Revenge
Waking to the familiar, sizzling scent of bacon drifting in from the kitchen, Dib inhaled deeply. His stomach rumbling, he sat up from the couch and with a yawn, stretched out his stiff muscles. When he opened his eyes, he was a little surprised to find Gir, still in his dog suit, sitting across from him. The little robot had the tv remote in hand and was flipping through various channels. Dib could have sworn he heard a newscaster mention something about a downed satellite, but his curiosity dissipated when it skipped over to another mindless cartoon.
Still exhausted from the previous night, he slid off the couch and groggily dragged himself to the nearby bathroom. After brushing his teeth and taking care of other morning duties, he eventually made his way back to the the kitchen. He was surprised to find Gaz already seated at the table and as usual, she was completely engulfed in her new video game. His father, who was flaunting a new seasonal holiday apron, was cheerfully flipping pancakes over a blazing hot stove.
"Good morning son," he greeted in his usual professional manner. I hope you're hungry enough for our annual holiday family breakfast."
Dib let out a yawn and took his seat at the table. "Sure Dad. What are we having."
Membrane walked over and placed a full plate of food on the table in front of him. "My special homemade pancakes with a side of scrambled eggs, ham, and bacon."
Dib's mouth watered at the plethora laid out before him. "Wow dad. You almost never have time to make us breakfast in person before leaving for work." Choosing to try the bacon first, he picked up a crispy slice and dug his teeth into it.
The professor smiled. "Well usually I have Foodio 3000 whip us up a batch, but he's been malfunctioning ever since I uploaded that new omelet programming. But thanks to the extra help from your friend there, I was able to finally get him repaired." He held a hand out behind him towards Zim who was preoccupied with frying some pancake batter in the waffle maker.
Dib instantly spat out the bacon. "But dad, he's the enemy! You can't trust him to cook for us!"
The professor held up his gloved index finger. "Now now son, there's no need to be rude to your guest." Interrupting him, a beeping sound from his watch suddenly caught his attention. "Ah. That must be the lab." He clicked away the notification. "Looks like they need me to analyze some unstable reactions before they get out of hand again. You three go ahead and enjoy breakfast. I should be back in a little while."
"But it's Christmas," Gaz complained sorely, tearing her attention from her Game Slave.
The professor chuckled and bent down to rest a hand on his daughter's head. "Not to worry honey. I should be back before noon. After all, good science doesn't wait!"
Dib watched his father exit the kitchen and then turned his attention towards Zim. "Don't think I'm not on to you space boy," he warned, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
Zim turned around to face his rival while removing a freshly made waffle from the waffle maker. "What are you talking about Earth meat?"
"You think I'm stupid enough to fall for your tricks?" the boy questioned, pointing a finger in his direction. "You put something in the food didn't you?"
"I did no such thing!" Zim shouted back defensively while placing his hands on his hips. He held an arm out toward Gaz. "Just take a look at your angry sibling. She's already eaten plenty and is still perfectly normal!"
Dib shot a look over at Gaz. Sure enough, she was rapidly shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth while focusing entirely on her Game Slave. She looked perfectly fine. "Well, you still could have done something to mine," he said skeptically.
"Nonsense! What strategical value would I gain from tampering with your food?"
Dib crossed his arms over his chest. "Gee, I don't know Zim. Poisoning me and then running free to take over the world? Just a guess."
Zim stared blankly at him a moment. "Oh. Yes, well. There is that," he chuckled sheepishly. "But in all seriousness, it seems I have lost interest in destroying you for the time being Dib-worm. At least until I can finally get back to my base and formulate a new master plan."
Dib raised an eyebrow. "You know what Zim? I am starting to think you don't even HAVE a new master plan. It's been at least a month and other than that pathetic attempt last night, you've done nothing but sit in your house and watch TV."
