A few warnings before I begin- this chapter is kinda violent. Not very graphic or gory- just violent. A BIG fight scene, basically. And it gets REALLY creepy (Emphasis on the creepy). The kind of creepy that makes me shiver. And I'm writing it!

Me: Logical Zim, you're creepy!

Zim!Logical: I know. But I'm also sexy, no? -strikes a pose-

Me: … -bashes head into wall-

And so, without further delay, I bring you-

There's Always a Light in the Darkness

Or, The Tale of the Logical

By: The Talking Absol

Chapter Six: The Becoming

Dib turned and ran, Zim hot on his tail.

Before he had even taken two steps, however, he heard Zim's mechanical spider legs swing out and Zim was suddenly upon him, taking Dib down to the floor in a hissing mess. Dib closed his eyes in order to avoid contact with Zim's, and he rolled over and kicked Zim somewhere hard. He heard Zim hiss again, but he recoiled just long enough for Dib to get back up but fall again. He fell to the floor and coughed, still paralyzed with fright. However, he quickly recovered and bolted off, terrified.

"Ha Ha...you can't escape me, little worm..." Zim's voice sang dauntingly throughout Dib's head. Dib, panicked, ran into and over anything in his path. Whatever Dire had done to him...What he had made Zim become...It wasn't the Zim he knew...However, Dib didn't want to find out what Zim had become.

Moreover, he didn't want to die.

Dib fled the mall, leaping over trash cans and other obstacles until his savior, the EXIT sign, glowed brightly before him. Some kind of relief flowed through him, but not for long. Another crash behind him sent his panicked brain into a frenzy again. Dib closed in on the door, threw it open (nearly tearing off the door handle), and thrust himself inside.

As soon as he entered, he whipped around (not bothering to check out his surroundings) and slammed the door shut behind him, using his entire body weight to hold it, right arm pressed forcefully to the cold, hard metal.

Abruptly, something slammed against the door, and Dib let out a gasp and attempted to steady his slipping feet. Another slam and something scratched against the door like a dog wanting to be let in. The next slam sent Dib almost slipping to the floor, and he cried out in fear and shock as the door began to open. Dib put all his might (that he had left, of course) into holding the door against whatever was on the other side. Finally, with one last hard push, he shoved it back into its closed position.

Dib glanced around hurriedly, looking for something to hold its own against this. Spotting a folded metal chair nearby, he grabbed it in-between one of the slams and was about to prop it against the door when it opened again. Dib froze in pure terror as a three-clawed hand eased its way around the crack to hold the end of the door. A hiss of satisfaction echoed in the area.

Without really thinking about it, Dib ran up and slammed his entire weight into the door, causing it to smash the hand between the door frame and door. A scream, more animal-like than human, screeched throughout the entire mall and parking lot. Dib worked quickly, ignoring at best he could, and propped the chair against the doorknob, fitting it into a nearby rung framing the area around the door. The hand retracted, and the door slammed shut and stayed that way. The thing on the other side howled again, and then...

Silence.

Ahhhh…The sweet suspicion...

Dib panted heavily, listening with a kind of strain to hear anything, anything at all. Nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief, and turned around to see his surroundings.

He was in the lower parking lot, where so many years ago he had encountered Rat People. Dim, yellow lights ran all along only the first couple of rows and aisles, making the first quarter of place glow with browns and yellows, but the back resonated with a creepy, black darkness. Pillars held the roof up, placed in a logical order along the rows of white-lined parking spaces. Dib climbed down the narrow stairs and looked around for any sign of life. None. Sighing, he walked towards one of the further pillars in the lit end of the endless lot and sat down, laying his legs flat on the cold floor. He was not used to being so athletic. Sure he was skinny, but he didn't have any muscle.

Dib relaxed for a few minutes. There was no other way in, he was positive. Glancing around in both directions, he noted he was completely alone.

Alone...

God, how many times had that been realized? After all, he really was almost alone in everything he worked for or did. Zim being an alien, all the other spottings...no one believed him; no one appreciated him...

He couldn't think like that. 100 confidence; they'd all see he was right...

He remembered back to when Zim had done a whole life simulation for him (although, it was more really to find out who had thrown a muffin at Zim) and it had been…wonderful. So bright and happy! Dib wanted it; he wanted it so bad he could almost taste it...

Letting out another short sigh, he glanced at his watch. Two thirty. in seven hours the mall would open and people would come rushing in. Here they'd find him, call him crazy, and maybe he'd find someone to call his Dad to come and pick him up. If he got lucky. But for now, he just wanted to sleep. So, Dib closed his eyes and let his breathing return to normal, ears still listening for any sound. As he was about to fall asleep, he heard a light shuffle and clink of metal above him. Disgruntled and slightly upset at the interruption, he opened his eyes and looked...

Into the eyes of Death.

There, crouching across his legs and blocking his escape, was Death himself.

Dib knew it was Death, for its eyes glowed red with a pure kind of hatred and evil glee not known to anyone on Earth. Slitted pupils, magenta in color, glared at him from under a glossy, thin coat of protective covering over its eyes. Red, firey, zig-zag marks flared across its body, pulsing every once in a while. It had on a red Invader's outfit, but it was no longer black striped like it had once been. The Red marks had demented the stripes, turning them into fangs across its torso and rabid licks of spikes on the lower half of its uniform. Black gloves and boots now curved back into cruel sharp ends, extending past its knees or elbows. Its somewhat broken antennae perked casually atop its green, slightly pointed head.

And that zipper-like grin only grew.

It was Zim...but it wasn't...Dib could not accept that this was Zim. This was some...horrible...mutation of something, but not the egotistical, stupid, green alien he once knew.

He was terrified of this, this thing!

Dib's eyes grew to the size of saucer plates, and his pupils shrunk to the size of peas.

"Hello, Dib-Worm." Zim hissed.

The next moment, Dib was being flung through the air with amazing speed and strength, and he let out a yelp as he slammed into the pillar across the road. He fell to the floor, and tried to straighten himself back up. Zim's mad laugh echoed throughout the hallway, but when Dib looked up, Zim wasn't there.

Dib coughed, and then stood up shakily. "Hiding?! You're using the shadows to hide you, you coward! Come out and fight me if you mean it!" Dib's voice rang uneasily in the open arena.

An annoyed hiss came from Zim's throat as he swung down from the shadows above Dib, grabbing the top of the teen's shirt and shoving him forcefully back into the pillar. Dib again looked with shock into Zim's hateful eyes, this time a frown creasing across the alien's face.

"I am no longer the Zim you once knew...for that you can be sure, Dib-filth. And if you think -with that amazingly large head of yours it seems nigh impossible- but if you think you can readily call me a coward...you are wrong. Oh ho-ho, you are sssso wrong, Dib..." Zim grinned again at Dib's terrified face.

"I'll prove who's the real coward..." Zim continued, very quietly so only Dib would hear, "Because in this game, there are no rules."

And with that, Zim's grin turned into a snarl as he turned and flung Dib into another pillar face first. Dib smashed into it, and he could feel his face and part of his nose crunch under pressure. He slipped, and gathered himself quickly, but Zim was already at his side again. With a ferocious cry, he grabbed Dib's right leg and shoulder and lifted Dib up over his head with amazing strength that Dib never knew he had. Without bothering to note this, however, Dib screamed and struggled in the alien's grasp.

Zim only grinned and glanced up at his opponent before bringing Dib down, lifting his knee up to meet Dib's side with a satisfying "crunch" of ribs breaking. There, he let Dib roll off onto the floor with a short break for a breath. Dib, however, was not in such a shape. He could feel his ribs poking into his lungs and organs, and it hurt. He was having difficulty breathing now; his face turned white from horror and sickness. He could feel vomit arising in his esophagus, but he swallowed gulpfulls of air and he felt his body begin to calm down slightly.

Finally, Dib felt like he could move again. Slowly and gently, he tried to pick himself up. Finding his arms working, he gingerly and painfully propped himself up on his right arm, left hand clutching the wounded area. Dib shivered with nausea, but felt it pass quickly.

Crap...he hadn't expected this...

Zim recovered much faster and watched his enemy get up. It was amazing, all the wonderful organs that they held, humans. Irkens only needed a few superior ones. He wanted to see what they really looked like, though, not just pictures in his head. The Dib-worm would provide a good test subject, perhaps...But later. Not now, when his revenge was at hand…

Grinning further at the idea and tortures in his head too ugly for the reader to see (at the moment), he advanced again on Dib. Dib saw him coming, and tried to scramble away. He got up with much effort, still clutching his side, and took a few unsteady steps back.

Zim suddenly jumped, grabbed Dib, and they fell to the floor in a screaming, tangled mess. Dib was slow because of his pain, but he didn't hesitate when he saw an opening. He brought his right knee up to Zim's side, hearing a lovely "ksh" as it his something sensitive. Zim's eyes narrowed and he rolled onto his back, taking Dib with him. There, he threw Dib to the pillar on his left. Dib smashed into it, but was quicker to recover than last time. He stumbled to his feet and ran around to the other side of the pillar just as Zim ran up and skewered the pillar with his spider legs. Dib heard Zim growl, and felt the pillar being tugged upon. Recognizing his chance, Dib ran back to Zim's side and saw his legs were now embedded in the pillar, with Zim's useless struggling trying to get them out.

Dib gritted his teeth and wound his fist up towards his head, finally letting it fly forward into Zim's face. Zim saw it out of the corner of his eye, but his spider legs were blocking his hand from reaching up and blocking it properly. Instead, he reached out in-between the mechanics and grabbed Dib's shirt just as the punch crunched his face. Not numb from the pain yet, he brought Dib's face up to the spider legs and let him go abruptly, letting electricity fly through the legs and into Dib. He heard Dib cry out in pain, and the pillar finally cracked, letting Zim free. With both legs still statically attracted to Dib, he thrust them in the opposite direction, sending Dib flying again. Zim felt his new wound tenderly; even if that boy was scrawny and had no muscle, his knuckles were pointy and they hurt. He let Dib recover again while he disappeared once more into the shadows to try a sneak attack.

Dib got up hesitantly and looked around. Great; Zim was gone again, and he doubted the name-calling would help again. Zim knew that he could surprise Dib, and he was now going to use that to his advantage. He heard a series of scuttling noises in the darkness, where the lights had faded in the parking lot many years ago. Dib got up and swallowed heavily, clutching his side. Finally, he pulled himself together and, knowing his doom was being handed to him on a plate, he dragged himself into the darkness.

As he walked along, he began to feel more and more like this was a very bad idea. He had known it was a bad idea in the first place; a trap set up by Zim in order to get Dib in an area where he would be vulnerable, someplace he couldn't see even with his glasses on. He still felt pain from Zim's brutal knee-smack, but Dib could still breathe and move about, so he figured there was no serious damage done. Not yet, anyway. After a couple minutes, Dib glanced behind himself and saw the bug-light glow of the pillar lights far behind him. He was now in almost complete darkness, underground, with no one knowing he was here and no one coming to rescue him.

Great. He was screwed.

He heard another scuttle above him, and Dib instinctively raised his free hand above his head to black any low that might come. None came, and he slowly lowered his arm. The instant he did, however, he felt a rush of wind above his head and he was lifted into the black air. Dib screamed in panic and flailed about, attempting to find his unseen attacker. Just as he grabbed onto an article of clothing with his fumbling hands, his attacker raised him slightly and then chucked Dib onto the ground like a useless toy. Dib cried out again, and closed his eyes (as they were useless) and simply lay on the ground, listening for anything to lash out at.

"Have you given up yet, Dib-human? Are you ready to admit the superiority of the Irken race?" Zim's sly voice came from above Dib.

"Never, Zim! Never in a million years! Not under threat of death or torture!" the words left Dib's mouth immediately, and he also had an immediate suspicion that he was going to regret those words.

Sure enough, he heard Zim cackle again. Dib opened his eyes just as something landed next to him and held him down, one hand grabbing his scythe and the other latching onto the right side of his face. He did see to glowing red eyes come around from behind him and turn their magenta-colored slit pupils towards him, a sharp-toothed grin glinting in their light.

"Good, because I was hoping you hadn't given up yet. I want to...enjoy this. I don't want you to ever give up, so I can keep on both mentally and physically torturing you until you crack. I want to watch your sanity slip from my cradled fingers, Dib, so you can understand the might of my race; the pure power we can hold over your weak-minded kind." Zim said smoothly.

The clawed hand that was clutching Dib's face suddenly let go and ran one claw along Dib's cheek, cutting it open in one long, slow movement. Dib gasped in pain, feeling blood trickle down his cheek. Zim suddenly flew off, disappearing back into the shadows above Dib's head. Dib quickly turned over onto his side, trying to follow Zim's movement by way of the glowing red eyes. But even they had been swallowed by the darkness.

Dib was officially very, very, very terrified. This was most certainly NOT Zim. No matter what this thing said, it was not Zim. Zim was strange, loudly egotistical, not very smart, and, as far as Dib knew, had never fought someone in a fist fight and won. He had already known it wasn't Zim, but that little speech confirmed it. This creature was smart, fast, strong, and creepy in a bad way. And those eyes held nothing but pure malice and killing intent now. Dib realized with a start he needed to get away and get help, even if it did mean retreating for now.

He got up unsteadily in the darkness and started running towards the lights in the distance. He heard Zim crawling around on the roof above him, and he began to run as fast as his lungs would allow him. It wasn't fast enough however, and Dib felt Zim swing down and land on his back again about twenty feet from the lights. He turned Dib over to face him, spider legs holding him slightly in the air. His clawed hands reached around Dib's throat and began to black off his airway, attempting to strangle him. Dib's hands shot up and tried to grab onto Zim's snarling face, but when that didn't work, they tried to pry the arms off his throat. During the struggle, Dib began to gasp for air and kick at Zim desperately, but that didn't seem to stop the determined alien. Instead, he began to press harder against Dib's throat, causing Dib to gag. Dib could feel his face being drained of air, and his world (despite being completely black except for Zim's glowing eyes) began to swirl about and go even darker.

"Oh my God...Zim's going to actually kill me!" Dib's thoughts screamed. His gasps became shorter and more strained, his world beginning to finally close in upon him. He was afraid of what would happen if he blacked out; afraid of what Zim would do, whether it was to him or the world. He closed his eyes and thought about Gaz and what Dire had said about their mother. He thought an apology to both them and the world, and prepared for the worst.

It never came. Instead, a screech came from the other end of the parking lot, and Dib heard a familiar high-pitched voice scream, "MASTER!". Dib felt Zim's pressure lay off for a second, and then Zim was lifted off dib with a sudden and abrupt force.

Dib began to cough and take in huge lungfulls of air, his sight coming back in full swing. Rubbing his throat, he dared a glance up at his savior.

Gir, the innocent little robot, had heard the desperate, secret emergency call from Zim's Pak before the transformation. Unfortunately, he had been at the Crazy Taco at the time, scaring the customers and eating up all of the food. Deciding to finish first, he had eaten fifty more tacos and then stuffed the Crazy Taco man and about twenty-five more tacos into the Voot Cruiser before coming back to pick Zim up. Upon no one coming out but hearing noises coming from inside, Gir hid the ship, changed out of his disguise, and walked inside, thinking his mater was just caught in another ridiculous trap. What he found instead was his master, completely changed, trying to kill Gir's favorite human, the Dib-creature. Gir did the only thing he could think at the time- stop them. It was not normal in Gir's nature to think of these things, but perhaps something else was doing the thinking for him...

"Master! What 'cha doin'? Don't hurt the big-headed boy! You said yourself you needed an enemy to encourage you to go on, don't 'cha remember? Besides, I like Dib!" Gir cried in his little robotic voice. Zim got up to a sideways sitting position from Gir's sudden propulsion from his jet feet (as Gir had flown right into Zim's chest to knock him off). Zim opened his eyes and glared at Gir, killing intent filling his eyes at his poor, weak-hearted robot.

Gir took an unsteady step back. "Master? Are you okay?" he asked as Zim's face turned into a snarl, a growl arising in his throat. Gir's buttons and eyes turned red suddenly, going into Duty Mode, and he scanned Zim hurriedly to see if it was him. It was...mostly. His DNA had been re-arranged so some of the more "recessive" traits were coming out now, something the Computer had said could never happen. Gir's buttons turned blue again, and he began to whimper as Zim got up and advanced on him. Gir was frozen to the spot, hypnotized with fright at Zim's advanced form. Dib, on the other hand, had recovered more and saw Zim's intentions in his eyes. He knew what fate lay in store for even Zim's robot, the only thing close to a "friend" of Zim.

Dib called out to Gir, "Gir! Get out and get help! It's not Zim, whatever it says! Get away!"

Gir turned to him, and then turned back to Zim. "Please, Master! Don't hurt Dib! You can't...you can't..." Gir's words caught in his throat, little tears appearing in his round, blue eyes. He knew that sometimes, crying would seem to touch Zim's sensitive side. Gir knew Zim would never admit it, but Gir knew he and Zim were friends. Zim ate his food (although he always complained about it), danced with him (though he also refused to do it unless forced), and fixed him when he needed repairs. Even if Zim was tough on the outside, Gir knew he was just a big softie on the inside. Gir thought he was the greatest friend and master he had ever known (although he was the only one Gir had ever known), and he wanted to do anything to make sure the Zim he knew was in this form somewhere.

And so, Gir flew up and clutched onto Zim's chest, and began to weep in front of Zim, screaming nonsensical things from past memories and random lines from TV shows. Finally, after a couple of minutes of waiting for a reaction but having none, Gir stopped abruptly and looked up at Zim's face, hoping for a sign.

If anything, that snarl had only grown darker. Zim's slitted pupils had shrunk in his irises, giving him a crazier, angrier look. Dark, frustrated lines creased across his eyes and under his face muscles. His upper lip curled and twitched further, revealing the cruel ends of his pointy teeth. Gir gasped, and his eyes grew wide and bright. This was NOT the reaction he had expected.

Zim grabbed Gir by the head and plucked him off his chest. Bringing Gir up to his face, he yelled, "I WILL kill the Dib-stink, and there's nothing your PATHETIC, STINKING, DEFECTIVE form can do about it! You got that?!"

Gir began to scream and struggle, but Zim thrust his arm back and then threw Gir against a pillar, where he crashed and fell to the floor in a broken-hearted heap. Zim turned upon Dib again, but Dib had already gotten up and started running towards the exit again. There was no use saving Gir- he was still Zim's minion, whether it was the old Zim or this creature. Even though Gir had saved him, Zim was too close to him and it was too much of a useless risk to try and save the little robot. Deciding upon this (but feeling bad about leaving him behind anyway), Dib raced into the lights and towards the stairs. Zim screamed with fury, and was suddenly flying through the air on his spider legs. Dib screeched to a halt just as Zim passed him and jumped to the top of the stairs, waiting for him. Dib looked around for something, anything, to use against Zim. He spotted something that looked promising, and then turned back up to Zim.

"Come and get me, space boy!" Dib cried, getting into a ready position. Zim grinned and stood in his spot, expecting Dib to turn and run up the stairs. Dib realized this, and started backing up towards his weapon. Zim's Pak was electrically charged, so...

Zim's smile dropped, and he dropped back down to the floor as Dib got too far to run back to the stairs. He apparently did not see Dib's plan, as he advanced upon Dib slowly, obviously waiting for a moment of weakness. Dib began to get ready to tackle Zim, going over his quick and easy plan in his head. Not very well thought-out, but it just might work.

