Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim, the Squee Comics or any characters within them. They are owned by Jhonen Vasquez

I was digging through old stories I worked on a long time ago and found this. It just needed some touch ups but was otherwise complete. It will have five chapters which I plan to post once a week but may do so more often depending on how I feel. I hope you enjoy this.

The Rescue

Chapter 1: The Boys In the Crazy House For Boys.

Tuesday, 12:00 PM

As I am escorted to the cafeteria, I look at the photos on the walls. On the right side are a row of pictures of the many psychiatrists and scientists who "cure" the children here. Most of them had their faces so covered with lab gear that I still can't tell what they look like, but those photos were preferable to the faces that could be seen. Their eyes; they are so cold, and their expressions ranged from emotionless to malicious. If I were still allowed to write my stories, I would base many of my villains off of them.

As terrifying as these images were, they were all a thousand times easier to look at than any photo on the left. It was covered from top to bottom with children who had been "cured of their mental illnesses." Each child had a big smile. They look happy, but the truth could be seen in their eyes and their postures. There clearly wasn't an independent thought running through their heads. Whoever these boys had been no longer existed; they were all just hollow shells. The first time I saw this wall, just after being transferred from the Defective Head Meats Institute, I had broken down crying for those children and for myself because I knew that, when this was all over, I would join their ranks.

The guards stopped just outside the doors of the lunchroom. They would be going on their break now while I ate lunch under the eyes of the people keeping order in the cafeteria. I don't think that they'd even let us eat together if the state didn't require that the children should have at least an hour of social activities every day if they are deemed stable enough to handle it. I probably would have completely lost my mind here if it had been otherwise.

I got into the lunch line and received my food, if one could call it that. I think that these people get their food from the same place that the schools do. Although, thankfully, it hadn't been spiked with any mind-controlling substances. At least, I didn't think it had. For all I know, I could just be trapped in a self-made nightmare within my mind because I can't reach the real world.

I shook my head, trying to dislodge these thoughts. If I kept this up, I'd crack for sure. Not that it mattered at this point. Remembering what I had found out a few hours ago, I sighed. Once my tray was filled, I took off for a group of tables in the middle of the room.

"Hey Squee," At the call I looked over to the third table of the fourth row to see an eleven-year-old boy with dirty blond hair and green eyes. He was waving to me, "Over here."

None of the kids here knows the name my parents gave me. If someone were to ask for Todd Casil, no one would know whom he or she was referring to.

As I walked over to him, I could feel a smile make its way across my features. "Hi, Ryan, good to see you." Ryan was my closest friend in this place. The day after Schmee had been taken from me, he had seen me crying and comforted me. He helped me get through the next few weeks as well. We have been close ever since.

"So, I see you're still you," Ryan stated.

"And you are still you." I responded, with the common greeting of the asylum children, as I sat down across from him.

I suddenly felt my smile slip away and tears run down my face.

"Hey, what's the matter? This is happy hour. You can't be bummed out during happy hour."

"Oh Ryan, I heard them talking this morning. My … my lobotomy is scheduled for Saturday."

Suddenly all the tables near us fell silent for a moment. Then the other kids started talking again, louder this time, as if by doing so they could forget the words they had just heard. A few of them went over to other tables to spread the word. Another boy was about to be destroyed. I couldn't help but find it sad that so many people I have met that seem to care about anyone but themselves are trapped in here.

After a moment, Ryan finally found his voice. "Oh Squee, I'm so sorry."

"I guess this is the end of the line for me, huh."

"Don't talk like that. There's still hope. Most of the kids who escaped got away when their clock had almost reached zero."

"Yeah right, look at me. Do you think I'm the type of person who's going to suddenly come up with a plan and bust out of here?"

"Yup. I'm sure of it. Your escape will be so impressive, that it'll be as memorable as the Dib Incident."

Dib, the Houdini of the asylum. He was brought in on Halloween morning. By mid-afternoon, he was thrown into a top security cell with a sentence to remain here for the rest of his days. Well, whatever his "problem" was, they clearly underestimated the intelligence that came with it. When a nurse came to his room after nightfall with his dinner, he was gone.

To this day, no one has figured out how he pulled it off. The door to his room was still locked, and although his straightjacket lay on the floor, there were no fingerprints on the walls, no footprints leading down the hall and even the ventilation grate was still coated in a layer of dust. Rumor has it that he showed up at his school the next morning, as if nothing had ever happened.

Today, if one were to ask the doctors or security guards about him, they'd deny any knowledge of his ever being admitted here at all. Ask a child and they'll say he's "the greatest escape artist who ever lived."

"You overestimate me. I don't think I have it in me to get out of here the way he did." I said.

"Yeah, you're probably right, no one in this room could pull off an escape like that. But he was Professor Membrane's son, so he's a guaranteed genius."

I sighed and stated, "I wish I had called out to Nny when I saw him."

"Oh, not this again! Look, whoever this Neighbor Man of yours is, there's no way he could have helped you. You can't even be sure that he would have tried."

"Don't talk that way about him," I yelled as I slammed my fists on the table. "You don't know what he's like. He would have been able to get me out of that prison without breaking a sweat. As for if he would do so, I know he would have, just like he saved me from that man behind the mall."

I felt a shiver run down my spine. It would have been just like that. I could just picture the path of carnage leading to the exit he would have used to get us out of the institute. It probably wouldn't be a first-floor exit either. That was why I hadn't called out to him, why I wouldn't ask him to save me, even when he walked right by while scientists prepared to run horrible tests on me. I didn't have it in me to condemn any innocent people that might find themselves in his path.

Ryan rubbed his temples and released a sigh. "Look Squee, whether he would have helped you or not isn't important right now. What is important is that you need to find a way out of here, fast. We all do."

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Squeeeee" I shrieked as I jumped three feet into the air. The next thing I knew, I felt a sudden pain. It couldn't be pinpointed, but it hurt so much. When the shock passed, I found myself on my hands and knees. I quickly stood up and turned to look at a guard who was holding a cattle prod. Don't cry, I can't cry, they always laugh at us when we do. I took a deep breath and asked, "Is something wrong sir?"

"Yes, you were showing signs of aggression." A reference to my startled jump and scream, or perhaps he saw me slam my fists on the table. "Therefore, your cafeteria privileges are being revoked until you are stable enough to handle it. You will be moved into a holding chamber until someone comes to bring you back to your room."

From behind me I heard Ryan call out, "Goodbye Squee and good luck." As I walked down the row, hands patted my back and words of encouragement were spoken. Even though they pretended that it might be otherwise everyone knew that the next time they saw me, I would be another photo child.

I was able to hold back my tears until I was in the privacy of my cell. My last thought, before I fell asleep that night, was that it couldn't end like this, not after all I had been through.