"Lies!" Zim shouted back at his rival. "You dare accuse me of of such mediocrity?" He clashed his stack of waffles down on the table on front of him and sat down. "Just you wait and see Dib. I will come up with a new master plan so great and so massively evil you will soon realize just how wrong you really-huh?
Catching wind of the buttery scent, Gir was at his master's side in seconds. Zim looked down at his robot apprehensively. Before he could react, Gir squealed and hopped up onto the table in front of him. Knowing full well what was about to happen, Zim lunged in to stop him, but Gir had already scarfed down the entire plate of maple-covered goodness and with a happy, high pitched giggle, dashed back into the living room to continue watching TV.
His head and torso now covered in syrup and leftover waffle chunks, Zim growled in frustration. "GIR!"
"Huh. Since when do you willingly eat human food?" Dib asked curiously.
"None of your business pig meat!" Zim shouted back, still angry his precious waffles had been stolen from him.
Unfazed by the insult, Dib continued to study his rival inquiringly. In the last few weeks, he had grown more suspicious of Zim's anomalous behavior and had been sure to keep an extra close eye on him just in case the alien was scheming something under his nose. He wouldn't put it past him seeing as how Zim had once spent several months hiding in a toilet just to trick him into thinking he had given up. But as far as he could tell, Zim hadn't bothered formulating any new plans in weeks. In fact, ever since the end of the science fair, he had done absolutely nothing productive at all.
Dib stared down at the plate of food in front of him. Stomach growling, he decided to go ahead and try another bite. Applying pressure with his fork, he separated a portion of the pancakes and scooped it up to his mouth. Chewing carefully, he tried to detect any unusual flavors or irregularities, but to his astonishment, it tasted perfectly fine. Sensing it was safe to finish his meal, he began shoveling whole fork loads into his mouth. The food was quite tasty and even though they had snacked the night before, he was still very hungry.
"So if you weren't trying to poison me," he questioned between bites, "what WERE you doing cooking with my dad?"
Zim straightened his posture. "If you must know, I was evaluating recipes for what you dirty apes refer to as breakfast foods. I have found waffles to be quite enjoyable and not everything I've eaten on this miserable planet has been completely awful. Except for that HORRIBLE food in the school cafeteria."
Dib let out a mild chuckle. "Well, to be fair, not even most humans can't stomach that stuff."
"It's repulsive! The vile swill they give to Vortion prisoners is more bearable than that filth!"
"Hey, that reminds me," Dib interrupted, shifting the topic. "I remember reading something about planet Vort. Isn't it like a military prison or something?"
Zim, trying his best to wipe away the stick chunks of leftovers from his uniform, briefly explained. "Yes, yes. It's an Irken military prison. One of the first planets to be conquered by the Empire and where most of our advanced weaponry is researched and engineered."
Dib gave a puzzled look. "So, you're species enslaved a whole race to build and design all of your most important and valuable technology? Doesn't that seem like a bad idea? I mean, what if they purposely install back doors in your operating systems. You know, codes that only THEY know how to override?"
Zim stared back at him with a cold glare. "Foolish, naive dirt child! All machinery engineered on Vort is examined and overseen by top Irken engineers before it is transported off planet and implemented into the Armada. There is absolutely nothing that can go wrong!"
"Oh really? What about the time you stole the blueprints of your leaders' ship to bring it to Earth and and it on my head?
Zim felt his pulse quicken. "Yes, well. That was something else entirely." Suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the discussion, he set his unused fork down and stood up from the table. "Well Dib, it has been an interesting twelve hours, but Gir and I have much work to do and must be going now."
"Wait, you're leaving now? But what about the snow outside?" Dib asked, his tone sounding a bit more disappointed than he intended.
Zim made his way to the front door. "I assisted your parental guardian in clearing a path from the doorway hours ago while you were asleep," Zim explained in his practical manner as he made his way to the front door. He was just about to reach for the knob when Dib called out to him.
"Hang on."
