounded by aliens that looked more or less just like him. He got sidetracked
two or three times by the sights of all the people and the merchants and their
wares, and he almost got lost. But thankfully, Zim came back for him and found
him, and this time he led the taller Hybrid by the hand to make sure he didn't
stray.
They did get a few stares, but they managed to get to their destination without
being stopped by anyone. The tent that Zim stopped at didn't look any different
from the others, but it's merchant was a little different from the average
Irken. His legs were strangely skinny, in a way that made Dib wonder if he
could even walk on them - He was currently sitting in front of his stall,
soaking up the sun. He also seemed much older than any other Irken Dib had ever
seen, with withered skin and tired blue eyes that were just a shade lighter
than Dib's. He was somewhat tall, almost as tall as Gazlene had been, but his
back bent over with age.
"Are you Dram?" Zim asked, "The Vortian-Irken Hybrid medic?"
"Depends on who is asking." The old Irken replied with a cough. "Except it
doesn't, because I don't take in new clients anymore..."
"What about a favor to an old one?" Dib spoke up, not about to give up so
easily. "Do you remember an Irken who was named Gazlene?"
The doctor had been looking away from them stubbornly, but the second that name
was spoken, his eyes went wide and he stared right at the hybrid who had
uttered it. "What did you say?" He gasped instinctively, but then thought
better of it. "No, don't say her name again... But how do you know of her?"
Dib could see the elderly alien putting the pieces together in his eyes, but he
answered anyways, "It might be hard to believe, but I'm her offspring." The
Irken word for it made no distinction between sexes. Offspring were offspring.
"And she is...?"
Dib looked away. "...Dead." He answered shortly.
The older Irken took a deep breath. "I can't say I'm surprised. She was always
a risk-taker. I knew one day it wouldn't work out in her favor... Anyways, what
do you need from me?"
Dib looked around at the shoppers passing by the various stalls. No one seemed
to be paying attention to them, but he didn't feel like taking the chance that
one of them was. "Can we go inside and show you there?" He asked hesitantly,
still not sure how those freaky-skinny legs were supposed to work.
Dram sighed a little, then hefted himself up from his chair. He balanced
himself on his strange legs like a ballerina, and motioned for them to follow
as he went into his tent. Inside there were only a few essential items - A cot
for Dram, one for his patients, a small collection of various surgical tools
laid out on a rotating circular table by the patient's cot, and a nearby metal
chest that was probably a freezer.
"So what seems to be the problem?" Dram asked again, a little sarcastically.
Dib glanced briefly as Zim, who nodded. Then he reached up, grabbing his fake
lekku by the bottom and pulling them off. Dram looked a little sickened by
that, but even more so when Dib removed the tape covering his real lekku. He
then got down to his knees and held the limp lekku up so the doctor could
inspect it.
Dram shook his head in disbelief at the sight. "What kind of savage would do
that to a smeet..."
"My paternal unit." Dib answered with a small scowl. "I can't really feel it
except underneath at the very bottom. When it's touched there, a spark of
electricity goes off and shocks my body. Very painful..." The human-hybrid
coughed, "Anyways, can you do anything about it?"
"Possibly. Probably." The doctor answered shortly. "But I make no promises.
Normally I charge one hundred monies for a job like this, but with the added
unknown elements to deal with, I'm going to have to insist on two hundred."
Zim growled, reluctant at first to fork over a full half of what he had. He
eventually did, but he told Dram, very short-and-sweet, "If he dies, I get my
monies back."
Dib gave him a hard stare, but then he couldn't help but snort out a short
laugh, and replied dryly, "Wow. Thanks, Zim..."
Dram wasn't nearly as amused. He answered grimly, "There is a very slight
chance of death involved. But I am confident in my skill, and long years of
experience. You are not the first unknown hybrid to have come to me in a
similar condition, in fact, hybrids are the most likely of all Irkens to have
their lekku tampered with. I've seen and fixed worse than this, but that all
depends on what this thing was capable of to begin with..."
"What do you mean?" Dib inquired, "Have you seen single lekku before?"
Dram slowly nodded. "It's very rare even in hybrids but I've seen two other
cases in all my life, and heard of a handful more. In most cases it is weaker
than two, but in a couple of the cases I've heard about, the Irkens who relayed
it to me claimed that the single lekku gave the hybrid strange powers. But we
won't know until we've begun. Are you ready? I'll need to render you
unconscious for the procedure."
Dib swallowed, suddenly a little nervous. However slight, there was the chance
that he might not wake up from this. He looked over at Zim and asked him
hesitantly, "Will you... Stick around until I wake up again?"
Zim gave him a funny look. "Where else do you think I'm going to go?"
The human slowly smiled, and while he was giving his friend that soulful
glance, Dram had injected him in the neck so skillfully that he didn't even
feel it. "Okay then, so Dram, how are you gonna put me under-Rrrruh..." Dib's
sentence tapered off and his legs turned to noodles as he went unconcious. The
two aliens caught him as he fell, and with some slight difficulty they hefted
him onto the patient's cot.
Dram then pulled a case out from the freezer and opened it. Inside there were
several small, dark grey-colored chips in different shapes and sides. He pulled
out one that looked lika a small disc cut in half, and held it up to inspect.
"I've developed several kinds of stabilizers for all the different kinds of
lekku injuries I've seen. They are basically replicas of the missing tissue
made with real Irken cells. Freezing keeps them dormant until the procedure."
Dram went on to explain to Zim, or to no one at all. He didn't seem to care
which. "I believe this one should suffice. However the biggest problem lies in
that this is such an old wound. I'm afraid I'll have to cut it again to fit the
stabilizing chip in, and the chip needs to come in direct contact with his DNA
to merge with it anyways. Once in, hopefully the nerves will connect themselves
to the chip and the chip will guide sensation between the lekku and the rest of
the body properly."
"Well then DO it already." Zim huffed back, looking unimpressed. "Just
remember, if he dies, I get my monies back. Also," He decided to add now that
the human was unconscious, "I'd probably kill you, too."
Dram snorted, just as unimpressed with Zim's threat. "I already told you, I'm
confident in my skills, or else I wouldn't have even taken the job, favor to an
old 'friend' or not."
Zim paused, and then inquired as casually as he could. "So, what was Dib's
maternal unit like?" With Orby waiting back at the ship, he likely wouldn't get
another chance to ask.
"Scary." Dram answered right away, and after a short thought, he went on, "She
never cared that she was supposed to be considered inferior, and she didn't
treat others that way just because they were short or anything else. Like all
brown-eyed Irkens she was given a derogatory name: Gazlene is basically just a
fancy word for the gases in a fart. But you don't even wanna know what she did
to the first and only Irken ever unfortunate enough to try and make fun of her
for it..." Dram chuckled a little to himself, though. That young, cocky bastard
Red had really deserved the unexpected beating the slightly shorter female gave
him that day, and it seemed he had only turned out for the better afterwards...
It was about what Zim had expected of the Gaz-beast's life-giver, and he left
it at that, watching patiently as Dram got himself and Dib ready for the
procedure. When the time came for Dram to make the incision, Zim quickly
averted his eyes. Normally it was a treat to see Dib in pain, but it wasn't
quite as thrilling anymore as it used to be...
A few moments later, Dram announced, "We're done here."
Zim turned back and gave him a glare, "That didn't take very long..." He
mentioned, suspecting that it had been a rush-job.
Dram gave him the same look of annoyance and growled a little at him, answering
briefly, "Once he wakes up, leave."
They stared at each other in a shared sense of dislike for almost an hour. Zim
was almost about to go over and shake the human awake himself when Dib began to
stir, and groan. The alien approached him and bent over his form, looking down
at him inquisitively. "How do you feel, Dib?"
Dib blinked up at him, groggily rubbing at his eyes. "Kinda dizzy... Head
hurts..."
Dram answered without even looking at Zim, reclining on his cot and facing away
from them. "Side effects. Should go away soon. Leave now."
Zim sighed irritably and focused his attention back on Dib, "Can you walk?"
Dib nodded without actually considering whether he could, and with some
difficulty he hefted himself up to a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes some
more, took a breath, and then placed his feet down on the ground and stood up.
At first he seemed to be alright - Until he actually took a step. Then he
wobbled a bit, and Zim rushed to put a steady arm around his back. Dib was much
bigger than him so it was a rather comical sight to see, but the smaller alien
was stronger than his stature would suggest, and he managed to keep them both
on their feet.
Zim led the two of them through the dusty streets, getting a few more odd looks
than before. About halfway back to the ship, the dizziness began to ebb away
and Dib managed to walk on his own again, but Zim still walked at his side,
just in case.
Once Dib's big head seemed to be working more clearly, the Irken asked his
Hybrid companion, "Do you feel anything yet?"
Dib hummed a bit in consideration. "It... Kind of feels like it's buzzing,
right now..."
Zim took a breath, trying to be optimistic since he'd paid for it. "Well,
that's probably better than no feeling at all. It may be your remaining nerves
reconnecting to the stabilizing chip. Anything else?"
Actually, there was something else, but Dib hesitated to mention it. When Zim
had pulled away, it felt as if some kind of static remained between them,
reluctant to let go of Zim. It was somewhat like trying to pull two magnets
away from each other. But obviously Zim hadn't felt it too, so he didn't bring
it up. "No, but I'll let you know if there is."
Once they'd nearly reached the parking lot where they'd left the ship, they
found Yoogli nearby talking with a small group of very short Irkens - Young
ones, actually. They were barely more than smeets, just out of the academy,
probably here to stock up on items they needed and trying to find them cheaper
in the bazaar than they knew they'd be elsewhere.
Yoogli was restraining the urge to coo over them when he noticed Dib and Zim
coming back. "Promise to be careful out there, okay my young comrades?" He
asked, wiping a smudge off the shirt of the shortest one like a mother hen.
The smeets all rolled their eyes and promised him they would in dull, bored
tones, and Yoogli returned to his shipmate's side as they began boarding the
craft. "Did everything go okay, Dib?" The shorter alien asked, keeping a good
foot of space between them after seeing Zim's glare.
"I think so. I guess time will tell." Dib replied with a yawn, "I'm still
pretty tired from the anesthesia though. I think I'm gonna rest a bit longer in
my room..."
"When are YOU gonna get your own ship again anyways, Yoogli?" Zim growled
irritably as he started up the engines.
Yoogli gave him an annoyed stare in return. "I DID ask around about it while
you were gone, actually. They said I'd have to check with the officials on the
other side of Tegma about a replacement Voot, so, can you at least give me a
ride over there?"
"You COULD just walk-" Zim began, but Dib pinched his arm to distract him, and
it worked like a charm. "OW! DIB, I -WILL- DESTROY YOU!"
The human chuckled nasally, then yawned again as he headed towards his
quarters. "Yeah, yeah - Just do me a favor and kill me in my sleep, okay?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 8 *****
The Savior
(( A.N. This chapter contains some pretty heavy stuff, some not-so-vague
references to sexual assault and similar themes. Hope everybody still likes
this chapter though, I worked hard on it. Please review~ ^^ ))
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib woke up a few hours later, and the first thing he did was reach up and feel
at the top of his head for his lekku, to see if anything had changed. He ran
his finger along the top-side of the skinny appendage, and a slight shiver ran
down his lekku and through his neck and spine. Experimentally, he did it again,
and the shiver turned into more of a warm pulse. It was strongest in his back,
where it felt like the pulse was branching out with his nerves and massaging
the muscles in his back underneath the skin.
It actually felt pretty darn good, so Dib was about to try it again until two
short knocks at the door interrupted him, and he put his hands down quickly, as
if he had been caught doing something naughty. Which, in a way, he kind of had.
"Er - Come in, Zim."
Zim emerged through the unlocked door, arms crossed and looking slightly
puzzled. "How did you know it was me?"
Good question. How did he know it was Zim? It could have been Yoogli, but for
some reason... He just knew it was Zim. Not thinking too much on it yet, Dib
simply shrugged. "Lucky guess?"
Zim didn't seem convinced but he shrugged it off as well. "We'll be landing in
another thirty minutes at the Lottery Headquarters. However, I will be going
there alone, and you and Yoogli will be staying behind to watch GIR and the
ship. When I get back, we'll be taking Yoogli to the Irken Transportation
office, and then we'll be on our way."
Dib couldn't hide his disappointment, and underneath that, for no reason he
could currently fathom, he was also really worried about the prospect. "Are you
sure it'll be safe for you to go out there by yourself?"
Zim gave him a really 'WTF' kind of look then. "What-Dib, I'm really not sure
whether to smack you or check you for a preexisting head injury, because you're
not making any sense right now. Why wouldn't I be safe walking among my own
people? Irkens are not savages like humans are, we do not attack our own kind
merely for monetary gain, so I'm not going to get 'mugged', if that's what
you're thinking."
"I know that," Dib hurried to assure him with a slight blush. "But you ARE
pretty accident-prone sometimes, so maybe it'd be best if-"
"I'm going, ALONE." Zim growled back at him slowly. "You're just being paranoid
as always Dib-worm - At least, I'm giving you the benefit of a doubt that
you're just being paranoid, because if I thought for a second that you were
insinuating that I am too WEAK to take care of myself, I'd scratch your ugly
face off right now."
"I wasn't insinuating that, Zim." Dib quickly soothed him quickly before his
temper flared up. "Just - Nevermind. Forget I said anything. Don't worry about
the ship. It'll still be here when you get back."
"It better." Zim replied in a huff, then closed the door behind him.
Dib waited until he felt the ship touch down, and heard the front hatch woosh
open. When it closed again, he exited his room, readjusting his fake antennae.
He'd taken them off before going to sleep, but the rest of his disguise was
still on. He did make one change though - He took out the blue contacts Zim had
chosen for him earlier, and replaced them with a purple pair, just in case Zim
should look back and catch a glimpse of him.
Then he turned to Yoogli, who was watching him the entire time. "I'm going to
follow Zim. Are you okay with watching the ship and GIR by yourself, Yoogli? He
shouldn't be too difficult to control as long as you keep his favorite shows
on."
"Sure thing, Dib. You can count on me." Yoogli smiled back at him and saluted.
Orby, who was floating next to Yoogli, stopped Dib just before he bolted out of
the ship, "Dib - I cannot accompany you. Irken officials will confiscate
unknown technology if they see it. But take this with you instead." Out of one
of the rectangular compartments, a metal claw came out holding what looked like
an Irken remote control. Buttons with the numbers zero through nine and the
letters of the Irken alphabet were displayed on the front, as well as several
oval buttons in various colors below them.
"This device is a door decoder." Orby explained. "If you come across a door you
need to open that requires a password, press the blue button. The combination
will light up in order on the buttons of the device. If voice recognition
software is needed instead of a simple password, press the green button and the
device will play back the last voice that was used to open the door. Either
way, when you're done opening the door, press the red button to reset the door
and delete any trace of your tampering."
Dib took the device with a grateful nod, slipped it into his pocket, and rushed
out of the ship to catch up with Zim.
The occupants on this half of Tegma were much more controlled than the dusty,
crowded streets on it's other side - Irkens filed down the sidewalks in an
orderly line, while the middle of the street consisted of several conveyor
belts, each belt taking it's occupants to a different building. It took him a
few minutes, but Dib finally found the one that Zim was on, and he quickly got
on several spaces behind him.
The conveyor belt led them past several nearly-identical buildings, drab and
gray, until they reached one that was slightly taller than the rest, painted
magenta, with a banner hanging from the top of it that had a picture of an
excited-looking Irken holding wads of cash in both hands, and Irken letters
underneath that read, 'Lottery Headquarters'.
Dib watched patiently as Zim headed into the building first, then slowly
followed in after him. He saw Zim get onto an elevator, and when the doors had
closed, Dib waited outside of the elevator until Zim had arrived on his level,
stopping at the fourth floor. Dib then waited for the elevator to come back
down, boarded it himself, and rode it up to the fourth level. When he got out,
he just barely caught a glimpse of Zim as he punched in a number code at a door
at the end of the hall, and headed into the room beyond.
He used the device as Orby had instructed him to, punched in the code, and then
he quickly slipped into the room and ducked behind a statue of some Tallest or
another that was located right next to the door. He peeked from behind the
statue and watched as Zim walked down the rather long room to a panel of Irkens
at the other end of it. Most of them were taller than Zim, and they were
wearing rather silly hats that were twice as long as their heads and had a big
Irken cash symbol on it, and jackets with collars that rose over their mouths.
Zim stood before them haughtily with his hands on his hips. "I have come to
collect the fabulous prize I won! GIVE TO ZIIIM~" He couldn't help but demand
greedily.
The Irken directly in the middle of the panel had blood red eyes and was the
tallest out of those present. "Yes, in good time. First we'll need you to
answer a few identification questions, and once you've answered them all, we'll
be happy to hand over your prize. First of all, please state your official
name, rank and serial number for the record."
"Invader Zim, serial number 8-8-9-9-7-7-7!" Zim stated with a brief salute.
"Age?" The bloody-eyed Irken went on in a bored tone.
"I just completed my nineteenth cycle as of month three, day thirty!" Zim
grinned proudly.
"Congratulations." Red-eyes replied with no sincerity in his voice. "Now then,
there's just one more thing we need from you and then the prize is all yours...
Please present proof of your biological sex."
Zim was grinning and making 'gimme-gimme' fingers until he heard the final
request. Then his smile fell instantly, his vibrant green skin went incredibly
pale, and his eyes widened as far as they could go. He was silent for almost a
full minute, until the red-eyed Irken finally spoke up again in a falsely
sweetened voice, "Is there a problem?"
Zim gulped audibly, taking a step back, "N-No, not at all - It's just, I JUST
remembered, I-I actually really don't need a fabulous prize after all!"
The blood-eyed Irken's mouth stretched into a sadistic grin. "Come now, surely
you jest."
"No, no!" Zim insisted, clearly more than just a little nervous. "I'm such an
amazing invader, I'm sure I'll conquer something worth much more soon enough!
Go ahead and just donate it or something-"
Almost snickering with mirth, the red-eyed Irken snapped his fingers and the
Irken at the furthest end of the panel, whom Zim suddenly realized had a
psionic device implanted above her terrifyingly familiar purple eyes, suddenly
lunged out of her seat with her spider legs, landing on top of Zim. She quickly
pinned him to the ground and then maliciously scratched across his right cheek
with her claws. Zim cried out as his pinkish-red blood began to run from the
wound, and he thrashed as violently as he could underneath her, trying
desperately to get away.
"Tak, PLEASE don't do this!" Zim was outright begging her. "I thought you
didn't want revenge on me!" He added, trying to appeal to her sense of decency.
But that was just about the worst thing Zim could have said. Tak snarled right
in his face, "I -didn't- care about revenge... The FIRST time you screwed up my
chance fulfill my life's potential! But after the SECOND? No, we have a score
to settle now, Zim!" She let out a ragged little laugh, "But actually, to tell
you the truth, nobody else wanted to touch you with a ten-foot-pole, so I'm
getting a pretty huge promotion for this job too! Humiliating you is just a
bonus!"
Several other Irkens from the panel jumped up on their spider legs and
surrounded Zim and Tak. Blood-eyes commanded her, "Hold him down!" And Tak
obeyed, pinning his arms down and sitting on his chest while another orange-
eyed Irken approached and, to Dib's growing shock and horror, pulled Zim's
pants completely off of him, exposing his genitals - A wormy penis that
strongly resembled the alien's tongue, only thicker.
Dib was frozen at first - He knew he needed to help Zim, but they were severely
outnumbered, and he really didn't want to take the chance that while he took
them on, one of them might take advantage of Zim's vulnerable position and
seriously hurt him. But the guilt rose in him like bile as blood-eyes commanded
the orange-eyed one, "Lift it and look underneath."
The orange-eyed Irken obeyed without question, and Dib's eyes went wide as he
saw what was underneath - Though there was no denying what it was, Dib was
still unable to believe it at first. But then a magenta-eyed Irken took out
some kind of device from his robe, and turned it on. It beamed a holographic
identification card in the air with an image of Zim on it, and next to his
picture there were four symbols - A red horizontal line, a blue vertical line,
a purple triangle, and a plus sign with the red horizontal line and the blue
vertical line overlapping each other.
The red horizontal line had been encircled, but after the magenta-eyed Irken
had fiddled around with it, the circle around the red line disappeared and
reappeared around the red and blue plus symbol. A robotic voice then announced
the obvious, "Biological sex status of Zim is now confirmed. Double-sex."
"NO!" Zim suddenly screamed, sounding more ashamed and more terrified than Dib
had ever heard him.
Tak scoffed at him, but even she was a little unnerved by just how distressed
Zim was, "Calm down, will you? They're not going to kill you for it, Zim, it's
just for identification purposes! If you hadn't lied about your sex to begin
with, this wouldn't have had to happen!"
"You LIE! They're going to kill me-!" Zim cried, beginning to thrash again.
"Let me GO!"
Blood-eyes was outright grinning, "No really, Zim - We're not going to kill you
for being a double-sexed FREAK. We're going to kill you for entering Irken-
controlled territory when you're supposed to be banished!"
Zim's mouth fell wide open, "You-You can't do that! You TOLD me to come here!"
"No I didn't." The red-eyed leader replied calmly. "No one strictly ORDERED you
to come here, Zim. You came of your own free will, and you WILL be held
accountable for that." He sneered down at the terrified little alien, "And
don't think Tallest Red is going to swoop in and save you this time either,
Zim. These orders came straight from the only person he can't overrule -
Tallest Purple himself."
"Now..." The leader shot one last distasteful look at Zim before turning his
back on him, and snapping his fingers at the other Irkens. "Take out this
trash."
There was no more time to wait for a better, more opportune moment. Dib knew
that he had to act. Whatever crazy, stupid thing he was going to do, he had to
do it now.
He sprinted from behind his hiding place and ran after Zim, and the other
Irkens were so shocked by the newcomer they didn't know what to expect from him
at first. They certainly wouldn't have thought in a million years that he was
there to actually -save- Zim.
Tak started to demand of the unknown Irken, not recognizing Dib with the
disguise on at first, "What do you think you're-?!"
He didn't let her get any further than that. He pulled back his five-fingered
hand and slapped her -hard- with the back of his hand, knocking her off of Zim
and sending her flying several feet across the room. Then he reached down,
scooping Zim up into his arms and holding him tight against his chest, and Zim
was too traumatized and too grateful for the unexpected rescue to protest.
At first, he really wasn't sure what else he was going to do after that. The
other Irkens were staring at him with their eyes bugged out, completely baffled
by who the savior of the most hated Irken in existence could be. But it only
took them a moment to get over it, then several Irkens charged at once with
their spider legs.
Dib stared at them as they advanced, no fear in his eyes, only hatred. He had
never been so royally pissed off in his entire life. He was never amused by
bullies who got their kicks off of causing others pain for no good reason, but
knowing now what he did about what his own mother had been through, he was
really in no mood to show them mercy after what they'd done to Zim.
White-hot fury burned in Dib's veins, and he clenched his teeth tight. His skin
began to prickle and his head was pounding with a fast-growing migraine. He
clenched Zim tighter to his chest, and just before the enemies reached them, a
surge of electricity suddenly surrounded Dib and Zim, emitting from Dib's
lekku, which was so rigid at this moment it had ripped the tape covering it
completely off.
Dib and Zim were somehow left unharmed by the electricity, but every other
Irken in the room was badly shocked, and all their equipment was fried. The
spider-legs all wobbled and then crumpled, and the Irkens fell to the floor,
just inches away from Dib.
More Irken soldiers began coming in through the front door, so escaping the way
they came in wasn't an option. But Dib's electricity had not just short-
circuited the equipment - It had also broken all the windows in the room. So,
holding Zim tight, Dib ran for the nearest one, and jumped out. They fell the
four levels to the ground, and Dib miraculously managed to land on his feet
without breaking any bones. It still hurt like hell, but he ignored the pain
and sprinted off, shoving Irkens out of his way.
A group of soldiers followed after them, but Dib's long legs managed to keep
him just ahead of them. Only when they'd reached the ship and entered it did
Dib finally put Zim down, quickly taking off his trench-coat and throwing it
around Zim's shoulders. Still in shock, Zim wrapped it around himself, grateful
for the modesty, and retreated to his room without looking at Yoogli.
Dib started the ship and took off with it as fast as he could manage. A few
drones chased after them, but Dib expertly shot them down. His scary sister
wasn't the only one who had better aim when she was pissed.
Once they passed the atmosphere, Dib just very briefly set the ship's controls
to hyper-speed, getting a good distance away quickly before shutting it off
again.
"What the hell happened...?" Yoogli finally dared to ask once things seemed to
have settled down. But Dib only replied by shaking his head, indicating that
now wasn't the time, and headed over to the door of Zim's room.
"Zim, are you okay?" He knocked very lightly, almost sure that Zim would react
violently. Either that, or Zim would probably tell him to go away, avoid them
for days, then emerge as if nothing had ever happened.
But instead, after a short pause, Zim actually opened the door for him, quickly
pulled Dib into his room, and then closed the door behind them. Dib swallowed
against his throat, staring down at Zim, who had gotten a new pair of pants on
by then but was still clutching Dib's trench-coat around him. Zim was silently
staring down at the floor, and Dib mimicked his silence - He really just didn't
know what to say at first.
Finally Zim glared weakly up at him. "I know you saw it..."
"Zim, it doesn't matter-"
"Do -not- LIE to me, human!" Zim shoved him back a step. "I lived on your
miserable planet for years, I know the customs! You culture considers anything
related to females to be weak and inferior! Your own mother was-"
Dib cut him off there, "I KNOW my mother was raped, okay Zim?! And I know my
planet is an uncivilized ball of dirt where females are treated like shit for
no reason, but I am NOT like that! I don't care what's between your legs!
You're still the same person I always knew! Or did you think I would try to
rape you the second I found out about this? If that's the case, then you really
don't know me at all!"
Zim was silent, looking appropriately guilty. Slowly he took a step back, then
another, until he reached the edge of his bed, and sat down on it. He lowered
his face into his hands, and began to softly shake. He muttered into his palms,
"It was all for nothing... It's happening again... Nothing I did made any
difference... It's going to happen again... I failed..."
Dib stared at his traumatized friend, still unsure what to make of everything
that was happening, still putting the disconnected puzzle pieces together in
his mind. "...This wasn't your fault, Zim." He mentioned, and Zim's head
snapped up with a furious glare. But before the alien said anything, Dib sunk
to his knees on the floor beside Zim's bed. This subconsciously pacified Zim,
because although Dib didn't know it, lowering yourself below the height of
another was a sign of submission, or of the utmost trust and respect.
Zim's anger subsided and Dib went on, "No one deserves to have that happen to
them... No one."
"You wouldn't understand, Dib-" Zim began again stubbornly and with a thick
throat.
But Dib nodded in agreement, "You're right, I don't... Please tell me."
Zim stared at him, unsure, for several seconds. He was far from eager to tell
anyone the biggest, darkest secret of his life. But Dib was the only true
friend he had in the world - If he didn't tell him, there was no one else who
would care to listen to him...
Zim took a ragged breath and then suddenly, he flung his arms around Dib's
shoulders and tucked his chin against Dib's neck. He felt a little less self-
conscious doing it with Dib's Irken disguise on, though he was still well aware
how taboo it was. He just didn't care anymore.
He squeezed the human tight, and proceeded to confess everything. "There are
dark periods in my life that I wish I could forget, Dib. But I know now I won't
be able to..." Dark magenta eyes slowly gathered pink tears, but the Irken
quickly wiped them away before they fell. "I've always been hated just for
being who I am, but the truth is, I'm not the only one. Historically, my
kind..." He didn't explain what he meant by that and he didn't need to. "Has
been hated, judged, and deemed unworthy of life, for the very life we were
given..."
Dib wrapped his arms very loosely around Zim's midsection, giving him plenty of
room to push him away if he wanted to. Zim only gripped him tighter, and went
on, "Under the rule of Tallest Miyuki, terrible atrocities were committed
against innocent Irkens. Some were executed. Others... We had no choice but to
hide. And there were only two choices of -how- to hide... Some dismembered
themselves and claimed to be female." Dib felt a strong shudder go through
Zim's frame. "I refused that option, of course. So there was only one other
thing I could do to protect my identity..."
Zim hesitated for a long moment, until Dib laid a reassuring hand on his lower
back. "They had an x-ray scanner stationed at the entrance of the research
facility I worked at... I had to pass through it every day, just like everyone
else. If my... Spare parts," He ground the word out, making it quite clear what
he thought about his own body. "Were detected, I would have been taken away and
killed. I had to... There was, this device, this bar, and it would interfere
with the scanner, to hide the female parts from detection if it was..."
Zim suddenly growled loudly and shoved Dib back, getting up to his feet and
pacing away from the human. He wrapped his arms around himself, missing Dib's
warm arms more than he cared to admit, but too stubborn and too full of shame
to continue the contact while speaking the words he was about to utter. "It
HURT. It hurt SO bad! I had to wear it everyday and walk around with it inside
of me and it BURNED! It chafed my insides raw, left me bruised and bleeding,
until I wasn't even sure anymore that DEATH itself could be worse! It was
driving me INSANE!"
Dib watched with wide eyes and a heavy, sympathetic heart as the Irken turned
and pounded his fists against a wall, then hid his face against it. "Red
promised he would change the rules, and stop the killing, if I could help him
become Tallest... I had no choice. It was my life, or theirs..."
"So that's why you did it..." Dib whispered to himself, putting the rest of
pieces together for himself. After what Yoogli had let slip about the deaths of
the previous Tallests, Dib had known it couldn't have been an accident. And it
was no coincidence that Zim was still alive after 'accidentally' killing them,
either. "...I don't blame you one bit. I would have done the same thing."
"How would you know?" Zim sighed irritably.
Dib sighed right back and commanded the Irken, "Turn around and look at me,
Zim."
Slowly, Zim turned around to obey, finding Dib in the middle of removing his
shirt. He blushed and demanded, "What are you-?"
Dib looked down, blushing too once the garment had come off. "Do you remember,
Zim - Freaking out in gym class a couple years back, when one boy took off his
shirt, and you asked him if he was lactating?" Dib couldn't help but snicker at
the memory.
Zim gave him a pouty glare, "Why else would you have mammary tissue?"
Dib shook his head in amusement. "Just another way us humans differ from
Irkens, I guess. All humans start out as females in the womb before hormones
kick in and make us completely male or female."
"That is so weird." Zim couldn't help but smirk a little.
Dib chuckled, putting his shirt back on, "Yeah, I guess it kinda is. But hey,
it's just who I am. There's nothing wrong with it, and there's nothing wrong
with you for being just how you are, either."
Zim's smirk slowly stretched into a small but genuine smile. "...Th... Th-
Thanks, Dib..." He forced himself to utter underneath his breath.
The human shook his head. "No problem. It's just what friends do."
"Supposedly." Zim shrugged, feeling more than a little awkward after his
confession, but also undeniably relieved. "Of course, friend or not, I -will-
destroy you if you tell anyone about any of this."
Dib rolled his eyes, "Friends also keep secrets for each other, Zim." He
reminded him blandly.
"Right... Well, you may continue being my friend elsewhere. I require solitude
now." Zim crossed his arms.
Dib smiled and nodded, "Okay. But, you know... Feel free to talk to me whenever
you want. I'll be happy to listen."
Zim pointed to the door without responding, and Dib got the idea. He headed to
the door, but before he opened it to leave, Zim quickly added, "I will, okay?
And you can talk to me about your secrets or whatever you want too, and I won't
tell anyone either..."
Dib smiled over his shoulder at him and nodded before heading out the door, but
he didn't really think he'd ever take Zim up on that offer.
After all, Zim WAS his biggest secret...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 9 *****
Frankly Speaking
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
As per usual, Zim and Yoogli avoided each other after the incident just as much
as they had before it. But now Zim avoided conversation with anyone as much as
possible, keeping himself busy around the ship. He worked so tirelessly he left
almost nothing for the others to do, and overall he just hadn't been the same
as he was before. Dib was worried about him, but he wasn't sure what to do. He
didn't want to remind him of the painful memories that were obviously the cause
of his mopiness.
Two weeks later Zim announced they would have to stop for supplies before going
any further, and headed course for a planet called Jokkis. Like Tegma, it was
also primarily a merchant planet. But it was dinky, half the size of Earth, and
it was not controlled by Irkens, but in fact it was cleverly hidden inside of a
larger, hollowed-out moon to keep it that way. Holes were drilled into the moon
to let the light of their star come in and ships go out, and the planet was
suspended in the middle of the moon, held there by gigantic spools of spiderweb
at the top.
Zim allowed Dib to accompany him this time as he headed out onto the shadowy
planet. He wouldn't admit it but it was for his own protection - The locals,
spider-like humanoids with six arms, red eyes, dark purplish-grey skin and
sharp, jutting fangs, didn't trust or like Irkens. But they were small, the
tallest among them being barely as tall as Zim, and Dib's height intimidated
them into tolerating the newcomers.
Zim had gone up to one of the stalls, where a Jokki child was manning it, and
picked out a canister of the special fuel his ship needed. A little bit went a
long way, but it was three times as expensive as it would have been on Tegma,
and Zim growled as he handed over most of the monies he had left. He had been
planning on getting all kinds of supplies with the lottery he was supposed to
have won, but now he sorely wished he had done his shopping before that
debacle.
Dib watched him guiltily as he noticed how little Zim had left after the
purchase, and as they walked away from the stall and back to the ship, he
mentioned, "I'm sorry that operation you paid for cost so much... I promise
I'll find some way to pay you back..." He'd already offered to carry the
canister, which was just heavy enough for Zim to struggle slightly with, but no
problem at all for the human to handle.
"You already told me that." Zim snipped back at him, then added more calmly,
"It's fine. We had... Enough." He admitted begrudgingly. Then, he forced
himself to look over at Dib and quietly also confessed, "Besides... We might
not have gotten away without the help of your weird lekku and those new
abilities it has..."
Dib nodded slowly, "Electrokinesis... It IS pretty cool. If only I knew how to
control it. When it happened back there, it was pretty much just an emotional
response, a big blow-out..."
"Well then LEARN to control it." Zim crossed his arms and walked on ahead of
him.
As they headed back to the ship, Dib had noticed Zim was even more on edge than
usual, and he stopped him just before they boarded the craft, knowing that Zim
wouldn't be as comfortable speaking truthfully around Yoogli. "Hey, be honest,
Zim... Are you okay?" He inquired deeply.
Zim knew full well what Dib was really trying to ask, and was just as reluctant
to answer as Dib was to spit out the real question on his mind. "I'm fine." The
alien answered stubbornly, but he could see right away that the human wasn't
convinced. "I'm just... I dunno, stressed out, I guess..."
Dib nodded in understanding. Anyone would be 'stressed' after what Zim had been
through. He wracked his big brain to think of something he could do for his
friend, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I could give you
a massage?"
Zim immediately turned and gave him a very surprised stare, which made the
human blush. "What-?"
Dib hurried to explain himself, "Just a back massage! Strictly just to relieve
the stress, of course! My dad, he sorta hired women to give me massages for my
birthday a few times before..." It had always been pretty obvious what his
father was hoping to accomplish by such a gesture. He was always pressuring Dib
to be 'normal' - Study normal sciences, be a normal heterosexual. He might as
well have gotten Dib a cake that said 'Get Laid'. It was pretty unnecessary
besides - Dib admired the female form just as much as he did the male, but
there was only ever one being that consistently held his attention.
Dib went on, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "Anyways, I'm pretty
sure I could replicate what they do, if you want. It seems simple enough..."
Zim was still staring at him, looking more than a little weirded out, and a bit
disgusted. But it was actually in himself, for being so interested in and
tempted by the human's strange, out-of-the-blue offer. Massages were one of the
most expensive luxuries among Irkens, costing far more than the two hundred
monies he'd spent on Dib's procedure. Usually only the tallest, most well-paid
Irkens could afford it, as no Irken would touch another's bare skin with their
bare hands without being paid handsomely for it.
On one hand, the prospect did sound somewhat icky, but on the other, Zim had
heard from others that the experience was far more pleasurable than it sounded,
and the more he tried to deny his temptation, the more his back and shoulders
suddenly started to ache with the building stress, and he couldn't think of a
good reason to -not- let the human pamper him, especially since he DID owe him.
His face contorted several times between being grossed out and tempted until he
finally exclaimed, "Oh - Fine! But not until Yoogli has gone to sleep, got it?"
Dib agreed, and they spent the next few hours avoiding each other's eyes until
Yoogli had announced his fatigue and curled up in his usual spot, where GIR
snuggled up next to him. Then Zim gestured with one claw for Dib to follow him
back to his quarters.
"Do I need to remove my clothes? I'd rather not." Zim inquired with a raised
brow. He already knew it was customary to do so, but he wasn't sure he could go
through with it after all if Dib insisted on it. Even if he had already seen
the most intimate parts of his body, he hadn't intended for him to and was more
than a little self-conscious.
"No, it's fine." Dib replied reluctantly, hiding his disappointment. "I mean, I
did when I got mine. It'd probably make it easier to get under the skin. But
you don't need to if you really don't want to."
"I'm sure you'll be able to get under my skin just fine, Dib - You always
have." He half-joked in return, laying down on his stomach in the middle of his
bed. "And of course, if I tell you to stop, you will do so immediately or I'll
scratch your eyes out." He added, not really serious, but not exactly joking
either, as his PAK detached itself from his back and hovered over to rest at
his nightstand.
"Of course, Zim." Dib replied, feigning boredom, then climbed onto the bed,
sitting on his knees, which straddled each side of Zim's hips. Then he reached
down and placed his palms gently on each side of the alien's smaller back,
feeling the skin and bones beneath the fabric. They felt deceptively fragile,
though Dib already knew they were not. Still, he was more tender than he was
sure he needed to be at first, just in case.
Zim went still as Dib began, involuntarily tense while in the vulnerable
position. But it wasn't long at all before Dib's soft fingers, which were
rubbing small circles into his shoulders and upper back, careful to avoid the
PAK's entry points, had him almost purring.
On his end, Dib was mindful to focus on what he was doing to Zim and not let
himself get too worked up over it. But he couldn't deny how fascinated he was.
How many times had he wished he could study the alien this close? Well, it was
for completely different reasons, but it was still pretty cool.
After a few minutes had passed, Dib moved a hand to the back of Zim's neck,
rubbing in circles on each side. Zim tensed up again, and Dib figured it was
because the neck was such a vulnerable area. But the alien spoke up a moment
later, "Remember not to touch my lekku..."
