AN: I'm finally back for another story! I've had this story rattling around my brain for yonks now and I've been starting to get it down, and with the new film being announced [SO MUCH EXCITEMENT] it seemed like a good time to start publishing. I wanted to try a darker story where Zim is bit truer to his irken side, I do like to keep ZADR as in character as possible (*cough*) though I'm not sure how well I'll succeed. He always just seems to end up being adorable. I have a few head canons such as the start which may be familiar from my previous story (sorry for any repetition) it's just the only way my head can connect the tv to potential ZADR. Anyway this story doesn't focus so much on the start but leaps right in.
Empty Eyes
Chapter 1
A warmth shifted closer against his side, pressure squeezing his arm uncomfortably. A warm breeze fluttered his antennae. Too warm, too heavy.
Zim slowly cracked his eyelids open, moonlight flooding his sensitive vision as he tugged his arm out from underneath the sleeping body next to him. He shielded his eyes whilst they adjusted, coherent thoughts slowly forming. He had no idea what time it was, but he almost certainly hadn't been asleep for long. It didn't take much to wake him, and once he was he knew he would be wide awake. irkens didn't really need to go to bed every night like humans did. Their bodies were far superior in that respect and the general biological upkeep by their PAKs meant that rest was not required as much. Time was far too precious to spend it sleeping.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the sensation, in fact it was surprisingly pleasing. It was not something he'd ever considered pleasurable before spending so much time with the Dib. But the human boy seemed to spend an insatiable amount of his time unconscious, so he often found himself indulging just for the sake of it. He glanced over at the shadowy mound next to him. The boy was breathing softly, his face partially buried in the pillow and his thick black hair sticking up at mad angles. Zim couldn't help a small smile tugging at his lips. The Dib really had matured into a fine looking beast, as humans go.
It was a bizarre circumstance he now found himself in. His relationship with his former nemesis was now quite the opposite. At times it still freaked him out, and Irk only knows how many laws he was breaking. But for the first time in his life he had had a taste of happiness. He wasn't sure he would say that he was actively happy, but given what he was and everything that had happened to him he was learning to embrace a new outlook on life. There were still times when he found it impossibly hard, and life seemed too bleak and confusing, times when he wondered if he wouldn't have been better off if Dib had never found him that night.
It was several months ago now since that grievous night. The night that he'd found so many doors slammed shut in his face, only to find new ones he'd never expected hanging ajar. Zim had been trying for years to fix the faults in his pak. Deep down he must have always known that something wasn't quite right, because he had never been able to stop tinkering with it. Quite a risky hobby given that it was essentially his life support. But he had never been able to stop that niggling feeling that something wasn't functioning.
He had got lucky correcting a couple of faults. A year or two back he had fixed whatever had been impeding his growth, and found that he suddenly grew a couple of feet much to his delight. It had been good timing as he had started high school and people were starting to notice how tiny he really was, as all the other teens began to shoot up around him. He was still small for a human adolescent and much to his chagrin still stood a good foot or so shorter than the Dib, but it was certainly an improvement and as irkens go he was now at a pretty respectable height.
The more success he had had with his pak the more obsessed he had become. Things began to make more sense and he became noticeably less manic. The tension between the Dib and himself had become less intense as they both became absorbed in their own problems. Zim figured as he couldn't conquer Earth until he was functional then it was only logical that his first plan for global domination was fixing his pak, and simultaneously Dib had discovered all the horrors of puberty. His progress became exponential – the more he fixed the more made sense, and the easier he found it to fix, until one day… everything made sense. Too much.
He thought he'd be happy when he fixed his pak. To not be a defective any more was all he'd ever wanted. It was meant to fix everything. Instead the truth came crashing down around him. The realisation of everything he'd ever done, the shame and humiliation… for the first time he saw his life with an unclouded mind, for what it really was. The failure that he had been, the utter disgrace and embarrassment to his people.
It was too much to bear. He couldn't go back to Irk, couldn't even face calling the Tallests. But what was the point of going back to the school? His feud with the Dib child was pointless. He didn't belong anywhere.