Zim paused and turned back around. "What is it Dib-worm?" He watched in irritation as the human dashed over to the Christmas tree and started digging through the festive pile. Grabbing a small, neatly wrapped package, the human stood up and brought it over to him.
Zim studied it suspiciously. "What's this?" he asked dubiously.
Dib held it out to him. "It's called a gift. It's what you're supposed to do on Christmas day. I was going to give this one to my Dad, but he probably wouldn't find much use for it anyway."
With a puzzled expression, Zim took the package and ripped away the red decorative wrapping. Left with only a brown, plain box, he carefully opened up the lid.
His eyes grew wide.
Inside was none other than his precious, lost robotic bee. Speechless, he dropped the empty box to the ground and stared at the gift in his claws. A strange, foreign emotion began to overtake him. He looked back up at the human for answers. "I-I don't understand."
Dib shrugged. "I found it in Tak's ship while making repairs. You said you wanted to learn more about human traditions and well, this is what this day is all about. No matter how much you may hate someone, you're supposed to set aside your differences for at least the next twenty four hours. By tomorrow, everything returns to normal."
Zim shifted his focus back down to the gift. Deep down he felt the gurgling urge to thank the human, but his pride kept it suppressed. Besides, he thought to himself, it's doubtful the pitiful meat creature even knew it belonged to me in the first place. Storing the robot bee in his PAK, he straightened his posture.
"I must admit, staying here wasn't AS terrible as I had anticipated," he stated with a burlesque undertone. "But make no mistake Dib! This changes nothing. Once I return to my base, I am still going to come up with a plan to destroy you and take over the Earth. This was only a minor setback."
"Whatever Zim," Dib snapped back, gambling on it being just another empty threat. "Hopefully you can make it home this time without getting caught in another snow storm."
Insulted by the sarcastic remark, Zim shot him a contemptuous look. "Come Gir! It's time we go home!" Obeying the command, Gir hopped down from the couch and eagerly sprinted over to his master's side. Without another word, Zim turned on his heel and proudly marched away from the Membrane residence.
Dib watched until they were well out of sight before shutting the door. He wasn't sure why he had chosen to offer Zim a gift, but for some reason, it seemed like the right thing to do. Other than his own family, he had never given anything to anyone else before. His peers weren't exactly lining up to exchange presents with him and thanks to his hobbies, and he didn't have any real friends of his own. In a weird way, it felt kind of gratifying to spend the holiday with someone new, even if it was a destructive alien hell-bent on taking over the world.
He shook his head vigorously. What was he thinking? Zim wasn't his friend! For all he knew, the whole night may have been a ploy for his enemy to learn more about his family and exploit his house for weaknesses. He brought a hand to his chin. But then again, Zim had been given the perfect opportunity to poison me and didn't take it. That had been strange in of itself. And what was the deal with him destroying his own base. He never DID get a straight answer about that.
As he thought deeper, he came to the conclusion that even if Zim truly had given up for the time being, it didn't change the fact that he was still an alien. It was clear he was still loyal to his own kind and to the Irken Empire, and that in itself was enough to remind Dib why he needed to remain diligent.
Dismissing the conflicting thoughts from his mind, he exited the entryway and went back to the comfort of the couch to enjoy the rest of his Christmas morning. The bizarre turn of events in the last few weeks were too overwhelming to think about and he was still far too exhausted to dwell on it any longer. Picking up the remote, he switched the tv over to the paranormal channel and dozed off as the sounds of the narrator's voice lulled him to sleep.
Feeling equally conflicted about the previous night's events, Zim marched back home with Gir at his side. He knew he shouldn't be feeling the way he did, but he had actually enjoyed spending time with his so-called arch enemy. For the first time in his life, he had experienced a sense of acceptance and belonging, something as an invader he had been conditioned to go without since the first day of training. After all, it wasn't wise for potential conquerors to befriend the very people they were trying to overthrow. Mixed emotions only complicated everything and made taking over a planet a lot more difficult.