Dib's hand stilled. "I knew that already, Zim." He replied in a slightly
annoyed sigh. "Yoogli taught me Irken manners as well as the language,
remember."
"I'm just saying-" Zim began to growl.
But Dib cut him off, "I'M just saying, Zim - I wouldn't take advantage of you
or anyone else like that." His hand stilled as a memory flashed in his mind,
and hesitated for just a moment before he quietly admitted, "I know how it
feels, okay. I wouldn't do it to someone else..."
Zim glanced over his shoulder at the human curiously, his eyes silently asking
for an explanation. Dib hesitated again, silent at first, so Zim pressed him,
"What do you mean...?" He then smacked Dib's hand away his neck, and turned
around to face him.
Dib averted his eyes, stubbornly silent. He climbed off of Zim and sat on the
edge of the bed, hands gripping his knees. "...Dwicky." He finally whispered.
"Dwicky?" Zim repeated, confused at first. "But, that was way back... When you
were still just a smeet..."
Dib paused before he went on. He hadn't told anyone about this before, not even
Gaz or his father. "...Yeah, I know. I was just a kid. A weird, messed-up kid
who was desperate for attention..."
Anger and repulsion slowly began to rise up in Zim's spooch. "Is that what he
told you? What did he DO-?"
Dib shook his head several times. "It's what I told myself. And he really
didn't even do much, actually. Just held my hand, told me lies I wanted to
believe, and..."
"...And?" Zim urged him on.
Dib swallowed at his throat. "...He asked me if I was gay. He told me it was
okay if I was. I told him I didn't know. I was confused. I thought he believed
me, I thought I could trust him and I liked him, so I... I kissed him." He
confessed with a shudder. "I was just a kid, a really lonely, stupid kid. I
didn't really know any better. But he DID, he should have-He should have pushed
me away, but he didn't, he kissed me back. He asked me afterward if I was still
confused. I told him no, and I thought I wasn't - I fell in love with that
prick and then he went and told me he was lying about believing me the whole
time, and left me behind like I was nothing..."
"He was scum." Zim replied immediately, getting up from his lying down position
and sitting next to Dib. "But then again, it WAS kind of stupid for you to
'fall in love'," He put up his fingers in quotations and used the phrase in a
derisive voice. "Seeing as how the practice ends badly virtually all the time."
Dib glared weakly at him, but he couldn't get too mad, since he was absolutely
right. "Love always ends badly. Either you end up hating each other after a
while or you really do find someone to love and they eventually die. It's not
how it ends that makes it worth it. It's the time in between."
"Feh." Zim scoffed. "You really are SUCH a human..."
"What, you're telling me Irkens never fall in love?"
"Irkens may occasionally develop close bonds with another, but it is seen as a
weakness by most. Caring too much for another distracts you from your work.
Especially if the relationship becomes sexual, which as I've mentioned, is
against the law unless it's officially approved."
Dib crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "So what's the criteria for being
approved for sex?"
"Being genetically capable of breeding superior smeets, of course. Both
partners have to be fully Irken, at least one hundred and seventy centimeters
tall, have no communicable diseases, no genetic defects, and the Irken that
carries the smeet must be physically capable of the task."
"What about same-sex relationships?" Dib inquired further.
Zim gave him a flat-out 'duh' sort of expression. "If they aren't capable of
reproducing, there would be no reason for them to even bother to apply for
approval."
"Oh come on!" Dib suddenly exclaimed. "What about just doing it for FUN?"
"It's forbidden because it's a distraction, I already told you that! Besides,"
Zim made a face of disgust, sticking out his tongue. "What could possibly be so
FUN about exchanging gross bodily fluids?"
Dib snorted out a laugh, his face going pink. "It's a LOT more fun than it
sounds - It has to be, obviously, if it's so much of a 'distraction'. Trust me
Zim, you guys are missing out..."
Zim's face also went slightly pink, but from anger. He didn't like not
understanding things or being left out. "Disgusting Dib-worm! Just how MANY
humans have you slobbered on like the Dwicky?"
Now Dib was miffed too, and his face went from pink to red. "Hey, not very many
at all, thank you very much! Gretchen was the only other human I was ever
intimate with!"
"The metal-mouthed beast? The one who looked sorta like your scary sister, only
uglier?" Zim didn't bother to stifle his gag, and Dib felt more than a little
sickened by the comparison as well. "But wait - She is female. So are you NOT
'gay'?"
Dib looked away and mumbled, "I'm kinda into both, okay..."
"Pffft!" Zim suddenly began to laugh, though there was a slight hint of
nervousness beneath the mirth. "Come now, that's just ridiculous! Do you humans
even have double-sexed individuals?"
Dib turned back and glared at him. "Actually we do! It's rare, but it happens.
You just wouldn't know it because humans are so fixated on assigning gender to
things. Blue is for boys, pink is for girls - It IS ridiculous really. So
usually when an 'intersex' human is born, the parents usually force one gender
or the other on the child instead of letting them decide for themselves. But
it's not that I ONLY like people with BOTH sexes at once, I like both sexes
just fine separately! Also..." He looked away again. "It's not really the sex
I'm most concerned about in the first place. I really don't care what people
have between their legs, what I'm most concerned about is if I like them for
who they are, not WHAT they are..."
"So what was it you liked about Gretchen so much, that made you want to mate
with her?" Zim went on, unashamed as usual.
"Oh for pete's sake-We didn't 'mate'! I mean, we didn't 'go all the way'." Zim
looked visibly confused, so with a deep blush, Dib briefly explained, "We just,
kinda, kissed, and uh... Used our hands..."
Dib rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and coughed, ignoring the grossed out
glance Zim had directed at his hands - Clean freak... "And, I dunno, I guess I
just kinda liked that she liked me... It wasn't a very good reason." He
admitted.
"Ugh. Were you really that desperate for attention?"
"...Yeah, I was." Dib admitted quietly, several hidden emotions buried in his
eyes.
Zim became quiet too, secretly a little ashamed of himself. That was
unnecessarily cruel of him - Not that he'd ever worried about being too cruel
before. But he couldn't ignore the sadness in Dib's voice, the deep, stinging
pain he was obviously feeling but not showing. "...You shouldn't be. You're
smarter, braver, and kinder than any other human I've ever met. You shouldn't
settle for anyone, you deserve better than that - You ARE better than that. You
should be with who you really want to be with."
Dib stared over at the shorter being for a long moment. Then finally he looked
down again, and softly shook his head. "It's not always that simple. You can't
always be with the one you really want to be with... But then," He amended, his
mood slowly picking up again. "Sometimes it's enough to be there FOR them. If
you really love a person, you'll want what's best for them. And sometimes that
means never telling them how you really feel, if you know they could never feel
the same way for you..."
Zim was as confused as ever. "What? That's dumb, Dib. Even dumber than usual.
How could you know how the other person feels if you never tell them how you
feel?"
After another long pause, Dib simply shrugged. "Do you feel less stressed now?"
He asked, avoiding the last question.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, actually..." Zim reached behind and rubbed at his shoulders. He
actually did feel significantly less stressed. "Thanks... But, of course,
you'll have to do it a few more times before we're even." One massage was
actually worth ten times what Zim had paid, but Dib didn't need to know that...
Dib cracked a grin. "Sure, anytime. Consider me your massage slave."
Zim grinned back at him. He liked the sound of that.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 10 *****
Every Dork Has His Day
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Another few weeks passed, and the Dual Ship was coming near to the planet where
Leevee's invitation had indicated the gathering to be located. It was a
smaller-sized mud-ball with no official name, plenty of flora but relatively
little fauna, most of it still in it's seas. It was hidden behind three moons
which were all at least as large as the planet itself. Constantly rotating
around it, one moon was always obscuring most of the view of the planet, as
well as providing adequate shade from the nearest sun, which was a brilliant
emerald color, and cast an eerie green glow upon the mostly green planet.
Zim landed close to the coordinates indicated, parking the ship a few miles
away from the beach of a gorgeous hunter-green sea. In the distance there were
rows upon rows of hills and mountains, somewhere in which the gathering was
supposed to be held. The air was breathable, so they left their helmets behind
as they began their hike, as well as Orby, who was keeping GIR on a literal
short leash while they were gone.
They crossed over several of the mossy hilltops until they came to a plain of
tall grass (nearly as tall as Zim) at the bottom of the largest mountainside.
In the midst of the plain, a temporary dwelling had been constructed, covered
with the grass and moss to camouflage it with all the surrounding greenery.
It took a few minutes to find the cleverly hidden entrance, but they eventually
came across a patch of the building that sported a tiny window, for peeking at
newcomers. Yoogli stepped forward and knocked hesitantly. No one answered at
first, and Yoogli was about to try to knock again, but Zim got impatient and
banged on the door himself.
A rather tall and broad Irken with squinty orange eyes opened the door. "Who
are you? What are you doing here?" He demanded gruffly.
Dib had donned his Irken disguise for the occasion, but there were a few
changes made this time. His lekku had become slightly more rigid in the past
few weeks since the procedure and could no longer be taped down without his
discomfort, so they ditched the fake two lekku and just let the real one be. He
had also insisted on brown-colored contacts this time, saying that he wanted to
be more like himself just this once. Since this gathering was apparently
forbidden anyways, Zim had reluctantly agreed to let him.
Dib spoke up for the group, since Yoogli was too shy and intimidated by the
much bigger Irken and Zim was likely to get them turned away with his attitude,
"Our friend Yoogli got an invitation from his friend Leevee, he said he could
come and that he could bring guests."
The bigger Irken raised a brow, then with a sigh he replied simply, "Wait."
He closed the door behind him and disappeared for a few moments. When the door
opened again, a semi-tall female Irken with blood-red eyes, dark olive skin and
a zig-zag lekku, opened the door first, "Alright, who are you and what kind of
sick joke do you think you're pulling?!" She demanded.
Dib couldn't help but stare at her. She looked very much like most other Irkens
he'd ever seen, except, to his great surprise, she had a pair of breasts,
albeit very small ones, complete with nipples that were sticking out from
beneath the thin fabric of her red tunic. He tried to remember his manners and
not stare, though - Especially since the female was already displeased with
them being there at all.
But then another, shorter Irken, only two or three inches taller than Yoogli,
pushed his way past the moody female. This one had a much lighter, pale-mint
colored skin tone, candy cane-shaped lekku, and big, bright, sky blue eyes. His
eyes went even bigger at the sight of Yoogli, and they very quickly filled up
with fat blue tears.
Yoogli tried to give him a smile through the emotions that were quickly
overtaking him too. "Leevee, it's me, do you remember? It's me, Yoo-"
"YOOGLI!" The blue-eyed Irken suddenly cried, rushing forward and throwing his
arms around the smaller Irken. He hugged him tight for a few seconds, and then
he pulled back, stared into Yoogli's face for a moment, to make absolutely
sure, before swooping down and capturing the surprised little Irken's lips in a
firm kiss.
Leevee's eyes were the only ones that hadn't gone completely wide, his were
scrunched shut. After a short pause, the red-eyed female began to laugh.
"Leevee! I think that sip of wine might have gone to your head!"
Embarrassed, Leevee pulled back after that, a blue blush dusting his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry Yoogli, I just-"
Yoogli immediately shook his head, the corner of his lips curling up. "No, it's
okay! It's REALLY okay!" He was full-out grinning now.
Leevee glanced shyly back at the two behind him, deciding to change the subject
before things got too awkward. "And you brought others with you too - Wait.
ZIM?" Leevee's smile fell and he took an involuntary step back. "Uuuh - Shala?"
Leevee looked back at his female companion, his blue eyes begging for her help.
She stepped forward, staring hard at the newcomers. But before Zim could give
her any attitude, Yoogli rushed to explain, "They saved me! I was trapped in a
completely different dimension for years, and they found me and brought me
back. Dib here has been especially kind to me." He pointed out with a smile at
the human hybrid. "And, uh, yeah, Zim helped too." He added reluctantly. "He
brought Dib with him." This was said a little more charitably.
Zim glared at the shorter Irken and crossed his arms. "Are we welcome or not?"
Shala glared right back at him, her lip curling in distaste. "...Alright, Zim,
Dib - You two can stay. But I am warning you right now, Zim! I'm only letting
YOU in because you helped out our fellow comrade, and because of the work you
did for Tallest Red that one time. This gathering is for Irkens and allies who
side with Tallest Red and are against Tallest Purple's new agenda, which is
probably something you'll want to hear about. BUT, you'd BETTER be on your best
behavior while you're here, or I personally will kick your ass out! Got it?!"
She snarled, bending down to look Zim right in the eye.
He averted his eyes to the side, avoiding the fierce female's alcohol-laden
breath. "Fine!"
She gave him one last glare before motioning them to follow her inside,
explaining along the way as they walked down a long hallway, "You guys just
missed the opening speech that was given, so I'll fill you in. As you know, Red
has been trying to keep the peace with Purple for years, and until earlier this
year, it was going as well as could be expected. Purple was content to stay out
of the politics and let Red handle things as long as we kept him pampered and
spoiled. But things have changed now. Purple used to be intimidated by Red, but
he's been getting bolder lately, and more vocal about his opinions on the
superiority of sexless Irkens. And then just last year, he started a new
'identification campaign', forcing everyone to provide physical proof of their
sexes. So far he's been insisting it's ONLY for identification purposes, but we
all know better..."
"It's what they said the last time it happened..." Leevee added, walking next
to Yoogli with his arm linked with the shorter Irken's. "But even if it was for
identification only, it's still a terrible thing to inflict on a fellow Irken.
Forcing me to show them was the most horrible thing I've been through since the
last time it happened, when I had to cut myself..."
"Right..." Shala agreed sympathetically, "So, in secret, Red has been
assembling his most loyal followers to enact a counter-measure, and we all came
here tonight to meet one another, discuss our plans, and have a good time. We
probably won't get another chance to do so for a while, if ever again..."
"Is Tallest Red here too?" Zim inquired eagerly, still wanting to see him even
though Red obviously wanted nothing more to do with Zim.
The female shook her head, "No, he can't be seen outwardly supporting us. If
Purple were to find out about it, it could severely compromise our plans."
"And what ARE those plans?" Zim pressed.
"It's on a need-to-know basis - And YOU don't need to know." Shala growled back
him, stopping for a second to look him in the eyes again. "Listen Zim, we all
know you're loyal to Red - But there's nothing more you can do for him. You did
your part and you were almost executed for it. Don't tempt fate, because you
won't get away with it again. We're taking care of Red's agenda now, so just
stay out of it. Stick around and have some nachos or whatever and then just get
out of here, okay?"
Zim was silently seething, but he remained quiet. He refused to admit it out
loud, or even fully to himself, but she was right. Purple was already wary of
him, that was why he was trying to get rid of him...
Shala then turned her attention towards Dib, who hadn't been able to resist
taking another glance or three at her unusual anatomy - Because, science. Of
course. "And you - Dib, was it? Will you quit -staring-? I know you're looking
at them - Have you never seen another Irken Hybrid before?"
Dib blushed deeply and averted his eyes. "I-I'm so sorry. But, well, not
really. I just learned I was an Irken Hybrid a pretty short while ago. I've
only seen one other." Not much of an excuse since his own species had breasts
too, he mentally scolded himself. And actually, he reminded himself as well, it
was more like two. Except, he'd never seen his sister's true form before. How
weird, he thought, to have known a person your whole life and not know what
they really look like...
She gave him a stern look, but then she suddenly grinned. "They're pretty
awesome, don't you think? Other Irkens have been teasing me about them ever
since I got them, but I LIKE them!"
Dib's eyes went a little wide and he put on a nervous smile. Complimenting a
female on her breasts wasn't usually considered polite, but Shala seemed proud
of them, so why leave her hanging? "Oh, uh, yeah, they're pretty cool..." He
answered awkwardly.
Her grin stretched even further at his praise, and she reached over and gave
him a playful punch on the shoulder. "There's a few other Hybrids here too, you
should meet them. No one here cares if you're unofficial. Almost everyone here
has been treated like an outcast for one reason or another. So come on - Time
to meet your missing link!"
Shala continued to lead them through the hallway until they reached another
door, and just beyond that door, they headed into a much larger room, where a
crowd of various Irkens, Hybrids, and even a handful of Vortians had assembled.
To one side of the room was a large table with various kinds of snacks. Some of
them familiar-looking, like the nachos and donuts, but some of them decidedly
not - Dib held his tongue in cheek as he watched one hungry Irken grab a
handful of what looked like bright green worms, and chomp them down.
To the back of the room was a stage, and there were four Irkens up on it,
fiddling with miniature computers that were hanging around their necks, which
produced a somewhat bland kind of techno beat. In the middle of the room, a
handful of the bravest Irkens were attempting to dance to it, although it was
clear that not a one of them had very much practice with the art, if any at
all. Mostly they were just kicking their legs and waving their arms, and Dib
had to bite his bottom lip to politely keep from laughing at their comical
motions.
Shala noticed and she nudged him. "Can YOU dance, comrade?"
"Um..." Dib paused, not quite sure how to answer that. In all honesty, his
father had sent him to a few formal dancing classes before, as every once in a
while he was expected to attend a fancy gala of some sort or another with him,
and dance with some other distinguished man's daughter. He'd learned well and
was actually rather graceful if he was trying to be - After all, it simply
wouldn't do to step on the toes of the daughter of a senator or an ambassador.
He was about to lie and tell her 'Not really', but Zim spoke up before him.
"Hah! Dib, dance? If you want something to make you laugh, I suppose. What was
that terrible move they made you do in gym class, the 'Chicken'? Yes, do that
one, Dib!" He smirked.
Dib glared deeply down at the magenta-eyed twerp. "That was gym class you jerk,
all the dances they make you do in there are dumb! I can dance better than
that!" He exclaimed heatedly.
Shala crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. "Oh? Well then show us!"
Dib's cheeks burned. Man he hated being put on the spot like that. He couldn't
take back his words now, but he wasn't about to make a fool of himself, BY
himself. "Alright then Shala, how about you dance with me?" He asked her in a
challenging tone.
She blinked owlishly in surprise and more than a little confusion. "Dance...
WITH you? How do you dance WITH someone else...?"
Now it was Dib's turn to smirk. He held out a hand to her and bowed his head
slightly. "Care to find out?"
Too curious to resist, Shala took his hand, and Dib immediately pulled her in
close against his chest, placing her other hand on his shoulder and his spare
hand on her waist. Then he pulled her out to the middle of the dance-floor, and
began to sway and twirl with her.
The other Irkens moved out of their way, staring, mesmerized by the exciting
new display. The music-makers on stage briefly stopped to watch them, their
music tapering off for a moment before they started it back up again, adjusting
their tune to better match the new form of dance, the beat was now more of a
melody.
Shala, normally a very bold, take-charge kind of individual, was so shocked by
this stranger and his lovely new form of dance, that she followed his lead
without question, her eyes wide and her mouth just slightly ajar. Suddenly, Dib
grasped her waist firmly, and dipped her down. She gasped and grabbed the back
of his shirt, almost thinking he was about to drop her. But when she realized
that he hadn't, her mouth stretched into a wide smile, and when he pulled her
back upright again, she giggled excitedly. "Comrade!" She exclaimed, her tone
somewhat accusing, but mostly amused.
He winked before bringing her back up, finally ending the dance with a slight
bow of his head. Shala did not return the bowing gesture, too proud for it, but
she grinned big at him. "That was amazing, Dib!"
Suddenly three other females from the crowd rushed over to Dib. The first to
reach him had eyes the color of pure pink rose petals, and skin that was almost
the same shade as Zim's, a light but also slightly ashen lime green, hers was
just slightly less ashen and a bit more lime-y. Her antennae was curled into a
perfect spiral at the end, and Dib could tell even without the jealous stares
he was getting from several of the males, that she was considered extremely
beautiful. "I'm Meg! Dance with me next, Dib!"
Next to her there was a just slightly taller, thinner female with teal green
eyes who added quickly, "Bri would be honored to dance with you too!" And next
to her a somewhat short and pudgy purple eyed Irken girl chimed in, "Oh, me
too, please!"
Zim watched with wide, slowly-stricken eyes as Meg, not only the prettiest
Irken in the room by far, but also the Irken who was voted the last three
cycles in a row to be the most lovely of all Irkens (leave it to Red to have
the Irken equivalent of a supermodel in his entourage) fawned over Dib as if he
were the greatest thing since sugar itself. And not just her, every other Irken
in the room was crowding around him, telling him how great he was. Nothing in
all his life had ever felt quite this wrong - Everything he'd ever wanted most
in his life, praise and adoration from his people, DIB was getting it...?
Dib, a big smile on his face and his heart full of elation, had started to sway
with Meg, when he noticed Zim in the corner of his eyes. He was turning and
walking away back towards the entrance/exit door, his lekku lowered, looking
downright miserable. At first Dib was almost as bitter as Zim that he couldn't
just be happy for him, but the human quickly realized why he of course couldn't
be, and felt kind of bad for him. He slowly stopped swaying with Meg and gave
her an apologetic glance. "Sorry, I have to tend to something..." He explained
to her briefly, then let go of her hands and walked away from the crowd.
The other Irkens let him when they realized who he was going after, and he
caught up with Zim just as he was heading out the door. "Zim, wait." He called
softly, ducking inside of the door just before it closed, leaving the two of
them in the hallway alone.
Zim turned and glared harshly at him. "What? Were you not enjoying yourself
back there, Dib? Finally being the center of attention, isn't that what you
always wanted? So why don't you just have one of your new friends drive you
back home, I'm sure they'd be SO honored-"
Dib interrupted him there, "Okay, seriously Zim? Shut the fuck up for a minute.
I WAS enjoying myself, thank you very much, until you started getting all pouty
about it. But no, I can't continue to be happy if my BEST FRIEND is miserable!
Don't you - Do you SERIOUSLY not know? Come on." He lowered his voice and spoke
more softly now. "Zim, you have always been... And always WILL be... My
absolute favorite alien."
He stared into Zim's magenta eyes. "So, if you really want to go, we can,
because I'm going with you... But wouldn't you rather come back and dance with
me?" He asked, holding out his hand.
Zim stared at him, a flurry of overwhelming emotions inside of him. It hadn't
exactly been what he was mad about to begin with, but somehow it made it feel
better that Dib, who had every reason to want to enjoy his newfound respect and
popularity, cared more about Zim, how he felt and what he wanted. That out of
all the Irkens in the room, all the prettier, stronger, smarter, taller Irkens,
Zim was the one that meant the most to him, even after how shabbily he had
treated him.
For one of the very few times in his life, Zim felt ashamed of himself. But it
was nothing compared to how glad he was to have Dib feel that way. "I... Yes."
He finally admitted quietly, taking Dib's hand. "I would like that..."
Dib curled his fingers around Zim's smaller palm, and led him back into the
main room. The dance floor was now more crowded than before, with Irkens
pairing up with each other to imitate Dib's dancing. They moved out of the way
when Dib emerged again with Zim in tow, staring as he placed Zim's arms around
his waist, and put his around Zim's shoulders. Then he began to simply rock the
two of them from side to side, staring in Zim's eyes all the while.
Zim stared back, his expression unreadable. Neither of them cared, but both of
them could hear the others speaking about them.
"He's dancing with ZIM?"
"Well, nobody's perfect."
"No kidding. Tall and handsome and a good dancer - Of course his beautiful big
head would have to be crazy, too..."
Normally Dib would say something about that, but he couldn't bring himself to
care enough right now. He led Zim around the room in his semi-embrace, the two
of them simply enjoying each other's presence. But after a while, Shala cut in,
poking Dib on the shoulder.
"Hey, Dib, you should try some of this!" She offered, motioning to a tray that
a shorter, red eyed Irken was holding up for them. On the tray there were
several shot-glasses full of a strange-looking liquid. It seemed to go back and
forth from a deep burgandy color and a dark emerald green. Shala explained,
"It's Vortian wine - And let me tell you, those Vortians do NOT fuck around
with their wine!" She giggled.
Dib had stolen from his dad's stash at home a couple times before, so he
shrugged, thinking it couldn't be much worse than that, and took a shot for
himself and one for Zim. Handing the second glass to him, he held up his own
and clinked it before putting the rim to his lips and sending it to the back of
his throat.
He almost spat it back out, but he clamped his hand over his lips and forced
himself to gulp it down, his eyes watering as the extremely bitter fluid burned
it's way down his throat. Shala hadn't been kidding - His father didn't even
buy liquor that wasn't at least 80 proof. This had to be at least twice as
strong as that, if not more.
"Oh man..." Dib coughed, his stomach turning as he handed the empty glass back.
But it wasn't very long before it settled, his body began to feel warm, and he
started to giggle as he looked over at Zim. He hadn't yet drank from his glass,
and was still looking at it uncertainly. "Y'know, Zim, on second thought, maybe
you shouldn't - That stuff is REALLY strong..."
Zim glared at him, taking it as a challenge. "Zim is stronger!" He exclaimed
before taking the shot. He too had to hold his mouth to keep from spitting it
out, his eye twitching as he forced himself to swallow it. Once he had, a
shudder went through his body and he stuck out his serpentine tongue in
disgust.
Dib snorted, holding back a laugh as he asked, "Do you feel okay, Zim...?"
Zim was quiet for a minute, but then he suddenly started to grin, and took Dib
by the hand, "I feel like dancing some more!" He exclaimed, dragging the human
back out onto the middle of the dance floor.
Dib grinned and followed him, this time taking one of Zim's hand's in his, and
putting the other behind his shoulder. Zim followed suit and put his spare hand
on Dib's lower back, and then Dib began to lead them into a spin, going in
circles anywhere there was room to go.
They danced until they were dizzy, and then Dib led them back to some chairs on
the outer edges of the room to rest. Shala came back, this time holding the
tray of drinks herself. It had three shots left on it, and she took one for
herself, gulping it down quickly before sitting down next to Dib. "Hey, want
one more? Us bigger, taller Irkens can usually handle two!"
Dib was tempted, but he wasn't sure he ought to. But then Zim reached over him
and took one of the two remaining drinks. "Zim is tall, so he can handle
another!" He declared arrogantly, gulping it down before anyone could protest.
Well, he couldn't let the twerp outdrink him. So Dib took the last shot and
poured it down his gullet, swallowing it with just barely a bit more ease now
that he knew what to expect. Zim then announced that he was hungry, and headed
over to the snack table. Dib decided that he could go for a bite himself, and
followed him there.
He tried one of their donuts first. It was a simple ring of fried sugary bread,
they had no glaze or anything inside of them. Not bad at all, but not
particularly interesting. So Dib decided to try a nacho next. The chips looked
and tasted similar enough to a corn or potato chip, though they were made from
some other kind of starch. The sauce looked like your standard orange nacho
cheese sauce, so that's what Dib assumed it was at first. But when it hit his
tongue, instead of the salty cheesy goodness he was expecting, the sauce turned
out to be extremely sweet instead, and tasted like a weird mix of something
like caramel, peanut butter, and just a hint of coffee.
Because it was unexpected it didn't taste so great at first, but Dib gave it
another try with a more open mind, and it wasn't as bad. Then he tried covering
one of the simple donuts in the sweet sauce, and although a few Irkens gave him
extemely odd looks for it, the fried ring actually tasted better to him like
that.
The starches settled his stomach, although his body still felt plenty warm and
giddy, and he got thirsty after that. There was a punch bowl, and he filled a
cup and drank it down, tasting some kind of berry flavor. He was about to fill
another cup when Zim staggered over from munching on some white candy sticks,
about to do the same. Dib politely let him go first.
But Zim reached down so fast, he hit the edge of the bowl and tipped it over
off the side of the table. The juice and fragments of the bowl went all over
the floor with a loud crash, and after that silence reigned and everyone
stared.
Zim stared silently too. At first. Then, "PFFFFT-HAHAHAHA!"
Dib rubbed his forehead in amazement, embarrassed for the both of them. He was
definitely more than a little tipsy himself, but man, Zim was freaking
hammered. Obviously Zim wasn't tall enough to handle that second shot after
all...
Shala tapped him on the back of his shoulder, mirroring his expression as she
whispered, "Hey, Dib, it's been a blast - But can you do us all a huge favor
and get him out of here before he breaks something else?"
He grinned apologetically and nodded, coming up behind Zim and gently pushing
him away from the scene and towards the exit. Still giggling madly, Zim let
him.
Dib overheard some Irkens commenting as they left, "He was pretty cool, don't
you think?"
"Yeah, totally cool!"
"Cool, but definitely crazy! I mean, being buddies with ZIM is one thing, but
did you SEE what he did to that donut...?"
Dib laughed it off and headed through the exit, where he discovered Yoogli and
Leevee hiding behind the other side, locked in a passionate kiss, their worm-
like tongues wrigling around each other. Zim and Dib both couldn't help but
stare for a moment, and feeling their stares, Yoogli and Leevee looked up with
a blush, and parted.
Yoogli coughed awkwardly. "Oh, uh, hey guys! LISTEN - Leevee has been kind
enough to offer to let me cruise with him in his ship from here on out, so, I'm
gonna go with him now! But, really..." He added sincerely, taking both of their
hands and squeezing them. "Thank you guys for everything."
Zim took his hand back and rolled his eyes as he wobbled down the hall. "Yeah,
yeah, whatever..."
Dib briefly squeezed his hand in return and nodded with a big smile. Then he
left them behind and went after Zim, taking one of his arms and putting it
around his neck to help keep him steady as they headed back towards their ship.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 11 *****
A Mighty Need
(( A.N. This chapter is kinda short but I think you guys'll like it, hehe~ xP
And just to warn ya, I wouldn't exactly call this a 'lemon' (or should I?) but
it's definitely, uh... Citrus-y? A hint of lime? Bah, just read it. XD;; ))
OoOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoO
Zim was still unsteady on his feet and giggling like a loon by the time they
got back to the ship. Once they were safely inside, Dib led him to his chair by
the dashboard, and afterward he plopped down into his own. Zim grinned and
spinned around in his swivel chair a few times. "Sooo, where to now, Dib?"
Dib laughed softly under his breath and shook his head. "Zim, you're not even
supposed to drive a car when you're drunk, let alone a SPACE SHIP." He pointed
out fairly. "Lets just stay here a few hours until we've sobered up. We don't
want to drive into -another- black hole, after all."
"Feh, fine. But what do you want to do until then? Zim is booored!" He
complained.
"I dunno." Dib replied with a shrug. "I'm pretty good, honestly. That was...
Actually, probably one of the most amazing nights of my life." He admitted, his
lips stretching into the biggest grin ever.
"Reeeally..." Zim got up from his chair on slightly shaky legs, and then he
leaned over Dib's seat, balancing himself on the armrests. "I think I know a
way to make it better..."
Dib had raised an eyebrow and was about to ask him how, but then out of
nowhere, Zim had leaned down and pressed his lips harshly against Dib's. The
human's eyes went wide and the rest of him went still, unable to believe what
was happening at first. The kiss was sloppy and demanding, it was more than
obvious that Zim had no experience with what he was doing, but that wasn't what
Dib was most concerned about anyways.
Still, even if it was strange and unexpected, it was also too good to deny, and
though he felt guilty about it, Dib allowed himself to enjoy the sensation for
just a few seconds. A few seconds ended up turning into a moment or so, but
when Zim decided to settle down on Dib's lap, he knew he had to end it then or
he might not still be able to later. He quickly but gently pushed Zim away and
pulled back himself with a gasp, "Zim, wait, stop. We shouldn't do this." He
tried to protest weakly.
"Zim wants to..." The Irken protested back with half-lidded eyes.
Dib raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay, so, WHY do you want to?"
Zim shrugged lazily and averted his eyes. "Yoogli and Leevee were doing it, and
Zim thought it looked fun..."
Simple curiosity, huh? It was kind of cute, and Dib was sorely tempted to
indulge him, but he wasn't drunk enough himself to know that it wasn't right.
"Come on Zim, stop and think about it for a moment. If you were sober would you
still be doing or saying these things?"
Zim paused for just a second, "...Mmm, no... But I'd still be thinking and
feeling them..." He admitted hazily.
Dib's brow shot upwards. Obviously Zim would never admit that either if he was
sober, but he couldn't help but press for just a bit more information while he
still had the chance. "...W-What do you feel about me...?"
"...It... It's stronger than hate..." Zim answered vaguely, in barely more than
a whisper.
Dib stared intensely at him, stricken silent for a moment. His heart was
pounding so fast and hard he could feel the beat throughout his entire body.
Everything else was so quiet except for that, his own drumming pulse in his
ears. But then Zim began to lean down again, and Dib quickly turned his head
away and insisted, "We CAN'T, Zim. We both know that in the morning you'll hate
me again, and you'll probably hate me even more if I do this, so-"
"DIB." Zim suddenly interrupted him with a growl, grabbing both of the human's
shoulders and looking him right in the eye. He took a steely breath and
answered very evenly, "I swear I will not..."
Again, Dib stared silently for a few seconds, thinking - Zim would sometimes
speak about himself as himself, but sometimes he spoke about himself as if he
were another being. Dib used to chalk it up as an alien idiosyncrasy, but he'd
come to believe it was more unique to Zim personally, as a response to how his
people so often treated him. He'd been referring to himself as 'Zim' more than
usual since he'd taken his first shot earlier in the evening, but the way he'd
spoken his last words, acknowledging himself as being in control of his actions
and desires, Dib just knew it was different.
Still, he wasn't completely convinced just yet. "Do you even know... WHAT you
want...? I mean, do you just want to kiss, or...?" Dib asked, more curious and
tempted than he'd ever been in his life.
Zim's cheeks filled with color. He was sitting with his legs on either side of
one of Dib's. The only thing between that leg and his genitals was their
clothing, and Zim was abruptly very aware of that. Suddenly overtaken by a rare
bout of shyness, Zim buried his head against Dib's collar. "I don't... I'm not
sure, I just..." He suddenly growled out his frustration and admitted, "I have
A MIGHTY NEED...!"
Dib groaned weakly, his composure slipping. Well, there was only one thing left
to do, to see if Zim really meant it or not. "Can I..." He began, just as
shyly, "I mean - May I, touch your lekku...?" Surely Zim wouldn't agree to that
if he didn't really, totally trust him... Dib hoped so anyways.
Zim's face was now almost as pink as it was green, seriously considering his
request. It was definitely a scary prospect to say the least, but he was every
bit as tempted as Dib was. So he dug his face in further against the crook of
Dib's neck and finally whispered, "...Y-Yes..."
Dib took a deep breath and let it out. "W-Well... Okay..." He relented after
just the slightest hesitation.
Slowly he wrapped his arms around Zim's back, pulling him into a loose embrace.
Then he slid his hands up Zim's back, over his shoulders and neck and finally
behind his head. Zim was already starting to shiver before Dib had even touched
the appendages, but when Dib suddenly grasped them by the base with his thumbs
and index fingers, his shiver turned into a strong shudder, and Zim gasped
sharply against his shoulder.
Zim had touched his own lekku before, but only when he was itchy or using them
to detect something, never with these kinds of intentions. It was a completely
different sensation to have another person's hands on the most sensitive area
of his body. Those warm, fleshy, human finger-pads of his rubbed in small
circles around the sensitive base of his rigid but pliant lekku, immediately
sending shock-waves of endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin coursing
through his body. It was strongest in his brain, his neck, spine and genitals,
but Zim could feel it all the way down to the tips of his toes and finger
claws, which he dug into Dib's forearms without thinking about it.
"Uhn..." The alien groaned against the crook of Dib's neck, his thighs
instinctively squeezing around Dib's thigh. Dib gasped a little then too at the
feel of Zim's quickly growing erection, the member writhing against him like a
creature with a mind of it's own, and beneath that, he could swear he could
feel a bit of moisture starting to spread on his jeans. Zim hadn't been kidding
about these things being super sensitive...
Of course, Zim wasn't -not- paying attention to his genitals either, and was
hyper-aware of how almost painfully hard he was. That sensation alone was
almost completely new, save for a few times Zim had willfully chosen to forget
about, as they were all memories concerning Dib too, mostly during his late
high school days when he had gone through his final dramatic growth spurt and
had finally gotten his hideous acne under control. But the deep ache he could
feel inside of himself, the strange dichotomy of burning like fire and gushing
fluids, out of the forbidden place that he'd always beforehand associated only
with pain, that was definitely, completely new, and unexpectedly enjoyed.
Then Dib began to slowly slide his fingertips up the lekku, and Zim could feel
his eyes begin to roll and his toes begin to curl. He could barely manage to
breathe enough to keep himself from passing out from the overwhelming ecstasy,
and the further down Dib went, the higher Zim got.
When he finally reached the tip, where the slight kink at the end seemed to
contain another bundle of extra nerves, Zim stopped breathing altogether for a
moment as Dib began to rub the ends between his fingers, just like he had done
to the base. Zim wasn't able to believe it could get any more intense than
that, until the hybrid suddenly slipped his fingertips back down to the base
again in a quick but steady motion.
"AAHHH-DIB!" The alien howled, then quickly clamped his teeth down on the
hybrid's neck to silence himself, while his hips rocked against Dib's thigh
involuntarily. Dib gasped loudly in return from both the bruising pain in his
neck and the almost-but-not-quite-orgasmic thrill he was experiencing
everywhere else from feeling and hearing and seeing Zim in the throes of his
very first release.
Dib didn't mind how hard he was squeezing and rubbing against his thigh, but
Zim didn't stop biting until it hurt too much for Dib to continue to ignore, so
he finally nudged his shoulder against his mouth and mumbled, "Ow, Zim, let
off..."
Barely aware, Zim let his teeth scrape off of the deeply bruised skin and then
settled his mouth against it with one last fading moan. The alien had never
been as exhausted in his entire life as he was now, with the last ebb of his
first orgasm pulsing through his body. His erratic breathing slowly began to
calm into relieved sighs, and mindlessly Zim settled his tired head against
Dib's shoulder as sleep began to demand itself from him.
Dib felt the alien go slack against him, and knew that was what had happened.
"Oh geez, Zim..." He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling too. The little jerk
was as selfish as ever, but Dib was actually okay with it just this once. The
Irken had already been woozy from the alcohol, but having your very first
sexual release would knock anyone out for the night. Besides, it might have
been the first time Zim had ever experienced orgasm, but it was far from the
first time he'd ever made Dib feel hopelessly frustrated by the end of the
night. So he reluctantly resigned himself to it, taking his hands back from the
now temporarily limp lekku and sliding them halfway down Zim's back, where they
then rested.