Dib had never really understood why Zim had kept attending school. For him their war had been a childhood fantasy, no matter how real the stakes, but as he grew older he realised this wasn't the case for Zim. Zim wasn't a child, he was a lethal creature hell-bent on taking over his planet. The older Dib got the more strange he realised it was that Zim spent all of his time battling a local child, when in reality he had the technology to blow up this rock at the push of button. He had often called Zim crazy but as he aged Dib began to see Zim in a different light, pitying him almost for his evident mental illness. Or perhaps irkens were just incredibly stupid creatures. Either way, eventually he realised that Zim was no real threat to the Earth.
Regardless of everything Zim had always attended school, so when a week passed and the little lizard was still absent Dib had decided it was time to investigate. He knew Zim still had god knows what weaponry at his disposal, so it was only sensible to stay wary of the alien. When he got to Zim's base he found the defences down, and boldly ventured down into the main lab. But nothing could have prepared him for what he walked into.
The base was in ruins. Screens were smashed, machinery had been ripped from the walls and broken wires hung everywhere, dangerously shooting sparks of energy that he had to dodge. Had someone attacked Zim's base? Dib's heart began to pound as he considered what he might find. Dib stepped cautiously through the narrow passageways, glass and rubble crunching underfoot. It was so dark, Zim could be anywhere. Should he call out? He didn't have time to construct a plan before a sinister, snarling voice reached his ears.
"What on Irk are you doing in here?"
Dib felt a chill run down his spine, slowly turning around to find the source of the voice. The sparking light caught on two fierce, crimson eyes, narrowed to slits not far from where he stood. They sparked with fury, and Dib instantly regretted his decision to come down here.
"What makes you think you can just walk into an irkenbase human?" Dib began to back away as Zim advanced towards him. Dib had always known that Zim was a lethal creature, but he had never felt truly afraid of him until this moment. His voice was different somehow, dripping with venom, and his eyes burned with an intensity that pierced Dib's soul.
"I… I didn't…" Dib stuttered, fear choking his voice as his back hit a wall. In a flash Zim's claws lashed out towards him and fastened in an iron grip around his throat. Dib's fingers scrabbled desperately at the irken's gloves but to no avail - Zim was just too much stronger than him.
"I should have killed you years ago." Zim whispered, his face threateningly close now and Dib's blood ran cold. This was not the Zim that he knew, and this one really was going to kill him.
Zim released his neck and backhanded him hard across the face, throwing Dib hard against the ground. Dib's head spun, sparks of light dancing across his vision. He reached desperately for the glasses that had been thrown from his face but couldn't reach them before Zim had picked him back up and laid into him once again.
"Zim… oof, please!" Dib begged where he could spare the breath between Zim's punches. "Stop!" He fell to the floor once more, coughing blood onto the metal. He squinted up at Zim's blurry form, his stomach roiling with pain and fear. His arms shook as he struggled to hold himself up, and he knew he could not take much more. Now that he focused he could make out the razor sharp point of one of Zim's metal spider legs hovering close, ready to dispatch him.
So this was really it. At least it was a reasonable death, killed by an alien. Not that he supposed any one would ever know. They'd probably find some other stupid excuse that would make his death seem just as insane as the world had seen him his whole life. He tried to make out the expression on Zim's face, but his eyesight was just too poor.
"Please," he sighed in defeat, dropping his gaze to the floor.
Zim stared down at the quaking mess of a human before him. Of all the times they had fought - so so many times - he had never seen Dib like this. He didn't know why it suddenly shook him but it did. He'd been so enraged when the Dib had wandered so unafraid into his base. The human should be afraid of him, he could kill him so easily and all humans should know it. He'd also felt humiliated, the evidence of his anguish all around them. The boy whimpered, vivid red blood dribbling from his mouth and on to the ground.
He could kill him. Right now, finish the job. Years of warring with this creature ended in a heartbeat.
But what was the point now? This was no victory. He felt the rage and all motivation drain from him in that instant, leaving him hollow. He staggered back a few steps before falling to the floor, metal legs retracting into his pak. He glared at the ground, wishing it would open up and swallow him whole. Everything that had ever mattered to him was gone, he didn't even have the will to end his nemesis any more. He truly was worthless.
