Another Gaia RP story. This one is sadder, darker. For my friends who like angst (you know who you are, Doma!) I hope you like it. I'm literally typing chapter two as we speak.

DISCLAIIMER: I don't own Zim, Dib, Izetta, Mercury, Scarlet, Tommy, Kit, Professor Membrane, or any of the spooky guys. Just May. The overly dramatic one.

Zim open his eyes slowly. "What…?" He blinked at the bright lights above him. "What's going…" Zim tried to move, but found his arms were chained behind him.

He'd been forced into a kneeling position, back arched down painfully. "Where am I?"

Then it came back to him.

He'd been sitting on his couch, out of his disguise, as GIR had watched The Angry Monkey Show, when the door burst open. Startled, Zim jumped to his feet as tall human men ran towards him, grabbing his arms, pushing his head down, snapping a pair of electric cuffs on him. Zim lost consciousness before he could question what was happening.

Zim blinked, raising his head quickly. "Release me! Release Zim!" A whimper on his left and a squeak on his right snapped him out of his angry shouting. He turned his head, looking for the sources. Mercury, Izetta, Kit, and Scarlet were all in the same positions. Mercury was crying, Izetta hiccupping, and Scarlet was looking away as though trying to fight off some emotion. Kit was blinking in confusion and panic.

No. No, no, no! What was going on! Zim's expression of anger turned to panic. Why were they here?

Of course. A human had betrayed them. They had been found out. Zim grit his teeth, glaring at the wall across from him. It reflected his face back at him, but he knew from watching those forensic shows that someone watched from beyond it. He sent his darkest glare towards them, while his mind whirled with one question: who?

May? No, she wasn't like that. And she wouldn't have the motive; she cared too much for all of her friends. Dib, then? Perhaps. He'd always been driven mad when Zim taunted him, but he cared for Mercury and Izetta! Maybe he hadn't meant to expose them, just Zim. To be rid of him for good. It made sense.

Who else? Tommy? No, he didn't have the guts, the girl.

So Dib was the only suspect. Zim bared his teeth at the glass. "Show your face, you dirty coward!"

No face appeared. Instead, Zim felt someone grab his shoulders; he gasped as they pulled at his antennae. "Stop… stop…" he gasped out loud as they pulled him back onto a cold table, watched as they dragged the others to ones like it. He was helpless as the men he could see yanked on Mercury's hair, making her screech; useless as they stuffed silencers into each Irken's mouth.

He watched as the men in sterile outfits approached him, scalpels in hand. Zim shut his eyes as they cut his uniform away, revealing the skin underneath.

From behind the glass window, he heard a scream.

May, Dib, and Tommy entered the dark room, escorted by tall men with a sense of foreboding. "Hey Dad," Dib said as he saw the man who he'd been cloned from. "You wanted us?"

May grinned at the scientist. "Can I just ask, what's with the escort?" Her smile faltered as her eyes fell upon the glass window. "What's…"

Professor Membrane smiled at the children, but one couldn't see it under his coat. "Hello children! Thanks to your cooperation, I have made an astounding discovery! Aliens truly exist! And-" the man was suddenly interrupted as May stepped forward.

"What are you doing? Let them go! No! No, let them go, they didn't do anything!" She ran towards the glass, only to be held back by the tall dark men. She screamed as the men on the other side of the glass pulled the aliens onto the tables and cut Zim's shirt away. "Stop it, you're hurting them! Stop, STOP!" She struggled in their arms. "Please God, I'll do anything, just let them go!" May felt tears come to her eyes as a man in glasses and a white suit made a careful cut down Zim's front, not bothering to inject the alien with anything first. "No, NO! Zim! Mercury! Izetta, Scar! Kit! Have mercy, please! Stop hurting them!" She tore free from the men and slammed her fists against the glass, tears openly pouring down her face. "It isn't fair, they didn't do anything!"

Professor Membrane stared in horror as the girl pounded her fists on the window, as the men tried to restrain her. But the girl fought like a wild cat; no one could get a grip on her. "Dib, stop her!"

Dib was just staring from the window to his father in what looked like total disgust. "How could you, Dad? The only friends I ever had, and you choose now to believe me?"

His father shook his head. "It is not a question about believing you, son. It was not you who helped me discover this. And think of the wonders we could do! The things we could learn! For so small a sacrifice!"

"Tell that to them!" May screamed. Her fists swung out, hitting an intercom button so those on the other side could hear them.

"Please, take me! Not them! Someone help them! Dear God, they're my friends! Why won't you listen?" May banged the glass until she lost all her drive, and panted, supporting herself on the glass. She sniffled, and Dib approached her carefully. "May?"

She turned suddenly. "It was you, wasn't it? You hated Zim so much you turned him in! You turned them all in, Dib!"

"It wasn't me, May! I would never have done that!" Dib shook his head frantically, grabbing May's shoulders. "I swear, it wasn't me!"

"It was me."

Tommy hadn't spoken since they had arrived. But now he did.

"I turned them in."

Zim winced in pain from the knife. He tried to speak through the mouthpiece, to no avail.

May's screaming filled the room. "Please, take me! Not them! Someone help them! Dear God, they're my friends! Why won't you listen?"

Zim looked up. May? She was watching this? Someone was actually forcing her to watch this? That was cruel, not only for them, the victims, but for her!

"I swear, it wasn't me!" Now Dib's voice filled the air. He was claiming he was innocent. Zim smirked weakly; what a liar.

"It was me."

If Zim could open his mouth, his jaw would've fallen to the ground. Tommy? No, it made no sense! The boy was a coward, and he would never take the risk to turn Mercury and Izetta in!

