Human and alien stared into each other's eyes, each a different color, each a different shape and size but the look that passed between them held the same meaning, the same desperate significance. The ground underneath them shook with the world's impending destruction. People screamed for mercy, prayed for their lives and for heaven.
No one paid attention to the misfits any more. Who had time to be cruel when the entire world was ending?
Zim's lips curled up into a harsh smile, as he noticed their old skool begin to crumble in on it-self behind them. Dib followed the irken's gaze and couldn't help but, smirk.
"Hey Zim?" He asked surprisingly calm for the pure chaos that was happening around them.
"What stink-brain?" Zim asked, using the name merely out of force of habit. The human rolled his amber eyes.
"This sucks."
"Indeed. It appears neither of us won." Dib turned to Zim about to say something when the entire earth shook again, violently. The gravity was failing itself. He felt horribly light and random objects were already beginning to float above their heads. More buildings began to implode and the resulting crash was near deafening.
Dib ran as fast as his long legs could carry him down the pure white hallways of the Membrane Science Facility. People jumped out of his way, recognizing the crazed look in his burnt auburn eyes. Papers flew behind him and as he skidded down the last hallway, he used all his momentum gained to shove against the double doors that belonged to his father. Currently a meeting was being held inside those doors. An important one all about the strange earthquakes that had been happening all over the world.
"It has to be some kind of natural phenomenon. Perhaps, the plates are shifting again."
"No, no. How can that be possible. All at once, all over the world? That's just a cons—"
The heavy metal doors slammed open, banging into the plaster walls as the professors
crazy son, slid inside the conference room, panting and waving a bunch of papers above his head frantically. "Spinning! All spinning!" He flailed about, throwing all the papers down on the long desk in front of the world leaders. Membrane stood at the head of the table, fighting the urge to bang his head on said table.
"Floatin-ing into" Gasp. "Space! ALIENS!"
It was silent in the room, as Dib kneeled and pressed his head between his knees to try to get his bearings. His black hair swung with the action and as he stood up again, seemingly more calm the leaders in the space all glanced back to Membrane to see what he would do.
But, before anyone could even think to open their mouth to question just exactly why the wacko of the science world was bursting into a very important meeting, Dib was speaking again in that high pitched panicked way of his. "The world is spinning way too fast! It's all because of the alien's ship. The Massive." He ran over to his father and nudged him out of the way to take control of the laptop in front of him, and plugged in his hard drive. An image of the Massive popped up on screen. "They're doing something to our orbit! It's not earthquakes. Not shifting plates! ALIENS!"
Membrane grunted as he nearly stumbled. "Son. Stop this foolishness. Get back to work. Can't you see we're having a very import—"
"Meeting! Yes, yes! I can see that. That's great. Together we can do something about the menace in our skies. If we don't then we're doomed!" He clicked the next slide and up popped a chart. "See, the gravity is decreasing! The pressure letting off more and more.
Already our day and night schedule is messed up. They want to get rid of most of the water before they set on the canon sweep. Destroy most of the life forms so all they have to take out with the sweep is plant life! The entire human race is going to float into space!"
He scrambled over to the table, nearly crawling across it as he grabbed as many of the papers up as possible to pass them around to the confused world leaders who stared at Membrane as if it was his fault. The professor cleared his throat. "Dib. As great as this is, and it is, Son, I would very much like it if—"A paper was shoved at him too, by his son as the teenager kept rambling.
"As you can see on the sheet I just passed to you, there are several ways in which we can fix this problem. But, in order for any of them to work we have to begin work right now…"
Membrane shook his head and motioned at the security guards near the door who at first had seemed unsure but, now nodded and ran forward with zest to snatch the teenager up by his arms. "Hey, wait! Let me go! No, stop! Mankind….DOOOOMED!" He screamed as the guards dragged him out. The leaders sighed in relief and the meeting was continued without further incident.
Dib however was thrown outside, to land in the fountain in the shape of his father. The guards laughed and went back inside, as the teenager sputtered and sat up to glare.
"Damn it.." His black hair stayed limp when he climbed out of the fountain to begin to dejectedly walk to his car. "Now what do I do? I got to do something…"Just as he said that another violent quake shook the ground, sending several car alarms off. Glass shattered somewhere in the distance.
Dib's teeth gritted, as he tempted to stay upright. When he failed and fell against a nearby car, his hand opened to reveal a soggy piece of paper left over from his attempt earlier at saving them all. His golden eyes narrowed in on the picture of the Massive in the corner, then the Irken symbol. With a sigh he leaned his head against the fancy paint job of the automobile. The sign gave him an idea. An idea that he'd really hoped he wouldn't have to resort to.