It was then that he felt a tentative pressure on his shoulder. His head snapped up and the Dib flinched his hand away.
"Do you want to die?" Zim hissed at him weakly, unable to fathom why the Dib had crawled over to him in his sorry state. His face was purpling and smeared with blood, his eyes shaking with fear.
"Zim, what happened to you?" Zim bristled at his question, antennae standing on end, but remained silent. Once more the Dib shuffled closer, and boldly replaced his hand on the irken's shoulder. Zim could not believe the audacity of this creature, surely he had a death wish.
But at the same time he simply could not muster the rage he had felt only moments ago, and he was surprised to feel the warmth that emanated from the Dib's palm. In all these years they had never touched – at least not in a way that hadn't intended to inflict pain. It was a pleasant feeling that radiated into his cool body. He had never expected the boy to give off so much heat. His own body was so much cooler that he had never considered that humans might be warm-blooded.
"Tell me what's wrong." Dib said firmly, but not unkindly. Zim didn't know if it was the warmth of his hand, or if it was because this was the first time any one had ever shown him any kind of kindness or interest in his whole life, but he felt himself begin to crumble. Moisture escaped his eyes and began rolling down his cheeks, and suddenly the Dib's arms were all around him, encasing him in warmth and security.
Zim just couldn't understand why the boy was acting this way. His head was so scrambled, and these were all new emotions to him to start with. He'd just near beaten the boy to death. Why would he show Zim such kindness? No one had ever been kind to him before, and no one had ever embraced him either. He was surprised to discover how good it felt, and from his arch nemesis, a smelly human no less…
Except… Dib wasn't smelly. Or really his arch nemesis at all. He was probably the finest example of a human he'd come across. It was the first time he'd ever thought that, but then this was also the first time he'd ever encountered the boy without a faulty pak. In reality the Dib was the only human he'd ever met with an ounce of intelligence. And he was tall too.
The human had come looking for him and Zim had treated him appallingly, but despite this here Dib was actually comforting him. Zim just couldn't get his head around it. Maybe he'd given the boy too much credit, and he actually was too stupid to realise what he was doing didn't make sense. Surely the Dib creature hated his guts?
Zim suddenly felt terribly self-conscious. What was he doing? He reluctantly pulled away from the warm embrace, feebly shoving the boy off him without managing to muster any genuine anger. The Dib just continued to stare at him, golden eyes boring into his soul.
"Tell me what's going on." Dib repeated firmly. It was a demand not a question, and it should have made Zim angry. But for some reason, as Zim stared at the boy's purpling face, he knew he was going to comply.
It had all been different after that. Zim was sure that if it hadn't been for the Dib he would have self-destructed. For the first time in his life he had someone that actually cared about him. It was still a strange concept, one he didn't fully accept and it sure as hell hadn't been a smooth ride for either of them. Dib himself had never been close to any human before either so their lack of social experience and complex situation proved treacherous. They fought a lot, and at times it wasn't too dissimilar to how they used to be when Dib was a child.
But Dib had also taught Zim the pleasures of having a partner. Pleasures he'd never even known existed. At times he felt like a traitor to his species, but he only had to remind himself of his situation. He was exiled here. No one cared what he did and there was nothing for him to go back for. To help himself wrap his head around it he considered Dib his new Tallest. He had never let on about this of course, but as much as he envied him for it Dib's beautiful height did make him swoon.
Dib let out a little snore that startled Zim out of his reminiscing and back to the present moment. He supposed he didn't have it too bad. He pressed his face against the Dib's warm shoulder for a long moment, taking simple pleasure in the heat transferring into his cool skin. For a brief moment he considered staying and trying to find sleep once more but he didn't like the groggy feeling of being over-rested, so with one last glance at the sleeping boy he sighed, and got out of the bed.
He began to locate his clothes and dressed himself. He still wore his irken uniform a lot of the time, it just felt right even now. Dib couldn't understand it, but he'd been wearing it all his life. He wore human clothes from time to time because the Dib liked it, but the fibres felt scratchy compared to irken fabrics. In a way his uniform kept him sane. He was always going to be an irken no matter how human he acted, and it helped to keep a part of his life irken.