The voices were tuned out as the scientists cut again, creating a T shape on his chest. Zim felt his eyes water, and bit down on his silencer, seething. They didn't deserve this!

Damn Tommy!

Dark with rage, Zim lost consciousness as the scientists pulled the flesh away from his chest.

May and Dib stared at Tommy in disbelief, frozen in shock.

"But… why?" May peeped sadly. "Why would you…?" Dib held her carefully as he felt her tense.

"Why? Why? Because Zim's a threat, that's why!" Tommy looked absolutely livid. "Am I the only one who sees that no one would've been hurt or killed if Zim had never come here? No one would be in danger anymore! Because the cause of this would've been dead!" He pointed out into the autopsy room as the scientists proceeded onto Mercury and Izetta.

May shook, and Dib held her tighter. "Tommy! Look at what you're doing! Mercury and Izetta are suffering! And Scar and Kit! They're your friends! Look at what you're doing to them! All for one alien? One friend?"

Tommy looked away, and the couple could sense a trace of regret. "He's not my friend. He's a menace. And sometimes people have to be sacrificed to destroy a menace." He glared at Dib. "You of all people should know that!"

Professor Membrane patted Tommy on the shoulder. "Listen to the boy, son. People must be sacrificed for science. So few lives for so much knowledge!"

Dib shook his head, refusing to look at both Tommy and Professor Membrane. "You… you're both sick!" He pulled May away from the window, keeping her from looking. She shook in his arms.

"They…They…."

"I know, May." Dib kept his arms around her protectively as he led her out of the room quickly. "We'll fix this somehow." The emotion of anger of Zim's face before he passed haunted the boy's thoughts, the look of one that's been betrayed in the worst way. He had seen that look before, when he'd hacked the alien's PAK whilst not in his right mind; this was the same expression, yet tenfold stronger. Swallowing, Dib tightened his arms around May. "I promise we'll fix it."

Zim woke up, shivering, curled in a tiny ball. What had they done to him? What horrors awaited him when he studied his body? Wincing, he slowly uncurled himself, stretching on the cold steel floor.

At a first glance, Zim was grateful. He was still in one piece, thank Irk.

On further inspection, he cringed in horror.

He lay stark naked, lines running down his body, from the T shape down the length of his arms and legs. Well, leg. The robotic one had been removed, leaving a stump in its place from the knee down. Touching his back carefully, he could feel the scars there as well. Zim trembled, curling back into a fetal position. This was beyond embarrassing and sick. This was sadistic.

He looked around him, antennae twitching fearfully. Yes, the might Irken Zim was scared. So very scared. Slowly, his magenta eyes took in his surroundings.

Though he was in a cell that he alone occupied, the walls were clear, and he could see his fellow prisoners. Mercury was curled up in a little ball on the floor, sobbing softly, and Izetta was up against the corner, trying to disappear. Scarlet was lying face-down on the floor, and Kit was just sitting in the middle of his cell, terror written over his face. Each Irken was unclothed, and identical scars covered their torsos and limbs.

Zim uncurled again, slowly crawling to the chamber next to him. Mercury. Even though he couldn't reach her, he would still try to comfort her. "Don't cry. Our human friends will get us out, you'll see!"

"What friends?" Scarlet's voice made him turn to look at her, her furious face turned up from the dirt to glare at him. "Humans aren't our friends. They're all traitors."

Zim shook his head. "That's not-"

"Shut up Zim! We can't trust anyone on this rotten planet! Look what they did to us, after being here a year with them! We tried being friends. It was a trick! A lie!"

Mercury's sobs became louder. Zim lost it. "Shut up! Just because you destroyed all things that would want to be near you, doesn't mean we all did!"

Scarlet hissed at this. "Oh, so you don't know about destruction? If you hadn't been born, we wouldn't be in this mess. Everything comes back to you! Every death, every problem, everything! This is your fault, Zim!"

Zim froze. "My…" She…made sense. It had been proven he was a defect. If he hadn't been created, no blackouts would've occurred, no landing on Earth, no Scarlet and Mercury arriving, no Tak, which meant no Black, no nothing.

Maybe he was to blame.

Zim shook. "But…"

"But nothing. Because of you, we're all gonna die. Because we trusted that traitor. We can't trust anyone."

Scarlet looked away, fire still bright in her eyes. At that moment, the door opened.

Professor Membrane entered, hand on Tommy's shoulder and followed by several men in white. He looked down at the boy. "You helped us capture them; I'll let you choose. Who shall we take first for further inspection?"

Tommy looked up from the ground, straight into Zim's face. His face was tight with disgust. "The one with the robot leg."

Further inspection? Zim shook his head pleadingly. Oh Irk, no. His fearful look had no effect on the tall men as Professor Membrane nodded. "You heard him," the scientist said, and the men advanced, the front of the capsule sliding open.

Zim tried to get away. "No, no!" His tried to escape, unleashing his PAK legs, but they fell limply to the ground and retracted, and the tall men grabbed at his arms and face. "Help, no, please!" He didn't want to, he couldn't get away, oh, someone, anyone, help!

The other Irkens watched fearfully as the Tallest was pulled out of his capsule and out of the room, struggling to escape the strong human arms.

Professor Membrane nodded cheerfully. "Come, Tommy. I'll even let you make the first surgical cut!" He walked out of the room, but Tommy paused, looking back at the imprisoned aliens. For a moment, his face was filled with regret; then it hardened with disdain, and he walked away without a second glance, the door slamming shut behind him.

There was a pause. Then Mercury began to cry again.

Well. That sucked. Again, working on Chapter Two. Meanwhile, review me!