"Dib-Stink."
"Shut up, Zim. This is our best chance…" Dib swallowed nervously, as he glanced out from behind the stage where his father was talking at all the people. Never had he had such a large quantity of people to try to convince. Never had he been so afraid that they wouldn't believe him. "Our only chance."
His father, Professor Membrane was speaking in that authorative tone of his that got everyone's attention. And they were listening. Everyone in this tiny town, every eye in the world was trained on the tall, brilliant scientist who had saved them many times before and could save them now.
But, they were wrong. So, wrong. No one could save them now. But, they deserved to be told the truth. Zim was growing impatient, tapping his boot on the ground. It was enough that he'd had to give in, enough that he had been betrayed but now he had to go with this stupid monkey to explain to a group of more stupid monkeys to tell them about their impending doom.
"Well, what are you waiting for then?"
"I'm bidding my time." Dib hissed, eyes glued to his dad. Zim snarled and shoved the human forward as hard as he could through the curtains and onto the stage, quickly following the stumbling boy. There was a collective gasp, and the professor stopped in his inspirational speech to turn around to where everyone was looking to see his son and his weird, foreign friend.
"Son…What are you doing here?"
"Um, Hi dad." Dib waved. Zim rolled his eyes. The human caught the annoyed alien's expression, knowing it was partly due to hidden hurt, broken pride that made him act this way. But, he hurried it up just in case Zim decided he didn't want to help any more. So, the teenager jumped across the stage and snatched the microphone from his father who didn't so much as blink in astonishment.
"Okay, look. This is no natural phenomenon going on here, people." He took a deep breath to prepare himself to spout off the words he'd been saying ever since the earthquakes had begun happening.
"The world is spinning way too fast. The evil race of aliens, called the irkens are going to try to rid this planet of as much life before they do the canon sweep to remove the water and plant life. We're just bothersome. The entire human race is going to float into space and there's nothing anyone can do about it. So, go home. Spend the last hours with your family, kiss the one you love with reckless abandonment. Tell them you love them." He sucked in air and waited for some sort of acknowledgment or agreement or disagreement. Instead alll there was, was low murmurs and crickets chirping.
"Why should we believe you?" The random annoying voice spoke out. Of course that followed with numerous other voices. "Hey aren't you the crazy kid?" "Nutso." "Aliens, pfft." "Let the Professor talk, freak." "They need better security."
Dib growled in frustration, turning towards Zim, pointing. "Look! He's an alien! Green skin! No ears, no nose!" Said alien waved half heartedly at the people who began to look at him.
Another few seconds of contemplation then, "No. I thought that was a skin condition." "It is. I had him for skool." "That's Zim. Crazy but, normal." Murmurs of agreement. The professor finally decided to take action, walking over and gently grabbing back the microphone.
"I apologize for my son. He's insane. Now, as we were saying…does anyone have any questions?" Several hands went up in the air, lots of people began speaking at the same time. Dib began to curse and mumble and try to get his father's attention, bouncing up and down.
Zim's left eye twitched around his violet contact. "Oh for the love of Irk—" He stomped over, seized the microphone out of the scientist's hand. "Be silent, Pigs." He snapped into the speaker. Immediately a heavy stillness fell over the entire crowd.
"Very good. Now," He cleared his throat. "How to explain to you morons, what exactly is waiting for you…"His hand that wasn't holding the microphone tapped his chin. "Since you seem so excited about natural disasters…" A gloved hand went up and removed his black wig where it fell to the metal floor of the stage. His antenna stretched.
"The Irken Empire is…earthquakes. We are tidal waves. We're destruction at its finest. We are lava in the caves. We feed on the irony. We drink hypocrisy. We are everything we hate and need…" The hand removed the left contact, dropping it to the ground where it broke. He did the same to his other eye.
"The world is spinning way too fast, thanks to my race. My leaders. The human race will float into space. So do as the crazy, big headed boy says and go home. Kiss and love with reckless abandonment because you're all doomed."
That's when the screaming began.
"ZIM! Open up!" Dib screamed, his fists banging on the pink front door so hard that he thought that at any second his skin would break. Of course that didn't matter to him. Not when the entire world was at stake. Obviously it had to be something huge if he was going to Zim's for help. But, then again the alien could just as easily be involved in the entire. Unlikely, but still possible.