Zim climbed elegantly out of the window and across the rooftops, the pattern of the route home like second nature to him now, perfectly planned to keep him hidden from prying eyes. He moved with cat-like grace through the shadows, invisible to the stray humans who doddered about so clumsily below. Blind fools.
He had had to spend quite some time rebuilding his base after the mess he had made of it, but as he had he had begun to realise his new potential. Since fixing his pak everything felt new to him and he revelled in his newfound abilities. He had always thought he was smart before but now he genuinely was, and he was actually able to create things that functioned without exploding. So for lack of having any real purpose anymore, he busied himself with experiments that tested his capabilities.
Zim slipped down swiftly through the labyrinth of passageways that was his base now, his spider legs navigating the space with ease before plopping him down in his favoured chair. He ran a claw across the control panel, waking up the main computer and turning on the large, dazzling array of screens before him. Zim lazily reached for a nearby can of irken soda, cracking it open with a fizz whilst his eyes perused the information upon the monitors. As per usual, nothing interesting to report. Nothing ever happened on this boring rock.
So it was quite a shock when his computer suddenly buzzed with the alert of an incoming transmission, and Zim spat his drink over the keyboard when he heard who it was from.
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE TALLESTS." His computer announced.
Dumbfounded, for a moment Zim simply stared at the screen, frozen with shock. The Tallest hadn't been in touch with him for several Earth years. What could they possibly want from him? He knew now that they had never sent him here as an invader, they had simply wanted to get him as far away from the Irken empire as possible – a fact that still burned and twisted his guts.
"Are you gonna receive the call or not?" The computer prompted him rudely. Zim snapped back to reality and shakily reached a claw out to tap 'accept'. His leaders appeared on the large central screen, looking no different to him than they had years ago.
"My… Tallests?" Zim greeted them uncertainly, his voice coming out smaller than he wanted. It was hard to face them. It was the first time since he had realised the depth of their betrayal to him. His stomach roiled. Did he resent them? He wasn't sure if he was capable of it.
"Hey wow, look at that he's still alive!" Purple exclaimed, turning to Red without acknowledging Zim. "I don't know if I'm disappointed or not." Purple's brow furrowed with confusion whilst Red peered closer with mild interest.
"Zim is that really you?" Red seemed slightly suspicious as he squinted at the screen. Zim suddenly found himself then, standing to attention and regaining his composure before them.
"It is sirs." He raised his chin higher, hoping despite himself that they would recognise his newfound height.
"Zim, did you get… tall?" Purple's voice shook a little, and Zim fought to keep a smirk from his face.
"I did sirs. I managed to correct all of the defects in my pak, and soon found my height recovering to its intended stature. I… apologise for any previous… mishaps." Zim faltered awkwardly. Mishaps didn't really do it justice, but what could he say? There was no apologising for everything he had done.
"Zim? TALL?" Purple flustered, but Red batted him aside.
"You corrected your defective pak… yourself?" Red asked with disbelief. Zim flinched at the word, still finding it a sore point.
"It took some time, but yes. I am fully functional now."
"Wow." Red folded his arms, looking thoughtful. "You know when you stopped calling we just presumed you'd blown up or something." Red stated flippantly. Zim retained his composure, emotions simmering beneath the surface.
"Sirs, if you thought I was dead… why did you call?" Zim asked cautiously.
"Well, as a matter of fact we are about to take the Earth and we were just curious to see if you were still alive or not. I have to say I really didn't expect this."
The room swam for a sickening moment and Zim had to grip the console for support. "You… you're invading Earth?" He choked past his clenching throat.
"It recently became of strategic value. I know you've been out of the loop for some time but we've really expanded our territory since you've been gone…" Red's rambling faded out as Zim took in the news. Was this really happening?
"Sirs…" Zim cut over Red, gaining an irritated look from them both. "No offence intended… but is this some kind of a practical joke? I know now that you sent me here in exile, that you didn't ever really intend to invade the Earth." He couldn't look them in the eye as he said it, couldn't bear the looks their faces would hold when they taunted him and the joke was revealed.