Upon reaching his front yard, he commanded Gir to clear a path through the freshly accumulated snow that had piled in his doorway. Obeying his master, Gir fired up his jets and sliced an opening through to the front door. Unfortunately the robot miscalculated the amount of thrust required and slammed into the door head-first before falling to the ground with a metallic thud.
"Good work Gir," praised Zim, strolling past his dazed minion. He cleared away some of the extra snow himself before opening the door and stepping inside.
Unaware of the potential danger awaiting below, Zim marched toward the elevator and traveled down to the main portion of his base that led to the lab. When he reached the lab, he entered and approached a large, egg-shaped machine attached to a nearby wall. Stepping onto the designated platform, two large oval shaped spheres sprung to life and with a faint hissing sound, automatically enclosed around him in an oval-shaped shell. A few seconds later, the two halves separated and Zim stepped off the platform.
He briefly examined his now cleaned and dried uniform. The machine had also added a fresh layer of paste, something he had programmed into the process long ago. Satisfied and feeling refreshed with cleanliness, he approached one of the work stations.
"Gir. Come here!" he called out to his minion. "It's time to perform your regular upgrades!" He waited for his minion to dash over at his command, but nothing happened. Annoyed, Zim asked again. "Gir! Come here now!" There was still no response.
Growling, Zim pushed away from the work station. This wasn't the first time his SIR unit had defied him. Often the little robot just wanted attention or to play a game of hide and seek. Unfortunately, Zim was in no mood for games. "Computer! Lock onto Gir's homing signature and guide me to his location."
A few seconds passed before the computer responded in its deep robotic voice. "SIR unit's signature located."
"You here that Gir!? You better come out before I come find you. Or you'll lose today's TV privileges." He waited to see if Gir revealed himself from his hiding place. Usually the threat was enough to persuade the eccentric robot to listen.
Hearing nothing but silence, Zim impatiently pulled out a small tracking device from his PAK. It was roughly the size of a human cellular device, but more oval shaped and had two pointy ends tapering toward each other on the bottom. Gir's location appeared as a beeping dot on the radar screen. He walked in the direction of his lost henchman.
"Seriously Gir. Now's not the time for games," he called out into the emptiness. "Where are you!?"
The tracker led him out of the lab and into a nearby large maroon hallway. He stopped in the middle of the narrow metallic platform that was suspended several dozen feet above empty space. "That's strange," he said, examining the tracking device. "Based on these readings, Gir's signature should be right here."
Zim suddenly recoiled in surprise as the tiny robot plunged from the ceiling, landing directly in front of him with a loud thud. "There you are!" he called out, expressing his vexation at the Sir unit. "Enough with your games Gir! We need to get back you to the lab to work on your upgrades."
Gir did not move. With an agitated expression, Zim took a step closer. "Gir?" He turned his minion over, only to find the cyan blue that usually filled his eyes was replaced with a lifeless grey. Zim huffed in annoyance. "Broken again. How many times do I have to tell you not to jump head first from the ceiling? Now I'll have to spend all afternoon fixing YOU on top of installing the new additional upgrades." He bent down to collect the robot in his arms, but froze when he heard a metallic tapping sound above him.
An intruder? Down here? But who-?
Before he could turn around, a small burst of plasma rifle struck his right arm. The substance easily ate through the fabric of his uniform and instantly began tearing away at his flesh. Screaming in pain, he frantically looked up at the ceiling to pinpoint where it had come from. "Computer! Locate the intruder and activate the base's defenses!"
A few seconds passed before a discouraged series of beeps was heard. "Intruder not found. No threat detected."
"No threat!?" yelled Zim, anxiously. "How is that even possible!?" Suddenly, another warm plasma shot whizzed passed his head. With no time to evaluate the situation, he decided to make a run for it. The enemy fired down upon him rapidly in his attempt to get away. Dodging multiple plasma bursts with a few making contact, he sprinted toward the exit, but was forced to skid to a halt when the security door unexpectedly slammed shut in front of him. "Hey. What is this!? Computer! Open the door!"
