A/N: An anonymous reviewer pointed an important flaw in the time-travel plot as mentioned last chapter, and I will attempt to rectify it this chapter. Anyway, this chapter we'll get some more plot development as Jana begins her mission to eliminate Dib as a threat. Read on!
Disclaimer: I own Jana and her future-tech. Everything else belongs to Jhonen Vasquez.
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Zim's Lab, The Following Morning
Zim drummed his fingers on the console. He had spent the entire night repeatedly going over the situation. On the one hand, it seemed too good to be true; it could just be an elaborate hoax. On the other hand, Jana did have technology he'd never even dreamed off before, and there was the fact that she knew about the orbital EMP Cannon.
'I haven't even finished designing it yet,' Zim thought to himself as he brought up the schematics on the main computer monitor, 'So how else could she even know about it?'
Finally making up his mind, Zim said, "Computer, where is Jana?"
"Same place she's been all night," the computer replied, "Level seven, storage room two."
Zim got out of his chair and walked over the elevator. Several minutes later, it reached the selected level and the doors slid open. Zim strode down the hallway until he reached an ordinary set of doors and opened them. The storage room was very plain, just a dozen or so feet across, and most of that space was filled with large containers. Jana sat on the floor in the open space in the middle of the room, her legs crossed, her hands on her knees, and her eyes closed.
Zim cleared his throat, and Jana opened her eyes. When she saw Zim, she quickly readjusted her legs so that she was on one knee, and she bowed her head. "How can I be of service, my lord?" she asked.
"Well, I've considered what you've told me," Zim said, "And seeing as I can't disprove it, I'm going to have to accept it as true. Now come on, we need to talk before I head off to that Gods-awful human educational facility."
Jana stood up and followed Zim out the door as he said, "I've realized something: my future self's plan, while brilliant- naturally, since he is me- is flawed."
"How so?" Jana asked as she walked several paces behind him.
As they walked into the elevator, Zim responded, "If the Dib-Monkey is killed prior to the invasion, he won't become a martyr for the resistance, that much is true. However," he added, holding a finger in the air, "That therefore means that the Tallest will not die, and I will not be able to take their place. We need to find a solution to this. I want to be Tallest- I've dreamt of that since I was a smeet."
"Well," Jana said hesitantly, "What if the Tallest were to have an unfortunate… accident?"
Zim turned to look at her with a look that was part inquisitive, part outraged. "You actually suggest to kill the Almighty Tallest?!"
The time-displaced Irken gave a nonchalant shrug. "It would not be the first time I have eliminated a threat to your throne," she said, "It is part of my duty as one of your Shadows, after all."
The inquisitive part of Zim's look gradually won over the outraged part as he asked, "What is a 'Shadow', anyway?"
"One of the changes you made to the structure of the Empire during the first century of your reign," Jana said, as if reciting from a textbook, "You created the position of Tallest's Shadow as a rank beyond even the Invaders and Elite Guard. Only a select few Shadows exist, as there are a series of extreme tests that must be passed- many candidates do not survive the physical trials. And then there are the psychological tests- there can be no sign of any mental Defects whatsoever, and there can be absolutely no sign of any disloyalty towards the Tallest." Jana paused and smirked, then said, "I passed that part with flying colors. As a Shadow, I am your ultimate line of defense against any assassination attempts, as well as being an instrument for assassination against your enemies."
"Interesting," Zim said as the elevator reached the house level, "But that still leaves us with an ethical pro- GIR! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO LET THAT FILTHY ANIMAL INTO THE HOUSE?!"
Jana jumped at the outburst, then turned around to see GIR sitting at the kitchen table with a confused-looking pig at the other end, and a plate of tacos between them. GIR waved at Zim as he said, "Pig wanted to come over and play! So I made pork tacos!" The insane robot then picked up one of the tacos and thrust it into the pig's mouth, forcing the poor animal to perform an act of cannibalism.
Zim rubbed the sides of his head and sighed. "That robot's going to be the death of me," he muttered. Turning his attention back to Jana, he said, "I'm going to Skool now. That means that the Dib will be there too, but you can't kill him there. There would be witnesses, and that's the last thing we want."
"What do you order then, master?" Jana asked.
"Go to his home and destroy that ship," Zim said as he put on his disguise, "Without it, he cannot destroy the Massive. As for actually killing him… well, I want to do that myself."
"Yes sir," Jana said, "And, what of the Tallest?"
Zim paused at the door and was silent for several moments, before saying, "As the humans say, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Without another word, Zim walked out the door and closed it behind him.
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Membrane Household, Several Minutes Later
Dib cleaned his hands on a rag as he finished up his work on the ship. He was fairly certain he was close to finding a way to override the A.I.- hopefully, without repeating the incident where the ship had copied his mind and thought it was him. That had been quite possibly the most disturbing thing that had ever happened to him…
Checking his watch, Dib cursed when he saw the time, "Damn, I'm going to be late for Skool! Oh well, it's worth it to keep the Earth safe."