"No Zim, it's not a joke." Red responded curtly, clearly irked. "Look we're almost here, as your scanners should be able to confirm. We didn't really expect you to even respond but seeing as you're here and due to your increase in height I think we could assign you a reasonable position in the invasion."
Zim's mouth opened but he could not find the words to express the white noise in his head. This was too much to take in, too sudden. Red raised a brow at him in mild surprise.
"I thought that would please you but if you'd rather be killed with the humans then it's all the same to us."
"No!" Zim exclaimed suddenly, his irken instinct to survive bringing him to his senses. "No… I am honoured sirs. Th-thank you." He choked out.
"Great. We'll be arriving shortly with the armada." Red said with a smirk before the transmission was abruptly cut.
Zim let out a gasp of air, hyperventilating as he fell more heavily onto the counter. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He'd given up all hope of ever returning to his people, let alone regaining his station as an invader. The Dib… he'd resigned himself to the fact that the human was all he had left. Was he willing to trade him in for his old dream? He felt a moment of anger at himself. Being an invader was all he'd ever dreamt of since he was a tiny smeet, and to be given a second chance like this… how could he be considering giving that up for the sake of one pitiful human? Besides, even if he wanted to he couldn't stand up to the irken armada single handed.
But the Dib… he'd be killed.
He couldn't let that happen. He didn't care about Earth, or any of its miserable inhabitants but he could not let his Dib be destroyed, that was the only thing he was sure of right now. A quick scan of the local space surrounding Earth did indeed confirm that the fleet was concerningly close, and his stomach lurched at the reality of it. If he hadn't been procrastinating with the human he'd have seen them coming sooner. Not that he supposed it would have done him much good.
Zim scrambled frantically back out of his base and into the crisp night air, his spider legs clattering against roof tiles as he raced back towards Dib's house, not caring if he was seen this time. Like it mattered, they'd all be dead soon. But despite his haste he froze as he reached Dib's house. How the hell was he going to do this?
Zim took a moment to take some deep breaths, trying to calm his racing pulse. He looked up at the empty sky. It was so quiet, who could have guessed in a few hours' time this peaceful sky would be filled with smoke and fire? Enjoy your last moments of peace, humans. Zim thought bitterly, and slid stealthily back into the boy's room.
The human was still fast asleep. He looked so peaceful, how could he be about to bring his world crashing down? Zim so envied his blissful ignorance. He perched anxiously at the edge of the bed, wracking his brain for the right words.
"Zim?" Dib's sleepy voice nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Where'd you go?" Dib shuffled closer, groggily rubbing his eyes.
"I… I just went home for a bit." Dib detected the uncertainty in Zim's voice immediately, his eyes brightening with alertness. The human had always had a peculiar sensitivity to his feelings, and often seemed to know what was going through Zim's head better than he did.
"Is something wrong?"
Zim turned to face Dib, but his mind turned blank. How was he supposed to tell him that his world was about to end, and that he'd agreed to help do it? Dib's golden eyes were gazing at him so intently, his youthful face creased with worried lines. He knew once he revealed what was happening Dib would never look at him that way again. Dib would hate him for this, and blame him even though there was nothing to be done. Dib would never accept his help he realised in that moment. He would almost certainly sooner die with his people than let Zim save him.
"Zim?" Dib prompted, and Zim realised he'd just been staring at him. His stomach churned - he couldn't do it.
"It's nothing." He turned away, unable to hold Dib's gaze any longer.
"It doesn't seem like nothing." Dib said with concern, gently reaching a hand out to comfort him. Zim closed his eyes, absorbing the gentle warmth of the human's flesh as the boy tenderly rubbed his arm. Such a simple act, but so reassuring even at a time like this. How much longer would he get to feel this?
When Zim remained silent, Dib eventually sighed in resignation. As much as it troubled him, he was used to Zim's bouts of melancholy.
"Well if you won't tell me, maybe you'll let me cheer you up." Zim looked up in surprise and saw Dib's face smirking cheekily at him. He couldn't prevent the heat that rose in his cheeks at Dib's simple words, that familiar itch tingling, the need growing.
