Author's Note: I'd like to point out (since I forgot) that this story completely drifts away from the general plot of Invader Zim, since it's my take on the Tallests' history. For those of you wondering what movie is this story based on, the title is; "Just Like Heaven".
Defense, Chapter Three
Red awoke with an aching throat. He had forgotten to close the window and a cold draft had managed to drift in. If he hadn't been wearing his robe he might as well be sick. A coughing emitted from the Tallest to try and rid of the uncomfortable feeling in his throat that won't subside. After much tries Red decided to pour himself a cup of hot chocolate and drank the substance. As he was drinking, he looked around in thought. Something was missing.
Ah, Miyuki. He set the cup down slowly, in hopes of her surprising him, but she didn't appear. Red's antennae dropped--she was still in the infirmary. Then he remembered something else, something important.
"The meeting, shit!" He exclaimed and rushed to his suitcase, pulling out his Tallest armor.
The alarm suddenly screamed, it read: 8:55 AM; he was late. Too late.
Red panicked yet again and hurried about, and frustration grew on him as a knock on the door came.
"Red, are you in there?" It was Purple.
Red had managed to slip on his ebony pants after ridding of his PJs and just about slipped on one of his boots before Purple hovered in, fully dressed.
"Red!" Purple exclaimed, hovering over as his co-ruler fell over in a hurry of putting on the other boot, "What are you doing?! We're late you know."
"I know, I know!" Red yelled in frustration, "Help me get this stupid thing on." He stood and held up a long crimson cloth and stared at it strangely before comparing it to Purple's skirt. He looked up at his counterpart, "Are you sure you're wearing... it right, Purple?"
The amethyst Tallest puts his hand to his hips, "Yes. I read the manual, have you?"
Red tried not to snicker, and burst out laughing. He heaved and stopped, putting on a serious expression; "I'm not wearing a skirt."
"Ooh ho, yes you are." Purple inched closer. Red shook his head, "No, I'm not Pur'."
"Why are you wearing pants anyway?"
What kind of a question was that? Of course he would wear pants, especially under a skirt! Red gave his friend a confused stare, "What are you wearing?"
Purple's antennae dropped, "My PJs." Again, Red tried not to snicker. Purple lunged at him and they rolled on the floor wrestling each other for Red's crimson skirt.
"Put it on!" Purple growled, and Red pushed him back, "I'm not wearing it!"
"Yes," Purple tried to lift one of his co-ruler's legs, "You are!"
Red resisted, giving Purple a gently kick on the chest and they separated. He stood as the other followed suit, holding up his piece of clothing.
"You're making us late than we already are, Red. Just wear the damn thing!" Purple urged, paused, then; "Wait... maybe you don't want to wear it because you'll look horrible in it!"
"What?!" Red yelled, "I'll never wear that thing even if I looked good in it."
Purple crossed his arms, "You're jealous."
"I'm not, Einstein."
"Suuure."
"You look like a woman." Purple pouted at the comment, "Do not!" He called.
"Do too."
"Not."
"Too."
"Not!"
"Hey, it's Nacho' Tuesdays..." Red remembered, and Purple nodded his head in agreement, "With free Curly Fries!" They stared at each other for a moment, then panicked and Red threw off his robe; putting on his torso armor and shoulder blades.
"Help me put the skirt on! Help me put it on!"
Red and Purple entered the hall with morning greetings, and they took their seats on their newly made thrones. Governor Pooty shook his head in disappointment; the Tallests had been late since the beginning of their reign. The other official candidates didn't seem to mind however, as they just yawned and began the meeting.
"We're here to inform Tallest Red about an individual," Pooty said, "We've only told Purple, hoping that he could help recover her since he mastered in medics, but sadly, we can't do anything. Tallest Miyuki is her name; the room that you are currently using is her's, Red."
"When will my room be reconstructed again?" Red asked, and Pooty shrugged it off, "No idea, they're still working on it."
Purple sighed, "Maybe the soldiers should've been trained harder before letting them use such advanced technology; Red's room was destroyed because of them!"
"Yes yes; that we know of Tallest Purple." The magenta eyed Irken waved him off yet again, "But anyway, we've come to a conclusion, and matters we must discuss."