Quickly packing his tools, Dib grabbed his Skool stuff (which he always kept handy in case of situations like this) and headed towards the open garage door. As he was walking out, he paused. He suddenly had the strangest feeling he was being watched. Looking around, he didn't see anybody, and the ship was turned off, so that wasn't it. "Maybe I'm just getting paranoid," Dib muttered, shrugging the feeling off and heading out the garage door, not bothering to look back. If he had, he would have seen the air in the middle of the room seemingly shimmer as Jana deactivated her personal cloak.
"It would have been so simple," she muttered through gritted teeth, but then she sighed, "But if this is what Lord Zim wants, then so be it. Spend these next few days well, human, for they shall be your last."
She then turned her attention to the ship. "A shame to destroy such craftsmanship," she said as she pulled out her energy sword, "But you are a threat to my master and the Golden Age he is destined to bring about." She then activated the sword, its light reflecting off of the cockpit viewscreen.
With a mighty swing and a battle cry, Jana shattered the viewscreen and buried the blade in the main console. A stream of sparks flew into the air, and the ship came back online as the A.I.'s self-preservation protocols activated. But the A.I. didn't have time to do anything other than scream as Jana repeatedly slashed the console, reducing it to slag. The weapon pods on the side of the ship went limp as the circuits connecting them to the A.I. were severed.
"Why… brzzzt…" the A.I. asked, sounding like it was on the verge of going offline, "Why are you do…brzzzt… doing th-this?"
Jana merely sneered at the damaged ship as she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a plasma grenade. "There is no law but the will of the Tallest," she said, reciting the oath of the Shadows, "For those that defy that will, there is but destruction and death." With that said, she hit the activation button on the grenade and threw it into the cockpit. She then turned around and marched out of the garage, reactivating her cloak as she did so. Just as she exited the garage, the grenade exploded, consuming the ship in a massive fireball. Jana paused and looked back at the fire, then walked away, heading down the street back towards Zim's base.
"Destruction and death," she repeated to herself.
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The High Skool, Several Hours Later
It was during lunch hour that Dib noticed something strange about Zim: He seemed to be carrying himself with even more pride than he usually did. And that was saying something. He was practically strutting as he walked out of the school onto the courtyard with a tray of food- it was either more edible than the stuff in their old Skool, or the Invader had built up an immunity.
"Now I know he's up to something," Dib muttered as he watched Zim from across the courtyard, "He's acting way too happy. Maybe he has some big super weapon he's ready to use; or maybe the Armada's on the way; or maybe-"
"Or maybe someone hit him in the head with a crowbar," Gaz said from her spot next to him at their table, not taking her eyes off of her GameSlave Infinity 360, "Which is a coincidence, because if you don't shut up, that's what I'm going to do to you."
Dib instantly shut his mouth. But he didn't take his gaze off of Zim, who was sitting at a different table at the other end of the courtyard.
Zim, meanwhile, didn't notice Dib looking at him. He didn't even notice the food he was placing in his mouth- not that that would have made much of a difference; he'd deactivated his taste buds for the time being. He was too busy going over his previous discussion with Jana.
'I can't just kill the Tallest,' he thought to himself, 'that is in defiance of everything I've been taught since I was hatched. Then again, it would be Jana doing the killing, not me. Besides, haven't I already defied the Academy's teachings by artificially increasing my height?'
He gripped the fork in his hand so tight it bit into his skin despite the glove he was wearing. 'Gargh! This is so confusing! I need to come up with an answer and soon- the EMP Cannon will be ready by the end of the week, and the Armada will come after that, that's going to happen regardless…'
Zim's train of thought was cut off when a spit wad hit him in the side of the head. "Head's up, loser!" Torque Smacky said, before he and his fellow jocks burst out laughing. Zim gave them one of his patented glares, which only increased when he suddenly had a flashback to similar events that had happened back at the Academy. Practically every Irken there had been even crueler to him than these humans could ever hope to understand… including Red and Purple, way back before they became Tallest, come to think of it.
Now that Zim thought about it, why had he ever been loyal to those two after everything they had done to him? Heck, one time they had removed his PAK and watched his life-clock tick down just for the fun of it- the only reason he was still alive today was because an instructor had come by at the time and forced them to give Zim his PAK back.
The more Zim thought about it, the more he wondered why he was indecisive about getting rid of them. They had been jerks to him throughout his youth, and really, what had they done for him lately? Besides, he would be a much better Tallest than them- and that wasn't his pride and arrogance talking. The message from his future self proved that.
The warning bell rang just then, and everyone started filing back into the building. As Zim trailed behind them, he thought to himself, 'I'm been a fool to worry about whether or not to eliminate those two. Fate has decreed that they are meant to die, and I am to take their place. And who am I to question Fate?'
With that thought in mind, Zim laughed quietly to himself as he walked back into the Skool, already planning his inauguration speech.
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A/N: Here's something else I've noticed- when there's no major action, these chapters are a b-tch to write.
Anyway, if anyone's wondering why Zim is all of a sudden turning against the Tallest, it's because of this theory I have on Irken psychology: they have a deep-rooted superiority complex. This not only applies to the species as a whole (believing that they're the best in the universe) but also to the individual. Therefore, because Zim is now tall enough to be the Tallest, he believes he is better than Red and Purple. And the knowledge that in a possible future he actually does becomes Tallest is only fuel to the fire.
Next chapter: Zim prepares for his conquest, while Jana lays a trap for Dib.
Until then, read and review!