"Hope you don't hate me in the morning, because you won't get rid of me so
easily now..." Dib whispered with a smirk as he fell asleep holding his best
friend.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib and Zim both awoke rudely the next morning to the sound of someone banging
on the hatch door of the ship. Groggy from sleep and the remaining alcohol in
their system, they assumed it was someone from the party, or maybe Yoogli had
forgotten something.
Without a word yet to Dib, Zim climbed off the human's lap with a blush. He had
not forgotten the memories of the night before, but he wasn't ready to speak of
it just yet. Instead he headed to the hatch, and curious about who it was, Dib
followed after him.
"Ugh, what is it-" Zim began to demand, rubbing his aching head as the door
rose. But he went dead silent in an instant, and soon Dib saw why.
At least fifty unfamiliar Irkens were waiting outside of their ship, with laser
guns aimed at their heads. Dib blinked in surprise, and then yawned as about
twenty or so of those little red dots were pointed directly at his big head.
"Well, this is a shitty way to start the day..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
(( A.N. BTW, I just wanted to note, I know it is totally nooooot right at all
to have sex with someone when they're completely incapable of making informed
decisions, lets get that clear. But I tried to get the point across that
although he was drunk, it's something Zim really did want too, and Dib was
trying his absolute best to make sure he wasn't taking advantage of him. And,
well, considering how many IZ fics contain all-out, no-lines-blurred, actual
RAPE, well, just go easy on me about this one - I really wanted the boys to
have a good time before all the drama I'm about to put them through... XD Hope
you enjoyed! ))
***** Chapter 12 *****
Trial and Exile
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND LAY DOWN ON THE GROUND!" The tallest Irken barked
at them from the back, shielded by all the shorter soldiers in front. "DO IT
NOW OR WE'LL SHOOT!"
Dib looked over at Zim, and with a deep scowl, Zim reluctantly nodded. As
tempting as it was to try something crazy, it was just wasn't worth turning
their heads into swiss cheese. So Zim began walking down the ramp to the
ground, where several Irkens immediately rushed at him, pushing and pinning him
to the ground. Then they bound his arms behind him with a pair of cuffs that
looked somewhat like centipedes, and went up to his forearms.
"You too, ALIEN!" The leader barked at Dib, and despite the seriousness of the
situation, Dib couldn't help but chuckle ironically. He was still in his Irken
disguise, most of it anyways. His skin was still his preferred shade of dark
forest green, but his ears had come un-taped and the single lekku and his pig-
nose was of course too big a thing for these more discriminating Irkens not to
notice.
With one last irritated sigh, Dib followed suit and walked slowly down the
ramp, where several Irkens also tackled him and bound his arms behind him with
the centi-cuffs, as Dib was mentally dubbing them for now.
But then to Dib's great annoyance, they also suddenly jammed a strange helmet
on his head, which looked somewhat like an old-fashioned scuba diving helmet,
but made out of rubber. There was a hole in front for him to see and breathe
through, but it had a net shape of rubber tubes across it, so it wasn't very
effective.
He could hear the loud leader still barking orders though, "Confiscate the
defective SIR unit and any other unknown technology or substances!"
Then a few seconds later he heard GIR squealing with delight, "AWW, YA WANNA BE
MY FRIEND? GIMME A HUG, FRIEND~!"
A couple of Irkens started screaming and some crashes were heard, and then
another crash and some more screaming. Then an Irken rushed by Dib, yelling at
his superior, "SIR! There's some kind of weird floating ball-thing! It's not
letting us get anywhere near it! It's got at least five laser guns set to stun
and it's poking us with SHARP, POINTY THINGS-!" The soldier cried, beginning to
get hysterical.
The leader slapped him across the face and shoved him back at the ship, but
Orby had come out of her own accord, holding GIR upside-down by the leg and
rotating so that either the insane robot or one of the weapons was pointed at
the advancing Irkens at all time.
"WARNING - Orby will accompany you wherever you take Dib peaceably. But if you
try to advance on Orby, or seperate Orby from Dib, Orby will set its lasers
from stun to kill, and use them." The robotic sphere announced loudly and
seriously.
Finally the device halted in front of the leader, pointing GIR at him. "Orby
will also set this GIR unit free to do what it wishes. You do not want that."
It stated, very sure of that fact.
GIR merely shrieked incomprehensibly with delight and tried in vain to grab at
whatever was nearest to it, making all the Irkens take a step back from the
horribly insane little thing.
"Just - Just follow us!" The leader finally commanded in a fluster, shoving Dib
with the butt of his gun towards in the direction he needed to go.
They did as they were told and boarded the much larger ship that had landed
nearby, then waited, on their knees, while the soldiers confiscated their ship
and loaded it on board. Finally when the ship's engines started up again, the
chief stood before his prisoners. "Well, you should know at least a few of the
many reasons why you're here, so we won't even bother with that. Instead, you
will tell us who else was present on this planet. We know there were supposed
to be others, but they must have already left. Tell us who was here!"
Dib looked over at Zim through the mask, and saw him look away from the leader
stubbornly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. We landed on the planet
for a rest, we were the only ones there."
The leader growled loudly, looking very tempted to slap Zim, but without the
nerve to really do it. "You LITTLE liar!" He then turned on Dib and leered down
at him. "Listen up you, we can't kill Zim until he's been tried, but don't you
test us! Who was here?!"
Dib knew Zim was still loyal to Red, and that was his reasoning for withholding
information at his own expense, but Dib wasn't about to betray his new friends
either. So he smirked and also looked the other way. "Honestly, we didn't see
anyone else. Yanno, Zim is so prone to mayhem, we might have killed them by
accident without even realizing it."
The leader looked disturbed and unsure, as if he were actually inclined to
believe Dib's sarcastic claim. Then he turned his back on the pair in
frustration. "Fine, whatever, it doesn't matter. When we get where we're going,
you won't be a hassle to anyone anymore."
They were stuck in that ship for at least three weeks, given barely enough to
eat or drink, and they refused to take off the centi-cuffs or Dib's helmet,
which made sleep almost impossible. Until finally one day, the ship's computer
announced loudly, "We are arriving at the Anoi Galaxy, home of planet Irk."
Dib had never been as desperate to be free of his stifling helmet as he was
then, and though neither of them had spoken to anyone or even themselves during
their time on board, Dib suddenly pleaded with anyone willing to listen,
"Please - Let me see Irk. I swear I won't try to hurt anyone, I don't even have
control of my electrokinesis. I just want to see the planet, please!"
"Like we're gonna fall for that." Scoffed the leader, ignoring him.
"PLEASE-" Dib went on, a little more hysterically.
But then Zim snapped and shrieked over the human, "He's telling the truth you
CREEBLE, so just take off the floopy-shnoopin' helmet and let him see Irk! Even
if he was lying, are you really so stupid that you think he's going to blow up
the ship that he's IN while we're in the middle of space with nowhere to go?!"
The leader was stunned into silence for a moment, but then he sputtered back,
"Y-Yeesh, what foul language! Fine! But you so much as make a spark, and your
head comes off!"
Dib waited eagerly until someone finally yanked the rubber helmet off of his
head, and he gasped in the cool air that fell on his sweaty face and the damp,
dirty hair that had grown in since he'd last shaved it.
He took one final, calming breath, and then looked up out the front window of
the ship, and found himself gasping again as he saw it.
The Tallest's ship, the Massive, was stationed nearby the planet, but next to
the planet itself, the 'Massive' looked like a fruit fly next to a mighty war-
horse. The planet was truly massive, and it was the most beautiful thing Dib
had seen since leaving his own, admittedly dinky, home-planet behind.
Large planets were not uncommon at all, and planets that gave life were not
really extremely rare either in the grand scheme of things, but planets as
large as Irk giving life was definitely not something that happened often. Dib
could see instantly why the Irkens were so proud of their huge home. The
magnitude was truly god-like.
Irk had two main continents in the midst of the swirling, salmon-pink to darker
burgundy colored seas. The land-masses looked mostly green from afar, but there
were also considerably large patches of magenta-red here and there, which were
in such specific triangle shapes, Dib was sure they couldn't be natural.
There was also a ring of debris floating around the planet, and just beyond it,
four large moons could be seen orbiting the planet, although there were five
more moons that Dib couldn't see on the other side. One of the moons was off-
white like Earth's, but the others Dib could see were different colors. The
biggest one was blush-pink, another one was robin's egg blue. The last looked
like a chunk of blue-cheese, light yellow with marbled spots of greenish-blue.
A good distance behind the planet and it's moons there was a bright red sun,
which of course was impressively enormous enough itself to warm the gigantic
planet.
As they got closer to the planet's atmosphere, Dib got a better look at the
ring around it, and realized that although it did contain some average space
debris, asteroids and other such cosmic pebbles, there was also a great deal of
junk floating in it, like fast food wrappers and old or broken appliance parts.
Clearly Irkens were a lot more like humans than they cared to admit...
When the finally reached the atmosphere, the ship became rocky for a few
seconds, knocking Dib over. It wasn't nearly as violent as falling through a
black hole, but with the centi-cuffs throwing him off-balance, he ended up
smacking his head again, and when he did, the world went black for a few
seconds.
When he opened his eyes, he found a strange being standing before him that he
hadn't seen before. It looked mostly like an Irken of average height, but it
was naked, and had three lekku instead of one or two. The eyes were like the
wings of a scarab beetle, reflecting almost every color of the rainbow in a
metallic, gold-tinted sheen. It was impossible to tell what sex it was, if any.
It had no penis, but none of the three lekku were curled like Dib noticed many
females tended to.
"Listen well, but do not speak. No one else but you can see or hear me." It
commanded and informed the human hybrid, in a voice just as androgynous as it's
body. "Just as your mother was to your planet, you are the first of your kind
to enter Irk, and you come with a strange new force that has the power to
change this planet forever. You are accepted here only because of the blood you
share, but you will conduct yourself with respect to this planet while you are
here. You will not be forced to make a sacrifice the way your planet so
barbarically demanded of us, but you will adhere to my rules. I speak them
now."
Dib remembered to breath for the first time since seeing the strange being, who
indeed went completely unnoticed by the other Irkens around it. The ethereal
Irken continued, "You shall not kill any Irken, even in self-defense, because
you are part of them and they are part of you. Kill them and you kill yourself.
You shall kill any other noble creature only if it threatens you, and you will
eat of what you kill. It will become part of you and you will become part of
it. All will become stronger."
It then got down on it's knees and looked Dib right in his eyes, baring it's
teeth. The colorful eyes turned to pure black, and Dib felt just as terrified
as he was when he had stared into the dark nothingness of the black hole. "Defy
me and you will DIE, not even dishonored, but -forgotten-. Be above all bold,
like a true Irken, and you may do well here..."
With that final warning, the strange being simply disappeared as if it were
never there.
Dib struggled to get back to his knees, realizing that the ship was flying down
towards one of the magenta-colored patches on the edge of one of the green land
masses. It was shaped like a triangle, and as they got closer, Dib could see
that it was something like a gigantic pet-box, enclosed at the top with a see-
through lid with holes in it to allow fresh air in. Most of the buildings
within were magenta or red in color, like the walls that surrounded them,
accounting for the color of the patches from afar.
At one corner of the enclosure, part of the lid could be lifted to allow
smaller to medium-sized ships in, which was where the ship went. Once inside,
it headed to the direct middle of the city, where a great, stately building
stood, taller than all the rest. It docked on top of one of several towers,
where Dib was one again forced to wear the awful rubber helmet.
Then he could hear the leader yelling again, "You're getting off here, Zim! You
will go peacefully or you'll be killed even quicker!"
Though he could barely see him, Dib turned his head towards his dear friend,
his heart pounding with overwhelming fear at the thought of harm coming to him.
"Zim-!" He began, but the hectic alien quickly growled back at him to shut him
up.
"Don't be a complete FOOL, Dib!" He commanded harshly. "You just worry about
yourself, you hear me?! Just focus on keeping -yourself- alive!"
Then the Irken guards dragged him off of the ship, out of Dib's sight. The
human stared after him until the ship started up again, and then he looked down
at the floor with a heavy heart. He could tell by the look in Zim's eyes that
he remembered that night. Something had changed between them because of it. And
damn it, Dib pledged solemnly to himself, he wasn't just going to live, he was
also going to get Zim back and find out what that was...
But in the meantime, the ship returned to one of the outer edges of the walls,
to a prison where Dib would call his new home sweet home.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
By threat of electrified spears, Zim was forced into an elevator, which took
him down the tower and to a larger room, and tapered into a wide hall. The hall
eventually led them to an extremely large room at the middle of the estate,
where dozenss of miniature Control Brain Drones crowded around the back edges.
Tallest Purple stood alone on a raised platform in the middle of the room,
surrounded by dozens of soldiers. He crossed his arms haughtily across the
chest, sure of himself as long as there were others in front of him to shield
him. "Well, well, well, Zim..."
"Tallest Purple." Zim returned in a condescending voice, daring to use his name
to his face, which caused one of his guards to shock him for his insolence.
After watching Zim scream and twitch for a moment, Purple went on, "As you
know, Zim, no Irken may be put to death without a fair trial. So, here we are."
But then suddenly, Red was there too, as a hologram. It beamed itself from the
ceiling right down next to Purple, and Red glared nonchalantly as he sipped on
a soda from a bendy straw. "Hey there, Purp. Making decisions, without my
approval, behind my back, again?" He asked, calm but clearly annoyed.
Purple glared deeply back at his fellow leader. "Don't you dare treat me like
some SMEET, Red! And don't call me 'Purp'!"
Red didn't look the least bit impressed with Purple's nerve, and ignored his
request outright. "Oh, I don't think you're a smeet, Purp. I think you're even
dumber than a smeet. I mean, seriously - Are you actually THIS -stupid-?"
The soldiers in front of Purple took a step back from Red's menacing form, even
if it was just a hologram, while Purple sputtered furiously. "Just what do you-
?!"
Red cut him off before he started to spit with indignity. "I'm just saying, did
you COMPLETELY forget what happened the last time we took Zim before the
existence evaluator? Do you really want a repeat of what happened last time,
when the Control Brain let him fly the Massive? Who knows, this time it might
actually go crazy enough to declare Zim a Tallest!"
Purpled scowled, "That's just ridiculous!" But he didn't look as sure of
himself as he did a moment ago. "Well then - Just what do you suggest, Red? We
can't just let him go free after defying his banishment for a SECOND time!"
"Yeah, duh, but we can't kill him, either. So, lock him up. Seemed like a
simple solution to me." Red replied, feigning deep boredom. "This is kinda why
I worry about you making decisions on your own Purp, when you can't even take
care of something this simple without potentially plunging the planet into
darkness and disarray..."
"Shut UP, Red! I can take care of this just FINE!" The purple-eyed leader
shouted back petulantly. Then he growled back at the soldiers. "Take him away
and lock him up! Make sure he never sees the light of day again!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib was locked up in his own separate cell instead of in the general
population, and they'd removed his centi-cuffs, which he was grateful for at
least. But it was dark and cold and uncomfortable like any prison cell, and the
rubber helmet that they demanded he keep on was really driving him crazy. But
the guards wouldn't even respond to any of his requests, and if he bothered
them too much they threatened to beat him up.
After the first four hours, a new set of guards came to relieve the other's of
duty. He heard the Irkens talking to each other as they left, "Did you hear?
Tallest Red bailed Zim out -again-. That lucky punk should have died decades
ago! I guess now they're throwing him in his own cell on the West side of the
prison."
"Hey," The other guard added, "At least we got to throw that crazy busted SIR
unit in with him. That thing was creeping me out..."
Dib's heart lightened up hearing that. At least Zim was alive. They still had
hope. And Dib wasn't about to give that up.
It had only been a little over a day when he finally got his first visitor,
though it seemed much longer to Dib with how boring and uncomfortable it was.
Through the helmet and the bars, it was hard to make out the face of the
visitor, but he was abnormally tall. When Dib got to his feet and approached,
he realized the visitor was almost as tall as he was, which was definitely not
normal.
"So, you're that alien that Zim has been flying around with, huh?" He spoke,
and Dib finally recognized the voice, as well as the fiery eyes.
"Red? Tallest Red?" He amended quickly as the leader's eyes narrowed, noting
the single inch of height the hybrid had over him.
"Yeah, that's me. And you're Dib, right?" The leader went on, "I just wanted to
get a look at you myself before they execute you. Your Irken disguise is
terrible." He noted, truthful but blunt.
Dib narrowed his eyes back at him. "It's not -just- a disguise. Whether or not
anyone here will accept it, I'm half Irken!" He proclaimed proudly.
Red blinked in surprise hearing that, then rolled his eyes and looked away,
feigning disinterest once more. "Oh really? Interesting. I guess that's where
you learned the Outer Irken you've been speaking." Dib had been careful to
stick or Outer so no one had to account for teaching it to him. "So then, from
whom did your Irken half supposedly come from?"
"My mother's name was Gazlene."
Red immediately choked out a gasp, and then pressed his enraged face against
the bars. Dib took a step back at the frightful sight, but Red reached through
the bars and grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging him close. "WHAT did you
just say-?!"
Dib steeled his nerve and repeated calmly. "Her name. Was. Gazlene. I take it
you knew her?"
Red stared at him for a long moment, and then slowly let him go. He had to be
telling the truth, how else would he know that name? And if he was telling the
truth about her, then he had to be telling the truth about the past tense that
he was speaking of her in. If that was the case, if she really was his mother
and she really was dead, then the debt he owed her could never be repaid.
Unless...
"Listen, you. Listen real good. There's not much I can do for you. There's only
one thing I can try to save your life, but making it work is up to you. They're
going to give you a pretend mock trial tomorrow, mostly just for show. When you
appear before Tallest Purple and I, you are to argue that you are an Irken
Hybrid and deserving of life. I'll do what I can to convince them not to kill
you, but your chances are pretty slim - The ultimate decision of what to do
with you can only be determined by the Control Brain."
Dib nodded slowly in understanding. "I understand... Thank you."
"Don't thank me." Red replied crossly as he headed back out of the cell.
"You're not out of the hot water yet..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next day Dib was once again cuffed and led through several hallways and up
a couple elevators, then loaded onto a ship and taken to the building where
they'd dropped Zim off the day before. Dib was then led into the same room
where Zim had been held for judgement, though this time both Purple and Red
were waiting for him on the platform.
Purple began right away, trying to rush through it. "Well, short and sweet,
you're charged with being a unregistered non-Irken on planet Irk and attacking
Irkens on Irken-controlled territory. For these crimes you will hereby be
execu-"
"WAIT!" Dib exclaimed, wrenching from the Irken that was holding onto his bound
arms. "You can't do this! I'm an Irken Hybrid, I have rights!"
Purple paused, and then chuckled derisively. "Oh what is this... Red, tell me
you didn't put him up to this nonsense?"
Red lied smoothly, "I did no such thing. Anyways, there's an easy way to tell
if he's lying or not, just test his DNA."
One of the miniature CB-Drones flew over to Dib, jabbing him in the arm with a
needle. Orby, who had been floating silently by Dib's side all the while,
suddenly glowed red and possessively and menacingly advanced on the drone,
which quickly retreated as soon as it got the DNA it was seeking.
The drone analyzed the DNA for a few seconds, and then announced, "This sample
is positive for Irken DNA."
"Hah! See? I told you!" Dib proclaimed proudly.
"Big deal!" Purple returned petulantly. "There's more to being Irken than just
being lucky enough to have some of our superior DNA! Control Brain, you can't
let this freak just walk in here and demand we call him a proper Hybrid!"
Red countered calmly, "I believe it would be a waste to just kill him, though.
He possesses some impressive powers and fighting skills, he could potentially
aid our military."
Suddenly, Orby spoke up as well, glowing electric yellow. "Dib is a fierce
fighter and could be of great use, as Red has stated. But Purple is also right
- It would be nothing short of offensive to proclaim him a proper Hybrid just
because he has Irken DNA. He is almost completely ignorant of what it means to
be a true Irken. He doesn't know how the species came to be or why they deserve
to feel so superior. Orby suggests that, instead of executing him, you leave
him in the Badlands. If he can traverse the terrain of the untamed planet Irk,
and find his way back into the wall, then he may consider his Irken DNA to be
as superior as a true Irken Hybrid's."
Purple snickered at first, and then all-out guffawed. "Wasn't that thing
supposed to be protecting you? I actually think it would be kinder to just
execute him! But whatever, sure, let the planet kill him instead!"
Red glared at Purple, then nodded grimly. "I find this to be an acceptable
compromise."
The unseen Control Brain projected it's robotic voice throughout the room. "The
Tallests have come to an agreement, and I accept it. The Dib creature shall be
banished to the Badlands. If he can make his way back, he'll have proved
himself worthy of his claim of Irken superiority."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Zim had been doing his best to entertain GIR, or be entertained by him, but his
thoughts and feelings were far elsewhere. Further than even the dark, cold cell
he was currently confined in. They were still millions of miles away, back on
that unnamed green planet, still back in his own ship, with Dib.
It had been, with no doubt in his mind, the single greatest thing he'd ever
felt in his entire life. And he didn't regret letting Dib do what he'd done for
a single second, but he was also experiencing a rather large amount of guilt
over it, too. There was of course the most obvious reason, that it was against
the law and considered morally and ethically wrong by his peers. But even more
than that, he was ashamed that he hadn't returned the gesture to Dib,
especially since chances were good that Dib would be killed and he would rot in
this cell the rest of his life, regretting that.
His depressing thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard the door leading
to his cell being opened. Then, he heard the voice of Tallest Purple, saying
something to the guard. "Are you -serious-? Wow, that is so nasty..." His voice
sounded amused as well as disgusted.
He then approached Zim's cell. Zim didn't bother getting up, saluting, or even
looking at him. Purple went on without it. "You've gotta be kidding, Zim. You
were obviously always defective, but this is really something else. The guards
told me what the prison scanner found on your pants. The... Fluids." He forced
the word out with a gag. "And since you were with that human the whole time,
one can only surmise..."
Zim cheeks burned, but he refused to say anything yet. So Purple continued to
goad him, "Then again, I guess I kinda get why someone like you would be
desperate enough to... Fulfill your sick desires with an -alien-. Your kind are
all so perverted..."
He was trying awfully hard to make Zim feel even more ashamed than Zim had
already felt, but Zim had already burned himself out on that tiring emotion.
Instead he thought about everything Dib had done for him over all the years -
Making him feel important when these jerks had wanted him to think he was
worthless, looking out for him and standing by his side when he was truly the
most alone he'd ever been, and then giving him a night worth remembering for
the rest of a life that would no doubt be sad and boring...
No, he didn't feel bad at all. He could only bring himself to feel thankful. He
could only remember Dib with the deepest of gratitude for the experiences
they'd shared. Even now, trapped in this cell, he felt somehow as if Dib was
still with him, still... Damn, it was the strangest and most confusing feeling
he'd ever had, but it felt as if -somehow-, Dib was still... Protecting him? It
didn't make any sense, but Zim couldn't shake the feeling.
He finally looked over at Purple, with a small and tired smirk. "I almost feel
sorry for you..."
"WHAT did you say, you little SHRIMP?!" Purple immediatedly snarled back. "How
DARE you! RRR-You're making me wish I had just killed that ugly pig-thing
myself! But it doesn't matter - I KNOW he's going to die, there's NO doubt
about that!" He had a good laugh at the look of worry that immediately passed
over Zim's features. "That stupid ball-thing that floats around him, it must be
defective too! It said we ought to throw him out in the Badlands, and see if he
can prove himself a real Irken by coming back! HAH! Hey, what do you think will
eat him first, one of the giant snakes or the giant lizards? HAHAHA!"
With a deep, loud growl, Zim suddenly got up pressed his face against the bars,
snarling savagely at Purple, who gasped and took two involuntary steps back. "I
do NOT -CARE- what you THINK anymore! I don't CARE what you WANT from me!
You're NOTHING to me!"
Purple almost felt unnerved, but he covered it up with arrogance. "What - I'm
supposed to take that seriously from a NOTHING like YOU? Enjoy the rest of your
boring, pathetic life, Zim. And don't worry, it won't be that long - You'll
eventually die of starvation, because I'll see to it that the guards skip your
meals."
He laughed his way out of the cell, leaving Zim behind in blissful silence
again. He was glad Purple was gone, but he was depressed by the news he was
given. But then GIR suddenly spoke up in his silly voice, "Aww, don't worry~
Dib won't give up until he gets him his alien!"
Zim smirked a little, not looking at the robot at first. "You think so, huh...
Wait." His eyes abruptly went as wide as they could go as he realized that
sounded a bit too unlike his servant's usual nonsense, and he forced himself to
glance over, shaking a little as he mumbled, "G-Gaz...?"
The glow in GIR's eyes was purple. It smiled and winked at Zim, and then with a
blink, it's eyes returned to it's usual blue once more. "NOPE, NO PIGGIES HERE,
MASTER~! WHEEEEE-HOOOOO!"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Purple got on his communicator shortly after he left Zim's cell, calling the
pilot of the ship that was currently driving Dib outside of the walls that
protected the cushy Irken settlements from the wild world beyond. "Listen up,
change of plans." He instructed the driver. "Take that Dib-thing out another
two thousand miles further than where you were instructed to leave him. Do it,
and you'll see a fat bonus in your account tomorrow..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Got it." The driver answered, hanging up before turning back to the ship's
controls and slightly increasing the speed.
Dib had no way of knowing how long the ride was supposed to be, so he didn't
notice the extra hour and a half it took to fly to the new location he was
being taken. When they arrived, the pilot set the controls to hover, and he and
the six other Irkens that had come on this job crowded around the human.
They hoisted him to his feet, and to his relief, he could feel them take off
the centi-cuffs. "Please, can I take off this stupid rubber helmet too? I
promise I don't even know how to use my electric powers, I won't-"
"Hey, sure thing, Dib." One of the Irkens interrupted him. He looked
suspiciously towards the voice, and his blood went cold seeing the familiar
purple eyes.
Tak grabbed the helmet and roughly pulled it off of him, grinning. She had a
score to settle with this one too... "After all, your electric powers won't be
of any use where you're going! EEEAHAHA-!" She shriek-cackled, using the heavy
rubber helmet to shove Dib out of the windy open door behind him.
Dib yelled in shock as he felt himself began to fall, fast. The world was
moving quickly and his body kept turning in the air, but he recognized the
salmon-pink color he'd seen days ago as they landed, and the foamy white surf
of the tides.
He took a great gasp of air and held it, plugging his nose with one hand and
shielding the back of his head with the other. Seconds later, he plummeted into
the ocean waters with a body-bruising splash.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 13 *****
Survival and Security
(( A.N. Please keep in mind peeps, I am not a rocket scientist. XD;; Also I
have thalassophobia (fear of the ocean) so this chapter was pretty tough on
me... ))
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Hitting the water was like a full-bodied slap, leaving stinging bruises all
over his back, arms and legs. At least he hadn't belly-flopped though, that
probably would have caused irreparable damage to his inner organs. Still, he
had no time to be grateful when the force and height of the fall had taken him
dozens of feet below the surface of the sea.
The pink sands and salts that colored the waters obstructed his view, but he
could at least see the sun shining down from the surface, leading him to
safety. Holding onto the breath he'd taken for dear life, he fought against the
tides, which shoved him off-course several times, until he finally broke
through just in the nick of time. He gasped loudly and gratefully at the air,
but then a wave crashed down on his head, dunking him under once more.
Desperate for more air, he kicked his way back to the surface. Thankfully the
waters had calmed down for a moment, allowing him to take several gulps of air,
and cough out the water that had gotten into his nose and lungs.
The tides in these parts weren't as turbulent as they could get elsewhere, but
it wasn't a tranquil brook, either. Likewise, the waters weren't frigid, in
fact they were almost lukewarm, but chances are they wouldn't stay that way
once night came, and he had no idea how many hours of sunlight he had left.
Not to mention, there was no doubt countless other creatures swimming around
underneath his constantly kicking feet... As if to agree with him, a huge, red
whale suddenly leaped out of and crashed back down into the ocean a few hundred
feet away, sending another powerful wave chasing after the tiny human.
The tide pushed him back another few hundred feet, and when he emerged this
time, he looked around him in circles as he gasped for air, trying to find a
land-mass to swim towards. He couldn't see any at first, but thankfully, Orby
finally found him first instead.
"Dib!" It called out to him, causing him to look up from where the voice was
coming from. The orb was hovering about ten to fifteen feet above the waters,
avoiding them like any sensible mechanical being would. "I found you!"
"Orby!" Dib called back, glad to not be completely alone again. "Where do I go
to find dry land?!" He fought to stay above the waves to ask it. It was hard
enough to breathe, let alone speak.
One of Orby's robotic arms extended out to point the way, but it called to him
quickly, his mother's worry coming through the mechanical tone. "Dib, swim
quickly, don't stop! You only have 22 hours of daylight left before night falls
and the waters become too cold for you to survive! There is only a 5% chance
you can make it!"
Dib didn't listen anymore, and he didn't care about the odds. He shot off
through the current, swimming as fast and as tirelessly as his body would
possibly allow him to, only breaking for gasps of air. More adrenaline was
coursing through his veins than he'd ever felt in his life. There was an
infinity of things to be afraid of, but his goal was clear and he was more
determined than ever.
He kept going, and going, and gasping every sweet lungful of air he could get,
arm over arm, kicking without end, until every muscle ached harder than they
ever had, and he STILL kept on going. Then he began to see green trees in the
far distance, and he felt sure that he could reach them. But the closer to the
shore he got, the stronger the tides were, and they kept dragging him back
every time he made distance against it.
Seventeen hours in, his body was beginning to fail him. The water was no longer
lukewarm, the sun was barely more than four hours away from being about to
disappear behind a moon, the blue cheese-looking one. He kept on struggling to
keep going, but he was exhausted, truly at the end of his limits.
And he had not forgotten once the fear he'd had since emerging in the oceans
that threatened to literally swallow him, the creatures that he was sure would
do so. There were plenty of hungry things in many parts of the Irken ocean,
including a particularly vicious, yet also curious group that had been
following Dib since he first fell into their territory.
When the last of Dib's strength finally left him, and he began to sink like the
dead-tired stone he felt like, these curious little tyrants that ruled the
'shallows' of this coastline Dib had been tossed into began to investigate.
Four of the littler ones began to nip at and tug his feet, but one of the
bigger ones quickly swapped them away with his tail, an then another joined him
in carrying the creature to the surface. The bigger ones had a sixth sense
about this creature - They had dealt with deadly electric eels before and they
got that kind of vibe off of him, like a ticking time-bomb. They just wanted
him out of their waters entirely.
Dib felt his arms being tugged and then hitting the surface again. He didn't
think about how, he just coughed and wheezed as much air as his aching lungs
could get. As soon as he could think straight he looked at his temporary
saviors, the creatures holding him up and allowing him to breath.
They looked very similar to Irkens from what he could see of them, but they had
gills running from their cheeks to where their ears would be, if they had them,
and their lekku were naturally limp like Dib's had once been. But their skin
was green, and their eyes red. In every other way but their nakedness and
inclination towards the sea, they looked just like regular Irkens.
He was a little scared of them at first, but he couldn't see why they would
have saved him from drowning if they were going to kill him, and they were
holding him up wordlessly, allowing him to breathe and regain his strength. As
soon as they were sure he'd gotten enough air, they suddenly took off with him,
dragging him with impressive speed through the waters.
He wasn't prepared for it at first, and accidentally swallowed some water, but
they gave him another chance to breathe a few seconds later, and this time he
got the idea. He took a great breath and held it, and then then dragged him off
through the water again for another minute or so, before allowing him another
chance to breathe.
Within an hour, the strong swimmers had brought Dib as close to the shore as
they would go. They were close enough that Dib could feel his feet touch the
bottom and the water was only up to his neck, and that was when they finally
let go of him.
Bewildered beyond belief, but also eternally grateful, Dib looked back at the
beings, trying to express how thankful he was. But as soon as Dib was able to
make it on his own, the two oceanic dwellers had gone back the way they came,
leaving Dib only one last glimpse of their slender, shimmering green tails as
they disappeared under the waters.
For the moment, he let his curiosity leave with them. He used the last of his
strength to wade against the tides, walking along the bottom over small fish
and crabs. Paranoid that he might step on something more dangerous, he
quickened his pace until, at long last, his feet fell on the last stretch of
white, foamy surf still licking at his soaked, squishy boots.
The pink, red and grey sands went on for at least half a mile before they
reached the the trees that Dib had been in the distance. Dib only got about
half that far before falling to his knees, and then onto his face. He used the
absolute last of his strength to roll onto his back, so that he wouldn't be
gasping in sand, and stayed like that for a while.
Orby caught up to him a few minutes after that. It hovered down next to him,
glowing a soft lavender. "You did amazing, Dib. You've earned yourself this
rest. But I'm afraid I can only let you do so for a moment. We have to find a
way to get you dry and keep you warm throughout the night. It will get very
cold soon. Wet clothes are worse than no clothes at all."
"Yeah, okay, just give me a minute..." Dib answered with deep fatigue, sucking
in a few more gasps of air before turning his attention back to the robot.
"What WERE those things, back there in the ocean - Mermaids...?"
"I know you're deprived of oxygen, but don't be ridiculous, Dib." The machine
chided him. "They were Irkens."
"Irkens?" Dib repeated in confusion, "But-?"
"They are our oldest living ancestors, Dib. On a tiny planet like the one
you're from, species go extinct much more easily due to lack of room and
resources when new species evolve. But on a planet like Irk, there is more than
enough room to go around for a long time. There are species still alive today
that were here billions, possibly even trillions of years ago. Even the
industrious Neo-Irkens, for all their boasts for intergalactic conquest, have
not fully conquered their own planet, and I doubt they ever will..."
"But... Why did they save me...?" Dib continued to ask, sitting up and staring
out at the sea. He was just getting enough oxygen to notice that the 'device'
had been speaking more like a person lately, as if her true soul was coming
through. Some distant and unknown part of him wondered, did the spirit within
feel more alive back on her home world?
Orby whirred for a moment, just as confused as he was. "...Maybe they're like
you, bound by honor not to kill any other Irken. Maybe they thought you were
bold, making it as far as you did, and decided to help you the rest of the way.
Maybe they were just bored. Who knows, and who cares. You're alive, for now.
But in order for it to stay that way, you need to help me build a fire before
it gets too dark. We don't have much daylight left. Get up, lets go."
Reluctantly, Dib forced himself to get back on his tired, aching legs, and walk
through the heavy sands until he reached the edge of the dense, green jungle.
Orby then flew up to the tops of the trees, tall and spidery-looking things
that branched out in all directions and were covered in vines, and used a
circular saw in one of it's compartments to cut down some of the drier
branches, which Dib collected after they fell and arranged in a pile about a
dozen feet away from the jungle. It was nearly night once they'd collected a
sizable pile. Orby then used a laser to light the wood, which was a brownish-
red in color and let off a similarly colored smoke. It also smelled like a
strange mix of cinnamon and mud.
Dib sat behind the fire with his back facing the sea, as Orby had suggested he
do. He saw her reasoning for it soon after the sun disappeared behind the moon,
and darkness fell. Shivering and trying to get warm and dry next to the fire,
Dib could see just over the blaze that various creatures had come to the edge
of the jungle, big yellow and red eyes staring at him from just beyond the veil
of the trees and vines.
Curious though they were, they were afraid of the fire and repelled by it's
smoke. But Dib didn't dare sleep, he wouldn't take the chance that one of them
would get bold and come to investigate, no matter how dead tired he was. Plus
the fire warmed him pleasantly, but his back stayed cold enough to keep him
alert.
About twelve hours later, the cheese-moon began to move away from the sun,
letting it's light shine down on that section of the planet again. The
nocturnal creatures moved back into the jungle, and Dib sighed a breath of deep
relief. He had barely any wood left to throw into the pile.
But he did have one branch left that he'd been saving for last, because it was
tall and solid and would make for a good walking stick. It also had a pointed
end, and if the worst came to pass, he might be able to use it as a weapon too.
But for now, he used it to spear the largest of the nearby pink crabs that were
scuttling out of the ocean, after making sure with Orby that it was completely
edible. Then he took the creature back to the fire, and used the last of it's
dying embers to cook the crab on the end of his stick.
He'd never eaten so ravenously in his entire life, savagely tearing the
scorched and still-hot shell apart with his bare hands and nails, and scooping
out the sweet, pinkish-white meat inside. He didn't let a single morsel escape,
cracking the claws open with his teeth to get the very last bits hidden inside.
He might have even swallowed a few pieces of the shell by accident.
After filling his stomach, he was so exhausted he could no longer fight off the
need for sleep anymore. The fire had dried his clothes and now the sun was
warming the beach once again. Dib fell over onto the sand and snored deeply for
a full eight hours, twice as long as he usually slept.
He would have slept even longer, but Orby shook him awake. "Dib, you need to go
now. The sun will soon hit midday, and it will be too hot for you to survive
without shade. You need to go into the jungle so the trees can block some of
it's rays."
Dib reluctantly picked himself up off the ground, shaking out some of the sand
from his hair and coughing up some that he'd accidentally swallowed while
asleep. After taking a moment to wake up fully, he wondered aloud to the
device, "So, what do you think the chances are that I can make it back to the
wall alive, be able to save Zim and get out of here in time to get back to
Earth before the chip you put in me kills me?"
"Approximately 1.8%... But you know, after everything I've seen you do, I'm
gonna give you the benefit of a doubt. Lets bump that up to a solid 2%." The
device of course couldn't smile, but it glowed a soft, maternal, baby-blue.
Dib smirked and rolled his eyes. Just his usual luck. "I guess that must be
better than the chances I had staying in prison."
"Correct." Orby replied, "And if you can make it to the wall, which should take
you at least eight months on foot provided nothing else kills you along the
way, it will allow you the advantage of a sneak-attack. They'll never even
dream that you could survive what you already have... You're very strong, Dib.
Don't forget it. You have the blood of the fiercest warriors in this universe
coursing through your veins. They made it, and so can you."
Dib smiled sincerely, and after a short pause, Orby added, "Also, I'm glad it's
in your top priorities to save Zim. I suppose I should tell you now - You
cannot leave Irk without him."
The human raised an eyebrow at that, "Well... I wasn't planning to, but why?"