"Manual override in effect," said the deep robotic voice.
"MANUAL OVERRIDE? I AM ZIM! YOUR MASTER! I command you to open this door!"
It didn't budge. Pushing from the center, he did his best to pry it open, but it was no use. Hearing a dark, feminine laugh behind him, he wheeled around to face his attacker.
"Who dares infiltrate the base of ZIM!" he yelled into the darkness above, doing his best to conceal the growing uneasiness in his voice.
He was immediately answered with another plasma shot making direct contact with his left shoulder. Wincing from the excruciating pain, he instinctively brought his hand to cover the area and opened one eye to assess the damage. It wasn't good. His left arm was now completely useless and if he didn't treat the injuries soon, some of the nerve damage may even become permanent.
Rather than kill him instantly, each plasma round was meant to only intensify the pain exponentially. He was well aware of what such a weapon was capable of. It was mainly used as a torture device during interrogations and while it would eventually destroy its target, it was designed to be a slow and painful death. Whoever was after him clearly didn't intend to kill him...yet.
Zim glanced up through the searing pain as a green and purple figure graciously swooped down from the large overhead ceiling wires. A menacing set of spider legs, very much like his own, emerged from the intruder's PAK and forcefully pinned him against the door.
He recognized her immediately.
"Tak!" he barked her name in disgust. "I should have known. Only another Irken could have managed to sneak through my defenses."
She glared back at him bitterly. "That blame lies with yourself Zim. It was a mistake to make our kind unrecognizable to your own security systems!"
Zim stared back at her venomously. "My only mistake was letting you get away the last time we crossed paths. So what is it this time Tak? Are you here to try and steal my mission away again?"
Tak's eyes narrowed. "Your mission? No Zim. I know that the Tallest stripped you of your rank and revealed the truth to you about your so-called mission. I know they exiled you and left you here to rot here on this nasty rock. THEY were the ones who sent me here, to ensure you never set foot off this miserable planet. Getting an opportunity to extract my revenge on you is just an extra bonus."
"I thought you said it wasn't about revenge," Zim blurt out smugly.
Tak's expression hardened. She lifted one of her spider legs and before he could say anything further, forcefully pieced it directly through his right leg. Zim yelped in pain as the metallic spike dug into his delicate flesh. He struggled to break free, but her grip on him was too tight."Get away from me!" he managed to screech out, biting back he pain. "Or you'll regret hurting the likes of ZIM!"
"Oh, I highly doubt that." She retracted another spider leg and stabbed him a second time, this time through his midsection. His eyes went wide as the metallic extension pierced through part of his organs. She had purposely hit a non vital area, but it was still enough to cause him to cough up blood.
Shaking from the pain, he gripped his claws around her metallic appendages and struggled to pull them free. Tak smiled darkly as he squirmed weakly under her grasp. "You should have given up Zim," she stated, her voice thickly laced with her unique accent. "Originally, I did only want your mission. I wanted you to know what it felt like to have everything stolen away from you, for you only watch as I conquered the planet and ruined your life. If you had just surrendered and allowed me to become the invader I so rightfully deserved to be, none of this would be happening."
"I didn't..." Zim tried to speak, but found he could barely manage without choking on his own blood. "Wasn't...my fault."
Insulted, Tak lowered the plasma gun down to the open stab wound on his right leg. "It was ALL your fault! You RUINED MY LIFE!"
At the last word, she fired the weapon. Zim screamed in agony as the acidic blast fused with the open flesh of his newly created wound. The pain was unbearable, like a thousand flaming knives pierced the inside of his body. He wasn't sure how much more of it he could take. She was just about to fire another plasma round into his chest when something flew in from behind and collided with her skull.