Ever since their truce nearly a year ago, the Irken had been slowly warming to living on the earth indefinitely. Of course it was taking longer for the alien to warm to Dib. They still had their fights and they were still violent, normally caused by stupid, superficial things.
Still, if the Tallest had called, Zim's loyalty to the Armada would return easily. Dib knew that Zim would never choose the humans over his own race.
"ZIM! SPACE-BOY!" The door slammed open, and standing in the entry way was a very pissed looking irken.
"STOP SCREAMING OR I'LL SHOVE A MANGO DOWN YOUR THROAT!" Dib cringed back in horror, forgetting how high pitched Zim's voice could get.
"Sorry. Jeeze." Dib straightened up and brushed his sore hands off on his shirt. Zim's fists uncurled and his eyes opened again, still narrowed into slits however.
"Yeah, yeah. Now what do you desire that was so urgent that you had to screech like a howler monkey, Diblet?"The teen shoved his way past the alien into the large, color challenged house. "Have you talked to the Tallest lately?" He asked, suspiciously. The irken slammed the door, spinning on his heel and stalking over to the human.
Without looking, Zim smacked the boy upside the head (punishment for coming in without permission) and went to the elevator to push the button to go down, waiting for Dib(who was rubbing his head in pain) to get in before answering.
"No. Not since…"The disguised eyes narrowed and the irken's brow furrowed as he did the mental math. "The day. Nearly, a year ago. It has been that long…" He scowled harder. "I've been on this planet too long." The door binged open and they walked out together. "Why, Dib-Moron?"
The human surprisingly accepted this answer without question, having learned to tell when Zim was lying. "Have you been watching the news?" Zim gave the Dib a dry look. "Never mind. Okay, have you at least been monitoring the camera feeds or earth's readings?"
Zim shook his head in confusion. "No. Why would Zim be doing such things when he no longer wishes to destroy earth?" Dib threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"Look, Zim, the planets been experiencing horrible shakes and the gravity has been slowly decreasing, according to my readings. Also, the Massive is in our orbit." He saved that part for last, knowing how the irken would react.
"WHAT?" Dropping the tool he'd been messing with, Zim practically ran over to the main computer and began typing in commands. Immediately several screens popped up. One showed the big influx of earth quakes, the next the gravity levels and then finally the Massive hovering above Earth as taken from Zim's space station that he'd used nearly ten years ago to win their water balloon fight.
"TREACHERY! LIES! WHAT IS THIS?" The alien's gloved fingers began to fly. "The Tallest wouldn't do this while I was still on the planet. They must have a plan they just forgot to tell me or-or I need to contact them first, yes!"
Dib swallowed back a pitying statement. Something along the lines of 'I'm sorry, Zim.' Or 'It'll be okay.' No use saying that though. He knew that this would not end well.
The connection started up and without a second's hesitation the line opened to show the two leaders, standing straight and proud, and looking about as smug as one could without eyebrows or a nose.
"Hello, Zim." Red said, with a pleased smile. Said alien was nearly hyperventilating but, obviously trying to control this.
"G-Greetings my Tallest. An honor to speak with you once aga—"
"You mean, it's an honor that we answered after last time." Purple corrected, in a chiding tone.
"O-Of course, My Tallest. I mean no disrespect. I was just wondering what exactly you were doing here."
Purple and Red's smiles transformed into twin devious expressions of pure malice. "Oh whatever do you mean, Zim?"
The irken's finger twisted into a little knot in front of him. "Well, you're hovering above Earth and according to the Dib-Stink," A thumb was shoved in his direction and Dib, on instinct, waved. "the gravity has decreased due to the machine used for the destruction of life that can't be completely wiped out by the Canon sweep."
Buffing his two claws, Red nodded almost sorrowfully. "Oh yes. That. Well, Zim we're doing what you wanted. Destroying the planet and claiming it for the Empire."
Zim licked his lips. "Y-yes. I did want that, didn't I?" He cleared his throat, a hand going to tug on his antenna only to fall when he realized he was still wearing the wig. "W-well Sirs…I'm still on the planet. Do you wish me to take my Voot up to the Massive?" Dib's heart kicked up several notches.
"No, Zim. You're staying there." The human felt almost ashamed when he felt a bit of relief.
"B-Bu-but, M-My Tallest!"
"No, Buts ZIM!" Red snarled, floating closer to the screen to glare at the tiny defect. "You'll find that your Voot cruiser is un-functional. As a matter of fact every piece of equipment with a code of Irken property has been deactivated."