Orby whirred for a few moments, thinking of how to say it. "Zim is... He's one
of a kind. There is no other quite like him, though there are many who are not
like the other, Control Brain-enslaved Neo-Irkens, as well. Those Irkens you
met at the gathering - They were all specifically chosen by Red because of
this. They are all like Gazlene once was in life. Though they are connected to
a PAK, it is defective. They are not controlled by it, and they are aware of
that fact. As long as they are careful not to physically get caught, the
Control Brain cannot trace their thoughts and actions. This makes them the
perfect agents to carry out illegal activities."
"Then, what about Zim?" Dib pressed on. "How is he different?"
Orby's glow went to bright orange, as if the thoughts swirling inside it's
circuits excited it greatly. "You have to understand something about that
particular Irken, Dib... He's not so much a true Irken, as he is an Irken-
shaped force of nature. A tidal wave, a cyclone, an erupting volcano - In the
guise of a cute little bug-eyed alien. Zim doesn't even realize it, but he is
the container for the rarest and most destructive form of tajik on all of Irk.
Most other Irkens don't believe in tajik just as he doesn't, but they can feel
in instinctively every time he's around, and it scares them..."
Dib stared almost breathlessly, "What can he do...?"
"...Gaz is terribly powerful in her own right, but she absolutely needs Zim to
fulfill my plans. You see, he is not just free from the Control Brain. From
what I've seen and heard from him, he doesn't even KNOW he's free from the
Control Brain. Like a child, he has sought it's approval all his life, except
when he had no other choice but to defy it. But he is pure anathema to the
Control Brain. When close enough to the Core-Brain, his presence is like a
powerful virus, which renders the Control Brain almost completely useless.
Unlike every other Irken on this planet, the Control Brain and it's mechanical
minions cannot kill Zim - They can't even go near him."
"So Zim is basically our top secret weapon against the Control Brain?" Dib
guessed.
"He is our only weapon. And Gaz is the only one who can harness and control his
power, make it work for us instead of against us. Both of them are absolutely
necessary."
The sun was starting to beat down on Dib harshly. There was nothing more to
ponder now. He had a job to do, and he had a time limit to do it in. With
purpose and boldness beating in his chest, he set off into the dense, shady
jungles of the wild, untamed Irk.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Irkens didn't have to eat nearly as much or as often as humans did, but after a
couple of weeks passed without any nutrients, Zim was unable to continue
ignoring his spooch's gnawing aches. He'd been doing a lot of pacing before,
but his legs had become too weak to continue. He hated having to sit on the
cold, hard floor for too long, though.
The guards changed shifts every four to five hours. Irkens could work much
longer, but it looked like no one wanted to watch him for longer than that at a
time. Each time they changed shifts, they were forced to check in on the room
where Zim's cell was. He didn't heckle them, and they didn't speak to him in
return.
When the doors opened and the guards peered in, Zim looked back at the light
temporarily shining through enviously, just like he did every time. But this
time, he caught sight of a strange shimmer passing behind the guard, thought
the doorway. He raised a brow, but did not comment until the door had closed
again.
Then he spoke up, in the quietest voice he was capable of, "A reflective
camouflage blanket. Renders the wearer virtually invisible. That's some pretty
advanced technology, I'm guessing you had to steal one from a military
laboratory. Who are you, and why would you go through the trouble to see me?"
At first the hidden stranger didn't reply. They advanced toward his cell, and
Zim stared at them coldly until they finally whispered back, in a feminine
voice, "Red heard about what Purple was trying to do to you, but he couldn't
come himself. He can't be seen supporting you any more than he already has. So
he sent me instead. Here."
The Irken tossed in a handful of nutrient supplement pills from beneath the
blanket, and for just a split second when she did so, Zim could peer inside.
She was rather skinny, and tall, about five foot ten. And though it was pretty
dark, her eyes glowed with a golden-brown sheen.
Zim immediately swallowed one of the pills, and the brown eyed female went on,
"You'll need to ration them. I can only come once a week, and I can't bring you
anything more substantial. I can't take the chance that they'll smell it."
"Thanks." Zim replied, gathering the rest of the pills and hiding them in a
corner. "But you still haven't said who you are. I don't know many people who
would be willing to help me."
The female was quiet for a moment. "My name is Pepi... And, well, to be
honest..." She reluctantly spoke up at last, "I actually didn't come just for
you. I came because Red told me about that alien that came with you. He told me
that... He's Gazlene's offspring, is that true?"
Zim nodded just once, "So how do you know Gazlene?"
"...I only met her a couple of times before, but... Gazlene and I, we shared
the same paternal donor."
"Sororal units, huh..." Zim mused.
"Yes..." The female affirmed. "And I heard that she's dead now, and that
they've thrown her smeet into the badlands... So I just wanted to know, what
was he like?"
Zim growled under his breath. "Was? Unless you know for sure he's dead, then
don't you dare talk about him as if he is! Because the first thing you should
know about Dib is that he's strong, resilient, and he does NOT give up easily!"
"Shhh, okay, I'm sorry." She quickly placated him. "I didn't mean to make it
sound like he was, it's just... Listen. I'm on Red's side, but I work for
Purple. I'm one of his personal massage servants. He doesn't allow me to speak
directly to him, but he sometimes chatters while I work on him. Two days ago,
he was joking about how he had his soldiers throw Dib out into the Eastern
Ocean..."
Zim's resolve wavered for just a second, but he replied stubbornly in the next,
"So what? Trust me, Dib is harder to kill than that." He refused to believe
anything else.
The other Irken nodded slowly. "He sounds like a spirited soldier. I hope
you're right."
Zim didn't want to show the least bit of doubt until the worst had definitely
come to pass, but deep down he worried terribly about the human. If he did
manage to swim out of the ocean, that only crossed a few things off the huge
checklist of things that would possibly, probably, kill him. Plus, the coast
was thousands of miles away. Even if he could make it back to the wall, could
he do it in time? And then what? How was the tiny human going to find his way
into the enormous, impenetrable wall once he got there? Those walls were built
to keep out behemoths, after all, and so far they had done their jobs very
well.
Pepi waited with him in silence until the guards switched shifts again, and
then she slipped out the same way she had come. As annoying as her timid
behavior and her presumptions were, Zim was still a little sorry to see her go.
An annoying companion was better than no companion at all. And GIR had been
strangely quiet since she came in.
...Which of course was not normal. Zim glanced over at his companion in the
opposite corner, his squee still jumping a beat as he saw what he had been
expecting - The purple glowing eyes.
Predictably, but still chillingly, Gaz's voice emerged from their shared
robotic 'puppet', "So, I've got an Irken auntie, huh... I -guess- that's kinda
cool..."
Zim sighed deeply, exaggerating his suffering. "Whyyy must you torment me, Gaz-
beast..."
Gaz growled, "Torment YOU? You little drama queen! I tormented Dib WAY more
than I ever tormented you, I actually even HELPED you more than I did Dib, too!
I saved your butt from getting yourself killed even more than Dib, and that is
saying something, you know that! And then I had to make sure you guys didn't
kill each other on TOP of that!"
"Will you be QUIET? The guards will hear you-"
"Shut up, stupid, I'm communicating with you telepathically right now." Gaz had
GIR flick the side of his head and made a mockingly stupid expression. "Duh!"
Zim sighed again, still convinced he was getting the short end of whatever
weird deal the multiverses had against him. He missed the GIR he had known and
loved over the years, what he considered to be the 'real' GIR, and mentioned as
much in a quiet, sullen voice.
"Oh come on, Zim..." Gaz now sighed, feigning his dramatics. "Do you seriously
still not get it? Sorry but not sorry, bug-boy, but it's time to grow up now.
Besides the empty shell of a broken SIR unit that your Tallest gave you to play
with, your little toy robot never even really existed. Seriously, do you know
what I found inside of it when I first opened it up to tinker with it? A couple
of gumballs and some paper clips!"
"You're lying!" Zim insisted in a fierce and slightly panicked whisper. He
didn't want to believe what she was saying at all. "GIR was speaking on it's
own long before I ever even reached Earth!"
Gaz disregarded him and continued, though her voice was now just a touch more
sympathetic. "That was you, Zim... Before you landed on Earth, before I
actually put some real wiring in that thing, your own lonely subconscious was
powering GIR to speak to you and entertain you, with nothing but tajik. I mean,
think about it Zim - All the stupid things GIR did that made no sense? That was
you thinking up weird, random things to entertain yourself. Well, that, or
sometimes it was me, making it do something stupid on purpose to foil your
plans and keep you from destroying either Dib or the entire planet. And hell,
sometimes I just did stuff coz I was bored, too. Like, I took GIR out to clubs
all the time..."
Zim tried and failed a few times to reply, but only one word stuck. "Why...?"
"Shouldn't it be obvious..." She sighed again, less understanding and more
irritable now. "I always kinda liked you, okay? Not the same way Dib likes
you." She added quickly as Zim's eyes went wide and nervous. "I feel for you,
sorta the same way I feel for Dib... You were the first member of the Irken
species I ever met, so, I guess I thought of you as another brother, or
something... Maybe more like a weird, distant cousin..." She amended.
Zim stared sadly at the robotic shell that Gaz was speaking from. Even if was
just a broken toy like she said, he still had an emotional attachment to it,
and was reluctant to accept that his puppet had never truly been alive after
all.
Gaz understood, and she approached him slowly. "Look Zim... I know why you love
this little thing. It was all you had when you were most alone in the world..."
Zim stared wordlessly as Gaz settled GIR's small body next to him, and leaned
the metal head against his arm. "But, you're not alone anymore... Dib is coming
for you, he won't stop until you're together again. You said it yourself - He's
strong, and resilient. He won't give up."
Zim looked down at his lap miserably. He wanted to believe what she was telling
him now, but he stood to lose so much if she was wrong... "The odds are
severely against him, there are creatures on this planet that-"
She cut him off, "Zim, shut up about that. We already know the odds aren't
good. But what good will it do not to believe in him? You can't do anything
else for him, you might as well do that."
Zim was silent for a moment, until he finally admitted softly, "I really want
to see him again..." He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "I -
will- see him again. If anyone can do this, it's Dib..."
"That's the spirit, space boy." Gaz smiled a small smile up at him. "But hey, I
gotta go now. I'll check in on you from time to time to make sure you don't go
crazy, but I'm trying to save the Earth too, so, I'm kinda busy. Take care of
yourself."
"I will... Thank you Ga-" He began to reply, but then the purple glow in the
robot's eyes returned to it's usual cyan mid-sentence.
"...GIR." He amended, staring into those big, blue eyes.
"Hi Master!" It replied happily, but much more calmly than usual. Then it
declared, "I'm tired! I'ma take a nap for a while, okay?"
Zim slowly nodded, "Sure, GIR. Go ahead..."
"YAY! I love you, master!" It exclaimed, and then proceeded to do just as it
said it would.
Normally GIR would pretend to sleep by faking the motions of it, closing his
eyes and snoring. But this time, GIR's eyes lost all light and went dark grey,
and the metal body slouched over onto the floor with a loud clang. Zim silently
stared at it for several long moments.
Slowly, he reached down and picked the unmoving robot up, gathering it against
his chest. His eyes began to gather liquid. He didn't bother trying to keep it
from overflowing. "...I love you too, GIR..."
He really did. GIR had been like a security blanket to a lonely child far from
home, and he would always be grateful for the companionship it provided when he
needed it. But Zim was no longer a naive little child. He didn't need to
believe in his fantasies anymore. He was completely disillusioned now, and the
real world was waiting for him.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 14 *****
In the Wild
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The further Dib got from the beach, the denser the forests became. The trees
nearest to the ocean weren't especially tall, but a few miles in and the
foliage started to get gargantuan. Evergreen trees with reddish bark were so
tall that they blotted out almost all of the sun, and the trunks were so big
around that an entire diesel truck could fit inside with room left over.
Some of these trees had huge hollows in them where various insects and small
reptiles roosted. Dib took shelter in them at night, and when he was approached
by predators - Huge, lizard-like creatures that somewhat resembled Komodo
Dragons, only about four to five times as big, with pale pink and mauve colored
scales and yellow eyes. If they saw Dib they would chase after him, and they
were quite fast. Thankfully, the spry human hybrid was just a little bit
faster.
Surprisingly though, the best way to avoid them was to seek out even bigger
predators. Every now and again enormous saurian beasts, which looked like slate
blue Spinosauri with golden-orange eyes and steaming breath, would stomp
through the jungles. They were nearly as tall as the gargantuan evergreen
trees, so big in fact that they didn't even seem to notice Dib at all when he
ran by, he was like an ant that wasn't even worth bothering with. The pinkish
lizards, however, were just the right size for them to snack on.
At nightfall Dib would climb into the hollows, and try to rest as peacefully as
he could with the creatures inside creeping, crawling and slithering over him.
The first few nights they really made him uncomfortable, but Orby had assured
him that they were more scared of him than he was of them, and as long as he
didn't bother them, they wouldn't bother him.
It turned out to be true enough, though Dib woke up nibbled on by the bugs most
mornings, at least the snakes kept their fangs to themselves as long as he gave
them enough distance, which was easy enough to do in the enormous trees. Dib
even grew to treasure the company of the iguana-sized lizards who would burrow
against his warm body at night, and shield him from the cold in return. There
were some mornings Dib woke up completely covered in lizards of all kinds of
shapes, sizes and colors, pink and green ones being the most common.
They also kept away most of the bugs by eating them, and Orby encouraged Dib to
do so as well. He was reluctant at first, but once he got hungry enough, it
became easy and even enjoyable to snatch up and munch on the squirming,
squishy, crunchy delights.
The most endearing thing about the littler lizards, though, was that some of
them even purred like cats when they were content or at rest. It was too cute
and the vibration felt nice against his skin on cold, still nights. But it only
made him miss his favorite alien even more.
In a month's time, Dib eventually passed through the densest parts of the
forest, and came across a wide expanse of flowered plains with only a very few
trees peppered here and there. A great green mountain stood in the far distance
beyond the plain.
No predators inhabited the plain, and it wasn't hard to figure out why.
Although the magenta-colored flowers that grew there were beautiful to look at,
they smelled like absolute shit, with just a hint of vanilla. The touch of
sweetness actually made it worse. Dib had to hold his shirt over his mouth and
nose as he made his way through, as the stench was so bad it made his eyes
water. He couldn't help but gag occasionally too.
Orby led him on through the flowers and up to the direct middle of the
mountain. At first Dib assumed he would have to climb it, and wondered how he
would accomplish such a task without any equipment. But when they got close
enough to the mountain to see it up close, Dib realized with some surprise that
there was actually a rather large tunnel that went right through the mountain,
the entrance of which was hidden by vines.
Moving the vines aside with his hand, Dib peered suspiciously into the pitch
blackness beyond. "I don't suppose you have a flashlight function, do you
Orby?"
"Yes, but it would be unwise to use it. There are predators in this cave that
will be attracted to the light." It replied.
"Then wouldn't it be safer to go around the mountain?"
"Negative. Going around will take us further from our destination, and there
will be predators there too. It's best just to take the quickest route
regardless of predators, as you'll be hard-pressed to find anywhere on Irk that
doesn't have them."
Dib sighed, "Well, okay, but... How am I supposed to see where I'm going? What
if I run right into a predator or fall down a hole?"
"Orby also has a night-vision function, however, it unfortunately cannot be
removed for portable use. You'll have to hold one of my claws and follow me
while I lead you through."
Dib lamented the fact that he'd brought his own night vision goggles with him,
but they were back on the Dual Ship, so nothing could be done about that. He
reached up and grasped Orby's hook-like hand, and it began to slowly lead him
past the curtain of vines and into the blinding cave.
It smelled a lot better inside, though not exactly aromatic either. Like moss
and mold mostly, but there were undertones of feces still present, most likely
from the creatures that lived within. It was still better than the overwhelming
stench of the flowers.
Holding securely onto Orby's hand, Dib followed it through. The ground was
slippery with moss and moisture, and Orby floated slowly so that Dib wouldn't
trip on them. Dib couldn't help but wonder if the device could feel his fleshy
hand in any way. He hoped so. He liked to pretend for just a moment that it was
his mother holding his hand, the way his father sometimes had when he was very
young.
It was unnerving though, for the human boy to be encased in total darkness,
with who knows what around them. He could hear more than a few somethings
letting out deep, loud, growl-like snores now and again, the stink from their
breath crossing the short distance between them.
Dib tried to ignore them and continued to walk silently through the darkness,
careful to walk slowly and feel with his feet before taking a full step. After
about two or three hours of this careful treading, he began to see the smallest
slivers of light peeking through the vines of the exit, and in his excitement
he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
He felt with his foot and found the path clear, so he took another step. But
then to his shock, he suddenly tripped over something about the size and shape
of a large root. Orby immediately tugged on the back of his jacket and yelled
at him, "RUN FOR IT!"
Dib obeyed her without need of an explanation. He scrambled to his feet and
broke out running at the top of his speed. Behind him an explosion apparently
went off, propelling him forward several feet from the force of the blast. He
was knocked onto his chest and face, but he got up without a thought to how
much it had hurt, and kept on running without looking back.
An ear-splitting roar echoed through the cave and thunderous footsteps began
lumbering after him. Dib kept running until he passed through the vines and
into the sunlight, but he didn't stop there. A good thing too, as the creature
followed right after him. But it was disoriented by the light at first, which
gave Dib the chance to find a tree to hide behind.
The human was just too damn curious for his own good, though. He just had to
peek around to get a look at the flame-spitting beast. It was like a wingless
dragon, huge but not massive enough to ignore what it assumed would be easy
prey. Its body was slightly snake-like, with six sets of chicken-feet and some
feathery-looking white fur down the back. It also had white scales, blood-red
eyes with black slits, and a single ivory horn jutting from the forehead. Those
piercing red eyes spotted Dib just as Dib was looking back at it, and it
immediately began to rush after him again.
Dib was fast, but this creature was even faster. It cornered him against
another tree, baring its jagged, yellowed teeth at him. Then it opened its
mouth and began to hack, as if it were about to cough up a loogie, but instead,
Dib could see sparks going off in the back of its throat.
He knew it was time to do or die, or else he would end up as barbeque. His
sharp stick had broken some time ago, so the only weapon left was his own body.
He concentrated harder than he ever had in his entire life, remembering that
white-hot fury from when Zim had been threatened. Zim's life was still in
danger, Dib had to get him out of there. He wasn't about to let some chicken-
footed wannabe dragon or any other Irken monster get in his way!
The dragon pulled back it's head, about to spit flame in Dib's face. But just
before he could, Dib felt his lekku stiffen, his brain throb, and his newly
grown hair burned away as a surge of electricity shot from his lekku like a
lightning rod, right into the dragon's face.
It gasped in literal shock as the bolts hit its face and coursed through its
body, paralyzing it. The gasp it had accidentally taken made it choke on its
own fireball and swallow it, burning its way through the throat and stomach. It
fell over onto its side, wheezing for air several times until it just stopped.
Between the electrocution and the internal damage, it definitely had to be
dead... Right?
Dib was still a little wary to go over and poke it to make sure, but not even
two seconds later, he realized very abruptly that he wouldn't have to. A sea of
green bodies, hundreds, possibly even thousands of them, leaped out of the
treetops and descended upon the newly-dead dragon, like an army of ants
swarming a carcass.
They bit and stabbed the beast with crude knives made of bones and stones,
cutting out and feasting on the flesh raw. They didn't notice Dib at first, but
the human couldn't help but stare at them. They were Irkens, at least, they
strongly resembled them. The vast majority of them were short, and Dib could
only see red-eyes among them. But there was a small group of about a dozen or
so which were feasting at the neck, they were taller than the rest. Not as tall
as the Tallest by far, but about Zim's height, give or take. They were also
mostly either naked or sparsely dressed in leather loincloths and vests.
Eventually they ate their fill and took notice of Dib, who still hadn't left.
He remembered what the strange entity had told him when he arrived on Irk, and
he was pretty sure a dragon counted as 'noble', so he couldn't leave without
having a taste himself. Besides that he was just overwhelmingly curious, both
about what dragon tasted like (After all, when else would he get another chance
to try dragon meat?) and about the newcomers, who looked pretty savage now with
the blood of the beast running down their chins.
The tallest Irkens in the group got together, talking to each other in whispers
while the smaller ones perched on top of the body, staring outright at him.
Finally, four of the tallest advanced upon Dib cautiously, holding spears out
defensively.
Dib held up his hands, trying to convey that he meant no harm to them. It was
pretty scary for a moment - He couldn't kill them, so if they decided to attack
him, he was pretty much a sitting duck. But when they saw his motion, they
stopped, and whispered to each other again for a moment. One of them then
retreated back to the carcass, grabbed inside the dragon's singed mouth, and
cut off the end of the serpentine tongue.
He carried the charred chunk of tongue back to Dib, and held it out for him.
Dib raised an eyebrow at the offering, but Orby quickly nudged him from behind
and advised, "I would eat that if I were you, Dib. You don't want to offend the
Natives. This is a very rare occasion, for them to treat you as an equal and
offer to share food with you. Getting on their good side is your best chance
for survival right now."
Dib nodded and reached for the meat, noticing for a moment that his mostly
green hands had some patches of his pale peach skin showing through. The paint
was resistant, but after over a month of exposure and sweat and scuffs, it was
beginning to slowly chip away. He tried to ignore it, though he was sure the
Irkens hadn't, and took the chunk of flesh.
It was burned on the outside, but it was still mostly raw on the inside.
Besides that it was pretty hard to forget that it was a tongue. But Dib was
hungry enough to get over it, and he forced himself to take a big bite out of
the flesh. It was tough and chewy and bloody, but it didn't taste all that bad.
Dib had caught and cooked some snakes along the way, and it mostly tasted like
snake meat, but with just a hint of beefy flavor to it. It also turned out to
be kind of spicy, but Dib didn't mind the slight burn to his tongue. He was
actually quite fond of spicy foods, so he kept on eating it.
In their foreign language, the taller aliens spoke among themselves, "Whoa,
he's actually eating it! It doesn't burn his tongue?"
"What a weird creature. It looks like he's part Irken, but he's gotta be
something else too..."
"He seems civil to Irkens, though. Plus he's tall and fierce, and he took down
a dragon without even touching it!"
Dib listened to them as they spoke, noting a few words he'd heard before. It
wasn't either the Inner or Outer Irken he'd learned from Yoogli and Zim, but it
was quite similar. So, experimentally, he slowly raised a hand in greeting and
mumbled, "Vashla...?"
The Irkens looked at him very strangely at that. One of them finally piped up
to the others, "Why did he say he stinks...?"
"Well, I guess he kinda does, a little? Maybe he's just self-conscious about it
and thought we should know...?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
All was black. Zim was unconscious. But then his body began to shake, and his
eyes shot open to find the familiar but still terrifying purple glow staring
back at him. "Hey Zim. There's some kind of weird, cockroach-rat thing eating
your vitamins." Gaz informed him in an almost-interested tone.
"EH!?" Zim immediately scrambled up and stalked over to the Roach-rat, and
kicked it away. Then he proceeded to stomp on it a few times out of anger. Once
it was dead, he cocked his head at it, and then with a shrug, he picked it up
and began to gnaw on it.
Gaz snorted in amusement. "Man that's gross."
Zim shrugged again, glancing down at the carcass. "Nah, what's -really- gross
is that this thing was pregnant."
She shook the robot's head. "You're right, that IS really gross. So, is this
what you do for fun around here?"
"Basically." Zim replied neutrally. "Did you come here just to be a bitch-
monster about it?"
"Basically." Gaz answered evenly. "But I can leave if you really don't want me
here-"
"NO!" Zim immediately amended in a bit of a panic. "Don't go." He added a bit
more calmly. "I'm bored... To be honest I kinda wish you hadn't told me about
GIR so soon. It'd be nice to have him around just for the entertainment."
"Ugh. You dummy. You were controlling him the whole time! You can do it again
if you want to."
"I can?" Zim's eyes went wide for a second, but then he looked away in
disappointment. "Right, when -you're- not controlling him. It wouldn't be the
same anymore now that I know it's just me talking to myself..."
"It's EXACTLY the same, because it was you talking to yourself all along!" Gaz
argued back, getting annoyed. "It's really not as big a deal as you're making
it out to be, Zim. So you had an imaginary friend when you were young. A lot of
kids from a lot of different species do that. It was real to you because it was
a part of you, and it still is, just the same way that the squee that beats in
your chest cavity is the same squee that beat within you when you were a smeet,
even though your body is completely different than it was then. Only this time,
it's your state of mind that changed."
Zim stopped eating and blinked for a moment. "That's actually pretty deep.
Corny, but deep..."
"It's the truth, nothing more, nothing less." Gaz responded almost robotically.
Zim sighed. "So then, what SHOULD I do to pass the time in here? Since you're
only going to grace me with your presence for a short while." He added
sarcastically.
Gaz pondered over the question seriously for a moment. "...You ever try
masturbating?"
She of course chose to say that just as Zim was taking another bite, and she
watched in more than a bit of amusement as he choked on it for a minute. "Oh
you FILTHY-!"
"Yeah, it can be a little messy." Gaz went on impartially. "But I'm just
saying, it's a fun way to kill the time. I do it sometimes, and Dib used to do
it ALL the time..."
Zim's cheeks went red and he looked away from her. "Actually, I think I WOULD
like you to leave now." Her words were uncomfortable enough, but now they were
bringing up the memories of the noises Dib had made that one night when he'd
touched his lekku, and that was making Zim twice as uncomfortable.
Gaz chuckled darkly. "Sorry, not sorry. Destroying your innocence it just too
much fun, Zim. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you next time, okay?"
"...That actually makes me worry -more-."
"I know. Heheheheh... HAHAHA-" Gaz's terrifying laugh suddenly cut off, and
GIR's body fell to the ground.
Zim stared at the robot for a moment, concentrating on it. After a moment or
two, the grey eyes flickered blue, and then it got up and saluted at him. "HIYA
MASTER! Do you need a huuuug~?"
Zim gave it a half-smile and shook his head. "No, it's okay GIR. I was just
checking on you. You can go back to sleep mode."
"OKIE-DOKIE!" It waved for a moment, then stopped mid-wave and fell over again.
Zim went back to eating his pregnant roach-rat before the innards got cold.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The Native Irkens were nomadic, Dib soon realized. It wasn't safe to stay in
any one place on Irk for long, but they did hold some semblance of control over
certain territories, and guarded them fiercely. There were some large lizards
and snakes that would sometimes try to prey on them, but there was strength in
numbers, and for every Irken they lost, they always took one back from the
enemies.
Dib went on his way, but the Irkens followed after him. It was hard to say why
- They might not have trusted him at first, but after a few days they began
trading words with Dib, and in just over a month Dib had their language
mastered too.
The hybrid noticed that they seemed to have a similar height-based hierarchy as
the Neo-Irkens, but it wasn't nearly as strict or ridiculous, in fact it was
pretty fair - The taller Native-Irkens did not subjugate their shorter
brethren, in fact they were quite fond and doting on them, and protected them
ferociously against attack. The shorter ones protected them in turn and
pampered them as thanks for their service.
Once Dib learned the language, he realized that it was like a form of elder
respect. Not every short Irken was young, but Irkens never got that tall
without being given enough time to grow. The taller Irkens protected the
shorter ones so they might have a chance to grow as tall as them someday and
protect the clan too.
Dib grew even more fond of them than the little lizards he'd bonded with
before, as they had many similarities. The Native-Irkens slept longer than Neo-
Irkens, but they took turns while they slept to protect each other. One group
would sleep in a pile to keep each other warm, while another group would stand
in a circle around them and stand guard. If a predator approached, they'd alert
the others to fight. It didn't happen very often though - Irkens were even
scarier when they were woken up early from their well-deserved sleep.
The Natives of course noticed when more and more of his green skin began to rub
away, but they didn't judge him too harshly because of it. They seemed to be
much less prejudiced than their 'advanced' cousins in general, and were only
glad to keep Dib around for extra protection. Something was almost always
attacking them, and with so many little Zim-like cuties running around, it came
naturally to Dib to want to protect them too. It also gave him lots of
opportunities to practice his electrokinetic abilities, and he found it to be
easier and easier to summon each time he did it, until it eventually became
second-nature.
Once Dib was able to converse with them with ease, the eldest of the taller
Natives, a kindly matriarch named Daae, asked of him, "Where did you come
from?"
He'd grown to trust them, so Dib told them the truth. "I come from another
planet, far away from Irk. My mother was one of the Irkens who lived in the
Wall. She came to my planet and gave birth to me. Unfortunately she died soon
after. Then another Irken came to my planet, and we eventually became friends.
I came here with my Irken friend, but the Neo-Irkens put him in jail and
banished me here. Now I'm just trying to find my way back to him, and get us
out of here."
A smaller Irken, a clingy, affectionate male named Meem, asked him slyly, "Are
you suuure you're just friends with this Irken? That seems like an awful lot of
trouble to go through..."
"Hush, Meem! You can really be so rude." His serious sister Kana scolded him,
but then she gently nudged Dib's elbow. "But, are you just friends...?"
Dib blushed a little. He'd caught Kana looking at him in a peculiar way
sometimes, and now he had a good idea why. Best to nip that in the bud, for
both their sake. "Well, to be honest... I actually think I love him." He
confessed.
Kana looked a little disappointed, but she got over it quickly - Dib was sure
she would, she was much stronger than her size suggested. A taller Irken male
named Hyak then gave him a hearty slap on the back, and then slung his arm
around his beloved only mate, a shorter female named Pat. "Aha! I knew it!
That's wonderful! The feeling of your squee pounding when you're around the
Irken you love - That's the best thing in the world!"
Daae nodded and reached over to put her hand on her own mate's shoulder. She'd
once had two mates, but unfortunately one of them had died the year before.
"Yes, it is. And being away from the Irkens you love, that's the worst thing in
the world. Dib - We support you. We wouldn't normally approach the Wall, though
we have always welcomed any Irken who was banished from there, as rare as that
may be. But we will follow you there and do what we can to help you, just as
you have done all you can to help us."
Dib was truly touched. The Natives were nomadic, but they didn't have to follow
him and help him out the way they had. They had accepted him as he was without
question, protected him and warned him about all potential hazards they faced
together. The only time that they'd even said anything unkind to him was when
he'd eaten a spicy red chili pepper that they had insisted was inedible. Orby
said otherwise, so he gave it a try, which the Irkens apparently found to be
nauseating and painful to watch.
"Are you guys really sure you want to do that? It's dangerous out there, I
don't want anyone to get hurt or killed because of me..."
Kana rolled her eyes. "We'll all have to die someday, Dib. Better to live a
short, interesting life than a long, boring one."
Meem jumped around him and shook him by the shoulders, "Yeah, yeah! Everybody
wants to go an adventure like this at least once in their lives!"
Dib smiled warmly back at them. He couldn't argue with that - After all, that
was how he'd gotten just where he was in the first place.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 15 *****
Conspiracy
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib and the taller Natives had been peeling some spiky, pink Irken plums for
their lunch, when the scream of a smeet echoed through the trees, making them
drop their fruit in shock. The Natives normally kept together for protection,
but a group of females had just given birth to a new generation, and it was
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep the hyperactive little green-
beans under complete control.
The clan sprung into action at once, clawing their way into the trees and
sprinting from one to the next until they found smeet in distress, and the
thing that was distressing it. The smeet had climbed into a hollow and clawed
its way up inside of it a few feet, but the beast that was chasing it had seen
it and followed it, and now had it's head snouting around inside the tree,
trying to find the niblet.
The Natives leaped on top of the beast and swarmed around it. Dib didn't even
have to pitch in at all this time, they were more savage than ever when
protecting their smeet. They collective tore the beast apart so fast that Dib
couldn't be sure what it had even looked like before they got a hold of it.
He whistled, impressed with the blood-thirst, until he heard a pitifully sad,
raspy mewl from behind him. He turned around to see a much smaller version of
the dragon that was currently being consumed alive by the piranha-like Irkens.
Smaller, but still just as tall and formidable as the human himself, so Dib at
first held out a spear he'd been gifted by the tribe defensively.
But he soon realized that the dragon, which was indeed green in color, four-
legged, and wingless, was not looking at him at all. It was looking at its
mother, which was now quite dead, with pained red eyes. The look in those eyes
and the similarity in color to the Irkens made Dib sympathize with it,
especially when it passed him and he noticed that its legs were covered in
something slimy and sticky, and there was a bit of white shell sticking to the
back left foot.
'Tek et smeet...' Dib thought in his new Native tongue. Just a baby.
Carefully, he stepped in front of the little dragon to obscure his view of the
gruesome scene. "Don't look, little guy. You don't want to see this..." He
insisted, covering its eyes with his arms. The mother hadn't yet had the time
to teach it to be ferocious, so it didn't fight against Dib's embrace. It was
probably why the huge beast had been so quick to attack the tiny Irken smeet -
He had probably gotten too close to the nest.
The baby lowered its head and continued to whine, until the Natives had
finished with the carcass of the mother and turned on it. Daae approached them
first, "Step away now, Dib. We need to kill that one too."
Dib was silent at first, and he didn't step away. "...You don't NEED to..."
Daae raised a brow in confusion, then let out an irritated sigh. "Dib, what on
Irk are you saying? Of course we need to! That thing isn't going to get any
smaller you know!"
"He's just a smeet! A meebee!" Newborn, and he pointed to the piece of shell to
prove it. "He's a clean slate. We could tame him!"
"TAME a DRAGON?" Daae, and several other Natives, gasped in shock, awe and
utter disbelief.
Kana came forward, wiping the blood off her naked chest. "Dib, no offense, but
I really don't think such a thing is possible..."
"I bet that's what they said to the first person who suggested you tame a
Jurq." He countered fairly.
The Natives did not keep very many pets or domesticated animals, but one of
their staples was the eggs of the Jurq, a bird that was typically as tall as
the taller Irkens, and looked like a cross between an ostrich and a green
parrot, with a crest of pink feathers on top of its head and a pink, hooked
beak. One of their huge eggs could feed several Irkens, and they had been
taught to crack nuts open with their beaks for them too. It was awfully useful
to keep a small herd around, but there were times when the birds got testy, and
Dib could definitely see why they called them 'Jurqs'.
He could see he had scored a point, and the dragon hatchling still had yet to
harm the human in any way. In fact, it was now burrowing its head against Dib's
chest, while the human stroked it's smooth, scaly neck. Then he heard a gurgle
coming from the baby's stomach, so he reached into a pouch by his side, pulled
out a strip of dried snake jerky and offered it to the dragon-smeet.
It immediately snatched it up and ate it, and the Irkens tensed up watched the
exchange, sure that the creature would now take a bite out of the hand that fed
it. But instead, the baby merely licked the remaining salt off of Dib's hand,
and mewled for more.
"Aw, come on guys." Dib insisted, "He seems pretty nice to me..."
Daae rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Fine, we'll see how this works
out. But YOU are going to clean up any messes it makes!"
The matriarch usually wouldn't indulge such nonsense, but Dib managed to amuse
her more than he frustrated her. He was such a strange being. From how tall he
was, one would think he was quite old. But really, he acted like such a smeet
sometimes!
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Zim didn't exactly take Gaz's crude suggestion to heart, but he did have a lot
of time to think. At first he had tried not to think about Dib - It was too
painful to consider what might have happened to him. But after a while, he had
thought about nearly everything else, so Dib was the only thing left to think
of. Zim thought about the fights they'd had, the pranks they'd pulled, and had
himself a good chuckle now and again.
And of course, he couldn't help but think about that one particular night more
than a few times as well. It made him feel tingly in his spooch, and although
he never touched himself, he indulged in his thoughts and the feelings they
produced. One day, he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the
guards switching shifts, until Pepi had to throw a vitamin at his head to get
his attention.
"Hey, wake up!" She whispered, throwing another at him until he growled and
looked up at her. She tossed the rest of them in and then sat down next to the
cell. "Sorry, just making sure you weren't dead. You kinda smell like you
are..." She explained in an irritated tone.
Zim popped one of the vitamins into his mouth and washed it down with the dirty
water from the one faucet he had in his cell, which he had to use for both
drinking and cleaning. It wasn't very effective, but Pepi was usually nice
enough not to mention it. Apparently she was short on manners today. "What's
your problem?" Zim asked her, just as grouchy.
The taller female sighed. "...Sorry. I'm just not feeling too good today..."
"Well, why?" Zim pressed. They usually didn't speak to each other very much.
Zim might ask her a few random questions just to fill up the time, but they had
to keep quiet so as not to alert the guards, so most of the time he just
enjoyed her presence in silence.
Pepi paused, not sure if she should tell him at first. But the information
weighed on her, and she felt like she had to tell someone, or else she would
surely explode. "Tallest Red... He gave me another job..." She told him very
quietly. "I can't say what it is exactly, so don't bother asking. I just... I'm
really not sure I can do it. I MUST do it, though. I'm the only one who can
now. Shala was supposed to do it, but Purple must have suspected her, because
he had her banished. Red was so mad about that..."
"Why don't you think you can do it? A direct order from the Tallest is an
honor, you should be eager to accomplish it." Zim pointed out like a patriot.
"I am..." Pepi replied quite seriously, and Zim stared as a dark look came over
her features. "I'm just not sure if I can pull it off... Shala has always been
a fighter. But I am a healer, and always have been. It's not in my nature to...
To..."
Zim suddenly had an idea of what she was talking about now, and he quickly
shushed her. "Stop. Don't say any more. I understand..." He sighed and
scratched his head. Another roach-rat had bitten him in his sleep and now there
was an itchy bump there. "It's not going to be easy, but you can do it... Just,
do it quick. Don't let yourself think about it. Do it and get it over with."
She nodded at his advice. If anyone would know what she was going through now,
it would be Zim...
They spent the rest of their time together in silence after that, except for
once extra question that came to Zim shortly before she had to leave. "Hey, by
the way, I've always wondered - Does it hurt when you females curl your lekku
like that?"
"Of course it hurts. It hurts like hell."
"Well, then, why do you do it?"
She gave him a steely look and then rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Typical
male..." She grumbled. Zim didn't bother to correct her.
The guards switched shifts shortly thereafter, and Pepi ducked out. However,
this time, someone had taken notice of her. The last guard didn't say anything
about it at first, and let her leave without apprehending her, but she had
heard everything.