"GET AWAY FROM MA MASTER YOU MEAN OLD LADY!" Gir shouted, latching onto her antennae. Tak screeched in agony as the little robot yanked on the sensitive extensions. She released her grasp on Zim, giving him the opportunity he needed to escape. Seizing her plasma rifle, he sporadically fired the last few remaining rounds into her chest. Most of the shots made contact, but with an extra stroke of luck, one rouge blast managed to hit and damage her PAK.
Her spider legs retracted back inside and Zim winced as the metallic extensions were pulled free from his flesh. Using the remainder of his strength, he pushed himself up and with the help of his own PAK's spider legs, blasted an escape route through the jammed door behind him.
Noticing her target getting away, Tak forcefully shook Gir off of her. Using her special handheld SIR unit disabling device, she zapped the little robot a second time. She wasn't sure why the first shock had been unsuccessful. Maybe Zim's crazed minion was too idiotic to even feel pain or perhaps it was because he had been built differently than most SIR units. Either way, she didn't have the time to dwell on it. Zim was her target and he was determined to catch up to him.
Struggling against his injuries and using his spider legs to aid him, Zim sprinted as fast he could toward the elevators. He took the express straight to the upper level and emerged from the incongruous toilet in his kitchen. Climbing down from the porcelain bowl, he limped toward the front door. When he reached the knob, he turned around to steal a glance behind him.
Tak, clutching her chest in pain, could be seen stepping off of the hidden platform in his living room. She scowled at him furiously. Letting out a panicked yelp, Zim thrust open the door and ran outside. Activating her disguise, she swiftly followed in pursuit.
Slapping on his contacts and wig, Zim did his best to maintain his distance from Tak. Now that they were out the open, he knew could no longer safely use his spider legs without risk of being noticed. Unfortunately with his injuries slowing him down, the gap between them was closing in fast. Her wounds were not as severe as his, and if this kept up, she was sure to catch him in no time.
Panic settling in, he tried picking up his pace. His breathing started to become heavy and with the loss of blood, he began to feel his strength rapidly draining from him. It was pointless. In his condition, he knew he would never be able to outrun her. He looked around, desperate to come up with another solution.
Suddenly, a small drop of liquid landed gently on his forehead. He glanced up at the sky curiously. Rain? No, not just rain. The clouds above him were a dark grey and heavily saturated with water, but the temperature wasn't cold enough for snow. The droplet that had hit him had been wet, but still slightly icy.
Zim smirked.
After spending so much time tracing the weather patterns on Earth, he was well aware of the dangers they represented to their kind, but other than the occasional food item she had thrown at her, Tak had never experienced the full level of discomfort the pure form of the liquid caused them. It was also unlikely she had not yet discovered his ingenious use of paste to counter its effects. Hearing a clash of thunder, he quickly took out the emergency umbrella he kept stashed away in his PAK and held it out above him. Moments later, a heavy sleet downpour crashed down around them.
Tak felt an odd sizzling sensation as the first couple of drops made contact with her skin. She stopped running and held a hand out to analyze of the strange phenomenon. Feeling nothing at first, it wasn't long before she found herself drenched and curled on the ground in searing pain, screaming and flailing about as the water battered her sensitive skin. Struggling against the unbearable sensation, she glanced up at Zim. To her dismay, he was staring back at her, but was completely unharmed by the liquid. She didn't understand. How was it possible? The rain had fallen on him too hadn't it? Why wasn't he also in pain!?
Confused, she looked down at her body. Her skin was already blistering against the rapid rainfall and her disguise had long since flickered away, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. As the droplets continued to bombard her, she noticed her breathing became increasingly more difficult. She made an effort to stand, but her limbs were heavy and unresponsive. It was clear her PAK was diverting all its energy to just keeping her alive.
Sensing it was now safe to approach, Zim stepped closer. He stopped only a few inches away and with an arrogant smirk, towered over her proudly. "Ha! Foolish Tak! Once again you have proven my superiority in being defeated at the hands of ZIM! Only someone as ingenious as me could have come up with such a brilliant way to counter Earth's pitiful weather patterns. You know, being trained as an invader and all. Such a sad, pathetic end for you."