Purple snickered. "Good bye, Zim! It's been horrible. Don't come back this time." With that the entire screen, the entire computer went dead. Dib waited, afraid to move, waiting for the flood of incoming rage that was sure to happen.
After a few more minutes, Zim turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could towards his Voot cruiser. He climbed inside and began to press at the buttons, frantically. Nothing happened. The machine lay cold and lifeless. A frustrated yell broke through the invader and cursed, jumping out and began running towards the elevator with Dib on his tail.
"Gir! Gir? GIR! Where are you? Come to ZIM!" Nothing. "GIR!" They ran into the elevator where Zim pressed the up button harder than it needed to be. Nothing. The elevator didn't work. Screaming with impatience, the irken skidded across the lab and shoved open the door to a stair well. They took the steps two at a time and when they finally reached the living room, Zim stopped in his tracks making Dib almost run into him.
There was Gir on the couch, on his side with big blue eyes wide and black with lifelessness. Zim said nothing, hands in fists as he shook violently. Dib gently laid a hand on the Irken's shoulder, knowing that this was the biggest betrayal in the whole universe for Zim.
He shook off the hand and walked over to the couch. Picking up the robot's tiny body, Zim stared at it for a good ten minutes while under their feet the ground was already quaking softly.
Finally, he put the dead SIR Unit down and took a deep breath before glancing at Dib. "Alright. What did you want? You obviously came here for a reason, Stink-Brain. I don't think it was to watch me get humiliated."
The human shook his head. "It can wait."
"NO. Tell, Zim. Now." A few seconds of debate went off in the teens brain before he nodded, obligingly.
"The earth is doomed. No doubt about that. It's inevitable. But…people do deserve to know the truth. I…I figured if you weren't a part of the Tallest's plans then…"
"I could reveal myself in a dramatic fashion and everyone will finally believe the sad little Earth boy?" Zim bit out bitterly. Dib grit his teeth, fighting the urge to punch out the Irken.
"No. They just need a bit of proof. Just back me up, Zim…" The human, a teenager with a heart and mind the age of an old man, sighed. "Please."
Zim looked away, down at his android, around at his dead base and then back at Dib. "Fine."
"Thank you."
"Shut up and let's go, Diblet."
%%%%%%%%%%%%
People screamed. It's what their instinct was. And the world was ending so they had a reason to. The only people who weren't screaming seemed to be two little freaks; a green child who was now revealed to be a alien with giant red eyes and two antenna sticking out of the top of his head. The other was pale as snow, with glasses around burnt gold eyes.
He was tall, taller than any boy his age had a right to be, all dressed in black. They made quite the pair as they stood where their old neighborhood had been, watching the world be destroyed.
It was ethereal. Cars, people, pieces of rubble, hung suspended in air. The whole universe seemed to be spinning, collapsing, and breaking into pieces.
Dib bit his lip as he nearly fell over from the newest quake. Zim caught him, feeling his feet begin to lift off the ground. "Dib-Monkey…" He said, ignoring the tiny bit of fear in his spooch, in favor of staring at the human. Said human knew what his comrade was feeling and nodded in understanding, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around the other's wrists. Together they began to spiral upwards, narrowly avoiding vehicles with their alarms going off, screaming people, uprooted trees, chunks of concrete.
"Zim…"
"What?" The irken yelled over the horrid noise of destruction, finally realizing that this was probably it for them. For their fight. For everything.
"And…kiss the one you love…with reckless abandonment…" The human hissed, gripping harder on the irken's wrists, refusing to let go of the only person who had ever gave a fuck about him. He pulled the irken closer and pressed their lips together.
The alien started. Pak instinct demanded that he yank away, push the human as far as possible, and forget the moment. No affection, no love, no—But, then why should it matter? They were going to die. This was their last moment and Zim realized he wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else than the stupid human who had filled up the empty holes of danger and time in his life.
With a slight head shake, Zim pressed back into the kiss, making sure he cut open the others gums, making sure their teeth clinked together. Their first kiss would be their last kiss and it would be just like everything they had ever done together; rough, powerful, a bit frightening and wonderful.
"Hate you, Dib."
"Hate you…Zim."
A.N.:
Have had this idea in my head for quite a few days now and it wouldn't leave me be.
I hope you like it. I had fun writing it. Yes...Zim and Dib died. Unless you have some other idea as to what happened. Also, I tried out a different writng structure. It's kind of jumpy and you have to work to fill in the blanks.
Inspired by, 'Reckless Abandonment' by The Spill Canvas.
I don't own IZ.