Tak grinned and almost even skipped down the hall in her excitement.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
One normally had to request an audience with the Tallest if you were not
directly summoned by them, but Tak was determined to get to Purple first before
anyone else found out what that stupid, brown-eyed blabbermouth was up to. So
she shirked her duties and stalked Purple outside of his usual frequented
spaces until she finally caught him coming out of his favorite donut shop.
"My Tallest!" She immediately ran up to him and saluted. "Please forgive the
intrusion, but I have something very important to discuss with you!"
Purple looked down on her derisively and didn't even bother swallowing his
mouthful of donut before interrupting her, spitting crumbs all over her face.
"Oh geez, you're not asking for a promotion AGAIN, are you Tak - You know,
you're lucky I even gave you a job back here guarding Zim and doing janitor
work, in MY private quarters! The honor! Even though YOU failed the last
mission I gave you, to capture Zim back on planet Tegma!"
She ignored the crumbs on her face, though she raised her hands to avoid more,
and to try and pacify the taller Irken. "I know my Tallest, but please-"
He cut her off again, "No, Tak, I actually think you DON'T know! You don't seem
to GET how very SMALL you still are! You're just barely tall enough to even
qualify to work for me - Heck I think even ZIM is a little bit taller than you!
That's pretty sad! You just don't get anywhere in life unless you're TALL, Tak!
And you are so very SHORT! That's just how it is! You need to accept it and
stop bothering me, or else I might just banish you back to planet Dirt!
Understand?!" He actually reached down and poked her on the forehead with his
half-eaten donut.
She stared at him, her face unreadable yet silently seething like a dragon
gathering flame in its gullet underneath. But then she suddenly went calm,
doused her rage, stepped back and bowed very low to her 'leader'. There was
true and honest respect in that bow, too. Purple didn't know it, but he had
just changed both of their lives forever.
"You are absolutely right, my Tallest~..." She replied in the sweetest tone her
throat could manage to cough up.
Purple merely grunted back at her before walking away, followed by his group of
guards, Irkens and miniature Control Brains. None of which apparently noticed
when one of the mini-CBs strayed behind and approached Tak.
It spoke to her in a voice that sounded very much like her own, only slightly
deeper and older. "Follow us into this alley, Irken Tak. We would like to
discuss something with you..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The first few weeks the dragon-smeet, which the clan nicknamed Dag, would
follow Dib everywhere and wouldn't let any of the other Irkens touch him. It
was understandable, considering what it had witnessed, but it wouldn't even
accept food from anyone but the human. Eventually Dib encouraged him to let a
few of the braver Natives touch him, and it finally got to the point where a
few Irkens, particularly Daae, Hyak and Kana, were able to feed him too. As
soon as they allowed themselves to bond with the creature, it bonded back,
until it apparently considered itself part of the tribe too.
After a while it even began to act somewhat like a watchdog for them. If it
sensed a predator nearby, it would hiss and growl in the general direction,
giving the clan precious extra time to get away. By all means, they would have
done just fine without Dag, but it didn't hurt at all to have him around.
At long last, exactly eight months and a day after Dib had first been thrown
into the sea, he began to see the great magenta walls of the Neo-Irken Capitol
in the distance. Predators were much scarcer around it, and Dag refused to go
near it. After being in the wild open for so long, it wasn't hard for Dib to
figure out why. Irkens were much more self-conscious about polluting than
Earthlings, but they did their fair share, and Dib could smell it. The Natives
were reluctant to follow for the same reason.
But Dib assured them that they didn't need to go any further. He had gotten as
far as he had with their help, but he wouldn't allow them to endanger the
health of their smeets going any further. Daae acknowledged his decision and
reluctantly agreed with it, and after the tribe sent him off with their
blessings, he and Orby went on alone into the miasma of Neo-Irken 'society'.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Tak flew her new Spittle Runner, which she'd thankfully been gifted -before-
the failed fiasco with Zim on Tegma, outside of the Capitol and into the
Badlands. On a few rare occasions, she would sometimes visit the untamed lands
where her ancestors resided, to take in the scenery and think in (relative)
peace.
But peace was not hers to be had tonight. She was deep in thought over the
proposition that the Control Brain had brought to her. On one hand, she was
being offered everything she never even knew she wanted, more than she ever
could have dreamed of. On the other hand, she had to -help- ZIM to achieve
it... It was actually a pretty tough choice.
She landed the ship on the ground in the midst of a circlet of trees, and then
sighed into her hands with her elbows on the dash as she stared out at the
scenery. The lavender moon was out that night. It was her favorite Irken moon,
and always had a strangely calming effect on her.
That was, until, a sight from the corner of her eyes shocked her out of her
tranquility. "No way. NO WAY..." She snarled to herself, staring out the ship's
window at the all-too-familiar creature that was standing just about a hundred
feet away from her. It was the human. He was... ALIVE?!
At first her mind couldn't even process it, she literally could not believe her
eyes. Though she'd never before dared to get out of the ship when on one of her
outings before, she was too overwhelmingly curious to resist this time.
Dib had been staring up at the wall, thinking up all kinds of crazy plans on
how to get in, when Tak appeared in the corner of his vision as well. His
senses honed, he immediately snapped his head towards her, and they shared a
mutual glare. Orby pointed a laser at her for good measure, but she ignored the
robot.
"How come you're not inside the wall?" Dib demanded.
"How come you're not DEAD?" Tak countered.
Dib continued to glare, but then he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Good question.
Sheer dumb luck would be my guess."
Dumb luck. It was the only explanation that made sense to Tak, but it still
didn't, and she resented him for it. At the same time though, she couldn't help
but also be impressed with the human hybrid, though she would of course never
admit it. She had scoffed at his claims of sharing Irken DNA when she'd first
heard about it, but how else could the stink-beast have possibly survived the
wild Irken territory? She also recalled how he and his sister-beast had so
easily resisted her mind-control abilities as children - There was no other way
they could have done so, she was sure.
It might also explain why she secretly had such a strange affinity to the
children back then, as much as she was able to anyways. Admittedly it was
mostly to piss Zim off, but she remembered listening to the boy's strange tales
with some amusement. And his sister... Tak could tell she was powerful, and she
respected power.
He seemed to be remembering the same things, and he mentioned, "Uh... Sorry
about hitting you back then, on Tegma... I just really didn't want you or the
others hurting Zim..."
She glared intensely at him. "Any Irken warrior worth a lick could take one of
your flimsy punches, human. I'm FAR more enraged at what you did to my SHIP."
"Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry about that too. But, it looks like you got a new one?" He
pointed at the vessel behind her. "Looks pretty cool!"
She didn't look back. "THAT is the only reason I didn't rip my beautiful craft
right off of Zim's stupid, ugly clunker myself! That, and..." She narrowed her
eyes and stared at him hard, considering.
"And...?" Dib repeated, raising a brow at her.
She crossed her arms, and temporarily changed the subject. "...I suppose you're
now trying to find a way to get Zim out of prison and get him out of here?" Dib
nodded mutely, and Tak went on, "Well... What if I said I could actually help
you out with that?"
"I'd be REALLY suspicious and think you were trying to trick me." Dib replied
right away. "Why would -you- WANT to do that?"
"BECAUSE." Tak hissed back at him. "I HATE you two so much, I want you FAR away
from me and my planet! And lets just say, DIB, that I know the perfect time for
you two to make a getaway attempt, and that I could help you get to Zim's cell
and back to your mutant ship undetected? What would you say to THAT?"
"...What do YOU want, Tak. That's the bottom line here. I believe you - I just
don't believe you're willing to do it without a motive of your own. So what do
you want?"
Her spider-legs shot out of her PAK and she advanced on the human, her eyes
level with his in seconds. "...You will take Zim, and you will take him FAR
AWAY from here. That is ALL I want, and as long as you do that, I'll never
concern myself with you OR Zim ever again. But, if you two ever return to this
planet again, I will NOT rest until you are DEAD."
Dib wasn't so sure if she was capable of that threat, but he knew that she
truly meant it. He slowly nodded and held out a hand to shake upon the
agreement, but she slapped it away. "Keep yourself alive until the Blue Moon,
and then I'll come and get you. Do NOT foul this up."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 16 *****
Escape
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib stayed just outside of the miasma until the night before the Blue Moon,
then he traveled back in, hoping that Tak hadn't decided to go back on her
word. He waited anxiously for a few hours until her ship finally came in view,
and then he waved her down.
She made him spray himself with a disinfectant before getting on the ship, and
even then she snarled as he passed through the threshold, as if the sanctity of
the ship was compromised by just him being there.
"Alright human, listen up." She began right away, not letting him comment on
anything, just getting right to the point. Dib was just fine with that - Just
because they were working together didn't make them friends, after all. "The
disguises Zim made for you were disgustingly pathetic and I can't even conceive
how they fooled anyone. -I- will NOT be putting my reputation, not to mention
my status, on the line helping you without a PROPER disguise."
She led him to her disguise-creator, which Dib could tell was a much more
advanced piece of machinery than Zim's. This one was much less clunky by far.
It only had to scan Dib and then it produced a small disc, which Tak clipped
inside of the collar of Dib's new Irken uniform. The disc then created a
hologram illusion to cover Dib's obvious human ears and nose. His eyes she'd
made almost her exact shade of purple.
She informed him afterward, "You'll need to crouch down a couple of inches the
entire time you walk inside the city, and I'm going to disguise your legs as
Vortian to cover up the strange walk, and why someone your height is doing such
menial work. If anyone asks, you are an Irken-Vortian Hybrid named Dim. I've
temporarily hacked you into the system with this identity." She didn't mention
that doing such a thing would be insanely difficult if not impossible to do
without help from the Control Brain itself.
Dib glared at her stupid choice of name, but she went on, not caring, "Now,
first of all, we are going to sneak your stupid ball-thing onto your ship, and
then we will go to Zim's cell to retrieve him. By then I will be expected
elsewhere promptly, so you will have to get Zim back to your ship and get out
of here on your own after that. Make sure you remember the layout the first
time around, because I'm not going to give you a map, and there are none posted
around the ship. The Irkens who belong here are expected to know where they're
going."
Dib nodded in understanding, and Tak continued, "By the time we get to Zim,
something will have happened that will send all the other Irkens into a panic.
They'll be looking for a brown-eyed female. Just pretend you guys are busy
looking for her too, and nobody will care where you're really going."
Again Dib nodded, and swallowed hard against his throat. He was nervous, but he
was also terribly excited. Orby had reminded him earlier of his time limit to
get back to Earth, and it was much shorter now, but he was confident they could
make it. One year - If they avoided all distractions, they could get there in
about six months. So the extra six months was a decent cushion for any other
unavoidable distractions there might be.
But first they had to get the hell out of Irk.
Tak constantly checked the time, several times, until she finally indicated to
Dib exactly when they had to go. She was playing her cards very carefully, and
Dib of course did the same, but he was pretty much ready for anything. He had
been playing with his own mortality since he first arrived on this planet after
all, what was one more time gonna do that dragons and dinosaurs and all manners
of horrible giant creatures hadn't managed yet?
She led him out of her ship at the jail when it came time to do her rounds
there, so close to the time when she knew that Tallest Purple would soon be
receiving a massage from Irken Pepi...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Pepi was more nervous than she'd ever been in her entire life. All forty-two
cycles of it. She wasn't far from completing her 43rd, but she knew she'd never
make it. Once she was caught for this, she was as good as dead.
She knew that really wasn't the biggest issue at hand. If Purple succeeded in
changing things back to the way they were before, potentially billions of
Irkens might lose their lives. Not just the intersex Irkens either, but also
the Hybrids, which would eventually trace back to her. Brown-eyed Irkens were
all descended from Vortians far back enough. They were accepted only because of
the height increase they brought to the Irken gene pool. But those that still
had their brown Vortian eyes like her were ridiculed for it constantly.
It wasn't wise to speak out about it, though. Pepi had heard about her feisty
half-sister Gazlene once giving Tallest Red a shiner for making fun of her
eyes, but that had never been Pepi's nature. Let alone this...
No matter how she felt about it though, she had to do it. If she didn't, she
would eventually be killed anyways, just like all the tallest Vortians had been
when planet Vort was conquered. They couldn't be allowed to spread their
superior height DNA to other species. After all, they might not be as
accommodating to the Irken race as the Vortians had been.
The Irken female jumped as the door to her massage room swooshed open, and
Purple stepped in. She bowed low to him and waited as he sauntered in,
stretching his arms with a yawn, "You wouldn't believe the day I've had! I
mean, of course you wouldn't, you're just a lowly massage slave - But let me
tell you, us Tallest sure have a lot on our plates!"
Pepi thought to herself, keeping her head down while Purple began to disrobe
and step up into the massage table, 'You'll have much less to deal with soon
enough...'
Her venomous thoughts didn't make her feel any braver, but she had committed
herself long ago to Red, and now that he had asked her to do this, she was
committed to this too. Even if he didn't love her the way she and so many other
Irkens loved him, she was still loyal to him and his cause.
"Hey!" Purple wiggled his two fingers at her from the table. "What are you
waiting for? I'm ready, in case you hadn't noticed! Get your freakish four-
fingered hands over here already, I'm getting cold! I only hired you because I
was told you were the best massage slave in the Capitol, but if your bedside
manner starts to decline, I can easily have you replaced!"
"Forgive me, my Tallest." Pepi replied neutrally, not bothering to explain why
she was so distracted. She approached the Tallest Purple, who had removed not
only his clothes, but also his PAK, for the massage. "Please allow me to rid
you of all your stress..."
'And all of your other sensations too, you pompous son of a slime-monster...'
She thought.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
After dropping off Orby in the storage cell where the Dual Ship and various
other contraband was held, Tak led him through the numerous prison cells,
explaining to the only person who asked that Dib was a new recruit. The
superior, a red-eyed genderless who was only about four inches taller than Tak,
gave Dib's legs a look of disgust. "Ugh. Hybrids make me sick..."
Tak smiled sweetly back at him, "Yes, I know. I'll never understand why the
rule is to only punish the Irken parent. I think we should throw away their
freak-smeets too. But I guess some Irkens must like keeping them as pets."
Dib kept his rage in check as Tak and her equally awful coworker shared a curt
laugh, and then Tak led 'Dim' further into the jail, to the very furthest cell
in the very back of the structure. When they relieved the last guard of his
duty, Tak once again explained that Dib was a new recruit, and that she'd be
showing him the ropes during her shift. Just glad for his own shift to be over,
the last Irken guard skipped away from Zim's cell and left it in their hands.
As soon as the last guard had left, Dib was antsy to go in and see Zim, but Tak
held him back. "I told you DIM, we have a very strict time pattern we have to
abide by! -I- will tell you -exactly- when you can go in!"
Dib huffed impatiently, "Well how much longer?"
Tak once again checked the time for the hundredth time that day. "...Fourteen
minutes exactly."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Pepi started off Purple massage the same way she always did at first. Her
'freakish' four-fingered hands were the best kind of hands for this kind of
work, and it was this kind of work that she'd always enjoyed most. It was just
her luck that her talents and her tallness got the attention of the Irken
elite, and she eventually found her job contract owned by this particular
asshole.
But asshole or not, she wanted one last chance to enjoy her work. The way
muscles melted underneath her padded fingers - These so-called 'trueblooded'
Irkens sneered in disgust at them, even though four-fingered mutations did
occur with them sometimes, even without a Hybrid involved, which was more often
than they would admit anyways. She reminded herself that most of their bony
little three-fingered hands were not capable of doing what hers could, and took
pride in that. She could meld flesh into it's proper shape, make normally
silent and stoic Irkens sigh with relief, maybe even purr. She could cure
various ailments by simply touching a body. That had been her gift.
But now, she had to give up her gift, and everything else, for her people, for
Red - The only good thing Purple had ever brought to her life. Purple liked to
think Red disrespected the Irkens he romanced, but it was never not
reciprocated. In fact it was Purple that always made her feel ashamed, like a
'whore', with how he demanded her services. Purple had demanded her strict
loyalty, but she had freely given it to Red instead. To keep him and all the
many Irkens they held dear safe, she had to make this sacrifice. Now.
She gave neither him nor even herself any indication of what she was about to
do. She was literally massaging him in the same way she always did one second,
and in the next, she had taken her hands back, released her spider-legs from
her PAK, and sent the pointed ends of each one of them straight through his
back and out his chest.
Purple's eyes and mouth went wide. Shaking, he looked up at her over his
shoulder, and her eyes, cold as gold, met his. He was confused, but it only
lasted a second. He let out a short, piercing cry of shock before she jerked
the spider-legs out of his body. One of them had gone right through his heart,
which was now spurting violet blood all over the massage table, and dripping
onto the floor. The confusion in his eyes left him, along with all other traces
of life.
Purple's PAK registered his death as soon as it occurred, and set off an alarm
that blared throughout the entire compound. Panic set in and Pepi made a break
for the door, but it had been sealed shut. She took a few deep breaths to calm
herself, and then sat down on the floor. She knew this might happen, that it
probably would. It was much more frightening now to be faced with the reality,
but she accepted it.
The doors suddenly swooshed open though, and her head jerked up to see who was
coming. She was sure that it was a group of guards to arrest her, that they had
arrived even quicker than she expected, but it actually wasn't. In fact, there
wasn't anyone there.
Confused, she got up and started to toe her way out the door, when she was
abruptly grabbed and dragged underneath what she realized was a reflective
blanket. The wearer whispered in her ear as he pulled her along, "Red sent me
to get you out of here. Keep low, keep quiet, and keep out of everyone's way,
and we might be able to pull that off..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Tak opened the door to Zim's cell exactly thirteen minutes later, and though he
really felt like pushing her out of the way, Dib let her go in first, just in
case she felt like trapping him in there herself. He still was inclined to
believe that it had to be some kind of a trap, until he got further into the
cell and finally saw Zim.
He looked pretty terrible, Dib realized with no small amount of shame. It
wasn't as if he could have gotten there any faster, but he still felt bad
looking at the little alien - Who was looking a lot littler than usual, too.
His cheeks and stomach were sunken in, and his arms and legs were disgustingly
bony.
When Zim first spotted them, he wasn't as glad as Dib expected him to be at
first, "EH? Who are you! What do you want!"
Dib temporarily shut off the hologram and gave his best friend a grin, "Hey,
chill out, space boy! I'm here to save your ass and bust you outta here!"
Zim's eyes went wide as donuts, and his mouth fell open. He had taken Gaz's
advice and kept believing that Dib would come for him, but it was mostly just
to keep himself from falling into complete despair. Now that he could see him
for himself, right in front of his eyes, it filled him with so much hope and
joy he could barely keep it contained. "Dib... Is it... -Really- you...?" He
asked in a slightly squeaky voice.
Dib continued to grin, "Yeah, it's really me..."
Tak didn't have the time or patience for their tearful reunion, and she cut it
short there. "Continue your disgusting emotional exchange somewhere else! We
have a schedule to adhere to, remember human?"
Zim growled distrustfully as he noticed the purple-eyed female. "What is SHE
doing here?"
"She's helping us get out." Dib explained shortly, distracted now that she had
taken out a few laser tools and began to cut through Zim's cell with them. She
had just barely gotten enough of the bars off for Zim to pass through when a
loud, shrill alarm went off. Dib jumped at first, looking over at Tak in
confusion.
"It's not the prison alarm." Tak assured him, "I neutralized the alarms to
Zim's cell. That a different alarm - It means one of the Tallest is in danger.
Tallest Purple, to be exact. I'm guessing he should be dead by now. It also
means that I need to go, now - Here." She pinned another holographic disguise
creator into Zim's shirt, which when activated made him look almost exactly
like Tak, only without her psionic implant. "Now you two hurry and get back to
your freak ship before the panic dies down - And do NOT forget our deal, DIB."
With one last glare at the human, Tak slipped out of the cell and ran off to
who knows where, leaving the two alien boys alone. Zim looked at Dib
quizzically at first, "What deal?"
But Dib shook his head as he turned his disguise back on, "No time - I'll tell
you when we get the hell out of here. Lets go!"
Zim only paused for one thing - To grab the broken-looking GIR, before he
followed Dib back out the way he'd come. He didn't have any trouble remembering
which way to go, but it was a lot harder to navigate with all the Irkens going
crazy, pushing their way past or ahead of them, some of them screaming, some of
them barking orders and trying to establish order, but all in vain. Murders
were rare enough among Irkens, but the murder of a Tallest was something else
entirely.
So that he wouldn't lose him in the crowd, Dib reached behind him and took
Zim's hand in his. Zim growled a little and looked around nervously to make
sure no one was staring at the odd display, but it was obviously just for show
- No one was looking for two random purple-eyed Irkens in all the current
craziness, and Zim didn't just not take his hand back, he even squeezed Dib's a
little in return as he followed him.
Dib eventually found their way out of the jail and then led them westward,
where the building that had their Dual Ship stored was located. It had been
guarded by a few individuals when Tak snuck him and Orby in, but it was now
completely deserted in the current panic.
Dib took out the key that Tak had swiped for him earlier and made their way to
the correct storage unit. As soon as he opened the door, Zim let go of his hand
and pushed his way past the human, falling into the windshield and hugging it.
"My precious ship~"
"That's real cute, Zim." Dib rolled his eyes, hiding his jealousy. "But how are
we going to get that thing out of here? Somebody is bound to notice if we go
flying it out the front door..."
Zim waved off his concerns as he opened the hatch and got inside. Dib followed
him in confusion, noting along the way that none of the contents of the ship
had been touched - Probably because the Irkens assumed anything belonging to
Zim was cursed and to be avoided.
Zim started up the ship, and Dib was about to ask, "What are you do-?" But he
only got that far before Zim had turned the ship around, set his lasers to
'splode-mode', and shot a gigantic hole right through the wall. Dib stared in
disbelief. "...Wow. That is even LESS inconspicuous than driving this thing
right out the front door..."
Zim gave him a mad grin, "You're probably right... But I don't care!" He
exclaimed gleefully, the ship lurching forward as he drove it through the
newly-created hole in the wall.
Zim managed to navigate their way through the authority-cruisers that were
trying to police the many ships that went in and out of the wall all day, well
enough at least, until he tried to get through the top layer of the wall into
Outer Irk. Then they were flagged down by a persistent ship that demanded
contact with them.
An Irken who looked a lot like Zim, only with about 3 more inches of height and
a slightly longer head, appeared on their screen. "Halt! The Capitol is under a
state of emergency! No ships may leave without being cleared! You will be
thoroughly searched, no exceptions!"
Dib was annoyed and antsy to just get out of there. From the looks of it, all
the other ships that were trying to leave were being forbidden from doing so,
so he didn't feel like making time for it. He got a sudden crazy idea, and
decided to go with it, reaching over and turning Zim's holographic disguise
off. The Irkens all gasped in terror and recognition at the sight of the
Horrible Zim, even though there was a handful of Irkens in their ship that
looked almost just like him.
"Oh NO! It's ZIM!" One of his almost-twins cried.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE-!" A green eyed female panicked.
A teal-eyed sexless next to her added frightfully, "He put a SQUID in my
cousin's belly! I DON'T WANT A SQUID IN MY BELLY-!"
While the majority of the Irkens panicked and the leader tried and failed to
calm them and his own panic, Dib looked over at Zim oddly. "You put a -squid-
in someone's belly once...?"
Zim looked honestly confused at first, "What? I don't even remember doing
anything like that befo-OOH, wait, no, I remember now. WOW, that was a while
back though! I was still just a smeet back then, and come on, smeets put things
in each other's bellies all the time! I just happened to have a squid!"
Dib's confusion hadn't gone away. "Where did you get a squid-?" He began to
ask, but the teal-eyed Irken screamed after him.
"HE'S GOT A SQUID, I HEARD HIM-!"
The leader looked at Zim, his bravery cracking at the possibility of squids.
Dib nudged him and he blinked, "Huh-Oh, yes! SQUIDS! I have squids! Oh such
squids do I have! You, uh, can't see 'em because they're in the back, but trust
me, I got plenty of squids. Probably one for each of you. Mmyep."
"AAAAIIIEE-!" The communication line went dark.
Zim scratched his head. "...Well, good to catch up with old classmates! Now
lets get the spork out of here..."
Setting the ship's controls to hyper-speed, they shot out into space. They
didn't speak to each other again for the first few hours, focusing on putting a
good amount of space between themselves and all the remaining Irken ships that
were peppered throughout the current universe. Once they'd finally put most of
the Irken controlled territory behind them, Zim put the speed back to cruising
levels. Leaving it on hyper-speed too long used up too much gas, which they
didn't have much of, and decreased visibility and steering. He steered around
the big asteroids without any issues, but a few stray pebbles he hadn't managed
to miss had left some dents in the ship.
Dib finally spoke up first when he noticed that Zim seemed to have calmed down
a bit, his shoulders slouching back against his chair. "Hey, uh... Good to have
you back again." He mentioned quietly.
Zim didn't look back at him, but he answered shortly and distractedly. "Yeah,
same..."
Dib was about to go on, but Zim spoke up again suddenly, "I'm literally
starving right now. I'm going to go to my quarters, gorge on all the snacks I
have stashed away, take a long, hot shower, and have a very long nap in my
soft, warm, wonderful bed-that-is-actually-a-bed-and-not-a-hard-cold-floor. Do
not disturb me for at least 48 hours. I..." He bit his lip and forged on, "I
trust you to fly the ship in my stead while I bring myself back to health."
Dib gave him a small smile, and silently saluted. Zim nodded back and
disappeared into his quarters without another word.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 17 *****
A Learning Experience
(( A.N. PLEASE READ: Sorry for the long wait guys, but chapter 17 is finally
here! Just so you guys know, this chapter contains some very tart LEMONade, if
ya get my drift! The plot resumes next chapter, and man is it gonna be a
DOOZY... Just a reminder, it'd be best to read "Beneath the Stars" to get the
next chapter, especially chapter 3, 9, 10 and 11, the beginning and end of
chapter 12, and chapter 13, which are now all up! Now, without further ado~ ))
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib's job over the next 48 hours that Zim needed to himself basically consisted
of watching out for big rocks and making sure the ship didn't hit them. It was
boring as hell, and he was more antsy than usual. He was worried about Zim, but
he respected his need for solace. He was also worried about GIR, who obviously
wasn't looking as lively as usual.
He decided to ask Orby about it, since it was his only current companion. "What
do you think is wrong with GIR?"
Orby didn't look especially concerned about the state of the dull little robot.
"It looks like it's broken. Robots do occasionally break."
"Even you?" Dib asked, partially concerned, and partially just plain curious.
The Orb's glow turned red, and Dib could feel that the machine was actually
offended by that remark. "It's possible, but I do hope you're not suggesting
that the craftsmanship of that toy is in any way comparable to my own design."
Dib quickly shook his head, "Uh, no, I wasn't suggesting that at all!" He
promptly went back to rock-watching after that.
A couple hours later, Zim emerged from his room, rubbing his eyes and then
stretching with a yawn. He had Dib's attention from the second the doors
swooshed open, and now he was staring at him without shame. The human couldn't
really help it though - Zim was so damn cute like that, still drowsy and tired,
with his clothes all wrinkled from sleeping in them.
Zim didn't seem to care too much about the staring at first. He walked over to
the console and had the computer heat him up a cup of tea, then slouched down
into his chair while he waited for it to brew. At first Dib allowed him
silence, not wanting the tired alien to get grumpy if he demanded too much too
soon from him.
After a moment though, Dib noticed the sound of Zim sniffing the air, and
glanced over to see Zim with a puzzled expression on his face.
Dib smelled the inside of his tattered shirt. "What is it? Is it me? I had Orby
watch the controls for an hour a bit earlier while I took a shower..." He
mentioned, but he was still self-conscious about it. He had short baths in the
cold rivers now and again, but going eight months straight without a proper hot
shower was definitely a new record for him.
But Zim blushed and averted his eyes to the side. "No, you're fine..."
Dib raised a brow at that. Zim would normally never skip the chance to tell him
he smelled or call him a Stinkbeast. Obviously something, probably more than
one something, was on his mind. "Are you feeling much better now?" The human
finally inquired.
Zim sighed and took his hot cup of tea into his hands once it was done.
"Better? I suppose. Much better? That'd be pushing it..."
Dib nodded in understanding. There was silence between them for a moment or
two, then Zim spoke up again, "Your lekku looks different..."
"Huh? Oh yeah." Dib smiled a bit as he reached up smoothed his hand over the
appendage, which now resembled a skinny lightning bolt. "Pretty cool huh? I
finally-Ouch!" He pulled back his hand as a little spark shocked him at the
end. "Uh, yeah, I finally got those electrokenetic powers under control! For
the most part..." He chuckled bashfully.
Zim didn't laugh at his joke, but one side of his lip curled upward at Dib's
mild pain. He covered up the smile by taking a sip of his tea. A long silence
passed between them after that, until Dib finally worked up the nerve to
mention, "Hey, Zim... I think maybe we should talk. About that one time..." He
didn't feel the need to clarify.
Zim broke into a sweat, and it wasn't from the hot tea. "...I'm going back to
bed." He grumbled, getting up from his seat.
Without thinking about it, Dib's hand shot out and landed on his shipmate's
shoulder. "Wait! Zim, please. If you never want to talk about it again, or even
acknowledge it, that's fine - But at least let me get my thoughts out first?"
Zim growled, though it was almost more like a sigh, "Human... Give me a few
more hours to drink my tea, and eat some more snacks, and then I'll listen to
your emotional vomit about the incident that I am well aware that both of us
are well aware of..."
Dib swallowed against a tight throat, bit his lip and nodded before taking his
hand back. He could feel that Zim's form had been trembling, just a tad. He
understood that Zim had been through a lot, but it was just as obvious that Dib
had too. He had a few new scars on both arms, both legs, and one on his cheek
from various close calls, and surely the rest of his body had changed too...
Oh yes. Zim was also -well- aware of how Dib looked stronger and more
attractive than he ever had before, right in this moment. Newly developed
muscles from surviving the Irken wild had filled out his lanky form, his new
lightning-shaped lekku was really cool, and curse it all, why did he smell so
GOOD? What WAS that intoxicating, sweet-salty-spicy-herby hint of WHATEVER it
was still clinging to Dib's skin and hair and clothes, even though they'd all
been washed?
Dib watched the Irken's nostril-membranes flare as he continued to sniff with
no small amount of interest. But he took another step back and cleared his
throat into his hand instead of mentioning it. "That's fine, no problem. Get
plenty of rest, and then if you want, we can both tell each other about all the
crazy stuff we went through while we were apart, too..."
Zim nodded again, then quickly headed back to his room for a few more hours of
much-needed snacks and silence.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Just under another five hours later, Zim emerged once more. His cheeks were
still a little gaunt, but his skin was less pale than it had been before, and
Zim's stomach had a little paunch to it from pigging out on snacks the past
couple of days.
He crossed the room and sat down in his chair, and then stared expectantly at
Dib as Dib pretended not to be waiting for him to talk first. But Zim decided
to make it awkward and continued to stare right at him without saying anything,
until finally Dib turned and addressed him, "So, are you ready to talk...?"
Zim finally averted his eyes the second Dib focused his on him, "I was under
the impression that it was YOU who wanted to talk? If so I'd appreciate if you
got on with it..."
Dib ignored the attitude. He knew the little green monster got extra arrogant
and rude when he was nervous or scared, so he didn't take it to heart. "Look, I
just want to say this... The way things happened between us the last time, it
probably shouldn't have happened like that. I really hope I didn't hurt you or
make you uncomfortable-"
Zim suddenly scoffed, "You can quit treating me like a smeet right now, Dib.
First of all, I'm WAY older than you, and second, I think it should be pretty
obvious that I wasn't in any pain or discomfort at that time..."
Dib blushed and chuckled nasally, "Aha, well, uh, I was pretty sure that was
the case too, I just didn't want to make assumptions... Especially since you
were -really- drunk. You wouldn't have said those things that night if you
weren't."
Zim's cheeks turned pink as well, and he protested, "You were drunk too!"
"Not -nearly- as drunk as you were." Dib countered back at him. "But... You
said that night, that you'd still be feeling and thinking those things, even if
you weren't drunk. Did you mean that...?" He scratched the back of his neck
nervously, "Because... I've been thinking and feeling that way about you for a
while now, as well. But I won't act on those feelings unless you want me to. I
won't do anything like that unless you want me to. And if you don't want to,
that's completely fine. We can just, pretend it never happened..."
"No, Dib. It happened. We can't just pretend it away." Zim replied, uncommonly
reasonable. "So what you're suggesting is either to never do it again, or... To
continue. Correct?"
Tight-lipped, Dib simply nodded. Zim pretended to be humming in thought over
it, but his nostril-membranes kept flaring, picking up various intriguing
scents from the hybrid. This time Dib couldn't help but comment on it after a
moment or two, since Zim was taking his sweet time answering the other
question. "You keep sniffing! What, do I need another shower...?"
Zim suddenly bent in and pressed his face in close against Dib's chest,
smelling in deep at a certain stain, which he poked at. "What is this...? It
smells so familiar..."
Dib thought back on it, "Some kind of weird fruit-pod-nut-like thing that was
growing in the jungle, outside of the wall, that I had to walk through to get
back to you. It had some stuff that was kinda like coffee-flavored peanut
butter inside of it. The Choka, that's what they called it. Someone
accidentally bumped into me holding one."
"Choka! That's what it was. I knew it was familiar. That's the raw ingredient
used to make nacho sauce." Zim licked the corner of his lips.
"Oh yeah!" Dib suddenly realized the connection himself and smiled over it.
"But wait," Zim suddenly realized something himself. "Who would just run into
you with that out in the jungle? How DID you survive THAT anyways...?" Zim had
to admit at least to himself, that was at least every bit as impressive as
surviving what he'd been through. The human-hybrid really did keep surprising
him.
"Well to be honest, I did have some help... At first I was alone. Tak threw me
out into the ocean. I almost drowned trying to swim back, but a couple of
Irkens with fish tails helped me out. Then I was in the jungle for a while,
running away from giant lizards pretty much all the time. Then I ran into a
tribe of Native Irkens, who eventually let me travel with them and pretty much
escorted me back to the wall. I probably wouldn't have made it without them."
He freely admitted.
Zim stared at him. Really stared at him. "Y-You were accepted by a tribe of
wild, ancestral Irkens...?"
"Yup! Although, they're not THAT much more wild than you guys. In fact, I think
the Irkens inside the Wall could really stand to get back to their Native
roots..."
For the next couple of hours, Dib told Zim everything he'd learned about the
Natives and his experiences with them, which Zim listened to with wide-eyed
fascination. Being from the wall, Zim had never met his ancestors, or seen or
smelled any of the plants in person, even though many Irken snacks were derived
from the raw base ingredients found in the wild.
Dib pointed to another stain near the collar, "This one was from a plum-like
fruit I liked eating, called a Wiji. Or it might also be that pink mango-
looking thing, the Tuki. They were super juicy and always made a mess."
"What's this stain?" Zim pointed to a particularly large reddish stain near the
bottom of Dib's shirt.
"That... Is actually a blood stain." Dib admitted, causing Zim to recoil in
disgust. "It just so happens that your Native ancestors do everything the 'old
fashioned way', including having smeets. I helped deliver a few. They handed me
one of the eggs to hold while the female was still delivering a twin. Eggs
usually take about ten minutes to hatch, but the first one I got was a soft-
shell and the little one broke out of it almost as soon as they put him in my
arms."
"That is so gross..." Zim stuck out his tongue and gagged.
"Yeah..." Dib chuckled. "But also kind of miraculous and awesome? I wonder if
me or Gaz was born in an egg? Plus, your ancestors, they kinda MAKE the smeets
the 'old fashioned way' too..."
Zim's jaw dropped. "They LET you see THAT?" He squeaked before covering his
still open mouth with both hands, completely scandalized.
"They kinda REALLY didn't care." Dib reported to him in a very unashamed and
devil-may-care kind of way. "Zim, it was a wide open jungle with predators
everywhere. You can't exactly get a motel room in the middle of a jungle. Man,
makes me wonder how the first Neo-Irkens did it! But anyways, I mean yeah,
they'd go behind a bush or tree to try to make sure smeets didn't see, but ye-
yeeeah... They kinda REALLY didn't care..." He trailed off as he finally
noticed how alarmingly red in the face Zim was getting.
"...Y-You okay there buddy?" Dib asked very awkwardly after a few seconds of
still shocked silence.
Zim abruptly exploded in a nervous fit, "SO, w-what exactly is it you are
suggesting, Dib-filth?! You FILTHY little... FILTH?! HMM?!"
Dib put his hands up defensively. "H-Hey, calm down! I'm not suggesting
anything! But you never did really answer the question earlier, about if you
wanted to stop or continue..." He pointed out fairly, then added, "Look, I know
why you might feel ashamed to think and feel the way you do, but you don't have
to. And if you give me the chance, I'll make sure you'll be glad you did..."
The skinny little alien's blood was still burning, and he withdrew his legs
onto the chair, winding his arms around them, subconsciously trying to hide.
"I... I don't know. I want to. Kind of." He blurted out nervously. "But I just
don't know..."
Dib nodded in understanding, keeping his distance. "It's okay if you don't
really know. And, I'm sorry if I confused you - I guess your people's
sexualities are just as different from the Natives as everything else. But you
DO know you want to... And you seemed to, um, really like what we did last
time..." He reminded him.
Zim groaned and glanced away from him in embarrassment, but Dib insisted, "I
mean, I know you probably didn't have much, if any experience with sex before
that, but it still got you off -pretty- quick..."
Zim groaned again and smacked his forehead, "Oh you ignorant dolt - That's
because you were touching the most sensitive part of my -entire- body! I might
be inexperienced, but even the dumbest Irken ever knows that you only start
touching the lekku once you want to or-" He stopped himself there, realizing
just in time what he was about to say.
But Dib got the message, and he blushed almost as much as Zim, laughing a bit
to the side. "OH... Haha, uh, whoops, my bad... B-But, see, this is why it's
good to talk about these things first! It's a learning experience!"
Zim didn't looked nearly as amused as Dib, but he wasn't quite as tense as he'd
been a moment ago either. At his continued silence, Dib went on, "So, then, do
you know what you might like to do, or what other Irkens like you usually like?
Like... Do you know if you guys ever do... Oral?"
At first Zim looked confused because Dib had said the word in his Earth-
language, not knowing the Irken equivalent. So Dib explained further, "You
know, when you... Or your partner..." He added, licking the corner of his lips
nervously. "Uses their mouths? And, um... T-Tongues..."