From this very moment; everything went downhill.
"We've decided to take away Tallest Miyuki's life support, since the coma has been going on for a few months now."
Purple uttered a small gasp, but Red stood, "You can't do that!" He blurted, and all eyes turned on him. Pooty questioned him as to why, and Red thought of a hopeless answer, "Because... we should give her more time. I mean, I think the woman should be respected; she is the first and only female Tallest the Irken Empire has ever had, and from her portrait, you have to admit that she's pretty hot."
A wide stream of murmurs and nodding of heads filled the room as candidates whispered within the House of Commons. Purple sighed, pressing a digit to his forehead, and pulled Red gently down to his seat, "Idiot." He muttered.
Just as the meeting was coming to a conclusion, and positive outcome is about to be done, all eyes turned to a tall figure. He hovered out into the meeting hall with a stern look, his hands behind his back as he eyed the Irken candidates around him. He was an ancient being, a Tallest; Spork.
He spun to face Red, and glared.
"Take her Life Support away, I say." He said in a deep, raspy voice. Red was shocked, but returned the glare soon after, rising from his seat once again; unafraid to face the ancient Tallest.
"Listen to what you're saying, you're letting a fellow colleague die!"
"I didn't raise my voice to you, Tallest Red, and you should do the same for me." Again with the stern look, only this time it was darker, "And you wouldn't understand ancient protocols, you were just crowned Tallest."
Just hearing Spork's strict voice made him angry, and he had always idoled the old Irken, but now, he was just downright disappointed. Red had never met someone so cruel as to let his own colleague die, especially a Tallest. He knew that Miyuki wasn't dead, not yet; her spirit lives on, and if only he could tell Spork that. He slammed a fist down onto the podium.
"To hell with protocols, we're not living in the past; we're living in the future!"
Whispers rung throughout the room once again—what was supposed to be a meeting, turned into a debate. Purple tugged at Red's skirt, urging him to sit down, "Red..." He growled softly, starting to worry as Spork kept giving his co-ruler the stern look.
"Red, sit down." He commanded, "You dumbass." But Red didn't sit down, instead he challenged Spork and gave the old Tallest a stern look of his own.
Governor Pooty had to scream over the crowd of debating Irkens to silence them, and he turned to the Tallests, "It has been concluded." He said, "Tallest Miyuki's Life Support will be taken away..."
Red was shocked. How could they? How dare they take Miyuki's Life Support away. The politicians and Spork must have a grudge against the female, and wanted to rid of her; the coma is a perfectly good reason to cover up their hate! He didn't know why he was defending Miyuki, but he felt as if he needed to; that he was doing the right thing. Being a leader is doing the right thing, right? He knew. He knew that they were wrong and he was right. Miyuki can, and will pull through.
Pooty raised his hand to silence the disagreeing crowd, he wasn't finished, "Her Life Support will be taken away, but only if she doesn't recover within the month." He looked to Red and nodded, "Either way, this debate is not agreeing with either arguments; it is fair."
At least Governor Pooty saw it his way, a little, but Red still agreed with the arrangement. The politicians dismissed themselves and the meeting was over. The first thing in Red's mind was to tell Miyuki, but he had to deal with Spork first. He saw the Irken, just hovering through the back curtains, and he followed right after.
"Red, what..." Purple's voice was drowned out as soon as Red entered through the curtains. He called, "Tallest Spork."
The elderly looked over his shoulder, and turned fully to face his opponent.
"Tallest Red." There was almost a growl in the ancient Tallest's voice. Red glared, "What you're doing is wrong."
"What I'm doing?" Spork repeated, emerald eyes opening widely before nearly closing again; "Have you thought about what you're doing? What your doing is the wrong act, Red, and take it from me; I've had my experiences."
"Experiences?" Red retorted, "Of what, letting people die? Punishing them? Is this some kind of punishment for Miyuki? Do you have some kind of hatred for her because you seemed so set on taking her Life Support away?"
"At least I know what I'm doing, Tallest Red." Spork calmly snapped back, "Unlike you; coming to conclusions before thinking of an appropriate answer. I don't hate Miyuki, and you can ask her yourself if she does recover. If anything, I'm like a father to her. I'm doing what I think is right."
"What you think, is wrong." Red said, "It's wrong Tallest Spork."
Spork raised a brow, "Then you tell me Tallest Red, why are you so set on saving my step-daughter?"
Red paused. He hadn't thought of an answer for that, and even if he did, he couldn't say that he was seeing Miyuki's spirit; he would be put in a stretcher and sent to the asylum for a week. He shook his head, and glared, "Because I know what's right." He turned, and left.
Spork took a moment to watch as the crimson Tallest left, and he lowered his head; sighing. Red was wrong.
Red burst into Miyuki's holding room, "Miyuki? … Miyuki?" He looked around and started to worry when she didn't appear. He hovered over to her still, pale body in the open pod where she lay. He reached up his digits to touch the side of her face--
"Yes Red?" Her velvet voice called out to him, and Red spun around.
"You called?"
Red nodded, "Miyuki, I've got to tell you something--"
She shook her head, waving him off, "I already know Red; they're right."
This shocked Red, and he hovered forward, "What?! But you're not dead."
"Not yet." She reminded him, and hovered over to her resting body. She stared at it for a while, pondering about her past events; the good that she's done for Irk, and now, they're trying to do the same. She felt Red watching her, and as a single tear rolled down her cheek she quickly wiped it away and turned to face the crimson Tallest, "You spoke with Spork."
"Yes, but he's wrong Miyuki; I know you can pull through. I know you can." He said, "Remember? You kept denying that you were dead, and you're not dead, and you won't be dead. I promise."
Miyuki smiled; she liked Red. He was so sure, so positive that she'll survive, when she's feeling herself fading away by the day. He was right at the beginning, she was a ghost, and she is dead. She was already dead before she even knew she was dying. All her body did now was just lie around and do nothing for it's people. What a waste. Her body was just a shell, and if the politicians had come to the conclusion that her shell must be disposed off; she's not stopping them, but she wasn't stopping Red either.
"Try not to keep promises you can't keep." She smiled gently, and Red growled in frustration, "Are you listening to yourself?" He said, "You're agreeing with those goons."
"Because they're right Red, I'm useless!" She gestured to her body, "Look at me. Look at me and tell me that that body is not useless. It is useless, because it's not doing any good. I won't stop you from hoping, but you have to promise that no matter what happens to me within a month; and if I don't recover, you'll let me die."
"What?!" Red exclaimed, "You... you're crazy Miyuki."
"Crazy enough to know the truth," She answered, "I mean, I can't even visit my parents' graves knowing that their corpses can't see me. I can't even help anyone, have you ever thought of that?"
"I..." Red began, and lowered his head, "No, but..." He looked up at her, "I can't keep your promise."
"You have to, please."
Then it struck him, and he agreed. He had just realized that he was wrong; having listened to Miyuki's needs. She was suffering greatly, but he didn't stop believing. Red knew that she could pull through; but if she didn't... he'll have to accept that she would be gone forever--but why did it bother him so much? She was just another Irken, another Tallest. He respected her, as he respected all women, but why? Why her? Why was he attached to her the most; of all people. He left the infirmary and started hovering back to his borrowed quarters.
A shaddow appeared up ahead where he was hovering, and Red raised his head to stare at Spork's jade eyes. His antennae flattened, and he bowed his head in respect before hovering around the elder Irken.
"Tallest Red." Spork called. Red turned his attention back at the ancient Tallest, "Yes?"
"You look distressed."
"You were right."
Spork gave him a bewildered expression, "Excuse me?"
"You were right; Miyuki's Life Support should be taken away."
What a change of heart for Red, as Spork thought, "If I may ask, why the change of heart, Tallest Red?"
"I checked on Tallest Miyuki, she looked... like she was suffering." In reality she was, but he couldn't tell Spork that! He bowed again and turned to go. For the final time, Spork called his name.
"Red, don't be forced to agree with me; we all have our opinions. If you have a different opinion, that is fine, otherwise if the world was perfect, we'd all be doomed by now. Even though what I think your mind is set upon on is wrong, it is your decision." With that, he left.
