Okay, so this will probably be my one and only fan fiction on this site, and I'd like to see it get somewhere. Now, before we start, I'd like to say the following; this world that this fic is based in is 90% original (since inspiration had to come from somewhere) and full to the brim with crossover characters. However, I still see this is a primarily Invader ZIM fic.
Reviews are treasured, guys! Don't care how long, negative, positive, just be constructive if you can. I'll make sure to repay the favour.
"It's not a party, Zim! It's an Irken Existence Evaluation."
"I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know and what would a note say, Dan? 'Cat dead, details later'?"
"We're leaving ten minutes ago!"
"It'll be one pistol as before, and you can be the gentleman and shoot the lady; and starve to death yourself."
"It could have imitated a million life forms on a million planets. It could change into any one of them at any time. Now, it wants life forms on Earth."
"To the little guys."
"I usually hear that when you speak but it's usually subtext."
"Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same."
"In their last moments, people show you who they really are."
"No... this is a mistake! Have I mentioned that I am ZIM!"
"Why someone weak? Because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power…"
"They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree."
"But love like that doesn't just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always a little love left, underneath."
"I thought you were the Moon and I was your Wolverine. Turns out you're the Trickster, and I'm just the fool who got played."
"A person knows when they're in darkness, even when they can't see."
"Irken Zim's data is not allowed to into the collective. His PAK will be removed, and erased."
"Sometimes...you can cry until there's nothing wet in you. You can scream and curse to where your throat rebels and ruptures. You can pray, all you want, to whatever god you think will listen. And, still it makes no difference. It goes on, with no sign as to when it might release you. And you know that if it ever did relent...it would not be because it cared."
He couldn't remember what he was staring at but he kept on gazing anyway. It felt like he'd been there for a lifetime - in some ways he had. Zim had never thought about what it was like to die; it was frowned upon in Irken culture. However, at that moment, he felt sure that death had touched him, if not briefly and fleeting. A moment ago he had been gone. He knew it, felt it. A strange, interminable emptiness that had occurred following a headache. And mind consuming terror. Numbing, down to the very core. He remembered it but decided to push it back into the corners of his mind.
There was a cold surrounding him, and everything was still dark. Zim knew that this was not, of course, the vast emptiness he couldn't remember that he had been in. The thing called death. This was a very real chill that made his body quake sporadically. There was a hard floor beneath him, glacial cold and smooth like ice. The air was dry and clean, fresh air that made his throat begin to cool. Ice began to form at the corners of his eyes, or feathering his eyelashes.
I've been here quite some time, he thought slowly. It wasn't like him. To be so slow, even in his head -which was always a step ahead of his body, but not of transpiring events- he touched a moment then. In his head he wondered, silently; What happened to me?
"What has happened to me?" The sound of his own voice was empty. He remembered only in memories the thrill and confidence his own sound had given him. The sound of his name.
"I am Zim," he whispered, still staring, unblinking, into the darkness. "My name is Zim. I am an Invader, a proud and respected Irken Invader. I am proud, there's no place for doubt. Pride. I am proud to be Zim." Those words were a lie. He felt it deep inside whatever heart he might have. A heart he had, he knew that. He could feel it beating.
He sat up slowly to avoid his head spinning, reaching out for something, anything. The knuckles of his hand brushed against something solid and he grasped for it with both hands. One gripped it but the other collided with something else. A sudden, short metallic bang echoed out, and Zim breathed in sharply. He fumbled with the now numb hand to grasp the metal object. It was a pole. With a quick burst of short-lived enthusiasm, Zim pulled himself to his feet. As soon as he had, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him and he leaned into the pole to keep himself upright.
A click resonated near him, and a door opened.
A wash of white radiance poured into the room, and then a flash and lights flickered on. Zim hissed and shut his eyes tightly. "I am Zim!"
"Oh you're kidding, right?" The voice was soft - a males, but soft. The light tapping of buttons could be heard, and then a ringing. The intruder was calling someone. He let out a heavy sigh.
Zim cracked open one eye, slowly adjusting to the sudden brightness.
"West? You never call me, what is it now that's so important?"
The intruder spoke in an irritated, quick manner. "Another one's appeared, Szark. Another. Get down here and deal with it, and while you're at it, find me a new station because this is getting ridiculous." The call ended.
Zim managed to open his eyes, and he saw the young man in the doorway. He was unthreatening and slightly built, with dusty blonde hair and blue eyes behind large spectacles. The image of modest youth, and the image of sly, dark intelligence. There was an air of wrongness about him.
Zim let the pole go and stepped back, looking around him and, suddenly, was filled with something akin to dread. He was in a storage room, filled with wide tables and shelves, and as he was scanning them he did something he'd never done before; he made eye contact with a dead man. Frozen, with eyes wide open, pale from the touch of death. The dead man stared accusingly past him.
Zim looked around, his breathing fast and shallow, as all around he spotted the corpses of dead humans.
Further notes:
Because this is an original world made by me -yes that is important and hopefully you'll understand why-, it tends to be complexity of the subtle variety, aka laws, species rank, technological intricacy, behind-the-scenes sub plot and plot development and hierarchal order. There's also an insane amount of backstory that will be slowly revealed through some of the more political/OC only scenes (so you'll need to pay attention, kiddies!).
Because I'm a very speculative person, there will be some major character changes along the way to do with underdeveloped pieces of lore, however, I do not take it as canon but enjoy tinkering with insane ideas.
Original characters are usually Sueish, but here's the thing- these OC's were not made for this fanfic alone, but for an original idea. They are vastly important characters to the plot -even more so than any crossover characters. Give these guys a chance and I hope they'll shine for you :3 There are mini profiles of some of them in my profile, if you wish to have a look.