He barely managed to get the word 'tongues' off of his own tongue, as Zim had
suddenly directed him a shocked stare. Shocked, but also sorely tempted -
Hungry. Zim had virtually no experience sexually, but he had overheard an
alpha-male or female bragging a few times before. What the human was suggesting
was supposed to be forbidden for anyone who was shorter to ask a taller
partner, and even if one was taller, it was considered arrogant at best and
coercive at worst to ask instead of letting your partner willingly offer the
service. It was definitely servile, but it was also tied in to a great deal of
mutual trust, respect and admiration, too.
Dib could tell soon enough that he'd hit an area of interest by how the alien
continued to stare at him. Going by pure instinct, he got down from his chair,
to the floor onto his knees, and crawled over to Zim's seat. Zim watched,
fascinated, as Dib rested his gigantic, beautiful head at his tiny green feet.
He was trying to be disarming, and for the most part succeeding, but Zim was
very aware of a few important things that gave him pause.
If Dib was an Irken, this would be unheard of. Dib was taller than the Tallest
themselves, he would be -Tallest- if he was Irken. Zim couldn't deny that alone
gave him a strong thrill. But now Dib was offering him the greatest gesture of
trust that could be shared between Irkens, a gesture that was supposed to only
be available to the taller of the two.
Fuck everything that was supposed to be 'wrong' about this. Dib made Zim feel
like the Tallest Irken in the whole Armada.
Zim slowly put his legs down from the chair, letting them rest on either sides
of the human's head. Then he took a shuddering breath as Dib nuzzled his head
against his inner thigh, and asked the alien quietly, "Do you want me to...?"
"Nn... Not here..." Zim whispered back, glancing out the window. It was very
unlikely that any ships would get close enough to see into theirs, and just as
unlikely that they would get any video-calls, but he still felt paranoid and
exposed. Not to mention, there was Dib's creepy ghost-mom robot-thing on the
other side of the room, pretending not to notice them.
"Then... Your room?" Dib suggested, softly kissing the side of Zim's inner
knee, the zipper of his boot scraping against his fresh-shaved chin.
Zim nodded mutely, still staring at Dib lowering himself before his lap, jolts
of sensation traveling up his thigh from the simple kiss. How could he look
away? It was too deliciously intoxicating.
So Dib was the one who thought to reach over and quickly set the controls to
autopilot, before bringing his hands back to Zim's hips, and picking the skinny
little alien up with ease. Zim grabbed his shoulders and wrapped his legs
around his torso, staring down at the human, wide-eyed, as their heart-organs
pounded with anticipation.
Dib carried the alien into his room, the door swooshing behind them. He walked
over to Zim's bed and sat down on it, with Zim still in his lap, and then
looked up expectantly at his lover, who was still staring at him in shock, not
quite believing yet that this was happening. Well, again.
Dib kicked off his boots, and after a few seconds of silence, he raised an
eyebrow at him. "Um... Do you maybe want to start with kissing?"
It took Zim's brain an extra second to remember what kissing was and what it
entailed. "Uh-Ng-Y-Yes, k-kissing would be, f-fine..." His blood was already
rushing from all the suggestive things Dib had been saying and doing, but he
got an extra jolt of excitement and nervousness now that things were just about
to begin.
Dib straightened himself out, but couldn't quite reach Zim with how rigid he
was. Zim realized this and bent back down the last couple of inches to reach
Dib's lips, his chest exploding with warmth at the simple contact. Dib closed
his eyes right away, but Zim kept his open, watching him.
It started out as simple kissing, but soon both of them were subconsciously
pressing deeper against each other, and before either of them knew it, it
became like one of their familiar old battles, each of them constantly trying
to one-up the other. It didn't last long once Dib hesitantly stuck his tongue
out though - Then Zim pounced on his mouth, and his agile, serpentine tongue
invaded and dominated Dib's chubbier appendage painfully easily, almost
dragging Dib into the Irken's mouth by his tongue.
Dib moaned back into his conqueror's mouth, clutching at Zim behind his back.
Zim arched his back against those fingers and swirled his tongue all around,
several times, until he was convinced that Dib was very sure who had won this
round.
The human was dazed by his lover's natural skills, but he was eager to prove
himself too, and he wouldn't accept defeat so easily. He let the alien play
captive with his tongue for a little while longer, just long enough to distract
him until Dib had moved his hands down Zim's back to the sides of his hips.
Once there the human grabbed him by the outer thigh, and pulled him in closer
until he was sitting directly on top of Dib's half-hard member.
Zim broke the kiss with a gasp and squirmed against the strange new 'seating
arrangements'. It was a little too sudden and shocking to be entirely
comfortable at first, but feeling Dib's strange bulge-y human part rubbing
against his squirmy one quickly lit the fire in his belly once more.
Experimentally, he rocked his hips against the bulge in Dib's pants, making the
human bite his bottom lip with a groan.
Well, that was kind of fun. But it wasn't what the Dib-worm - Delicious little
worm that he was - Had promised. Zim licked his lips and nudged him again, "I
think it's clear who has the superior tongue here. Hopefully yours won't
completely disappoint me..."
Dib's eyes shot open and he glared up at the cocky little alien. Without
replying, Dib held on to Zim's hips tightly, stood up, turned around, and
tossed the arrogant little green bastard onto his bed. Zim was halfway through
several insults when Dib crawled onto the bed too, kneeling at his feet. Then
the alien suddenly stopped, and watched in fascination as the human began to
unzip his boots.
Dib pulled off the thick, tough army boots and tossed them to the ground,
revealing the much more petite green feet underneath. He began gently massaging
one cloven-toed foot, which made Zim lean back against his pillow with a sigh,
as soon as he had temporarily detached his PAK and let it rest next to his bed.
When Dib used both thumbs to massage the fleshy part of the heel, just beneath
his toes, it soon had the alien squirming once more.
The hybrid was just a little jealous of his lover. Having been running and
jumping around the jungle for almost a year, he felt like he could use a good
massage himself. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to talk Zim into that -
But maybe, if he played his cards right, he could find relief some other way...
He stripped Zim of his other boot and began to massage the other foot, but Zim
wasn't as interested in the foot massage anymore, now that all the blood was
rushing elsewhere. Dib smirked and moved his hands up to Zim's knee, kissing
his ankle as he rested the alien's petite foot on his shoulder.
Zim's face kept growing hotter as he watched Dib move closer slowly, little by
little. When his lips reached his knee and his hands had roamed further down
Zim's thigh, just before he touched his groin, he bypassed it and headed for
the hem of Zim's pants at his waist instead. Then he quirked his eyes up at
Zim, asking him with his gaze while just barely tugging at his pants.
Zim barely nodded, eyes wide. But just when Dib started to pull them down
further, he quickly told him just before he'd gotten them halfway off his hips,
"W-Wait!"
Dib stopped immediately and looked up at Zim, who swallowed hard and added, "I-
I, um... Don't touch my female part. Only touch my male part..." He instructed
him seriously.
Dib nodded back just as seriously, and returned to his task, dragging Zim's
pants down. They were the strangest material, like a cross between regular
cotton fabric and rubber, and the blackest shade of black he'd ever seen. But
when he finally got them off of Zim's legs, the Irken was sudden overcome by a
bout of shyness, covering his genitalia with his hand and looking away.
Dib quirked an eyebrow at him, "Zim, I can't really do what I proposed unless
you, you know..."
Zim didn't listen to him right away, and instead asked in return, "Just out of
curiosity, why DO you want to do what you proposed earlier, Dib?"
Dib blushed a little redder than he'd like to admit to. "Uh... Uuuhmmm..." He
dawdled for a few seconds. It wasn't that he didn't know how to answer, it was
that he wasn't sure if he should.
But his reluctance to answer only made Zim want to know more. "You WILL tell
me, you irresistibly sweet-smelling love-pig-thing!"
"I don't really know why! I just do!" Dib blurted back, rubbing the back of his
neck awkwardly. "I-I mean, I guess I -have- thought about it a few times, when
I was going through puberty, and you used to stick your tongue out at me at
school..."
Zim growled, "I thought that was supposed to be a normal Earth-child insult!"
"It is!" Dib assured him, barely trying to restrain his grin. "I just, uh,
kinda thought of other things when you did it too, hehe..."
The Irken glared, reached over and punched Dib on the shoulder. "FILTHY pig-
filth!" He scolded, but he was grinning like a lupine lizard-beast, too. He
wasn't about to tell Dib just what particular dirty thoughts he'd had about
him, but he knew they were probably almost as dirty as the human's.
...Probably.
He went on, "That doesn't answer my question! It's obvious why you would take
interest in my clearly superior Irken tongue, but I meant, why do you want
to... You know, do the other thing!"
Dib was loving how uncomfortable the subject made him, how his green face was
blotched with red. The human reached up and rubbed his chin with his thumb as
he thought, "That's actually a good question. I mean, on Earth it kinda works
quid pro quo. You know, tit for tat. You scratch my back, I scratch yours."
"I see, so you expect me to return the favor..." Zim looked reluctant, and
confused. "But where does the back scratching come into play?"
Dib shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No Zim, the back scratching part was
just an expression." The Irken looked slightly disappointed at that. "And no, I
don't -expect- you return the favor, or do anything else you don't want to. But
I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably be inclined to perform better if I have
something to look forward to..." He smirked and raised an eyebrow
inquisitively.
"I see..." The little green spaz finally laid back down against his mattress,
and took his hands away from his groin, gripping the sheets by his side
instead. "I think it makes more sense to see how well you perform -before- I go
promising you anything..."
Dib shrugged idly, his eyes now completely distracted by Zim's squirming alien
cock, which seemed to be shyly trying to keep his female part covered, while at
the same time twitching involuntarily upwards as Dib stared at it. "Fair
enough... You ready?"
Zim bit his bottom lip and growled under his breath. "You're boring me now!" He
lied nervously. "Get on with it!"
Dib's smirk turned into a grin, and he reached down, placing his hands on the
sides of his lover's narrow hips. "Bored, are you..." He practically purred as
he lowered his head and kissed the dip between his thigh and groin, just barely
ghosting by his little green member. "Heh..." The human chuckled as his alien
lover squirmed, "You cocky little bastard. You're not even going to be able to
-pretend- you didn't love this when I'm done with you."
Dib didn't waste a single second more. He grasped onto the alien penis, which
wriggled so strongly in his hand that he almost let go of it in surprise, until
he heard the loud, low-pitched groan Zim emitted right after. Dib then leaned
his head in and stuck out his tongue, the flat surface making contact with the
skinny end of Zim's member.
Zim let out a gasp so loud and ragged he almost choked on it, then he took
several hyperventilating gasps to catch up with his breath. That blunt, slimy
human muscle certainly felt a lot more impressive than it looked, especially
when he slurped the tip in further, and rolled his tongue around it. He had to
dig his claws into the mattress to avoid tearing the human's shoulders up
instead, the sensations assaulting his spinal cord and brain. Overwhelming
didn't come close to describing it.
Dib didn't stop there, he kept going even further down. Zim wasn't really tiny
for his stature, but compared to Dib he was, and the hybrid found it to be
relatively simple to keep taking in more of the alien appendage into his mouth.
He'd never told anyone about it, but Dib, curious little monkey that he was,
had 'practiced' on a banana a few times before when he was just blossoming into
his sexuality, always when alone in his room, of course. It wasn't the same by
a stretch, the shape was entirely different and of course the banana didn't
squirm around in his mouth, but it did give Dib the confidence to proceed with
the air of vaguely knowing what he was doing.
That was, until Zim's slimy, serpentine cock curiously bypassed the human's
tongue and began to probe at the back of his throat. Not expecting it, Dib
gagged a bit and pulled back, panting for air. Zim sat up a little to look at
him then. He'd been caught up in feeling the sensations before and had closed
his eyes for a moment, but now he wanted to know what Dib looked like.
He wasn't disappointed. The human's face was flushed red, his tongue still
stuck out, and a line of saliva had just fallen from his tongue onto his chin
and neck. Zim had never really thought of many things in a sexual way, but it
was impossible to deny - Dib looked really MESSY, but also really -sexy- like
that.
It also vaguely occurred to the alien as he stared at the line of saliva - He
was pretty damn lucky all the Irken food and water had cleansed out all the
Earth pollutants from the human-hybrid's system. This experience would be
considerably less enjoyable if it hadn't...
Dib suddenly glanced up at Zim, giving him a weird, heavy sort of stare. Zim
gave him a curious and nervous sort of look in return, one brow up higher than
the other. Then Dib suddenly cracked a grin and asked him, "Does this thing
have a mind of it's own, or do you think you can make it be still for just a
moment?"
"It kind of does..." Zim answered seriously. "But I'll try..."
Dib nodded before lowering his head once more, sticking out his tongue and
sliding it along the underside of Zim's cock, lower and lower until he felt the
weird skinny tip at the back of his throat. He braced himself with a quick
breath, and then went even lower. Zim threw his head back against the mattress
and his breath got caught in his throat as he felt himself being swallowed. It
felt so amazing he almost wanted to throw his legs around the human's neck, but
Dib had taken his hands back from the base of his member as he took it into his
mouth, and had replaced his hands on the alien's thighs, keeping his legs
spread open and held down while Dib took him inside.
It was almost impossible to keep his cock from wriggling around just a little,
but Dib's tight throat constricting around him made it a bit easier to manage.
It was only -almost-overwhelming, until Dib forced himself to go even a bit
further, and then the entirety of Zim's cock was inside of the human's mouth.
But that wasn't even the most incredible part about it, although it certainly
came close - Dib didn't realize it, caught up in his current task as he was,
but Zim very acutely aware that the human's tongue was perilously close to the
spot where his male part ended and his female parts began.
And to Zim's complete shock, it felt absolutely incredible. Before he'd been
focusing solely on his male genitalia, and by all means he still was, but when
Dib's tongue touched that sensitive spot, the precipice to his entrance, a
sharp jolt went through his whole body, and he momentarily forgot pretty much
everything in the world except for that maddeningly tight, intense -ache-, the
mightiest need he had ever experienced.
Zim had a complete set of male organs, although his testicles were inside of
his body, just on the other side of the wall of his vaginal canal. The layer of
skin between the two was thin, and he could feel his testes tightening as Dib's
tongue brushed over them too.
But then suddenly, the sensation was gone. Zim gasped so harshly his throat
ached almost as much as Dib's, and then he growled against the pain, "Damn you,
human! Why did you stop-?!"
Dib gasped too a few times before answering, "Geez!" Gasp, pant. "You jerk!"
Pant, cough. "Did you forget I need to BREATHE?"
"Oh." Indeed, he had forgotten everything, including that, for a moment.
"...Damn you, human! Why do you need to breathe so much?"
Dib didn't bother to stop catching his breath to answer him, and instead
flicked the side of Zim's hip in response. He took a good sweet few seconds to
completely restore his oxygen supply before Zim started to get annoyed and
growled at him. Then he finally returned to the male organ, swirling his tongue
around the tip.
It still felt amazing, but Zim wasn't -quite- as amazed this time. His mind,
his needs, were now elsewhere. He let the human continue to service him for a
moment, but he couldn't stop thinking about and feeling that ache deep inside.
Hesitantly, he finally looked down, and whispered, "D-Dib...?"
Dib stopped and looked up at his lover. His curious eyes met Zim's nervous
stare, and he dragged his tongue up and off of Zim's cock slowly before
answering, "What is it, Zim? Is there something you want me to do for you?"
Zim's squee skipped a beat and then pounded hard against his chest. He had
never in his entire life heard sweeter words than those that had just been
spoken to him. His wide eyes became half-lidded with a desire so strong he
couldn't deny it, he no longer wanted to. Technically, in his society, the sex
of the person receiving didn't matter during this kind of act, and it wasn't
considered penetration. Zim tried to convince himself of that as he quietly
began to request, "I, I want you to..."
He reached down and took his cock in one hand, holding it against his stomach
and using the other hand to point shyly at the bottom base of his penis. "Lick
here..."
Dib obeyed him, literally and exactly as he had asked and indicated, licking
the base of his cock but not the spot that Zim really wanted. He was so close,
but not close enough for Zim's liking. "Nnn, lower..."
"Lower?" Dib took his tongue back and parroted back to him in confusion. "But,
um, Zim..."
The little green jerk ground his teeth, "Do not question Zim! Do as I say! DO
IT NOW!"
But Dib kept his calm. He had to make sure he was understanding his lover
correctly. "Zim. Cool it. Are you telling me that you want me to lick you..."
He suddenly blew a light, breezy breath of air on the alien opening, which at
first just looked like a pair of vertical green lips. "There?"
"HNNGH-YES!" Zim gasped back, and Dib stared wide-eyed in wonder as those green
lips suddenly began to unfold at his breath, into what looked like a tiny kite
or manta ray kind of shape. It was a dark magenta-red beneath his outer green
skin, and he had to take at least a second to take in that vibrant color
combination and wonder, how-?
But before he could make it two seconds, Zim downright snarled at him
impatiently, "NOW, DIB, YOU-OH...!" The alien abruptly stopped his tirade the
very next second as his hybrid lover leaned down again and swiped his tongue
around the inner lips several times, but not any further near the entrance.
Still feeling the need to yell about something, Zim immediately commanded him,
"MORE!"
Dib steadied his grip on Zim's legs, and pressed his mouth in neatly against
Zim's inner lips, which were about the same size. He flattened his tongue
against the entrance, lapped at it, but still did not invade the invader's
body. Instead he was savoring the experience, and the unique 'tangy' flavor -
There really was no other way to describe what Zim tasted like. It was just...
'Tangy'.
Zim was really starting to get annoyed by Dib's slow, careful explorations. It
felt absolutely amazing, but it wasn't enough, it still wasn't -exactly- what
he wanted, but it was so close he could almost taste it. "Dib, m-more..." He
panted out nervously, swearing that if he had to spell it out to the human
again, he was going to smack him.
Dib didn't need to be smacked or spelled out to this time though. He slowly
probed the tip of his slug-like tongue inside, and Zim gasped loudly as that
part of his body swelled with blood and other fluids, hyper-sensitive,
tightening and releasing rapid-fire. Zim was only halfway through his next
command, "MO-" and Dib was already fulfilling it, and him. The word caught in
his throat as he threw his head back, "OOH...!"
Dib had about half of his tongue inside. He could go a bit further, but
instead, he swirled his tongue around Zim's insides, bumping into several
strange squishy things in his exploration. Zim in turn moaned out several other
vowels in response, "AAAH! EEEEH! KKHRASDFMN...!" Dib was pretty sure that last
one was two or three Irken words cut off and fused together, and none of them
meant anything wholesome.
Zim took several short breaths before managing to yet again command his hybrid
lover in a deep growl, "MORRRE..."
Dib finally let go of the last of his inhibitions and thrust the rest of his
tongue that could fit inside of Zim's body. The Irken let out an
incomprehensible shout, trying in vain to flail his legs, but Dib was wisely
still holding them down for his own safety. Instead Zim rocked his hips up
towards Dib's mouth, still not satisfied. Greedy little green thing that he
was, he still demanded, "MORE..."
The human really tried to give it to him, but he could go no further. Zim
growled several times back and forth to himself in frustration realizing the
same. "RRR-DIB! I WANT MORE..." He still selfishly demanded, beginning to reach
down and grab at Dib's hair.
But Dib wasn't going to put up with that this time, and he backed off instead.
Zim had to bite down on his lips harshly, to restrain the urge to whimper at
the loss as Dib informed him, "ZIM, my tongue can't go any further than that!"
The little green monster panted several times, otherwise silent. Dib's words
barely even registered to him. All he could focus on was that deep, incessant -
ACHE-, the NEED he'd left behind, it was driving him MAD!
But then Dib quirked a brow at him, and Zim's face flushed with color to
realize that he might be catching on. He couldn't bring himself to just say it
though, not yet, and he averted his eyes to the side, shaking with unfulfilled
desire.
Dib could practically feel it off of him, not to mention a little dangerous
resentment, so he inquired cautiously, "Z-Zim, did you, um, still want...
More?"
Zim's eyes suddenly flared, and he grabbed onto Dib's shoulder, throwing his
minuscule weight into dragging Dib onto his back. To avoid hurting the little
green shrimp, Dib went with it, re-positioning Zim on top of himself, sitting
on his stomach. Zim then leaned down, leveling his face with Dib, and glared
deeply at him. "Just WHAT is it you want from me, human! REVEAL YOUR SECRETS TO
ZIM! When did you take off your pants and WHY? WHAT ARE YOUR HIDDEN
INTENTIONS?!" The paranoid pipsqueak screeched at him.
"Zim, for the sake of my EARDRUMS, will you CALM DOWN? My pants were getting
tight, I took them off back when I was still sucking your dick! I'm not going
to do -anything- unless you want me to, so chill! I was just touching myself,
just in case you got off quick and fell asleep like last time!"
Zim blushed at the embarrassing reminder, "I-I TOLD you, that was because you
touched my lekku, stupid! And I only let you do that then so I could be pretty
sure I would-!" He cut himself off suddenly, his face going almost entirely
red.
Dib steeled a cold look back at him, "Oh. Ooooh. So that's how it is. You
thought I'd be a hopeless dolt before, and now that it's clear that I -can- get
you off, from the looks of it pretty -easily-, now you're trying to blame me
for your desires? You idiot - If you want something, just tell me! I'm not
going to judge you for it!"
"Th-That's not what I-!" Zim swallowed against a strange sudden lump in his
throat, then shook his head and averted his eyes. "I don't care who judges me
for it... Except me!"
"Then why are YOU judging yourself for it?" Dib pressed, softening his
expression, and sliding his hands to rest on Zim's knees. "You know...
Penetration doesn't necessarily equal submission, right? If that's what you're
worried about..." He blushed a little at his suggestion and nervously cleared
his throat.
Zim bared his teeth, still flush with color. "I DID know that, you monkey-
minded buffoon! Despite my lack of first-hand experience, I still know FAR more
than you do about Irken sexuality! I'm on top now, so that means I'm in
charge!"
Dib glanced down between then with a small smirk. "Okay... Then what's the
problem? You're in charge now, so do what you want."
Zim's eyes went wide, and he blinked several times, not so sure what to do with
the reigns of the situation now that they were in his grasp. He stared down at
Dib's torso, specifically his sculpted abdomen, which Zim was still sitting on,
naked, and suddenly very aware of it.
"Nn..." The Irken bit the tip of his tongue, suddenly too self-aware to either
get off of Dib or make any move. The heat off the human's skin and the ripples
of his muscles kept him firmly settled where he was, but his squee was tripping
over itself. He'd been face to face with all kinds of horrible alien beasts,
but he'd never been as nervous in his life as he was at that moment.
Zim finally glanced up at Dib's face and noticed that the human was staring at
him expectantly, which put him even more on edge. He felt the need to do
something, but he didn't know what. Hesitantly, he shifted himself just a tiny
bit lower on Dib's stomach. He was in the middle of trying to think of
something else to say, when suddenly Dib let out the most delicious little
noise - A soft, low-pitched, "Aah..."
Zim stared at the human as his brown eyes fluttered shut, and he dug his head
back against the mattress. Then he took a few huffs of air, and slowly blinked
his eyes open again.
The alien immediately leaned down and took Dib's chin in his slender hand,
forcing him to look at him. "Why did you do that? That thing you just did. The
noise you just made. What made you do that?" He asked rapid-fire, his pulse
beating against every inch of his skin.
Dib blinked up at him in confusion at first, until he finally realized what his
antsy lover was talking about. "Oh..." He smiled slowly. "It's just... I..."
His hands slid upwards from Zim's knees, to his thighs and finally his hips.
"Like the way you feel, against me..."
The human abruptly gripped his hips and ground his stomach up against his
genitals, causing the little green male to throw his head back and gasp as he
felt his slimy fluids gather and, much to his embarrassment, leak. But Dib
didn't seem the least bit mortified by the situation. He threw his head back
too and let out a louder moan than before, and Zim suddenly realized he no
longer felt obligated to make sure the human reached an orgasm - Now he -
wanted- to see it happen. Badly.
Just as he was starting to realize that, Zim blushed as he felt Dib's stiffened
member press up against his backside. He looked over his shoulder at the erect
human penis, warily noting it's shape and size. It wasn't Dib's fault of
course, but it wasn't exactly appealing to Zim at first. The shape was
incredibly odd, and the size of it was, to the much smaller Irken, rather
daunting.
Despite his height, Dib was not quite as formidable in size when it came to
what was in his pants. Compared to other human males, he would only be
considered 'average'. But compared to the average Irken? Dib had nothing to be
ashamed of, to say the least.
Zim was unsure at first if he ought to attempt what his mind was suggesting to
him. But the fact that it was making him so nervous to try really pissed him
off, and made him want to do it even more. Gulping, he scooted back until Dib's
member was between his legs, then he reached between them and grabbed the
human's cock, sitting up on his knees while he began to position himself above
it.
Dib stared at him in shock and disbelief until it seemed that he was just about
to go through with it. Then he suddenly reached in and grabbed Zim by the hips,
not pulling him in, but in fact keeping him from doing so. "Whoa! W-Wait, hold
on, Zim!"
Zim growled loudly at the interruption, even though he was also secretly a
little relieved. "What is it? This had better be good, Dib!" Zim waited for him
to spill it, and glared at him when he didn't do so fast enough. "Well? What is
it?" He demanded.
"You-You can't get pregnant, right?" Dib finally blurted out.
And Zim proceeded to give him the biggest 'What the fuck' expression ever
given. "Are you serious..."
"YES, I'm serious!" Dib glared. "I don't want kids! And you are part female,
right? Do you know if you're able to get pregnant?"
Zim reached up and smacked his own forehead, and then Dib's too. "Are you
really THAT stupid? Maybe your inferior human eyes need to be checked again,
but it would be clear to any Irken that I have FAR more male sex
characteristics than female, which would indicate that my female parts are most
likely not complete and do not function. They are not and they do not. I
checked myself with an x-ray before and I lack the ovaries to supply the eggs
to be impregnated, and I've never menstruated once in my life. Happy?"
Dib admittedly took a breath of relief hearing that. "Okay, yes, I do feel much
better now..."
A short silence passed between them, until Zim finally spoke up, "...YOU can't
get pregnant, right?"
"...Are you serious."
"YES I'M SERIOUS! I don't want any ICKY little worm-larvaes either!"
"I'm one hundred percent male!"
"Males can get pregnant in some species!"
"...No Zim, human males absolutely cannot get pregnant, ever. Happy?"
Zim took a breath of relief, and then anxiously cleared his throat. "Then, are
there any more objections?"
Dib swallowed and nodded, and sat back upwards "Yes, actually, one. Listen - I
understand if it makes you feel more secure or in charge to be on top, and
trust me, I've got no problem with that. But from a purely subjective
standpoint, I just got to say, this might not be the best position for someone
who has never had this kind of sex before. Gravity IS kind of a factor..." He
pointed out fairly.
But Zim wasn't exactly in the mood to hear anything fair or reasonable. He
growled back, "Just WHAT are you trying to say, Dib?! That I'm too WEAK to
handle myself?!"
"No! Damn it, Zim, it's not like that! I just think it might be a better idea
to let me be on top just this once because I-!" Dib tried to protest, but Zim
cut him off again.
"RRR-I KNEW IT! Cease your stupid noise-making NOW, Dib-worm! I am an INVADER!
I invade OTHERS, I do not let them invade ME!"
Dib opened his mouth to protest once more, but Zim promptly shut him up with a
fierce kiss, sealing their lips together and grabbing the back of his head,
dragging him in closer. The human was momentarily distracted by the almost-
violent kiss, drawn into his mouth as Zim captured and played with his tongue.
Before Dib managed to get his wits back about him, Zim had positioned the tip
of his cock, and taken half the head inside.
Right away Zim seemed to look uncomfortable, at least to Dib. The reality was
actually quite far from Dib's fears, but he insisted on grabbing Zim's hips
again and trying to hold him back, "Wait-"
"Let GO, DIB-!" Zim immediately snarled back grabbing both of Dib's hands and
tearing them away. In doing so he lost his balance and fell down, gasping
sharply as the entirety of the hybrid's member entered him at once. Dib gasped
too, both from the shock of the pleasure and his deep guilt. He stared silently
at Zim to cue him whether or not he was okay.
The alien didn't seem to know for sure himself. It definitely had hurt, it was
too much and too fast and it stung even more to know that it was kind of his
own dumb fault for not listening. But at the same time, he'd had more than
enough fluids ready to ensure it wasn't too painful, and in fact, it felt
amazingly, overwhelmingly, -shockingly- good. How was it even possible for
something to feel so good and still have the audacity to hurt a little too?
After a few seconds of deep breathing from both parties, Dib hesitantly spoke
up first, "Zim? Are you, okay-?"
"Shut up." Zim interrupted him. "Don't speak, and don't move..."
Dib obeyed flawlessly, stiffening his whole body and clamping his lips shut. He
waited patiently after that as Zim slowly began to sit up and straighten
himself out. It was almost torturous, for both of them really, but especially
for the Irken. Dib hadn't been kidding about gravity being a factor - Not just
because of the fall, but also because now that he was seated, it was hard to
want to get back up, and it ached as Zim struggled to do so.
When Zim had finally withdrawn most of the way, Dib suddenly grasped him
underneath his arms and pushed him off and onto his back, on the other side of
the mattress. Then he crawled over Zim and demanded, "You IDIOT! Are you OKAY?"
Zim's cheeks flushed and he nodded quietly. Dib went on after a sigh of relief,
"You jerk... I really didn't want you to get hurt..."
The Irken's chest mirrored the feelings of guilt that were apparent on Dib's
face. He quickly corrected the young human, "It didn't hurt -that- bad... But,
that position wasn't as comfortable as I'd hoped either so, uh... I -guess- we
can try it your way..." He finally concluded, his voice getting smaller and
smaller until it was barely a mumble.
Dib's eyes went wide and hs face went red, "A-Are you sure...?"
Zim looked away stubbornly. "Just do it before I change my mind..."
His hybrid lover leaned in and kissed his lips, not rushing to obey him this
time. And just this once, Zim didn't mind that so much himself. Both of them
leaned in and closed their eyes, for once not fighting for control, but simply
enjoying each other. Zim had been so afraid before that Dib's massive form
would make him feel trapped, imposed upon. But he was once again pleased to
find himself all too wrong. He felt only that strange familiar feeling from
before, the feeling of being sheltered and protected... Well, that, and the
burning, pulsing, aching need for the human to finally finish what he'd
started.
After a moment or two, Zim pulled his lips back from Dib's, sloppily slurping
his tongue back into his mouth. "Dib... I want more, now..."
Dib nodded down at his lover, taking his knees into his hands and gently
spreading his skinny green legs. He took a full breath and let it go, and then
led the tip of his member up to Zim's entrance, slowly probing the tip in.
Zim tensed up just a bit when Dib was first entering him, then he relaxed as
his body readjusted itself slowly to the size. Initially Dib only pushed in
halfway, just when Zim began to grit his teeth, then he backed off again. He
went back in again, just a bit more than halfway, then retreated once more. He
started with a slower rhythm, which soon progressively became more steady, just
as Zim's breathing was at first slow and even, and soon became quick, erratic
pants. It was almost like one of Dib's massages, the alien thought, only on the
inside, and about a thousand times more pleasurable and intimate.
Dib had been outstandingly patient so far, but he could no longer pretend to be
entirely selfless. He lost himself in his senses, which were in turn lost in
Zim. The louder Zim let himself get, the deeper Dib allowed himself to go - It
worked out pretty well that way, or so Zim made it sound. Dib finally allowed
himself to groan deeply back, feverishly kissing the alien's chest.
"OOH, DIB...!" Zim writhed against the human's thrusts, his tongue lolling out
the corner of his mouth.
Seeing it sent a rush through Dib's spine and cock, and he hissed-hummed back
at his lover, "Zzimm..." He realized pretty suddenly that he wasn't going to be
able to last much longer. His blood was rushing, the heat and the friction they
were creating together kept building, and Dib now had to worry that he'd be the
one to complete first and pass out.
Reaching between the two of them, he took Zim's squirmy shaft into his hand and
began to stroke him. Zim gasped and threw his head back, feeling himself begin
to tip over the edge. But he refused to let Dib gloat about this later, which
he knew the annoying human would surely do, so he did the only thing he knew he
could to take the situation back into his control. He reached up and grabbed
the base of his lekku, multiple shock-waves immediately seizing him.
It was like a three-tier explosion through his body, starting at his lekku,
then traveling down his spine to his lower half. His insides clutched at Dib's
member, his hips rolling up against it. His testicles, which he could feel Dib
rubbing up against from inside him, throbbed until he could feel the final
burst of ecstasy overcome him. Translucent-pink fluids coated Dib's cock, and
milky-pink seed shot all over his stomach.
Dib's pulse beat throughout his body for a few intense seconds as he watched
and -felt- Zim grip and convulse on him, writhing and rocking against him. His
hands clutched the sides of Zim's narrow green hips and pushed in deep one last
time before the waves of his lover's orgasm pulled his out of him. Zim thought
he'd been sly, but Dib grinned to himself, because he knew the truth. He'd felt
Zim start to lose control before he reached for his lekku, and he knew he was
the true cause for the way the alien's body trembled with pleasure around him.
For the next few moments they both went still, except for the heaving of their
chests as they chased their breath. Absentmindedly, Zim nuzzled his head
against Dib's collar for a moment. He felt deeply satisfied, and incredibly
messy. That would normally send the neat-freak into a panic, and he did plan to
take a good long cleaning session... But, definitely later. He felt too lazy
and content to be bothered just yet.
"Mmm..." The Irken practically purred, now in an uncommonly good mood. "That
felt SO good..."
Dib's grin stretched wider, and he kissed the top of Zim's head, near his left
antennae. "Mm, yeah...?"
Zim blinked, beginning to come to again, and embarrassed to realize what he'd
just admitted. "Y-Yes..." He confirmed quietly, then added in his normal voice,
"N-Now get off of me."
Dib chuckled and reluctantly obeyed, withdrawing and rolling over next to Zim,
and laying on his side. "I feel pretty amazing too..."
"Y-Yeah?" Zim looked over at his pink-tinged face, then stubbornly looked away
again. "I mean, of course you do..."
His human laughed some more, then reached in and stole a kiss on the cheek. Zim
growled and lightly smacked him away, but his skin tingled pleasantly from the
kiss, and he didn't actually mind the disgusting affection... As long as no one
else saw it.
Dib kept his hands and everything else to himself after that, simply lying next
to his lover. But he continued to glance at him under his half-closed eyelids,
until Zim finally become paranoid and demanded, "W-What...?"
Dib rolled his eyes then, grinning. "I love you, you stupid asshole alien."
Said stupid alien asshole glared at him deeply, crossing his arms and turning
over to his other side, his back facing Dib. "Ugh... I guess I'm dangerously
fond of you too, you stupid, stinky human-beast..."
Dib grinned and cuddled up with his backside, but Zim immediately pulled away
this time, and got off of the bed entirely as the neat-freak in him finally got
antsy about all the... Stickiness. Sex was REALLY fun, but it was also
really... Ew. "Alright! Enough affection for now, Dib-love-slave! And get off
my bed, I need to clean my sheets and everything else!"
He could definitely understand what the alien was feeling - Zim had made an
even bigger mess of him than Dib had, actually. But he was reluctant to get up
just yet, and lazily folded his arms under his head. "Aw come on, can't we have
a nice post-coitus nap?"
"NO!" Zim stomped his foot and pointed at the door. "GO!"
Dib pouted, still looking for a way to stall. "Hey - What happened to GIR? Is
he broken? Can we fix him?"
Zim finally gave pause for that. He blinked a few times, then he grinned. "Oh
no, he's fine! I just turned him off for a while when I was in my cell, to get
some peace and quiet, and think to myself for a while. See?"
He walked over to the door and opened it, and Gir bounced in over his head and
feet, his eyes bright cyan blue. "WHEE-HOO~!"
The robot jumped on top of Zim's bed and then grabbed Dib by the cheeks, "HIYA
DIB-MONKEY! Wanna see my pet SCORPIONS?!"
GIR suddenly opened his head and half a dozen big, blue-glowing scorpions
jumped out of him. Dib hollered and fell back off the bed, wrestling on the
floor with the scorpions.
"Ohh, that looks horrible!" Zim remarked idly as he put his rubbery pants back
on. "I think they might be radioactive too!" Dib suddenly screamed and his
thumb grew four times it's size, and glowed blue. "Yep, those're radioactive
scorpions, alright! Must've nested in GIR's head while we were in that cell.
Well, if you get the spork out of my room, I'll look around for the radioactive
scorpion anti-venom. You know, once I'm done cleaning up."
Dib grumbled as he stomped on the scorpions with his swollen, blue-glowing
feet, the trudged out of the door with them.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
They made good time for the first few months, but eventually the ship informed
them that it was starting to get low on a certain kind of oil it needed to
operate. The ship had equipment that could drill for more, so Zim set the
coordinates for the first planet that had enough. Unfortunately, that planet
was exceptionally cold, and although they had just enough fuel to keep the
ships contents from freezing, it was far from toasty.
Up until this point, Zim had been going back and forth between keeping Dib at a
distance like a stubborn jerk, before finally giving in and demanding attention
from him. Despite Zim's insistence that sex was a horrible distraction, he
still let himself be distracted by it at least once a week, sometimes twice.
Dib didn't say anything about aloud, though he sometimes grinned about it to
himself, but it really seemed like Zim was a lot more calm and agreeable the
first few hours or days after one of their steamy sessions - Well, once he'd
had a shower, anyways.
So he finally agreed when Dib shyly suggested they share body heat with each
other, though not without a brief 'hug-struggle' first - Dib could wait for Zim
to come to him for intimacy, but when it came to affection, he was usually
forced to make a fuss for it. But there was no pride in catching your death
when a warm body was ready and willing to share it's vital energies, so the
alien finally gave in.
They made a small fort with their blankets just big enough for the two of them,
and huddled together underneath them. Naturally, Zim took his seat on top of
the throne, and since the 'throne' was Dib's lap, Dib didn't mind. He crossed
his arms over the human's chest and laid his head on top of his arms, and had
been lazily dozing away for a while. Dib let him get his full hour in before
poking him in the side of his stomach. "Hey. Wake up."
Zim ignored him at first, until Dib poked him a second time, then he groaned
impatiently. "Whaaat."
Dib wound his arms around his lower back, "I hate to be the one to say this,
but we need to talk..."
"Ehn?" Zim peered down at him, even though it was too dark to see. "What's this
coming from your noise hole?"
"Listen." Dib insisted, "It's something Orby told me way back. When we get back
to Earth to get Gaz... I might have to stay there."
Zim's eyes went wide, then he glared at Dib, "What are you talking about?"
"My birth-planet, Earth..." Dib started slowly. "It's powerful, but also
extremely fragile. Apparently four people are needed on Earth to keep it
stable, and I was one of them. But for some reason, Gaz chose to take my place.
That's why I was able to leave my galaxy to come with you. But when I get Orby
back to Gaz... Unless Gaz has found a way to stabilize the planet some other
way, I might have to stay on Earth..."
Zim drew out a long, deep growl, "...You don't want to. Right? You'd rather
stay with me and keep visiting places in space than stay on Earth, right? You
know," He suddenly gave Dib a weird little grin, and stuck his tongue out at
him. "Once you land on Earth again, you'll be dying to get out of there. After
being on Irk for almost a year, I'm sure you won't be able to stand the smell
of it!"
Dib smirked back at him and shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. And yes, I
want to stay with you. I still want to see my home-planet again too, but...
Definitely only to visit, not to stay. I want to keep exploring everything,
with you, and I'll do whatever I need to make that happen... Buuuut..."
"I do not want to hear about your butts!" Zim snapped at him.
"No, Zim, I need to say this." Dib insisted. "There's a chance that I might
have to stay on Earth. Orby wanted Gaz, and I know why now, because she told
me... Gaz is the only one who can achieve my mother's dreams, to destroy the
Control Brain and free your people from it. And she needs you, because you're
basically like a living computer virus to the Control Brain..."
Zim shook his head stubbornly several times. "I don't care what your dead
mother or your crazy, scary sister want me for! They can't have me if I can't
have you!"
Dib's eyes went wide, then he smiled broadly. "Not sure if Gaz is gonna give us
a choice about that, but I know I definitely don't want to be anywhere you're
not..."
"Good, because you won't be! I demand you stay with Zim and be his love slave!
Zim has spoken." He nodded seriously.
Dib nodded back just as seriously. "Yes, my mighty conqueror~" He replied
sweetly, which caused Zim to grin, excitement flashing in his eyes, before
diving down and capturing Dib's lips, just as the human knew he would. He had
learned - As long as Zim got what he wanted, he could be generous too. And if
Dib really got on his hands and knees and begged, he could be convinced of all
kinds of things.
Zim hadn't been sure at first about a few of those things, but once he tried
them, he found he really liked the way Dib called him, 'His god' - 'Oh my god,
Zim', he'd said. The words had been delicious, at least, even if the actual
taste on his tongue was not as palatable...
They kissed in the darkness of their makeshift fort for several moments, until
Zim finally got bored of toying with his captive. Then he laid his head down on
Dib's chest, purring as the human began to very lightly pet his lekku. Dib had
found out recently that if he kept the touches airy, it caused pleasant
sensations for the alien without driving him completely crazy.
Well, usually. From the way Zim was starting to squirm, Dib realized that he
probably hadn't gone light enough. The alien sat up again and peered down at
Dib, before leaning down close to his face as he whispered. "But... If you
absolutely have to stay on Earth... Then I think we should make the most of our
time in a stink-free environment, because I don't want to be anywhere you're
not, either..."
True, Zim did not wish to stay on Earth, but if the deciding factor was up to
the Gaz-beast... Zim didn't like to admit when he didn't have a choice with
something, and even now he wasn't about to admit it out loud, but he had always
sensed how strong that strange female was, and knew it was the wisest and
safest decision not to cross her.
Dib smirked back up at him and nodded obediently. Zim grinned like a cat about
to pounce on a very large mouse, and hissed like a snake as he leaned down,
"Give to Zim..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
However, a couple of months later, after finally mining enough fuel from the
freezing planet, Zim was beginning to rethink his words. "Actually, you know
what would be a better idea? Lets just give Gaz her stupid Orby-thingy real
quick so you don't die, and then get the heck outta there! We'll find some
other half-decent planet to live on and be hobos for the rest of our lives!"
Dib stared at him for a second, then raised a doubtful eyebrow. "But... I don't
wanna be a hobo. Also, I wanna know why Gaz put me up to all this, and what her
plan is concerning Irk, and with you. Orby said that you're crucial to Gaz's
plans, so I don't think she's gonna let us go, just like that..."
Zim argued, "Oh come on! I know Gaz is scary-strong, but surely we could at
least run from her! I don't want to stay on Earth OR go back to Irk, after how
those jerks treated me..."
Dib frowned as his friend looked away from him sadly. "I don't know, buddy. I
guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. But I promise I won't
just let her do anything you don't want her to, and we'll run if we have to.
I'd like to hope my sister would give me an explanation after everything I've
been through, but if she's just gonna keep stringing me along like she has so
far, I'm not gonna put up with it either."
Zim sighed, clearly still annoyed, but knowing nothing could be done for it,
for now. Dib felt guilty for putting his best friend into a bad mood, and tried
to think of a way to cheer him up. It only took him about two seconds to notice
something Zim might like to hear, so he mentioned it, "Hey Zim - Have you
gotten taller?"
Zim's eyes went wide. "Eh?!" Now that the Dib mentioned it, it had been a
surprisingly long time since Zim last measured himself, which he usually did
semi-regularly. The last time he checked was back when Yoogli was still on
board, and he had still been the same five feet, four and one-quarter inches
then that he'd been when he left Earth.
He immediately rushed over to the ship's console and demanded, "Computer! What
is my current height status? Have I grown since the last update?"
The computer scanned Zim's form and then immediately replied, "Affirmative.
Congratulations, you have grown two and a half inches since your last update.
You are now five feet, six and three-quarters inches tall. You are now tall
enough to qualify for the Taller Irkens Club. Would you like to submit an
application?"
Zim stared at the screen for a couple of seconds, then slowly shook his head.
"No, of course not. I'm banished, remember..."
Dib raised an eyebrow, "Taller Irkens Club?"
Zim growled back at him impatiently, "Forget it, Dib-monkey. It doesn't mean
anything for me now. IF I was still part of the Irken Empire, it would have
meant a considerable promotion, and all kinds of new perks and privileges that
shorter Irkens are not allowed..."
"Like what?" Dib pressed on, just as curious about Neo-Irken culture as he'd
been about the Natives.
"Well, heh," Zim suddenly grinned, and scratched his cheek bashfully.
"Actually, being approved for sex is one. Maybe that's why I've been craving it
lately, because I reached this new height class..."
"Incorrect." Orby, who had been ignoring their existence and all their weird
displays of 'affection' for a while, suddenly interrupted the Irken. "You
haven't been craving sex because you reached your new height class. You reached
your new height class because you've been craving sex, and having it. Outside
the walls, Irkens rarely get much taller than you presently are, and although
almost half the Neo-Irkens have considerable hybrid DNA and almost all Neo-
Irkens have at least some, Zim's DNA is closer to a Native Irken's than not.
And Natives reach their final growth spurt when they become sexually active.
The act releases a special hormone that isn't present in Native Irkens until
after their first mating experience. The Control Brain intentionally keeps most
Irkens from achieving this height by making sex illegal until this height is
reached."
Dib snapped his fingers as the realization hit him, "It's a catch-22 unless you
break the laws!"
Orby rolled up and down as if nodding, and continued, "Exactly. So, Zim really
ought to take your compliments about his height gracefully, since he wouldn't
have achieved it without you, and from the sounds of it he's been having plenty
of fun achieving it..."
Both of the boys blushed bright red. Zim hissed and stuck his tongue out at the
machine, until it protruded a little buzzsaw back at him. Then he slurped his
tongue back in and glared as Dib laughed at the both of them.
Zim suddenly grinned though, "Wait - Does that mean the more we do it, the
taller I'll get?"
"No." Orby replied right away, much to Dib's visible relief - Zim was already
insatiable enough. "But you do have the DNA of Tallest Red in you. You seem to
have taken after your maternal unit Zirra in height, and this was as tall as
she ever got. I met her once, you know. But you have to have inherited your
insanity from Red, because Zirra was nowhere near as crazy as either of you. So
who knows, maybe you'll get just a little bit taller eventually, if you got
enough of his DNA."
Zim brightened up considerably after that, and put his hands on his hips
proudly. "Victory for ZIM~!"
Dib rolled his eyes and looked back out to space, reading the status updates on
the computer screen. They'd be arriving on Earth with very little time to spare
after the delays, but as long as they didn't allow for more, they would get
there on time. Dib just hoped everything would start making sense by then.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The Dual Ship eventually arrived, only a little over two days left to spare on
Dib's time limit clock when they passed through the atmosphere. But Orby
refused to turn it off until it was physically passed over into Gaz's hands,
which made Dib break out into a slight sweat. If he was REALLY lucky, Gaz would
still be living at their childhood home. But the chances of that weren't the
greatest. She could easily be anywhere on the entire planet, and if he didn't
find her in time...
Well, he tried not to think too much about that. He asked Zim if he could land
the ship, which ended in a scuffle because Zim didn't want to cooperate, but
eventually Dib ended the fight by sitting on Zim as he set the coordinates.
He didn't land the ship in Zim's old space, or anywhere near his childhood home
- Instead he chose to park it on the old clifftop overlooking the city, where
he remembered Gaz and him once having a crazy adventure. Man, where had Gaz
even found those beaver suits...?
He didn't really have time to dwell on that, or for his sentimentality, but he
did anyways. It's not like he had any other clue where to find her, so he
finally got off of Zim once he'd parked the ship, and went outside. Once free,
Zim tackled Dib from behind, punching on his back and ripping out handfuls of
grass and dirt off the ground and throwing it at Dib's head.
They were about to get into another brief fight over it when suddenly a very
strange man came walking up the remote path towards them. Dib threw Zim off of
him and gasped sharply before getting up to his feet, staring wide-eyed at the
man. He didn't actually -look- that imposing - He was quite a bit shorter than
Dib, and only a few inches taller than Zim. He was almost as bizarrely skinny
as the alien though, and yet somehow, for some reason Dib couldn't explain, his
face struck him with absolute terror. He had no idea why, but this man -really-
gave him the creeps, big time.
He began to speak to him, his voice a low, almost apathetic rumble, "Are you
Dib Membrane?"
Dib blinked owlishly and his mouth briefly fell open, "Wha-How do you know who
I am? Who are YOU?"
The man let out an irritated sigh and rolled his eyes, "The name's Johnny C.
You sister Gaz sent me to come get you and bring you to her."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
***** Chapter 18 *****
The Crossroads of Fate
It was All Hallow's Eve. Johnny, the homicidal maniac, stood on that familiar
old hill, that hill where he'd once stood with Devi, years ago. Currently he
was standing there with some weird, almost freakishly tall dude and what was
clearly an alien, of the short and green variety. It seemed to be either
reptilian or insectoid, and had big red eyes and antennae. It WAS Halloween,
but that was clearly a real alien...
It had to be them. The ones Gaz had sent him for.
Best to make sure though. "Are you Dib Membrane?"
Dib's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open, "Wha-Hey! How do you know who I
am? Who are YOU?"
Johnny rolled his eyes and let out an irritated sigh - He was no damn delivery
boy, but he reminded himself for the hundreth time since having the misfortune
of meeting his old best friend's terrifying new wife: He was doing it for
Squee. For Todd. For Devi. And for his own freedom... "The name's Johnny C.
Your sister Gaz sent me to come get you and bring you to her."
Dib was caught between relief at now knowing where to find Gaz, and the terror
of having to actually go to her, accompanied by this weird-looking guy. But he
wasn't about to wuss out either, especially not in front of Zim, and strange
enough as it was, the guy actually seemed legit. If Gaz was going to send
anyone to get him, who else would it be but an incredibly weird, scary-looking
guy? "Alright, I guess... Hey, it's Halloween tonight, isn't it? Guess that
means you don't have to use a disguise at all tonight if you don't want to,
Zim." The tall dork said to the shorter green dork.
Zim scoffed back at him, "Nonsense! I must be prepared for the possibility,
however SLIM, that the humans evolved a brain since we left and might suspect
me!" With that, the green dork scurried back to his ship, and about two minutes
later, emerged from it wearing his stupid human contacts and wig... And also a
big, padded bear suit.
Dib stared at him for a second, then gave him a thumbs up. "You look great,
buddy."
"Shut up, Dib, I know it!" Zim snapped back at him, "Now what about Orby?"
The orb promptly announced, "Behold my crazy neat cloaking technology!" Then it
used a hologram to appear like a purple ball with green spots. "Now I am a
perfectly normal Vurp Ball!"
Dib raised an eyebrow and quirked a smile. "That looks like a great Vurp Ball,
Orby. Whatever that is. But I think it might be better to go with orange and
black stripes."
"Oh, a Zurp Ball?" The orb seemed to shrug and then changed its appearance to
that of a normal basketball.
Dib nodded in approval. "Perfect! Just let me hold you under my arm while we're
around humans. Alright then. I think we're ready to go-"
Dib hadn't quite finished that sentence when the scary, skinny man turned and
began walking down the hill, apparently not that fond of his task. At first Dib
simply followed him in silence, but it began to nag at him - Why did Gaz send
this guy? Who was he? He had a strong hunch, with how antisocial the guy was
acting and how he immediately gave him the creeps. When he could no longer bear
it, he finally hesitantly piped up, "H-Hey, Johnny C, was it? What exactly is
your relationship to my sister? Are you, like, her boyfriend...?"
Johnny immediately turned and gave him a grimace of disgust, "EW. NO!" He
snarled back, causing Dib to stop in his tracks and watch him wearily as he
went on, "FIRST of all, I detest 'romance' and all that puke and drivel, and
would never participate. Secondly, she's with my friend Squeegee, not me! And
frankly, I don't get what he sees in her, except that she's crazy strong. And
just plain crazy. Or so sane it's crazy. I can't really tell..."
"Hey, well, that's two of us." Dib replied, trying to use humor to pacify the
maniac. He didn't even want to know about this 'Squeegee' guy.
Dib's humor ploy worked, barely, but it worked. Johnny just rolled his eyes and
turned his back on them again, and kept on trudging down the road. "Just shut
up and follow me."
"Wait, hold on." Zim piped up, "Are you SURE we can't just hand Orby off to
this guy to take to Gaz, and just get out of here?"
Johnny turned again and snarled, "I'm NO one's delivery boy, DAMN IT!" He was
clearly at the end of his wits. It was one thing to be bossed around by a girl
much younger than him, but he wasn't about to be bossed around by a fucking
alien in a bear suit!
Dib glared at Zim for mouthing off, and was about to try and undo the damage,
but Orby beeped for their attention first, and luckily for them Johnny was
easily distracted by the talking basketball. "You theoretically COULD do that,
BUT, Gaz would be most displeased by you not coming to see her yourself. She
would very likely come after you."
Zim groaned audibly, but Dib spoke over him, "Come on Zim, quit being a drama
queen about it. I know Gaz is the scariest person in this and most other
universes, but she's still my sister, and I'm sure she'll be at least a little
thankful that we brought Orby for her. Right Orby?" He looked over to his
machine-mom with a nervous smile.
"It's more probable than not." She vaguely 'confirmed'.
"See?" Dib went on as if it was a sure bet. "I know she's scary Zim, but
listen... There's another side of Gaz..."
Zim raised a brow at that, and crossed his arms petulantly as Dib continued,
"It's hard to explain, but... Once, a few years ago, when I was seventeen and
Gaz was six... Uh, I mean, also seventeen." He kept forgetting she wasn't
really his 'little' sister after all. "I caught her out in our backyard,
smoking a cigarette. I told her I was gonna tell Dad if she didn't stop. Of
course, I was scared OF her, but I was more scared FOR her. Cigarettes are
literally poison, and I knew she already knew that. I was worried she might be
depressed about something, or something..."
Dib awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "I knew I couldn't get into her
personal business, but I could at least discourage the unnecessary bad habit.
So I told her to put out the cigarette and told her not to let me catch her
smoking one again. At first she looked at me as if she wanted to hit me..."
Years later, Dib still shuddered remembering that look. "But then... She
grabbed the cigarette, and sucked it down to the filter in one go. Then she
walked up to me, face to face. I knew she was going to blow the smoke at me.
But when she finally did... There was no smoke. The air she blew on my face, it
was just pure air! There wasn't even a HINT of cigarette on her breath, hell,
it was even a little minty!"
Zim was starting to look confused, and therefore impatient, but Dib continued
one last time as he finished up his tale, "She told me 'Chill out, Dib', and
then she... She smiled. You know Gaz, she doesn't smile much, and this was the
weirdest smile I'd ever seen. It was like, she was actually, genuinely -happy-
that I'd told her off about the cigarettes... What I'm basically trying to say,
is that I know Gaz is some kind of super dark, crazy powerful demon-master, but
there's also a side of her that is capable of the exact opposite of that... I
have to know if I'm right. And if I'm wrong, we'll get the hell outta Earth,
ASAP."
Zim sighed and rolled his eyes. He couldn't deny, at least to himself, that in
addition to the terror, he also felt more than a bit of curiosity about the
Gaz-beast's plans. "Oh fine... But if she gets violent, I'm leaving you behind
to deal with her."
Dib smiled and nodded, but before he could quip back, Johnny interrupted with a
deep growl, "ENOUGH of the chit-chat already! What is this, a cheerleader's
slumber party?! Either follow me or don't!"
The maniac began stomping down the hill once again, and wisely, the
intergalactic duo followed after him without another word.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Gaz arrived at the bottom level of Johnny's house that night at eleven-forty-
seven. The Last Demon General Agaliarept was waiting for her right in the
middle of the room, just as she'd known he would be. When he came after her,
she pretended to put up a fight against him, but only until he called forth
Pepito. Once the Puppet Prince was in sight, she instantly slayed his final
demon general right in front of him, by disappearing and then reappearing
behind Agaliarept, and stabbing him through the heart with a knife she'd
seemingly picked up from one of Johnny's many piles.
Pepito roared with supreme rage at the sudden slaughter, and his arms became
black tendrils that shot out as fast as a bolt of lightning and wrapped around
Gaz's arms, pinning her against the furthest back wall. Though it was only
because she was letting him, of course. She put up a struggle at first for
show, then let the horned twerp assume he had bested her as he began to burn
her skin with poison in the sludge, pretending to briefly cry out in agony.
Todd entered the room just as Pepito's sludgy arms detached, leaving behind
sticky, hissing poison-shackles, which quickly hardened around Gaz's wrists and
forearms against the wall, her pose almost like a mockery of the crucifix. The
Antichrist grinned like the devil he was as his friend came over to him,
planting a sweet kiss on his cheek. Pepito quickly turned his face and caught
Todd's lips instead, and although Gaz knew his stomach was churning just as
much as hers was, she made no mention of it.
When Pepito finally pulled away, he was grinning again, and he motioned over to
Gaz's 'helpless' form. "Take a look at this, amigo. I think she's gotten fatter
since you broke up! Looks like you dodged a bullet!"
"Amazing, Pepito! Congratulations!" Todd goaded his ego in the most heartfelt
tone he could manage. And just as Gaz had reminded him to do earlier, he also
sneered back at her, "You know what they say about the difference between a
slut and a bitch, right Pepito? A slut will fuck anyone, and a bitch will fuck
anyone but you. Looks like Gaz is a bit of both."
Pepito roared again, this time with laughter. " AHA! Good one, amigo! You're
right, she's definitely more of a bitch, but it looks like she's a dumb one
too. Never heard of birth control, bitch?"
Todd quickly piped up, "You do know how I feel about hurting children though,
Pepito..." It was the one vital bit of his humanity he was allowed to keep
around the Antichrist, the part of him that the devil had always known he could
never change. All the same, Todd finally had accepted that he could never
change who Pepito really was either...
Pepito sighed and tapped his bottom lip with a claw-tipped finger. "Yes, I
know, mi amore..." Suddenly he snapped his fingers and grinned. "And I've got a
better idea anyways! Hehe..."
The Antichrist procured a surgical scalpel from somewhere in his leather long-
coat, and advanced across the room towards his witchy foe. "Gaz, I'm afraid I
cannot and -will- not show you any mercy after killing my old generals.
However, I must admit, I am impressed by your valiant but ultimately futile
attempt to seize the eons-old powers of Diablo, the power that will soon be
rightfully inherited by ME."
He stopped just a few steps away from her, itching to slice and stab her with
the scalpel, but resisting to draw out and savor the moment longer. "And I must
go on to admit, because I do respect you even though I also truly hate you,
that you've done me more of a service than not. To have been beaten by such a
simple, albeit clever, little witch... Tut, tut. They clearly weren't worth
keeping around. Todd will be a fine replacement, as will the little beast in
your belly. Don't worry, mamacita. We'll take good care of your crotch
dumpling, once I've carved it out of you..."
Gaz didn't have to pretend to be affronted by Pepito's claim, and she spat down
at him, otherwise wordless. The spittle hit his cheek with a burning hiss, and
with a deep snarl, he jammed the scalpel into Gaz's thigh. She bit down on her
tongue and refused to give him a single sound besides her almost even
breathing, her eyes staring right into his.
"Ooh, you're good~" Pepito purred back at her, staring back and licking his
grinning lips. "No, you're REALLY damn good!" He went on, as she still barely
grunted when he jiggled the scalpel a bit closer to the bone. "Almost -
completely- inhuman..." He went on in a growl, "But not -quite-..." She finally
let him see what he wanted, letting out another small cry and causing her
disguise to flicker, revealing her true self. With her pale green skin seeming
a darker shade in the barely-lit basement, and her natural black hair and lekku
hanging down, looking defeated but defiant - She truly looked like a Wicked
Witch.
He grinned and finally took back the blade, and waved it around, carelessly
letting the blood drop onto his gloved hands as he chided her. "You had to know
you'd never stand a chance, once you got to me and my father. Did you really
think that just because you picked off the underlings, you could take on the
MASTERS of DARKNESS?"
Gaz slowly looked up at him with the smallest of smiles. "You know... For a
second there? Yeah, I kinda did..." She replied, the simplicity of her mockery
stinging even more.
Pepito grit his sharpened teeth into a forced grin and hissed back at her, "I -
know- you're lying, -Gazlene-!" He got her to finally grimace back at him in
annoyance for using her full name. "That's why you waited so long to get here
tonight! I know you knew that this night was the only one that you could even
hope to make an attempt at a coup. But you waited until almost the very last
second to come! That doesn't seem like someone who is truly confident in their
mission to me, Gazzy~ You know what it sounds like to me?"
He grabbed her chin, even though she was already staring right at him. "It
sounds like a scared little girl who wanted to put off mommy's chores until the
very last second! Oh, I know, you felt like you owed her. She gave you life and
you gave her death. But I know you knew, all along, this thing your mother
asked you to do... It was impossible from the start."
Gaz gazed back at him, pretended to be saddened by his words, even managing to
conjure a couple of false tears to her eyes. "I wanted to believe that she
wouldn't have asked me to do it unless she was sure I could... Now I know..."
She trailed off, not finishing that sentence.
Pepito smirked and then grinned at her, "Yes... Tell me..."
Todd stayed perfectly, absolutely still, hands in his pockets, watching the
two. Waiting.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib didn't like the looks of the creep leading the way, and he liked it even
less when they finally arrived at their destination. It looked like a normal
suburban house on the outside, but really that was what made it even more odd.
The gothic-looking man just didn't seem like the type who would have a pastel-
painted house and a garden full of flowers.
"Uh... Is this your place...?" Dib asked hesitantly, just to make sure they
weren't about to invade someone's home.
"Kinda." Johnny answered vaguely before opening the door and letting himself
in.
Hesitantly Dib followed after him. He already didn't like the look of things
from the start, and when the eerie stranger revealed that they had to descend
into a basement, his apprehension doubled. When he -then- revealed yet -
another- hidden basement within that basement, Dib had to stop and inquire,
"Wait, how many of these things do we have to go down...?"
"A LOT." Johnny snarled back immediately, getting edgy and impatient. "Your
sister is at the very bottom and there's a LOT of stairs and ladders before you
get to the bottom, OKAY? And LUCKILY for YOU, my good friend Todd cleaned most
of this place up really well, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been!
GO ON, take a good whiff! Smells like pine and lemony freshness, doesn't it?!
It USED to smell like, LIKE-FFFILTH! Pure DEATH! ROT and STINK! So why don't
you just focus on that, and shut the FUCK up for the rest of the trip down, and
I'll KINDLY resist the urge to STAB YOU?" By the end of this tirade the
maniac's usual deep timbre of voice was turning into a very uncomposed and
unmanly-sounding shriek.
Dib raised an eyebrow and took a step back from the spit flying from the other
man's mouth, "O...Kay..." He replied slowly and very quietly.
Zim quipped, "Your sister sure does keep interesting company!"
Johnny twitched an eye at the alien, "That goes for you too, E.T. In fact it
goes even more for you, since I'm pretty interested to know what your insides
look like."
"See, it's not just me..." Dib piped up quietly to his boyfriend with a smirk.
Zim glared at Dib briefly before unleashing his spider legs and jabbing them
defensively in the maniac's direction, "I would NOT try it, human scum."
Johnny regarded the spider legs with interest, respect, and more than a bit of
envy. "Touche, green-thing. But let's go already, NOW. Your sister told me to
get you guys to the bottom basement at a VERY specific time, and if I don't
she'll doom us for all eternity. Seriously dude, I AM one of the scariest
things in existence, and your sister STILL fucking scares me, so let's GO..."
Dib couldn't argue with that, so he didn't, and followed him down, down,
down...
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Gaz gazed into Pepito's eyes, the eyes of the devil's puppet. Her soul locked
onto his. She saw every single evil thing in him that he was so sure she could
never fathom, and regarded it all as immature and pathetic. But, in her eyes
and on her face, she feigned the confusion and shock that the demon so craved
to see. "I wanted to be the one who could change everything..." She continued
to lead him, but vaguely.
Pepito, however, was just starting to get tired of her game. It was getting
late, and he wanted her dead before midnight. So he cut her off curtly, "And
now you know just how ridiculous that was! You, a single mortal, a weak little
whore-witch, against Diablo, lord of this damned Earth for all time?! You will
now DIE for your insolence!"
His gloating, however, lasted just a moment too long. Gaz did not reveal the
smirk on her face, but she felt it inside of her as she sensed her kin had
finally stepped over the threshold. It was time.
She didn't even have to signal Todd in any way. He knew exactly when to act,
and he did so without either the slightest bit of hesitation, or a single hint
of what he was about to do. He was perfectly still until the second Pepito
announced she would die, and began to pull back the scalpel to stab her. Then,
Todd finally struck, pulling back his own fist and socking him right upside the
face from behind, Pepito never saw it coming, and to Diablo's horror, neither
had he, not until the second the blow had hit.
Todd briefly grinned maniacally at this rare violence, suppressed for so long.
He could finally strike back at the thing responsible for the horrors of his
youth and the stagnation of his life thusfar, and you better believe he took
advantage of it. The blow hit so hard, Todd knew he had broken at least one of
his fingers, but he didn't care about the pain at all. Finally getting back at
the massive son of a bitch that was ruining the Earth and mankind was too sweet
and too rare a pleasure to be marred by a little sting.
Pepito flew to the ground, and Gaz looked up to see Dib, who had just descended
the last stairway and stepped into the bottom level, his no-longer-bespectacled
eyes going wide at the sight of it all. She quickly barked at her clueless
brother, "DIB! HELP -TODD-! The one who -DOESN'T- have HORNS!" And just after
saying that, she disappeared.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dib almost couldn't believe how many levels they'd had to descend. He counted
them all in silence in his head, and was amazed at how long he had to keep
counting. Most of the rooms and hallways they had to go through were clean
enough and smelled of new paint and cleaning products, but when he got to the
sixtieth level, it started to smell a little and then a lot less fresh, and
strange and scary stains started to appear on the walls and floors. Zim started
gagging and pulled out a gasmask from his PAK to avoid the stench and germs.
Dib pulled his shirt over his nose.
Finally, when he'd just counted off sixty-five in his head, Johnny led them to
a door at the end of a hallway that led to a stairway. Before opening the door,
the maniac spoke for the first time since his last warning, and very quietly
announced, "This is the last one..."
As he walked down the stairs, ahead of everyone, Dib realized that the last
level was just one huge room. It was barely lit only by a few fireballs
floating around the edges, but he could see clearly that just as he walked in,
one man had just socked the shit out of another one - And man was that second
dude ugly!
Just beyond them, Dib gasped sharply to realize Gaz was suspended against the
wall. He recognized her by her face and her strange, powerful aura alone,
because nearly everything else about her he'd ever remembered was different.
Her skin was what looked like an olive green in the dim light, and her hair was
pure jet black, a shade he could barely remember from their earliest youth,
before she started dyeing it. Her leg was bleeding, and good god either she had
a massive abdominal tumor, or she was very, very pregnant. But before he could
begin to worry about any of that or which possibility was worse, Gaz had
snapped at him, "DIB! HELP -TODD-!" Wait, which one was- "The one who -DOESN'T-
have HORNS!" Ah.
In the next instant, Gaz had disappeared into thin air, and Dib only hesitated
for half a second before jumping to her command. Todd had immediately followed
Pepito to the spot where his body had landed. The Antichrist looked up at him
in utter shock of his betrayal, the deepest of all pains in his eyes at his
looked up at his former friend and whispered, "Why...?"
Todd stared coldly back without answering. Gaz had already warned him of this
trickery. It wouldn't last. Soon he would get impatient and then he would get
angry. Todd had realized long before this, it wasn't just the friend he thought
he had in Pepito that had never existed. In a way, Pepito himself never truly
had either, and still didn't. This ultimately evil and pathetic creature
begging him for the love and mercy that it would then use to damn him and the
rest of the world - Todd could still -almost- feel sorry for the little puppet,
except for how wickedly it was purposed. For his own sake and that of everyone
else, he couldn't allow himself to show clemency to this evil being. So evil,
Gaz had finally told him the night before, that it would use a child's stuffed
bear to manipulate it with a mocking imitation of protection and safety, and
then burn it right in front of that child's eyes... Evil like that -needed- to
be destroyed. You couldn't afford to feel sorry for it.
Pepito wasn't Pepito. Pepito was Diablo, and Diablo was his living nightmare.
Diablo was his parent's hatred and neglect. Diablo was the demons and
delusions, the disruption of almost all of his dreams. Diablo was Shmee,
telling him right to his face how fucked up his life was, pretending to
sympathize and then laughing about it behind his back. Diablo was the sick,
twisted cartoonist in charge of his life, drawing horrors into his mind. Well
now it was time for that fucker to choke on his pen.
So in fact, he knew that it wasn't actually Pepito that he was about to face,
but Diablo. Little ol' Todd Casil was about to face the devil himself to help
his girlfriend save the world. This was better than any story he could have
come up with, but it was also a whole lot scarier. Even though he tried to
remain perfectly stoic in the face of evil, Todd couldn't deny that a shiver
went down his spine when 'Pepito' began to snarl at his continued silence.
"This is the path you're going to choose?! FINE!" The demon spat at him with
fury before his body rose off the floor, propelled by Diablo's dark magic. "YOU
CAN DIE WITH YOUR WHORE, YOU TRAITOR!"
Todd almost froze with fear as Pepito's face contorted and turned ashen, and
his eyes turned into black empty cavities, then burned with hellfire. But then
almost out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck the ugly puppet right in the
face, sending it sprawling to the floor once again. Todd looked back in shock
to see a very tall and strong-looking man, surrounded by lightning, with the
weirdest zig-zag shaped hair scythe-thing coming out of his head, which seemed
to be where the electricity was coming from. "HEY! Don't you call my SISTER a
whore! HYAH-!" The imposing man cried before unleashing another row of
lightning bolts at the demon.
Suddenly, Todd didn't feel worried at all about facing Pepito Diablo, with a
'human' lightning rod on his side, and he pounced on the Antichrist's fallen
form once more, beating his fists down on his face and chest without mercy.
A large black tendril suddenly rose out of the floor and tried to snatch them,
but Gaz just as suddenly reappeared in front of it, now with Devi in tow. Gaz
then promptly disappeared again, but left Devi, who had two very large and very
sharp knives in her hands. She swung her arms out gracefully, slicing the demon
tendril with the same grace that she used when swiping brushes across a canvas.
The knives apparently were not normal kitchen knives either, or at least not
anymore. Gaz must have blessed them, because they hissed like acid when they
made contact with the demon tendril and reduced it to a formless blob of slime,
which would soon after dissolve into harmless dust when it hit the floor.
More tendrils popped up to try and take Todd and Dib, but Devi fought them off
with swift slices and slashes, soon joined by Johnny, who ripped and tore the
tendrils apart with hooks. Neither of them spoke or even looked at each other,
completely distracted by the constant reappearing tentacles that kept trying to
kill them all.
While all this was going on, Zim sat on the stairway, watching everything
transpire in shocked silence and confusion. That is, until a transparent human-
figure suddenly appeared sitting next to him, and inquired, "Sorry, I don't
mean to bother you, sir. But I couldn't help but notice that, even though
you're in a bear suit for some reason, you're clearly an alien..."
"Eh?" Zim barely flicked his eyes over at the weird being in annoyance. "So
what? Aren't you one of those 'ghost'-things Dib's always chasing around?"
"Oh. Well, yeah." The specter admitted sheepishly. "The name's Edgar, by the
way. I've just never seen an alien before. Anyways, aren't you going to help
your friends?"
"Nah." Zim replied with immediate disinterest, procuring a licky-stick snack
from his PAK as he dully watched the humans and demons unleashing carnage upon
each other. "Only one of them is actually my friend, and I still like seeing
him get beat up sometimes. Anyways, this seems like a human problem, so I'm not
getting involved. I'm sure they can handle it. Lets watch, shall we?"
Back in the possessed room, Gaz had reappeared again, opposite of where Dib and
Todd were beating Pepito senseless. But she again disappeared just as a tendril
tried to catch her. She repeated this bait and switch move dozens of times in
dozens of spots in the room, constantly appearing and disappearing. Finally
Diablo became beyond frustrated with her game, and the horribly frightening
true visage of the demon himself, with his monstrous skull and his huge,
piercing eyes, finally appeared in the middle of the room, roaring, "ENOUGH!
Either face me or FLEE, little girl! What is it going to be?!"
Just as soon as the boom of his demonic voice stopped echoing throughout the
room, Gaz appeared 'obediently' in front of him with a smirk on her face. A
solitary second passed between them where neither moved, just stared. Gaz
didn't shiver even once at the sight of the disgusting demon, his alien
features and the noxious miasma of demon aura radiating off of him. Likewise,
Diablo regarded her as nothing more than a bug about to be squashed, and was
briefly wondering as he watched her, if he ought to ask her for her last words,
or just kill her and get it over with. He was just beginning to lean towards
the latter option, when Gaz suddenly spoke up for herself. "Earth and spirit,
through I, reborn anew. I now claim the right to pass judgment over you."
Diablo's eyes went wide and a shiver struck him. Time froze, as well as
everything else. He realized very abruptly, a second too late, that the fight
was over before it even began, but he still stubbornly refused to admit it
until the bitter end. Suddenly the world quaked violently into motion once
more, knocking the devil to his knees for the first time in his entire
existence. A wave of rare panic came over the demon, and he let out a rabid
roar, like the sound of a dangerous beast when cornered. Ink-like demonic
creatures, some that looked like hound-headed humanoids, some like reptiles or
insects or other impossible monsters, began to leak out of the wall, smelling
like putrid blood.
Gaz disappeared and reappeared a few times more, procuring a strange black
scythe sometime in between and flinging it at the open space, cutting two dark
rips in the fabric of their dimension and letting a few inky-creatures of her
own drip out before sealing the rips with alternating swings of her scythe,
which was a reflective silver opposite of the coal-colored side. Her demons
obediently kept Diablo's at bay by consuming and absorbing them, all the while
her voice echoed throughout the room, "You've damned innocents who did nothing
wrong or right, just to appeal to your twisted sense of delight. Now, through
you, I was born - To mend all that which you have torn."
Dib glanced back at Gaz with wide eyes - Todd really didn't need all that much
help from him, in fact, Dib felt safer himself backing off and letting the kid
go berserk. He obviously had issues with the horned-dude, whose face was
beginning to resemble a crushed purple grape, and was yelling at him as he
pummeled his body, "RR, THIS IS FOR MY MOM! AND MY DAD! AND FOR -ME-!" But that
didn't really hold Dib's interest, he was focused on his sister and her battle
instead.
Dib had always known she was powerful... But damn. This was something else. His
sister was actually fighting the Devil, the darkest demon on planet Earth.
Well, until Gaz showed up apparently. She had begun disappearing and
reappearing again, faster than ever and dangerously close to the demon, who was
constantly trying to snatch her out of mid-air, and constantly failing. Each
time she reappeared mockingly close to Diablo, she recited part of her spell-
poem to him, "Your time has passed, and it was far too long. No soul will miss
you when you're gone. I am here to forever seal you away. For your offensive
existence you shall finally pay. Then my hands shall be washed clean, and your
victims will finally peacefully dream..."
"NEVER!" Diablo shrieked so loud that nearly everyone with ears had to briefly
cover them, except for Gaz, who stood stoic in the wake of his wrath. She stood
right in front of the demon now, and he of course lunged for her, but he was
propelled away from her body like an anti-magnet. His claws desperately tried
to inch closer to her skin in mid-air, but he couldn't come any closer than a
foot of her.
She smirked up at him as he magically transformed his head into a crocodile-
like snout and jaw, trying to bite her head off and unable to do anything but
comically gnaw at the space around it, and went on calmly while he did so, "I
fear nothing about you, for my purpose is greater. I don't exist simply to be
your slayer. Beyond the stars is where my destiny lies in wait, beneath the
stars I leave the greatest gift in my wake..."
She rubbed her hands around her stomach, and then placed her palms upwards.
Diablo was suddenly being pushed back from Gaz's form, and then once he was a
few feet away from her, she stretched out her arms and hands and his freakishly
tall and alien-like form began to float up, his limbs mostly still but
occasionally jerking. The demon tried to resist the magic that was suspending
his body and repelling his dark, violent magic, which raged inside of him like
lightning crashing down into an endless ocean, but he just couldn't bring it
forth to blast the unearthly wench to kingdom come!
Using her immense magic, she then continued to keep him at bay as she also
opened the final basement door in the middle of the floor. First her inky
creatures dragged the rest of Diablo's demons down into the pit, which reeked
of the uncountable number of bodies below. Then Gaz floated the struggling
demon lord to the hole in the ground, and began to lower him into it.
When his legs had been submerged but his upper body was still above the hole,
he thrashed out desperately, clawing at the floor, trying to get out. Gaz
watched him calmly, poking him in his big, weird head with the butt-end of her
scythe, pushing him back into the hole. She continued in a voice that was still
calm but also stern and tense, "No longer will your darkness spread like a
plague. No longer will this world be ruled by your hate. No longer shall the
blameless be tortured by your wrath... No longer..."
Diablo suddenly made a mad magical leap at her, and she hesitated for just a
second, gritting her teeth to push him back one final time before pressing
forward, "No longer shall innocent lives be taken... I'LL GIVE THEM BACK-!" She
cried out, as if heaving off a weight from her shoulders that would have
crushed anyone else, then raised her scythe above Diablo's head, and brought it
down upon his head, splitting it right down the middle. A hellish red coal-like
glow emerged from the wound as the demon again shrieked loud enough to almost
reach the surface. Almost, but not quite.
With that devastating blow, Diablo lost his grip and fell into the pit, which
was suddenly much deeper than it had been before. It was, in fact, now
bottomless. The floorboards underneath their feet briefly lit up in a gold
light with strange symbols and runes, which circled around the hole to the pit.
Her breath barely uneven, Gaz made a motion towards them but did not take her
eyes away from the abyss. "Todd. Bring me the Puppet."
At the sound of her voice making this demand of him, Todd finally and
immediately stopped punching Pepito's badly bruised body, and got off of him.
He didn't even bother trying to heft the demon to his feet, instead he simply
grabbed his wrist and dragged the limp body behind him. Pepito weakly tried to
beg him, but there wasn't much he could manage to say through a mouth that was
entirely broken. Todd wasn't listening anyways. Any outsider would think that
Todd was truly the monster in this moment, but he couldn't bring himself to
care about that. This had to be done, and if he had to be the one to do it, if
he was the only one who could, then so be it.
When he was in range, Gaz mumbled, "Throw him in..."
"NO, TODD, NO-!" Pepito began to scream just before Todd literally threw him by
the wrist, jerking it so hard he broke it, into the hole.
But amazingly, Pepito somehow still managed to grab the edge of the floor with
his one good arm and caught himself before he dropped into the nothingness, and
Todd soon saw why when he began to pull his head up. His face was no longer
even vaguely human, but a frighteningly hellish fusion of some kind of
reptilian goat and a praying mantis. Black sludge was leaking from every
orifice, yet he spoke almost clearly, albeit demonically, through the sludgy
vomit leaking from his mouth and down his throat. "IT'S NOT OVER YET BITCH! IF
I'M GOING DOWN, THE TRAITOR IS GOING DOWN WITH ME!"
'Pepito'-Diablo suddenly flung his broken arm out from the abyss, which turned
into a coal-colored spike that he intended to shove right through Todd's heart,
then drag him down into the pit. But Gaz reappeared right in front of Todd in
the next split second, taking the spike through her shoulder instead.
Dangerously close to her heart, but not quite there. While Todd let out a
'squee' of shock and horror at her state, she simply grabbed the spike calmly
and began to slowly drag it out, and tsked at Diablo's sad, last little cling
to power. It was all over now, this was just his last 'fuck you'. She told him
as much, "It's over, Diablo..."
"NO!" He insisted, looking to the world's new ruler like a petulant child
throwing a tantrum. "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME ON THIS NIGHT, WHEN MY POWER IS-!"
"Yeah, yeah." Gaz cut him off with a grunt as she pulled the spike out,
covering the wound with her other hand. It hissed on contact, healing the rot
that Diablo had tried to leave behind. "I didn't expect you to remember, or
care, but whatever. You kidnapped my mom on Halloween night, twenty-five years
ago. A year and a day after that, I was born."
She smirked one last time at him as she finished healing her wound, and reached
into her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone, and showed him the time. 12:01.
Her smirk became a grin as she held him up by the spike he'd tried to kill her
with above the hole. "Happy birthday to me, motherfucker." She announced, right
before dropping him.
Again, Pepito did still try to catch onto the ledge, but this time Gaz stomped
down on his hand harshly right away, and then reached over and slammed the door
to the pit shut, causing him to finally lose his grip. 'Pepito'-Diablo's
distant scream could only be heard for a few seconds, but then an enormous
demonic howl vibrated throughout the entire house. Dib covered his ears at the
sound, but Gaz's voice rose above it as she put her hands down on the door to
keep it steady, "TODD, JOHNNY!" She barked, and the two men immediately dropped
to their knees and put their hands on the door too, as it began to shake. As if
something was still trying to get out, and was more desperate than ever.
Gaz put the padlock on the door's bolt, snapped it shut, and then chanted one
last time as she held the metal piece, making it and the door glow with runes.
"I swear on my life, this will be true. This is the last innocent blood that
shall be given to you..."
It was hard to tell what she meant at first, until she began to get up from the
floor. Then, to Dib and Todd's horror, and Johnny's slight interest, a trickle
of blood ran down from her inner thighs and down her legs, dripping down over
her boots and onto the floor. She grit her teeth and ignored it though, and
slowly walked over to Devi, barely wincing under the excruciating pain she was
currently under. "Hey Devi..."
"Gaz...?" Devi replied weakly, looking around her in confusion and fear, and
dropping the knives she was holding. "What is this place, why are we here...?
Oh GOD, why is HE here-?!" She suddenly cried out as she finally noticed Johnny
behind her, who shrunk away and didn't try to speak to her.
Instead, Gaz insisted and grabbed onto Devi's shoulder, steadying and calming
her. "DEVI. Don't worry. It's all over now. I know this will be hard for you to
believe, but you're finally free from this nightmare you've been under for so
long... Your life is finally truly your own. Todd and Johnny helped me do this
for you, but none of us expect you to thank us in any way. The best way you
could thank us, is to forget all about us and go live your life now. I set you
up with a place far from all this crazy shit, and I'm gonna send you there now,
okay Devi?"
Devi seemed unsure about how to respond at first. There was so much going on in
her head, it would take a lifetime to try and express it on canvas. So instead
she simply nodded, two tears slowly running down her face. "Thank you..." She
whispered.
"No, thank you, Devi." Gaz insisted, sadly and sincerely. "Goodbye."
She placed her hands out in front of Devi, and in the next instant, she was
gone.
But the second she disappeared, Gaz let out a short, involuntary cry and fell
to her knees, clutching her stomach in true agony this time.
"Gaz?!" Todd worriedly called to her from his spot by the trap door.
His wife held up a hand, motioning for him to stay where he was, and slowly
began to rise to her feet by herself once more. "I need you and Johnny to stay
here for at least an hour, Todd... Until the spell stabilizes..." He opened his
mouth to speak again, but she cut him off. "Don't worry... I'm not going
anywhere yet. I promise."
She then began to take several unsteady steps towards her brother. But when she
got in front of him, she suddenly lost her balance due to the no-longer-
bearable pain, and fell against his chest. His eyes went wide as he caught her
just in time before she slipped over, and she clung to his shoulders to keep
herself upright. "Dib..." She whispered just barely loud enough for him to
hear. "I need... Your help..."
He gawked at her in supreme confusion at first. SHE needed HIS help? She'd
never asked for his help before even once in her life, and after everything
she'd just managed to do, he couldn't imagine why she ever would. He barely
managed to sputter back at her, "W-What? Why...?"
She growled up at him and clenched the fabric of his shirt in her fist. It was
so hard to explain anything to idiots the first time. "I used too much of my
power sealing Diablo and sending Devi away. Now I don't have enough to reappear
on the surface. Dib, I -need- you to help me get to the top, and then take me
to Dad..."
He tensed up immediately at her request, his stomach turning sour. "Wait, Gaz,
I don't think that's the best idea. Dad isn't really the great man he wants
everyone to believe he is-"
"Oh my god, Dib, shut the fuck up!" She cut him off with a deep groan. "Can you
fucking SEE without your glasses now or not?! I'm green, and I'm pregnant! What
do you expect me to do like this, just walk into the hospital and ask if they
specialize in alien births? Dad and I already agreed that he would deliver my
babies months ago. And if you think I don't know more about Dad than you THINK
you know about him, you're WRONG."
"So, what?" Dib shot back, frustrated with her, "You know what he did to me and
you're fine with him being anywhere NEAR your children-?!"
"SHUT UP!" She screamed back, but not just with rage. Everyone in the room
could hear her unmistakable pain and just the slightest bit of fear. "He won't
hurt them, he knows I'd kill him if he did! Except for the very first year of
our life, I've always had Dad under my control. I just doomed the creature that
was in charge of all our lives, so if you think I can't keep Dad from doing
anything I don't really want him to, you might just be too dumb for words, Dib!
Now, PLEASE..." She finally allowed him that word as the pain became too much
to bear, and another strong contraction involuntarily sent her to her knees,
clutching her stomach.
Dib finally jumped to obey her when he heard that rare word, feeling like a
real dumb jerk as she succumbed to the incredible pain she was in to fill his
slow self in. He bent down and collected her under the knees in one arm, not
caring about the blood that got on his jacket. Hell, it had plenty of other
weird stuff on it already. The other arm he cradled around her back, and then
hefted her up. She wasn't light, but neither was Dib, and it was easy enough
for him to pick her weight up. He tried not to think about the fact that he'd
have to ascend sixty-six sets of stairs and a handful of ladders on top of
that, and instead focused on the weird way Gaz had just settled against his
chest and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Dib couldn't really explain it
in words, but he could feel the immense trust of their bond as brother and
sister, as if it was a physical thing between them.
Gaz called back just once to Todd as Dib carried her to the stairs, "You'll
know when you can come back up, Todd. It won't be long. Just do what I told you
to..."
Dib barked at Zim as he passed him on the stairs, "Come on Zim, lets go!"
Zim petulantly took his time in trudging up the stairs after Dib, until Gaz
glared over her brother's shoulder back at him, twitching an eye. His steps
quickened pretty fast after that.
Keeping at a safe sprint, Dib made his way up stairs and down corridors with
Gaz's weight in his arms for at least ten or twelve levels before finally
breaking a sweat. He did so at last only when he came across a ladder, groaning
as he remembered that there was at least four or five more. "Gaz, I'm not sure
how I'm gonna get you up these things safely..."
But Gaz was focused entirely on more important matters, holding her stomach and
clenching her teeth. Her eyes screwed shut, she seethed back at him, "Figure it
out..."
Starting to panic a little, Dib turned to Orby and asked, desperate, "Orby, you
can, like, float things, right?"
The orb glowed a thoughtful pale blue as it answered, "Smaller items, yes. But
it would be impossible for me to sustain Gaz's weight anywhere near long enough
to beam her to the top. I have a better idea anyways. It won't be easy, but
it's got the best chance of success of all the plans I've compared and
simulated. Dib, you'll need to climb the ladder. Zim, you'll have to both hang
on to Dib as he climbs the ladder, then create a nest with your PAK-legs
underneath Gaz, keeping her body caged until you get to the top."
Dib gave his boyfriend a pleading glance, "Zim, do you think you could do it?"
Orby didn't let Zim reply first, and butted in to answer Dib for him instead,
"Zim may be much more petite than you Dib, but he's still a genetically
enhanced Neo-Irken soldier. His PAK-legs are certainly made of strong enough
stuff to sustain Gaz's weight without breaking, and he -should- be more than
capable of lifting as much as you can too, at least for a short period of
time..."
With his capabilities subtly called out, Zim growled back at the Orb, which had
turned a non-assuming lavender color. "Shut your noise-maker, Dib's Maternal
Unit! Of course I can carry Dib's hideous sister, even if she has developed a
gigantic tumor in her belly!"
"Zim-" Dib began to correct him, but Gaz quickly reached up and flicked his
ear.
She rolled her eyes up at him as she mumbled, "Don't tell him yet, stupid.
He'll just freak out. Get me outta here first..."
Laying Gaz on the floor, Dib climbed the first few rungs on the ladder, then
paused as Zim wrapped his arms around Dib's shoulders, and his legs around his
stomach, clinging tightly. After that Zim reached down with his metallic spider
legs, carefully wrapping them around Gaz's body and making sure not to poke or
scratch her with the pointy ends.
Zim grunted a little as Dib began to ascend as quickly as he could, but he
refused to let his grip budge a single bit. After a little over a minute, Dib
managed to cross the final ladder rung, then gripped the sides of the doorway
to pull them in.
They both panted for air for a few seconds, then Zim handed his cargo over to
Dib once more. Gaz groaned deeply as Dib picked her up, and grabbed a fistful
of his shirt, "HURRY..."
Dib nodded without another word, and began to run. The herculean task she
needed of him could only be completed so fast, but he pushed himself as far as
he could, knowing the situation was direly urgent. With Zim's help, he managed
to ascend the rest of the ladders in their way, then continued up every
stairway on his own without stopping. Zim huffed along, too proud to ask for a
break.
When they finally emerged at the top level, sweat was rolling down Dib's face
and his shirt was soaked in both his sweat and Gaz's blood. Zim pulled out a
remote control from his PAK as they crossed out into the open air, and Dib
gratefully gasped in the coolness and let it breeze over his face while they
waited for the Dual Ship to respond to Zim's summoning.
Just as the ship began to appear on the dark night horizon, Gaz suddenly let
out an involuntary cry, a desperate and painful cry. Feeling helpless, Dib
carried her onto the ship as soon as it landed, laying her carefully on the
floor as Zim got into the controls and set their coordinates for Membrane's
Laboratory.
Gaz head was rocking back and forth as she whimpered, and her skin had become a
much paler and more sickly shade of green. Not knowing what else to do for her
at the moment, Dib reached down and wiped the sweat away from her brow.
Hesitantly, he then reached down and laid his hand over hers. She gripped his
hand as soon as she felt it, shaking as she mumbled back to him, almost
deliriously, "Get me to Dad, Dib... J-Just get me to Dad..."
"I will, I will..." He whispered back, trying his best to keep her calm. But he
was also pretty unnerved himself by how much pain his normally composed sister
was currently in. To try and distract her from it, he asked her, "Do you know
what you're having? A girl, or a boy?"
"Girl... Boy..." She whispered back in what seemed like an amused tone, and her
eyes fluttered shut. Dib didn't think much of the vague answer right away, too
worried to care.
Zim finally announced a few minutes later, "We're here. I parked in the back."
Dib nodded gratefully to him, then picked Gaz back up and headed outside with
her. When they got to the back door, Gaz seemed to have regained consciousness,
and she reached out for the pass-code panel. She typed in a number and pressed
enter, but the door didn't open right away. After a few antsy moments Dib was
about to ask her if she'd typed it right, but then suddenly the door opened at
last, and Professor Membrane himself was the one on the other side, panting
hard as if he had dropped everything and ran to answer when summoned.
"Bring her in, quick." Membrane finally panted to Dib, otherwise not
recognizing him or his alien companion at all. He then turned heel and ran down
the hall to an elevator. Dib and Zim both followed after him and got into the
elevator, where they then descended in one of the single most awkward silences
ever known to mankind. Well, silent except for some soft, Halloween-themed
elevator music (Membrane mentally noted to himself that he needed to switch
that out for the Christmas music tomorrow) and the occasional drip-drop of
Gaz's blood onto the floor.
Finally they reached the very bottom level, nine levels below. This floor would
have no one else on it, it was the Professor's private lab away from home. The
door at the end of the hall opened to reveal a hospital-like setting, and there
the Professor reached out to take his daughter.
Dib glared intensely as he handed her over, but the Professor didn't
acknowledge that either. He promptly shut the door behind him as soon as he had
Gaz in his own arms, leaving his son and the alien to wait on a bench outside.
Almost immediately after the two of them sat down, they jumped as Gaz began to
scream. At first it was more or less just the normal kind of screaming one
would expect during a birth, but the sound quickly turned into something quite
a bit more worrisome. It was like the squealing of a pig being slaughtered and
the roar of rabid Irken dragon, all wrapped up in a demonic howl. It seemed to
go on forever.
Shaking slightly, Zim hesitantly piped up after a few moments, holding onto
Dib's arm in fear, "Well, hopefully your sister learns not to wait before
getting a tumor removed from now on..."
Dib rolled his eyes and huffed back, "Zim, you idiot - She's pregnant!"
The alien looked up at Dib with the single most horrified expression the human
had ever seen on him, and sputtered back, "WHAT?! The Gaz-beast, sh-she's
EXPELLING YOUNG...?!"
"YES, ZIM, NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Gaz screeched back at him from the other
room, just before letting out another blood-curdling dragon-scream.
They both sat in a very uncomfortable 'silence' after that, for what seemed
like hours, but was really only half of one. Then the screaming suddenly
stopped, and they watched the door closely. A couple of minutes later,
Professor Membrane emerged from the room, wiping his face and hands with a
towel. Other than that, however, he was almost completely covered in blood, and
he didn't seem the least bit disturbed by it.
"Ah, that went well!" He proudly proclaimed, then finally glanced over in Dib's
direction. "Hmm, you're still here? Are you waiting for a tip?"
Dib's eyes twitched as he looked back at his father, starting to seethe as he
wondered if he had really, seriously forgotten him. But then the Professor
began to laugh, and piped up again, "I'm just kidding, son, I know it's you. So
what have you been up to the last six years? Still insane as ever?"
Dib stared at his father for a second or two, then he got up to his feet,
wordlessly, and in the next second, his fist swung out, connecting with the
side of the Professor's face with a painful-sounding 'thwack!'. The older man
went down to the floor, and Dib breathed unevenly as he watched, resisting the
sorely tempting urge to do it again.
Instead he snarled back at his father, spit flying from his mouth, "You knew,
this entire fucking time, you KNEW, and you have the NERVE to ask me if I'm
insane? YOU DID THIS TO ME, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS! You are, without a single doubt,
the WORST fucking father EVER! I don't want you to talk to me ever again, and
as soon as I'm done with what I came here to do, I'm leaving this place for
good and you'll NEVER see my face AGAIN!"
Wanting to get away but not sure where to go, Dib first peeked into Gaz's room,
to make sure Membrane hadn't somehow managed to secretly murder her, what with
all that blood. But she was alive after all, and resting comfortably on the
bed, covered with fresh white sheets and with two babies laying in little
plastic makeshift-cribs right next to her. Feeling awkward, Dib was about to
leave for now and let her rest, until she suddenly called out to him, "Dib.
Come in and shut the door behind you. We need to talk."
He looked back at her in confusion and apprehension, "Uh, are you sure? You
just gave birth. You should probably rest now..."
"You should probably stop pretending I'm a normal human." She countered with a
growl. "Now shut the stupid door and get over here."
He obeyed her and walked inside, closing the door and leaving Membrane on the
floor behind him, then sitting down in the guest seat nearby her. He expected
her to speak first, so he sat in silence as he waited for her to do so. A
moment passed by and she still hadn't though, so finally Dib piped up himself,
"So, um... I guess I'm not a Capricorn after all...?"
"Nope. Scorpio." Gaz replied calmly.
"That makes a bit more sense..." He agreed, scratching his ear awkwardly.
"Also I was born first, and I hatched first." She added with a small smirk, "So
technically YOU are MY 'little bro'."
Dib couldn't help but crack a grin at that, "Yeah, that makes a bit more sense
too, 'Big Sis'..."
A short silence again passed between them. Dib let her collect her thoughts
while he gazed at her, and the babies. It was so weird, seeing someone you've
seen a thousand times before looking completely different than you remembered.
Now that there was some better light to see her with, he could see that her
olive colored skin was actually a slightly paler shade, like jade. But her eyes
were still the same amber-brown color that he remembered...
"Aba gabba baba!" One of the children, a very pale green little one, suddenly
cooed. Gaz smiled and reached over to the crib, waving her hand at the light
pea-colored baby, who reached up for her fingers with a smile.
"This one certainly loves to gab, for a newborn." She mentioned quietly. "Human
newborns are normally much more quiet and less mobile than you, my clever
little caterpillar. See? Your beautiful sister is sleeping peacefully, so hush
now, or you'll wake her..."
Dib got up again, to take a better look over at the other child. Unlike her
sibling, she had apparently inherited mostly human DNA - Her skin was peach-
colored, and she had no lekku, only two perfectly cute little ears, which
seemed to stick out a lot like Dib's did.
But the green baby disobediently continued to babble back, louder than ever,
"Gab! Gabi gabba gab!"
"Is that what I should call you, Gab?" Gaz replied, as if she could understand
the baby-banter perfectly. "Or are you a Gabi?"
Reaching into the bin, she pulled back the sheets and briefly inspected the
newborn's genitals before covering it back up again. "Well, I suppose you could
be either..."
Dib suddenly felt rather awkward as a thought occurred to him, which he
hesitantly passed on to her, "Um, no offense Gaz, but shouldn't you be sharing
this moment with with their father...?"
"No duh, asshole." She snapped back at him, clearly very annoyed with him in
that moment. "I would if I could. He's still stabilizing my spell to keep the
DEVIL locked up for all eternity, remember? He'll be here in another half an
hour, but we haven't seen each other for SIX YEARS. So park it, we need to
talk."
With a huff, Dib obeyed her again and took his seat. "Well, I was kinda
expecting you to say something first!"
"I was expecting you to have questions." She countered fairly, "But whatever,
I'll start. First of all, I don't think you should be so harsh on Dad."
Dib's mouth fell open at that and he stared at her, "What-Oh, come on! Are you
kidding me? Gaz, how can you take his side like that, knowing what he did to
our mother?!"
She glared back at him, "I'm NOT 'taking his side'! I just know a lot more
about him and the entire situation than you do, and I'm thinking about it more
logically! The fact is, you're blaming Dad for something that isn't entirely
his fault."
"How can you say that-?" He tried to interrupt.
"SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" She screeched back at him, and he quickly snapped his
mouth shut and did so. "YES, Dad did a LOT of really shitty, selfish things to
you! I did too, and I'm going to say sorry for both of us because I know he
never will! But you NEED to understand a few things about him AND yourself,
Dib. You only share half of your DNA with him. You can't hold him by the same
standards you hold yourself to. Normal HUMAN children, Dib? They don't react to
seeing aliens and bigfeet and monsters in the dead of night like, 'Wow! Hold
still while I get a picture!' They fucking get SCARED, Dib! They don't chase
after these nightmares, they get terrified! They scream, they run, or they just
freeze up and piss themselves and pray to their impotent GOD that they won't
die horribly! That's what Dad had to go through when he was just a little boy!"
Glaring at him, she went on, "Be honest Dib, what if you had to experience that
as a child, -without- the Neo-Irken DNA that enhanced you both physically and
mentally - What if you were standing on the brink of adulthood, yet still very
much a child, locked up in an insane asylum, your mind wasting away and your
demons ready to consume you, and a horrifically powerful monster came to you
and told you that he could make them all go away, forever? Not only that, not
only would your mind finally be free from this horrible CURSE, but he could
grant you intelligence beyond what any other human in history has ever known?
Be HONEST, Dib - If you had been in a situation like that, like Dad was, you
probably wouldn't have been such a saint in the face of temptation, either!"
He stared at her wordlessly for several seconds after that, unsure how to
respond at first. So Gaz continued without his input, "It's still not an excuse
for what he did. He could have chosen to refuse to harm another child like he
was harmed, and meet his fate head on, like my husband Todd was willing to do.
But that kind of true bravery isn't as common as humans wish it was, especially
when we really have to face the pressure head-on ourselves. Dad was just a
scared little kid, Dib. What he did was wrong, but he didn't really have a fair
choice. He was pretty much just as forced into the situation as our Mother was.
He never wanted children anymore than she did, he just wanted to be normal and
go to college and do good things for his world, invent things that would better
mankind, and he did! He did all that, AND raised two kids that he never even
wanted, the best he could! And finally, this should be obvious, but have you
forgotten that, as fucked up as this entire situation was for everyone
involved, we both owe our LIVES to it?"
Well, that WAS kind of hard to dispute. It was also rather a lot to process.
So, everything Dib thought he knew was true, was wrong... Again. How many times
had that happened so far? He'd lost count.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, he asked her with fatigue in his eyes, "So what
am I supposed to do? Just forget about everything he's ever done to me?"
"Yes." Gaz answered him immediately and with utterly serious conviction.
"Why?" He demanded to know.
"...Because you're better than him."
Dib's eyes went wide as he heard her say that, unable to believe it. Between
that and her saying sorry to him, Dib was starting to wonder if this was
actually his sister after all.
Gaz stared back at his perplexed expression silently for a moment, but then she
broke out into a strange smile. She snorted, trying to hold back her laughter,
until a short cackle finally forced it's way out of her mouth. Suddenly, she
reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, roughly pulling him down
towards her. Dib was almost convinced she was about to break his neck or
something, but instead she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck,
hugging him tight.
"Dib, you idiot!" She exclaimed, but her voice wasn't the least bit angry. In
fact, she was so overwhelmingly happy, she was actually -crying-. Dib had never
seen her cry before, not even when she was a little girl, so he was rightfully
more than just a tad terrified. At the same time though, it was a surprisingly
pleasant sensation, and he didn't feel the need to try and pull away. She went
on, pressing her dampened cheek to his, "Do you have ANY idea how amazed I am
that you're not DEAD?"
"Uh..." Was all Dib could manage to think to say at the moment.
She squeezed him tighter as she continued, "Almost as amazed as I am by the
fact that we're BOTH not dead. I always wanted to believe I could do what mom
asked me to... But honestly? I was never really, totally sure I could. Not
until I saw you tonight. Knowing that you survived everything you did to get
back here... I knew I could do anything after that..."
Finally she let go of him, and let herself fall back against the bed, staring
up at the ceiling with wonder in her wide, bright eyes. "We really can do -
anything-..."
Dib was still very much at a loss as to what to say or do in this impossibly
weird situation, but luckily for him someone suddenly began to knock on the
door, effectively excusing him from the awkwardness as the young man from that
weird house stepped inside. He immediately made his way to the plastic bins
where the twins were sleeping, staring down at his children in amazement, tears
welling in his eyes.
Dib awkwardly got up from his seat so that Todd could take over, and began to
shuffle his way out. But Todd took notice and quickly reached for Dib's
shoulder, "Hey, wait." He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve and then smiled
brightly. "You're Dib, right? Hehe, except for the coke-bottle glasses, you
look just like Gaz always said! If you wouldn't mind, I'd really like to share
a coffee or something with you sometime soon. Gaz has told me a lot about you."
The space-traveler stared back at the strangely normal-looking young man in
complete bafflement. Of all the weirdness he'd seen in various dimensions and
planets, this kid had to be the single most confusing being he'd ever
encountered in his life. What was it that Gaz, the most powerful being in
existence, liked so much about this average-looking human boy? Dib supposed
he'd have to have a coffee with him some time and find out. "Uh, yeah, sure..."
He finally replied in a distracted tone, glancing over at Gaz semi-
suspiciously, "You... You actually, tell people about me...?
She rolled her eyes away from him as a small blush dusted her cheeks. "Duh,
stupid. You're my brother and I love you. Now get the fuck out so I can kiss my
husband..." She quickly ordered, to cover up the last words she'd just
admitted.
Dib's eyes went wider than they'd ever been before as he heard those words, and
he stared outright for more than a few seconds, until Gaz glared and wordlessly
shooed him with her hand. "Oh! R-Right, okay..." He mumbled back, heading for
the door. But just as he was about to exit the room, he stopped and turned one
last time to add, "Um, I - I love you too, sis!" Before quickly shutting the
door behind him.
Todd broke out into a grin as soon as he was gone. "Aww. How cute. He's just as
dorky as you said."
"Oh no, he's WAY dorkier." Gaz replied with a grin of her own. "By the way, I
hope you don't mind, but the green one has already decided on 'Gab' for a name.
Because he gabs." She explained shortly, just as the baby began to babble in
agreement behind them.
"That's okay." Todd kissed her forehead. "I like Gab. So what about the other
one?"
Gaz pretended to hum in thought, "Well, I did have an idea for a name... I was
thinking that I'd kind of like to name her after two of my favorite people. So,
what do you think of 'Debi'?"
"I like it!" He immediately praised. "How do you like 'Jenny' as a middle
name?"
"I think it's perfect. Just like her."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
As Gaz had promised her husband, she didn't leave right away. Though she was
far from a regular human, she still had to take it easy after giving birth and
sealing away an ancient demon, and was in no shape to be taking off anywhere.
Not to mention, Zim and Dib's Dual Ship was much very in the same boat, dented
and scratched from the top to bottom after all their adventures, it definitely
needed some work before returning to the vacuum of space.
Gaz didn't trouble herself in the least for sleeping in well past noon the next
day, content to let her husband tend to the babies while she did so, and only
bothering to wake up when the luscious aroma of greasy, cheesy pizza filled her
nostrils. Despite knowing how gross and unhealthy it was compared to most of
the nutrients he'd been living off of in space, Dib had been sorely craving a
taste of his old staple. Besides, it was his birthday, apparently, so he was
allowed to treat himself to his favorite poison, and as he'd expected, Gaz
selfishly scarfed down most of the pizza to herself. Of course, nobody was
going to correct a hormonal, pain-ridden Gaz about a damn thing.
The next day Dib went out with Todd for that coffee he had promised, and both
men were quite surprised by their perception of the other. Todd was shocked to
find that Dib was even dorkier and weirder than Gaz could have ever impressed
even if she tried - But then again, to someone as weird as Gaz, even Dib
probably seemed like your average geek. Dib, on the other hand, was shocked to
find how relatively -normal- his sister's husband was. He was truly average in
every way, except for his childhood experiences, but to Dib that was literally
all just a walk in the park. His looks were average, his intelligence was
average, even his tastes were average - When Dib offered, the kid refused to
try one of the alien berries that Dib brought in for Gaz, who used them and the
alien aloe in some sort of spell to heal her body and restore her magic.
But then again, to Gaz, that extraordinarily normal, Plain-Wayne, would-eat-
spaghetti-forever-if-he-could-husband of hers, was actually one of the most
rare and beautiful beings in the entire cosmos...
The family went on to spend that Thanksgiving and Christmas together - Truly
the single most awkward Thanksgiving and Christmas ever spent. At least Johnny
had opted out of it, choosing instead to spend some personal time in the woods
and collect his things from his cabin before moving back in with Todd, but
between Professor Membrane's flying head-on-a-screen, Zim criticising
everything on the table, Dib subsequently trying to steal his portions, and Zim
trying to stab him with his spider legs for it, even though he didn't even want
the food to begin with, well, it was a memorable holiday season, to say the
least.
Despite Zim's brief initial uproar about it, once Gaz was healed she
confiscated the Dual Ship and began making repairs and personal upgrades to it.
By and large, human technology was still far behind Irken technology, but
Membrane Laboratories had more than one secret hiding in the basement, and
besides that, Gaz already had a decent knowledge of Irken technology herself.
And of course, with Orby on her side, there was nothing she couldn't do. Still,
she definitely took her sweet time doing it, in no particular hurry to leave
the world she had been born to right away.
But after about a month or two, Zim eventually got sick enough of the smells
and sights and noises on Earth to test Gaz's wrath, and finally one day he
snapped at Dib, "FILTHY human! WHEN are we going to leave this cursed planet?!"
"Hey, it's not cursed anymore, remember?" Answered Dib, who was sitting on the
couch with a cheesy-toes chip hanging out of his mouth. "Gaz fixed that. And
she said she's fixing the ship, so be grateful."
"Well she hasn't fixed the STINK! You're starting to smell like a disgusting
Earth-boy again! I refuse to let you touch me again until you've got this
horrible Earth-smell off of you!"
With sex as the ultimatum, Dib sighed, knowing he'd eventually have to go along
with what his alien punk wanted. He'd been having fun spending time with a
kinda loving family for once, but he also had to agree that Earth just wasn't
what it was cracked up to be after everything else he'd seen, and he longed to
return to the vastness of space once more.
So finally, once Christmas and the New Year had passed, he went to his sister
to tell her the news, "Hey, Gaz... It's been really good to see you again, but
we need to hit the interplanetary road again now. I really wish we could see
each other again but-"
Gaz cut him off there, rocking baby Debi in her arms and wearing a pink apron,
but still managing to look more than menacing, "That's good. Because I'm going
with you."
"W-What?!" Dib replied with wide-eyes, not sure if he'd really heard right,
"WAIT, what-? I thought we just had to bring Orby-?!"
"Over Zim's disintegrated CORPSE, you are! Get your own ship, Gaz-pig! Give
back the ship and the remote and all other pieces, NOW-!" His alien boyfriend
added, but quickly stepped back when Gaz advanced upon him with murder in her
eyes. The fact that she looked like she could kill him when holding a baby
somehow only made her look more dangerous.
"I COULD arrange for the former, you little green PUKE." She growled, grabbing
him by the front of his shirt and sneering into his face. "Luckily for you I
have more use for you alive than dead. But I CAN change my mind about that at
any time no matter how important you think you are, so fair warning, Irken. And
what, did your dumb asses think I was fixing your ship and saving your lives
this whole time, just because I liked you? Fuck you. You owe me and now it's
time to pay up. I hope you fuckers enjoyed your childhoods because now I'm here
to whip you little bitches into shape and put you to WORK. You two are vital to
my Master Plan and you're just gonna have to get used to it, because unless you
plan to take the pussy way out and commit suicide, you're mine now. So pick up
your jaws before a bug flies in, and get ready to shit yourselves when you see
what I've done with the ship."
They didn't literally shit themselves, but their jaws dropped again when Gaz
finally allowed them to see the ship in her private underground lab. She'd
pretty much completely overhauled the craft, making it a Trio-Ship just to
start things off. She had also made everything that was dented all shiny and
smooth, replacing many of the parts with entirely new bits. It was now a much
roomier ship, big enough to have force to it's frame, but still just small
enough to be stealthy as well. She had added two stealth laser-cannons to each
portion of the trio, a total of six, and had upgraded the defense system to
boot.
Dib openly whistled, impressed by the work. Zim glared at him and crossed his
arms. His human boyfriend eventually nudged him when he refused to speak at
first, and the alien had to begrudgingly admit, "Okay, I GUESS it looks better
than before..."
"Shut up, Zim, I know it." Gaz snapped back at him, adding, "Now pack whatever
shit you plan on bringing. We're leaving in two weeks."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The next two weeks didn't seem like much time at all to Todd or Gaz, who made
out and had sex at every possible opportunity. It was a bit longer for Dib, who
Gaz pawned the kids off to constantly when she wanted a moment alone with her
husband. But the new uncle had to admit, although he still never wanted kids of
his own, being a mentor to the little ones was pretty fun too. He did have a
bias, though. He adored Debi and was glad that she was much easier to care for
and please, but he personally prefered Gab and his personality, how he was
constantly trying to get into things, curious little tyke that he was. And the
fact that he was a handsome shade of green didn't hurt either.
But that day finally did come, the day that Gaz had chosen as the date of their
departure, and they stood with the ship completely stocked, ready, except for
one thing.
Gaz had stopped before she boarded, and Todd stood opposite of her. Gaz was
carrying Gab, and Todd had Debi in his arms. They gazed at one another for a
long time, then leaned in and hugged one another, as a whole family, for the
last time.
Naturally they found themselves reluctant to let go. Todd finally hesitated to
ask, just before Gaz had considered turning away, "Do you think... Will you
ever be able to come back someday at all...?"
Gaz stiffened a bit in his arms. She knew she might be able to contact him once
in a great while, but eventually she would have to immerse herself in a world
where that would be too dangerous to do for a long time. And as for coming
back, it was impossible...
Well, it was -probably- impossible, unless...
Gaz suddenly grabbed Todd just as he was pulling back, and hugged him to her
tighter than ever. "Listen, Todd. My love... Listen. I -might- be able to come
back, someday, but it won't be soon... You'll need to hold on to life with all
your might, and -maybe-, if you live a long and full enough life, I'll be able
to juggle some things around and get my chores on Irk done in time to get back
here, before the Cosmic Fire Witch comes to end me in all her glory. But you
need to live to be old as fuck, you got that Casil? Old as FUCK."
"Old as fuck. You got it, babe." He agreed, grinning even though his eyes were
overflowing with tears. Gaz reached in and let them fall onto her hand, then
brought the salty waters to her tongue. His life and his love for her was in
those tears. They would have to get her by until she could quench her thirst
for him once more.
Still though. Just one more kiss...
They'd never bound each other before, but they both knew there was a vow in
that kiss, a vow that applied to both of them. Live. Live without me. Live
well, for me, and I will do the same for you...
Todd ruffled his daughter-son Gab's green head one last time before Gaz took
him with her, to the world they belonged to. "You're gonna go far, kid..." Was
his father's last words to him.
Debi began to whine and then bubbled into a cry as Gaz placed one last kiss on
her forehead and whispered, "I leave you this world, little one. I made it just
for you. Play to your heart's content..."
Finally, Gaz took a step back from her husband and daughter. Then another, and
another. Just as her eyes began to sting, she at last tore herself away from
them, turned and fled into the ship. It was the first time she'd ever fled in
her life.
Dib and Zim gave her plenty of room when she entered the ship, and neither of
them protested when she handed Gab off to Dib wordlessly, and then headed to
the console of the ship, starting it and typing in the instructions. Then she
watched, unblinking, out of the front window, as her husband put up his hand
and waved to her.
She watched him as he got smaller and smaller as the ship ascended, and she
kept watching him even when he got too small for normal humans to see. She
watched until they'd left the atmosphere completely, she watched until the
Earth was just another blue marble in the infinitely dark sky.
And Dib watched her, worried for his sister, and saddened himself by her
plight. It suddenly hit him, how much she'd ever done for him and everyone
else, how much she'd sacrificed.
She'd given up her true love, to save her people... Both of her peoples.
Who wouldn't be honored to serve someone like that?
"Dib." She suddenly sniffed thickly, refusing to look back at him. But he could
see in the reflection of her on the screen, there was a bit of shine to her
eyes, almost like tears... "Take the baby and Zim and go to your room. Leave me
alone for a while..." She commanded quietly.
He nodded and obeyed her, dragging Zim off despite the alien's quiet and
reluctant protests about being bossed around. But Zim was glad he had obeyed
after all when the door closed behind them and they began to hear strange,
heavy sobbing, which soon became monstrous howls of pain.
The universe was so very big, and full of so many things. But right now, Gaz
felt only the emptiness.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
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