Dib leaned forward, and gently grasped Zim's face with his soft, warm hands to draw it closer to his own, bringing their lips together to meet. Zim's irken heart began to pound as their lips moved together, the sensations of this ritual still exciting to him even after repeating them so many times. If he tried to understand it he couldn't, this was not a topic for logic to puzzle out – a concept that was hard for him to accept. But he'd learnt to trust his body to know what to do. Somewhere deep within his genes his irken body still remembered how to do this, and he was amazed at how incredible it felt to give in to the rush of adrenaline and hormones.
Zim felt Dib's hands eagerly begin to strip him of his uniform, and he shivered as their bare flesh touched.
"I thought I'd already dealt with these once tonight." Dib grinned against his lips, and Zim couldn't help but smirk despite everything that was happening. It was no wonder that the humans never made any progress when these feelings could be so completely overwhelming. Still, he felt like such a coward. But wasn't it better to enjoy one last time with him, and to let the human enjoy his last few hours of blissful ignorance rather than ruining them?
It was enough logic for him and Zim gasped as Dib pushed smoothly inside him, the feeling drowning all other thoughts out of his mind as the pleasure took over his body. He buried his claws into the human's thick hair, clinging to his lean frame with every fibre of his being as Dib's burning skin filled him with heat. For those sweet few minutes there was nothing but the two of them. Two beings, neither human nor irken. Just two creatures lost in the simple pleasure of uniting their bodies.
When it was over they lay back on the bed, breathing deeply to catch their breath. Dib's body was coated in a sheen of sweat and his cheeks were flushed pink. A small smile lingered on his lips as he drifted back to sleep, his arm draped across Zim's torso. Zim gazed down at him despondently. He didn't want to give this up. Who'd have ever thought he could grow so attached to a human. Perhaps he was still defective, he mused as his eyelids grew heavy. He suddenly felt so weary, and the Dib's feverish heat was making him almost uncomfortably warm. Before he knew it the sound of Dib's soft breathing had lulled him back to sleep.
And the armada crept closer.
In hindsight Zim would realise how foolish he had been to fall asleep that night. It was something that would haunt him forever as a fatal mistake.
He awoke to the sound rumbling, grogginess and confusion clouding his senses. He reached out an arm and found the bed empty. The sound of a large explosion made him jolt fully awake.
"Dib!?" Zim panicked as he bolted upright, but his eyes quickly located the boy. Dib was stood by the window staring out, his naked back to him. Zim could see his body trembling, his knuckles turning white as he clutched the windowsill.
Zim's pulse quickened as he leapt out of bed. It was happening already? He hadn't expected the fleet to arrive so swiftly, but then his calculations had been based off old technology. Their ships must have improved in the few years he had been out of touch with them. He grabbed his scattered uniform and tugged it on as quickly as he could manage whilst the world began to turn to madness outside.
"Dib, get dressed quickly. We have to get out of here." Zim ordered the boy as he located his boots, roughly shoving his clawed feet into them. When he sensed that Dib had not so much as twitched at his words, he turned reluctantly back towards the boy. "Dib?" He saw the human's shoulders quiver.
"Zim those…" Dib's voice cut out as his throat constricted from shock. "Those are… irken ships…" Zim felt his stomach plummet.
"Dib…" Where was he supposed to start? But he didn't have to worry about that anymore. Dib wasn't going to give him a chance to explain. Before Zim knew what was happening Dib had grabbed him roughly by the fabric of his top and had slammed him backwards, his pak smashing painfully against the wall.
"What the hell Zim? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Dib yelled in his face, his eyes ablaze with fury.
"Dib I had nothing to do with this, you have to believe me. We're wasting time, we have to get out of here!" Zim winced as his back bent painfully against his pak. Dib knew how much this was hurting him.
"Do you think I'm completely stupid? The sky is full of irken ships… and you have nothing to do with it?"
"It's true! Please Dib-" but Dib didn't want to hear any more.
"JUST STOP IT!" Dib dropped his gaze then, breathing heavily. When he looked back up at Zim, his face had crumbled into one of despair and anguish, and Zim could hardly stand the pain he saw there. "Zim… I trusted you. I gave you everything… and this whole time it was a lie?" His grip on Zim's top grew slack as his energy drained from him, his hands falling away. "And I fell for it."
