A quiet, low moan escaped from the concrete cell. No one answers the call, and the air stills in the building. The darkness hugs every form in the room in a tight embrace and spills darker into the corners and cracks. It is damp, musty, and dirty here, like a prison that had been abandoned for years. The atmosphere is thick and heavy, as if the building itself were slouching in depression. There were no windows, and only one door at the end of the hallway. Another moan can be heard from the same cell, but is cut off by a gasped choking noise of surprise and two, pale, 17 year old hands grasp the rusty bars at the front of the cell.

"H-hello?" he calls out weakly and waits patiently for a reply. The other two cells across the wide hallway remain silent, the same goes for the one beside his own. The young adult's eyes dart around, wide with fear. The silence, which he usually enjoyed, now made him and uneasy and afraid. "Hello? Hey! Anybody!?" he shrieks as he tries to rattle the bars containing him, splitting the silence for only a moment before it settles again.

He squints desperately, straining his retinas to the point of pain, trying to see more than just grey hues and outlines of shapes. However, his own eyes mocked him, and refused to focus on anything he bid them to. He slid down the bars and sat on his knees. His breaths quickened, as well as his heart rate, as he wondered where he was and how he got here.

There was a subtle whimper that emerged from the cell across the hall, small and uncertain. This made the pale figure tense, but he quickly recovers and whispers a question.

"Is someone there?"

There was another moment of silence from inside the almost pitch black cell, and then, another small whimper. "Who's there?" it cried out quietly. The pitiful voice quivered with fear, but something about the accent sounds familiar to the pale human.

"I-I'm here!" he jumped up, gripping the bars again tightly. The shout echoed, and hearing his own voice annoyed him. It seemed inappropriate now that he knew someone else was here. "Who are you? What's your name?" he whispered quickly, relieved that there was someone to accompany him in the confusion. "Come to the front…I can't see you." the pale figure said, wanting to see another soul, hoping his mind wasn't tricking him.

From the darkness came small, three-fingered, black glove hands that hesitantly gripped the thick rusted bars of the cell. Whatever light that was in the building reflected off two magenta orbs that blinked curiously across the hall. Even though they were all the young adult could see, those eyes held his own in a wide stare - the color contrasted greatly with the black and came as a relieving sight from all the darkness.

It took a moment for the pale figure to register who he was seeing, but when he did, it brought fear, confusion, and relief all at once.

"Zim?" he breathed out shakily. "Is that you? What's going on?"

"I am not…" the other started, but was cut off by a loud shriek that rang in their ears, making them jump.

"Where am I? What is this!?" came angry roars and bangs from the cell next to the human.

"L-L-Lard Nar?" called the voice across the hall in surprise.

"Skoodge!?" he yelled back. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Skoodge?" The human looked across the hall again at the dark cell containing Skoodge. "You're…not Zim." he spoke so softly only he could hear, sighing with both relief and disappointment.

"Uh guys?" Came a shrill, nervous squeak from the cage that they had assumed empty. "Where are we?"

"Keef!? Is that you?"

"D-Dib!" Keef cried.

"Just what the hell is going on!?" The one called Lard Nar roared again. "Who are you people!? Where are we!?" Violent cracks of hooves against concrete pounded through the small building, the noises grew louder and louder still, bouncing off the walls and connecting with each other, making adrenaline seep through all four of their bodies.