Tak clenched her teeth in disgust. The harsh sleet was like acid, digging into her flesh and draining away her strength little by little with every drop that hit her. She wanted nothing more than to tighten her claws around his neck and rip his arrogant throat out. But she could only glare at him weakly as the hammering rain continued to beat down upon her. Her body began to tremble from the extreme cold and her PAK emitted various sparks as the water leaked into its components. Gasping and feeling the life slowly fade from her, she shut her eyes tight. It wasn't fair! How could he beat me again? Him!? An overconfident, egotistical moron!
Feeling sadness overtake her, she opened her eyes halfway. So this is it, she thought miserably. I am really going to die here and at the hands of the universe's biggest idiot. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before her PAK eventually gave out. She would become a lifeless corpse at the very feet of the person she had set out to kill and possibly the laughing stock of the entire Empire for failing to due so.
With what little strength she had left, she tilted her head and looked up at him hopelessly. She did not want to die yet, not like this. She had worked so hard her entire life only to have everything thrown back in her face and nothing to show for it. All she had ever wanted was to prove to the Tallest how valuable her skills were to the Empire. Had it all been too much to ask? she wondered. I just wanted- I just wish...
Defeated and exhausted from fighting against the pain, her eyelids began to grow heavy. It shouldn't be long now, she thought as the droplets danced around her withered body. She wasn't sure if she could even feel them anymore. The sound from the world around her had already slowly faded away and the only thing left was the fleeting thump of her weakening pulse. Finally, with one final exhale, she surrendered to the impending darkness.
Zim stared mindlessly at the lifeless body wasting away before him. He tried to crack a smile at his apparent victory, but his facial muscles remained rigid. He knew he should be grateful for her demise, but somehow, part of him didn't feel right about what he was doing. He didn't understand it. She had been defeated! He had won! He should be dancing on her corpse and throwing a party in his base to celebrate her demise.
He briefly glanced over his injuries, trying to convince himself that her death was justified. She had very nearly killed him, and would most likely still try if she was allowed to make a full recovery. He had every reason to walk away. But for some reason, Dib's words from earlier still echoed in the back of his mind.
Even if you hate someone, you are supposed to set aside your differences for at least twenty four hours.
Zim forcefully shoved the thoughts from his mind. Nonsense! That was just stupid human ideology! Irken's had no need to adopt such morals! He folded his arms and tried to ignore the gnawing feeling digging at his core. She tried to kill me! She got what she deserved! The sensation of guilt only grew stronger.
He glanced down at her lifeless body, the scent of burning flesh invading his senses. Tak was one of his own, and despite everything she had done in the last few hours, he wasn't sure if he had the right to watch her die. With a sigh, he knelt down beside her and carefully examined the severity of her wounds. The plasma blasts had eaten their way deep into her skin and he could hear the distinct popping of organic tissue against the chemical toxicity of the rain.
Resting a gloved hand on her neck, he went to feel her pulse. His eyes widened. She was still clinging to life, but only barely.
Scooping her up from the ground, he did his best to position her onto his back. His own injuries and logical mind screaming at him to leave her, he pushed himself up, struggling to maintain his balance. Using two of his spider legs for support and under cover of the storm, he slowly carried her back to his base.
Author's note: So Zim's conscious is finally starting to get the better of him. Perhaps he really has spent too much time around humans after all. Sorry if this chapter seemed rather brutal or depressing for some. I just wanted the interactions to seem real in the eyes of the characters. And yes, I know in the Christmas special they mention that the santa suit returns every year to attack Earth, but I felt like that ending was similar to the time they ended up as bologna or when Zim's ship was programmed to fly into the sun. I think it was just a joke way for the writers to wrap up their episode and we are all just supposed to forget about it. Plus, it was really difficult to write in and didn't fit well with the rest of the story. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter!