Zim felt a heart he didn't know he had shatter at the look of total defeat on Dib's face, water beginning to pool in his eyes and leak down his flushed skin. The boy truly believed that this had all just been a long game, a means to an end.
"Dib… I never lied to you."
"Don't."
"But Dib I-"
"It's over okay!" Dib's anger returned with a flash. "You don't need to fucking toy with me anymore! You won okay? Just like you always wanted!"
Zim was speechless. This really was it. There was nothing he could say to convince Dib that he'd had no control over this. After all, hadn't he agreed to take a part in it? Whether he could save the Dib or not now, anything that there had ever been between them was destroyed beyond repair.
That moment seemed to stretch out, the details etching themselves deep into Zim's memory. The un-earthly glow from fires outside, Dib's unkempt hair sticking up messily, the sounds of Dib's feeble sobs somehow managing to be infinitely louder to him than the sounds of the city being destroyed around them.
Suddenly the room lit up pink as Zim's pak began to flash, a computerised voice sounding from within, "REMOTE TELEPORT ACTIVATING."
"NO!" Zim yelled, reaching towards Dib desperately, but it was already too late. The last thing he saw was Dib's eyes widen in surprise before the dark blues of the room vanished, replaced with the brightly lit deck of the Massive. He squinted around at the room, his eyes adjusting to the harsh light.
"Ah Zim, you've joined us I see. My… you have grown haven't you?" Red's casually sneering voice reached his antennae and he spun around to find the Tallest's lounging in their reclining chairs nearby. "You didn't seem to be at your base so we had you teleported here, presuming you didn't intend to be blown up with the humans of course."
"We already launched the invasion, what were you thinking?!" Purple exclaimed.
"I'm sorry sirs, there was… just something I had to do." Zim responded sullenly, his mind thousands of miles below. That was it, it was over. The Dib was probably already dead. Incinerated even, not a scrap of him left. He'd never see him again.
"Take a look!" Purple said excitedly, pointing down at the main window at the head of the ship. "That must feel pretty good right?"
Zim swallowed hard as he gazed down at the ships sweeping their canons across the surface of the Earth. It was strange that the scene was so silent here after being in the midst of it only moments ago, the only noises being the gentle hum and bleeps of the ships machinery. He could only watch as the destruction raged below.
Suddenly something forced him forwards, hitting him from behind and making him fall to his hands and knees. His pak buzzed with energy as a cable connected to it, that familiar tingle running down his spine as the ships computer altered his very essence, forcing him to submit. He looked up as a nearby screen displayed the rank hardwired into his system as a food service drone, but his eyes widened as it changed to the rank of commander.
"There you go Zim. Due to your increase in height and your newfound sanity we've upgraded you to commander. You'll play a key role in managing the invasion and conversion of this planet. But I warn you now, the slightest hint of madness and we'll banish you somewhere so grim you'll miss Earth!" Red warned sternly, chuckling at the ludicrousy of his own joke.
Zim barely heard them, he was transfixed by the screen before him. Commander? He wasn't sure he'd actually believed the Tallest would do it – they really were fickle. It was what he'd always dreamed of, to be a proper invader. So why did it feel so hollow?
Zim shook himself angrily. This was pointless, all that time on Earth had made him weak. He was acting like a stupid human, but he was an irken! He was superior! The Dib was almost certainly dead so there was no point in moping around. He couldn't change what had happened now, it was already far too late. He had had an opportunity to act and he hadn't, and now he had to live with that. Since when did he need a human to survive anyway?
This was what he'd always wanted, so by Irk he was going to do it and do it well. He would make his Tallests proud, he couldn't make them regret giving him another chance after everything he'd already put them through. Zim climbed to his feet resolutely as the cable withdrew from his pak, holding his head tall.
He was an irken invader, and it was his job to conquer this planet.
AN: Thanks for reading! Hope I wasn't too out of practise. I have another 2 chapters written in rough, and the whole story planned out so it will just be finding the time to update. I will do my best but adult life is a time suck D:
