The Irken And The Earthling's War And Love
Chapter 3
~Pain Threshold~
[ZaDr]

Dib was equiped with his combat knife in his coat sleeve alone as he ran down the street. He held the device in his hands as he followed after the blue dots on it. There were currently 5 dots he chased after. He wasn't expecting to live, but if he could, he wanted to at least find out how to kill these things and leave Zim the message. Since humans could only provide the information, he figured it was the only way to help, even if it meant his life would end. He was determined to do what he could for the planet he lived on, and the words of Arc really stung him.

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"You poor boy! Your heart...I can feel the pain SO DEEPLY....poor human."

-

He gritted his teeth in anger.

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"Dib...your a tough kid, but you are always in pain, aren't you? Yes...I see it....your different from the other humans. Your eyes...have seen FAR too much."

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'...How does that thing know so much about me..? I have to know!' He thought.

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"You almost drowned because your sister left you all alone."

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'Gaz....you left me all alone by the river because you were mad that I had picked on you about your new arm warmers. I was angry, I was pretending to be a knight, and I fell in the river. I couldn't swim at that time, so I almost drowned. I never told anybody about that.' He thought, his gums hurting slightly from the pressure of his teeth clenched together tightly.

-

"You were almost beaten to death by another human who hated your father and wanted him to suffer, and nobody believed you about that even though you have the scar to prove it!"

-

'Nobody believed me, even with this scar...' Dib thought as his hand reached and gripped his unstitched shoulder. 'I still have it, too. I'll never forget that incident. He went to jail five months later for beating a girl, and then he killed himself while he was there. So scary...' He thought.

-

"Irkens and humans have to be so close that nothing will break them apart if they want to defeat us."

-

Dib shook his head at that. 'Oh my God! I can't work with Zim! He would never agree, anyways! And look at how many times he's left me hanging! NO!!' His mind screamed painfully. 'Everyone always leaves me hanging, alone, all alone...' He shook his head. 'This isn't the time to worry about my problems.'

He finally neared the dots after chasing them for a while. They stopped moving, and he turned a corner to the right. His eyes immedeatly landed on the foes. Four Akrians stood there glaring the human down. The fifth one, Arc, smile deviously at him.

"Little human...you are exactly who I wanted to see right now!" He said wickedly. Dib just glared at him as he tossed the device on the cold, hard ground.

~Zim's Home~

Zim and GIR reached the front door. With a gulp, Zim opened it, and saw it was still pouring outside. He then looked over at GIR. "GIR! I need you to retrieve something I can use to repel the rain!" He yelled at his companion.

"Okay!" GIR happily said as he took off into a different room.

Zim the thought about The Tallest for a minute. 'Wait...when did they get off of the Massive?' He questioned in his mind.

He then accessed the communicator in his PAK to converse with Purple. "My Tallest, why are you on our home planet, anyways? What about the Massive?" Zim asked.

"Zim, the Massive was surrounded, and we happened to be near Irk, so we headed here quickly. We had no choice." Purple responded.

"Oh..." Zim said, sounding a bit down. He was concerned over this matter. Then, a random thought struck him. "How does an Irken have a sister, anyways?" He asked.

"Red started calling Blue his sister because the two were constantly side by side since birth. They came into the world around the same time, and have viewed each other as siblings since." Purple explained.

Zim nodded. "Alright, thank you My Tallest." He said, then the communicator cut off.

GIR ran into the living room wearing his dog suit. He held an umbrella which he handed to Zim. "Alright, GIR. Let's go save that idiot before we're all doomed." He said. He then held the umbrella straight out, opened it up, then walked outside as he proped it against his shoulder. GIR walked beside Zim, under the umbrella as well.

~Back With Dib~

Dib was now standing only a couple of feet away from Arc, and the other four Akrians stood behind him. "So, you want to use me like a guinea pig and take me to perform weird experiments on me, right?" Dib asked. "Just like you did before..." He muttered.

Arc cackled. "No...we didn't experiment on you. BUT, I know exactly who did." He then started laughing.

Dib glared darkly at him. "Then tell me! Tell me who abducted me! Tell me who experimented on me! Tell me what species they are, and what their name is!" He yelled.

Arc laughed loudly, and the other Akrians started laughing with him. "Dib! I'll tell you if you can survive our experiments." He said. "But you won't make it. You'll be killed too quickly!" He yelled.

Zim and GIR just arrived on the scene, staying back as they watched and listened to the soaked Dib speak. "Yeah, take me! Do what you want, I don't care! Just giv-"

"Dib!" Zim yelled, cutting the human off. This caused the human and the Akrians to sharply turn towards the Irken. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked as he slowly approched the boy, GIR faithfully and cheerfully following his master.

"Stay out of this, Zim!" Dib yelled. The rain was slowly starting to lighten up as it turned from a down pour to a normal rain.

"Dib, I'm not going to let you die here!" Zim yelled.

"Zim, you just don't get it!" Dib screeched.

"Yes I do, Dib! Your being a coward looking for an easy wa-"

"That's not it!" Dib yelled sternly.

"He wants to know." Ace said.

"Shut up! Nobody asked you." Dib said. The rain had slowed so much at this point, it only lightly drizzled.

Zim was feeling frustrated. 'This human thinks he's smarter than an Irken. He thinks he can just up and throw away his life, when I know better than him.' Zim thought. He then looked down at his discombobulated SIR unit, GIR. "GIR, get Dib out of here. By force, if you must." He commanded.

The rain finally halted, but the sky was as dark as ever. Zim dropped the umbrella on the ground.

GIR made his way over to Dib. GIR looked up at Dib as he smiled happily. Dim crossed his arms, pouting. "I'm not going anywhere." Dib said stubornly.

"Com'on! Lets go play!!" GIR responded.

"This isn't a game!" Dib whined loudly.

"Oh, well this is pretty pathetic." Arc said with a snicker, quiet laughter coming from the other Akrians.

"I already told you all to shut your mouths!" Dib scolded the Akrians.

GIR tugged on Dib's coat unequiped sleeve. "Let's play!" He begged.

"NO!" Dib yelled as GIR lightly tugged on his sleeve repetitively.

"Dib, go with GIR already!" Zim yelled.

"Screw you!" Dib retaliated harshly.

"Dib, come with us. Remember our deal?" Arc called. "Com'on~"

Dib nodded and then looked down at GIR. GIR stopped tugging on his sleeve but his hands clung tightly to it. "Let go. Now." Dib said.

GIR hugged his arm. "I don't want to." He said simply.

"NOOO!!!!! Let me go!!!" Dib yelled, trying to shake him off, but he refused to let go.

'Good, GIR won't let him go! Now, I need to chase away the Akrians and kick Dib's ass for disobeying his future ruler!' Zim's mind yelled. He then unleashed his Spider Legs from the PAK on his back, and they dug into the ground slightly, lifting him up off the ground and hovering him above the Akrians.

Arc lifted his head up towards the Irken. He smirked. "Oh, you think your special now, don't you? You small Irkens with your long Spider Legs that allow you to feel bigger than you are. This is why the Akrians have..."

He then jumped up into the air, rapidly nearing Zim. "Conditioned our bodies untill..." He then slashed Zim across the face with a claw. He then started to fall as Zim screamed from the burning pain. "We had strength and physical abilities far beyond our previous status!!!" He screamed as he landed neatly on his feet.

Zim growled out of anger after he stopped screaming. There were deep scratches in his face, but Irkens were really hard to scar, so it would heal completely over time. "Don't think that one swing of your claw will keep me down!" Zim yelled.

Arc looked over at Dib, smiling. GIR still wouldn't release his arm, so Dib did the second thing he could think of. He started to walk towards the Akrians, pulling GIR along with him. Zim growled. "FREEZE, HUMAN!!!" He yelled.

"SHUT UP!!!" Dib yelled as he stopped walking.

Dib then moved his arm foward that GIR held onto, then shoved it back hard, causing GIR to slide backwards and all on the ground because Dib was soked. He then bolted to the Akrians. "Remember our deal and stick to your words!" He yelled at Arc.

"Oh, I know, Dib. But...you won't survive long enough...haha!" Then, Arc created a black shield around himself, the four other Akrians, and Dib.

"Dib!! You fool!" Zim yelled down at the human.

Dib shot a dark glare up Zim. "YOU'RE the fool, Zim! I'm doing this for you!!" He yelled up at Earth's Invader.

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"Dib, I'll destroy the Akrians. Don't worry."

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'I...have to help Zim live, reguardless of us being enemies. If I have to pick between Earth being destroyed or Earth being taken over...I'd rather it belong to the aliens....but if I can prevent both...' His thoughts were cut into.

"Alright, let's go, Dib. I guess you have no more last words to share with the Irken." The Akrian said as it grinned widely at the human boy.

Then, a huge gust of wind kicked up. Zim immediatly reacted by diving down and grabbing GIR in his arms, then moved backward and laid low to the ground to prevent the wind to knock himself or his companion around. The wind carried the sphere away, and Zim glared at the spot in the sky where they disappeared behind a building.

'Dib....you're a moron....sadly, you're the moron I will kill, not anybody else! You're MY moron, and I say what happens to every human on this planet! Earth is MINE, and that includes YOU, you stupid monkey!' Zim thought angrilly.

He then let the spider legs take him over to the device. He grabbed it and stared at it. It was more broken now since Dib had tossed it on the ground, but it was still functioning. "GIR! We have to save that stupid Dib before he gets himself killed!" Zim yelled as his Spider Legs started to carry himself and GIR towards the blue dots on the screen of the device.

"Yay! We're going on a ride!!" GIR yelled. Zim dropped his head with a sigh. He would never come to understand why GIR was so tuned out of reality.

~With Dib, 20 Minutes Later~

Dib slowly opened his eyes, lifted his head, and looked around his location. He was lying on the cold, steel floor of an unfamiliar area. He remembered that he had started to feel light headed in the shield, and fainted. He then relised it's because there was no Earth oxygen in it. Instead, the air was filled with something else...

He got up to his feet, staggering slightly. He then looked around to see he was in an empty room, with a couple of doors. By one door, there was a sign with small writting on it. He made his way to it and looked at it, but it was written in some foriegn language. He figured it was Akrian.

He cocked an eyebrow as his head shot to a door on the other side of the room as he heard a door automatically slide open. An Akrian that was a bit taller than Arc walked in. This one glared the boy down. "So...you are the human with the large head that knows more than he should. Well, this is great..." He said. "Humans....such strange creatures that live on a planet...a planet that we should take from the monkeys." The Akrian said.

"Alright! Who the hell are you, where am I, and why do you guys want our planet so badly, anyways?!!" Dib asked.

The Akrian cocked an eyebrow at the boy. "Ooh, such a fiesty, smart child. Most humans would just stand here looking stupid. Maybe you get some good genes in your body after all, kid." The Akrian said.

Dib rolled his eyes. "That's great, but getting some ANSWERS would be nice!" Dib yelled back.

"Alright, I'll answer two of the three, and one of them completely~" The Akrian said.

"Well, that's poetic..." Dib murmured. "Where am I and what do you guys want with Earth?" Dib asked.

"Aww...but I'd rather talk about myself..." The Akrian said in a hurt voice. This only recieved a very angry glare from the spikey-haired human. "Alright...if you insist." This Akrian said in a playful voice, but his glare was plastered on his face at this point.

Dib shook slightly as he realised how cold the room was. "First off..." The Akrian started. "This is one of our...smaller ships. We're on your planet still, don't worry, think of it like an Irken's Voot Runner. A land ship." He chuckled a little. "Except this ship is just simply a C77612. Perhaps that's too much for a human to remember?" He asked, then cackled.

"A C77612. I can remember that with ease, thank you very much." Dib said as he glared up at the tall monstrosity before him.

"Oh, a smart alek. Alright, the next time we meet, I want to hear you say it again. I'll give you credit then, and only then." He said. "As for your other question...we want to take over Earth because we want to destroy the Irkens and humans. We wish to for...personal reasons." He said with a smirk.

"Personal reasons..?" Dib inquiered.

The Akrian laughed. "What? You expect me to explain?" He asked the Earthling. "I'm not exactly the same as Arc. I'm smarter than that foolish black blood." He said.

Dib smirked. "What? Afraid of a little human and a little Irken?" He asked in a taunting voice. "Is that is? Out of fear?"

The Akrian give him an annoyed look. "No...our personal reasons are not fear. It goes much deeper than any fear could bring it." He went quiet for a couple of moments. "Let's just say...it has some history behind it." He then shook his head. "Come this way, human. You made some sort of a deal with Arc, although he won't explain himself to me."

Dib took two steps foward, then stopped. The Akrian was apparently angered by this, so he walked over to Dib, gripped his stitched shoulder hard, then pulled him along through the door he had entered the room. Dib looked around the new room as the door shut behind him. There was a strange, long table with straps on it. Dib realised what this was. It was a torture chamber. He backed up a bit, but the Akrian pulled him over to the table.

The Akrian forced the back sides of Dib's hands to hit the cold metalic table top. Dib was leaned over backwards with his lower back against the table, the Akrian hovered over him as it forced him onto the table, scraping Dib's back against the table's edge. He held Dib down as a familiar voice reached Dib's ears.

"So, you remember the deal I assume, Dib?" Arc asked as he reached the table.

"Ye..yeah." Dib said, his voice wavering.

"Good." Arc said as he started to strap Dib's right arm down on the table. "Then, I hope you don't mind a little torture session. I know, it sounds bad, but after about an hour, the pain is easier to handle...at least, that's what that Irken said so many years ago." Arc said. He started laughing hard, causing him to stop in the middle of strapping Dib's arm.

"Would you concentrate?!" The other Akrian yelled at him.

"Oh, so sorry, Ace. I'll be a good worker from now on~" Arc said. The alien, now dubbed Ace, sighed.

~With Zim~

Zim's Spider Legs moved rapidly as he neared the ship. It was aerial, but it was hovering not too high off the ground. It was in a desolate area as well, near a forest and away from the city. Zim was happy to have a PAK, just so he could use these long, fast Spider Legs to keep on the move. By this time, Zim had realised that Dib was seriously too sensitive when it came to the Akrians, that they obviously knew too much about his life and it was making him feel too much pain. Dib was letting them take advantage of him. Zim shook his head slightly as he tightened his grip on the spazzing GIR's waist. He knew that the extra cupcake that morning was too much for GIR.

~Back On The C77612~

Arc was fastening the final strap on Dib's left arm. "Dib, I hope you know one good thing about Akrians. We don't always tell everything, but we never lie~" He said as he finished fastening the strap. He then flipped a large, metal case over Dib's body and locked it down. It covered him from his stomach to his chest, and it was snug against his body.

"Well, some of us should." Ace said, as he walked over to a seat on the other end of the room, not far from where Dib was.

There were two seats, in between those seats, there was a panel with various buttons and switches across it, and there was a vary small lense that sat on top of the panel, aimed at the wall to Dib's right. Beside each chair there was a small table, and behind the chairs there was a rug laying on the floor, with nothing else over there. Dib found that to be very strange.

Ace sat down in the chair to Dib's left. Ace reached over to the table to pick up a strange object that looked kind of like a pen, but was much fatter and longer then any pen that he'd ever seen. Ace also grabbed a notebook, and he set the notebook in his lap, and held the pen.

"Arc, come work the machine already." Ace commanded.

With a shrugg, Arc walked over to his seat, sat down, and reached over to the panel. "Alright, Dib. if you can survive our...test, then I will tell you a bit about your abduction. It's quite interesting really, and it's exciting. I won't say everything about it, but I will tell you about what species abducted you, who was responsible for it, I'll tell you about some of-"

"WOULD YOU HURRY UP AND PULL THE DAMN SWITCH??!!!" Ace yelled. "DAMN! You are FAR too long-winded!!"

"Okay~" Arc said simply. He then pulled a grey switch down, and Dib felt his entire body start to burn. It felt like he was burning alive! "Whaat....what's happeeniiing too mee?!!" Dib yelled, stretching various letters out of pain.

"We call this the Burning Torture Chamber for a reason, Dib." Arc explained. "This machine releases a special...well, it's almost like lightning on your planet, but it's invisible and it comes from our planet. That is the kind of thing you'll get in a world where rain is endless and conditions are severly harsh on your own planet." Arc started explaining.

'So...that's the reason why water doesn't affect them, and probably part of the reason why they have "conditioned" their bodies to be tougher.' Dib thought.

"Our people are almost at the point of not being able to live there, anymore. The only way we can survive is by taking Earth..." He said, sounding serious. He then smiled. "Well, that's not true. There are plenty of other planets, a lot of them that are uninhabited, but then this brings us back to the personal reasons, doesn't it?" Arc explained, then started laughing.

Ace and Dib exchanged bored looks. "Annoying, isn't he?" Ace asked casually.

"Yes..ah...very." Dib responded as the burning pain grew worse.

"You two are so rude." Arc said, fake-pouting. Dib could see Ace clearly from his position on the table, but Arc was blocked off by the tight machine part that covered his small frame. He watched as Ace wrote something down on the notebook. "Now, more power!!" Arc yelled. On the panel there was a slider that was all the way near the bottom. He then pushed it up about five lines, and Dib started to gasp and grunt from the pain.

Dib watched as Ace smiled a little. "You won't last long." He said quietly. Dib gritted his teeth nervously.

~Back With Zim~

Zim was now closing in on the large, hovering vehical. 'Damn...I could really use my Voot Runner right now, but I probably don't have the time to run and get it.' He thought. He then looked down at GIR, who was singing some random thing about tacos. 'And I'm NOT letting GIR fly it, either.' He added to his thoughts.

Zim just kept his quick pace on his Spider Legs, just hoping he could save Dib. After all, if he's going to rule Earth, he needs to be able to protect it, too. The Irkens don't destroy their planets, they rule them.

~3 Minutes Later, The C77612~

Dib was now unable to resist making pained sounds anymore. He was in a lot of pain, he was starting to sweat, his eyes were now closed, and his hands kept closing into fists and opening again. "Ho-how much..more of..agh...this? How mu-much long-er?!" Dib called out between gasps of pain.

"Untill we know how much pain a human can take." Ace said. Dib opened his eyes a little, to notice his eyes had something strange about them when he said that. Dib was in too much pain to worry about it though, so he closed his eyes. Each time Ace or Arc spoke, his eyes opened a bit. He had a feeling he would be unable to do even that much soon enough, though.

Arc pushed the slider up more, as Ace wrote more down. At this point, Dib was nearing a full-on scream. Ace couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

~Outside The C77612~

Zim finally arrived, and he stood directly under the hovering craft. He was really mad at the fact that the craft was much higher than he originally thought. He tried jumping up to it a couple of times already, but he couldn't reach it. "DIB! I'm going to SO kick your ass!!!" He yelled up at the vehical. "I have to get up there somehow..." He said quietly, thinking and plotting.

~5 Minutes Later, Inside the C77612~

Dib was now screaming in pain. Ace's fangs were beared as his smile couldn't grow anymore, and Arc laughed so loudly that it matched Dib's screaming. "Your going to die, Dib!" Nobody can save you, now!!" Ace yelled. Dib shook his head a bit, fighting against the pain, and fighting against their words. He wouldn't let their words reach him anymore...or so he wished.

Arc stopped laughing. "Nobody WILL save you. I've seen it. In your past, everyone has always left you alone. Even the closest people to you wouldn't come to you when you were in need. When you were in trouble, would your father or your sister save you?" Arc asked.

"Gaaaaaaz.....HAS saaveeed me before!!" Dib yelled. "Aand Dad has hellllped me as well!!" Dib yelled.

"No Dib...when they have helped you, they did it out of selfish or other reasons!" Ace said sternly. Dib figured that all Akrians could somehow see the pasts of others. "Gaz once saved you when Zim tried to take over your body ONLY because she thought it was a video game. Your father figures you would make a great real scientist so he helps you get your hands on his inventions because of that want. Don't you see? NOBODY cares whether you're here! Nobody ever will, either!! Nobody loves you, Dib!" Ace explained. "So nobody will save you! Nobody will care if you die!!!"

Those words stung Dib so much, it was worse than the pain of the shocks. Arc crancked up the slider more, and Dib started screaming at the top of his lungs...

~With Zim~

Zim now stood on a large board, his Spider Legs still out. GIR clung onto him as he cheered for...God knows what reason. Zim held onto GIR with one hand, and held a rope in the other. The board he stood on was slanted, he and GIR were on the side that was down, and the side that was held up had a huge long underneath it. Zim had made a see-saw out of resources nearby, although he had to scare and knock out some random human to get the board.

The rope he held was attached to a piece of wood that he also took from the human. This piece of wood was proped up against a large rock that was set on a tree branch that was part of the tree standing right next to the see-saw. Zim was capable of whipping this random system together in only a few minutes. As Zim pulled on the rope, all he could do was hope that he and GIR wouldn't slam into the tree branch...

~Back Inside The C77612~

Dib was screaming uncontrolably, as Arc laughed insanely and Ace watched Dib's reactions intensly, seriousness back to his features.

'This is it...isn't it? I'm going to die here. I'm going to die right now, alone. All alone. Completely...alone.' Dib thought.

"Well, since you're going to die, maybe I'll tell you something after all." Arc said. "See, the spe-"

Suddenly, the ship started shaking, Arc's hand was on the slider currently, and the shaking forced him to slide it up further. Dib started screaming so loudly, that the sound of his screams were now echoing. Ace looked over at the slider's location, and his jaw dropped...

~With Zim~

Zim's Spider Legs were now clinging onto the craft in a couple of areas as he and GIR stood on top of the craft. Zim held one of his Cutting Torches from his PAK, and he was using it to cut a hole into the ceiling so he and GIR could hop in. As the hot flames of the torch burned the metal, he suddenly heard Dib screaming. His eyes grew a bit bigger as he thought about what Dib could be enduring right now. He knew Irken torture was like, and could only imaging what these Akrians were doing to the boy...

Zim kept cutting the metal until he had a round hole completely cut open, and the metal he just cut through fell to the floor inside. He turned his head to his companion. "GIR, let's go!" He yelled, then he jumped down the hole.

"WHEE!!!" GIR exclaimed as he hopped in after his master.

Zim landed perfectly on his feet, and GIR landed on top of him, both falling on the floor. "GIR!!! You dumbass!!" Zim yelled at the robot.

"...I'm sorry." GIR said quietly.

Zim felt a little guilty. "I...it's alright." He said. "Come, GIR." He commanded as he started walking down the hallway they ended up in.

"...I'm hungry..." GIR said quietly as he followed Zim.

~With Dib~

The slider was almost at the top, and Dib was screaming so much, his throat was in a lot of pain and his voice was wavering and faultering constantly. Ace was looking at Arc. "Arc....why don't you max it out." He turned his head to Dib. "If he lives through that, then..."

"Then we could really, seriously use this boy. Especially if we completely break his spirit." Arc replied. "Excellent~" He said. He then pushed the slider up to the very top of the scale.

Dib was now under so much pain, he couldn't focus on anything. Nothing in sight. Not voices. Not even thoughts. Nothing...at all.

Nothing...

~Back To Zim~

The two ran down the hallway together, Zim leading the way. Dib's scream grew louder, and the Irken picked up more speed the more he heard Dib scream. 'Dib....I'll get you out of this place." He thought as he ran straight at the source of the screaming. He saw that there was an automatic door there, so he just ran straight at it, not stopping. GIR laughed as he ran with his master, as always, he thought this was some sort of game.

Zim ran right inside, and saw Dib laying on a table being shocked infront of him, and two Akrians sat in chairs to his right. Both Akrians stood up when he entered. "Hi Ziiim~" Arc greeted.

"The Irken." Ace assumed immedeatly. "Glad this ship is only a C77612..." He mentioned. He then ran out the door that lead to the room Dib woke up in.

Arc quickly made his way to Dib's side. He smiled down at the still-being-shocked Dib. "Alrighty! You deserve to know, Dib." He started, making sure his voice was low enough for Zim to not hear. Dib was now all ears as he tired to force his screams to lower to loud grunts and groans of pain instead. "It was an Irken leader named Blue who abducted you. I won't say what she did to you, but let's just say you wouldn't want to experience it again, okay? I hope you can recover those memories, your reaction to it would be priceless! Anywho, I have more important things to do. See ya~" He then ran out of the room through the same door as Ace.

"ZIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!" Dib screamed as he was still being shocked.

"Dib! Hold on!" Zim yelled. He ran over to the the chair Arc previously sat in, and he hopped up onto the seat, and reached over to the panel. He stared at it for a couple of seconds, and saw the slider at the top of the scale, and he slid it down to the bottom of the scale, reducing Dib's pain untill he was being very mildly shocked, and his screaming stopped. Zim grabbed the grey switch that turned the shocker on, and pulled on it, turning it off.

Zim then jumped off the seat and ran to Dib's side. He unlatched the machine, flipped it over so it came off of Dib and fell to the side of the table, and moved over a little so he was looking below at the strapped-down human's face.

Dib was soaked in rain and his own sweat. He was panting heavily, his eyes were closed, and he shivered from being cold. Zim actually felt pretty bad for Dib. He thought about how Dib didn't have anyone at school. He had only his sister who didn't treat him well and was currently hospitalized, perhaps to never come out of it. And the only other person Dib had was his father, but from what Zim knew, they weren't very close and his father wasn't home much. Under normal circumstances, Zim would just shake these thoughts away. But lately, things haven't been normal at all.

Zim started to unfasten the strap around Dib's right arm. 'Normal...what would I define our...normal relations as, anyways?' Zim started to wonder as he slipped the first strap off Dib. He saw that Dib still had his eyes closed as he moved to his right leg.

'Dib...he's my arch enemy who stands in my way, right? In my way of conquering Earth. I have sworn to kill him.' He slipped the second strap off Dib's leg, and moved over to Dib's left leg.

'Even though I've sworn to kill him...' He looked up at Dib's face. He saw that he looked like he was in pain. He looked...scared. Scared of what? 'I have to have him around. I have to. I don't know why, but...having him to fight with all the time....it makes me feel fulfilled. It makes me feel..good. It makes me feel...' Zim unfastened the strap around Dib's left leg, and moved over to the last one, Dib's left arm.

'Complete. Dib....completes me..? Wait...how can that be? Why do I have such a burning desire to fight with him all the time? Why...why does it make me feel like this to fight with him..?' Zim wondered in his mind. He shook his head a little. 'No...I guess I'm just a bit confused at everything lately. But...I have to admit it. If Dib wasn't here, I'd be...kinda empty inside...' He concluded in his mind.

Zim tugged at the strap, realising that he had been standing there trying to unfasten it for over about a minute at this point. He growled in frustration, just barely noticing Dib flinch when he did. "Damn leather strap of doom! That's it!"

Zim slipped a glove off, recalling what happened before with Dib as his vision reached the boy's stitched face. He then used one of his long claws to start slicing the strap that refused to let Dib be free. Zim carefully sliced it with great percision even in the dim light of this room. He ignored GIR's squeals of joy as he ran around the room, just so he could be careful not to stab or slice Dib's skin.

He finally broke the last bit of leather in half, and he shoved all of the straps off of Dib. He then looked down at the youngster. Dib had his head turned away from Zim. He shivered as he laid there, wet, on the cold metalic table. Zim knew that humans were thinner skinned than Irkens, and he knew that if he left Dib in this condition, it would probably kill him. Or, it would make him extremely sick, THEN kill him.

Zim leaned against the cold table, he slipped his right hand under the boy's upper back, and his other arm slipped under the backs of Dib's knees. He slowly, carefully, lifted the boy and held him against him, hoping the position wasn't too uncomfortable for the human boy. Zim then started to feel his skin burn.

"Ahh! GI-GIR!! Let's ge-get out of here! Now!" Zim yelled.

"Yes, my master!" GIR agreed as he stopped playing. GIR got to his knees and started punching the floor. Zim quickly walked over to the small robot as he punched the floor enough to break it open.

"Good GIR!" Zim yelled, surprised he could get GIR to listen to him for that long.

And just as Zim said that, he started squealing as he jumped through the hole. Zim jumped down, and let out a small yell as he fell. He landed a bit rough, since the ship had been so high up. He then used his PAK to unleash the Spider Legs again. He started to move down the street quickly.

"GIR, come!" He commanded. GIR just let out a couple of cries as he ran after his master, trailing behind him a bit, but keeping up well for a small robot. As for Zim, he clutched Dib tightly, taking this burning pain that he feared. Dib kept his eyes closed, and seemed to be really out of it. For some reason...he seemed to be scared.

'But....what is he afraid of..?' Zim wondered. He just kept a quick pace up as he made his way to his base. He needed to keep this human alive.


Alrighty! The next chapter is out. Sorry I couldn't get it out last night, I wanted it to be edited before I released it though, and when I finished the chapter, my friend had already gone to bed, so I had to wait for today. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll keep them coming! Thank you for all of the reviews!! ^^