Zim grinned and said, "Whatever you're planning; it won't work. I can see through all your plans, Dib. You pathetic, stupid human..."

Suddenly, Zim was right in front of Dib, and Zim shoved a perplexed Dib up against the wall again, grabbing two handfuls of his shirt. They were, once again, face-to-face.

"What will happen when you're gone? Who will protect the world from my kinds' wrath, Dib? No one believes we exist, other than you." Zim cooed to Dib, eyes turning to cruel sympathy.

"Gaz knows! When she discovers what you've done to me, she'll stop you! You should know to be afraid of her wrath!" Dib cried. Zim's eyes sparked with an evil idea.

"Of course! Your sister! But after you've seen what I can do, shouldn't she be afraid of me?" Zim purred, then continued lower, "Who's going to protect your sister, Dib, when you're dead and gone? Who's going to stop me from messing up that pretty face of hers?"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Dib's fury, wound up until this point, burst out of him in a rush of adrenaline and power. Grabbing Zim's shoulders in a cry of rage that shocked even the alien, He turned on his heel and dragged Zim a few feet to their right, and then turned again so he and Zim had switched position. Finally, he drug Zim away from the wall, moved him slightly more to the right, and slammed him into the open Electric Power Box.

Over a thousand volts of coursing electricity surged through both of them, as Zim was still clutching onto Dib's shirt. Screams of pain echoed while the light flashed and then exploded out of their sockets. The only light now was the flashes coursing through the two bodies attached to the power box. After about a minute, however, the electricity (or something else) built up and, under huge pressure, pushed them up and away like a geyser. Both boys landed in different areas from each other, still sparking with little jolts. Dib opened one eye and, even though he couldn't see anymore (as his glasses had flown off somewhere else) he could see Zim a few feet away, mumbling nonsensical things and his Pak jolting and jittering.

He smiled and let himself fall into a world of darkness. He had stopped Zim, even if only temporarily. Permanently would be nice, but that was unlikely with Zim.

He'd just have to wait and see.

END CHAPTER SIX

END OF PART ONE

OMG! Done! screams Zim is so creepy! He freaks me out…

Zim!Logical: Just wait until you see what I have in store for Gaz…-evil grin-

Gaz: …-drinks Powerthirst and kicks him in the face with her ENERGY LEGS- Jerk-off…

Me: Yeah…that's what he thinks. I'm sorry, Chi and other anti-romancers-that-include-ZAGR, but I warn you- it's going to get very ZAGR-ish in the next part. BUT I HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR IT, I SWEAR!! Just bear with me, please! It DOES NOT, I repeat- DOES NOT get intimate.

Here! In order to convince you to stay with me, I have two HUGE reasons why you should continue to read this:

1. Gaz still pwns Zim's flirty-ness with her darkness. The characters remain mostly true to their natures; Gaz doesn't fall into Zim's arms or just suddenly likes him- she has her reasons for starting to hang out with him. Namely, several things they have in common. -coughhatedibcough- And, she lets him know she's still the alpha. Frequently.

And 2. Just grit your teeth through the parts you hate and you'll be VERY GLAD YOU DID when it's all over and done with. Trust me- I'm not writing this to be a romance; there's a reason why this fic is supposed to be considered very dark. There's another HUGE TWIST at the end of the second part, one that will make you all go "OMGWTFBBQSQUEAL!!"

Also, an apology to the religious folks (I know you're out there) about God's name is used…strangely in several places. I'm not really sure how you can use it in vain other than the "Gosh Darn!" phrase, but I just wanted to apologize just in case. I'm not atheist; I just haven't found the right religion for me yet. I prefer…Well, best not to go into my views on the world here. :3

Invader Zim and its cast belong to Jhonen Vaquez and Nick. Not me! And the song title belongith to NIN.

Logical Zim's design and idea belong to me, as does Dire. (only mentioned briefly,…lol paranoia).

See ya next time! Don't know when exactly the next chapter will be up, as I'm taking a short break to re-write TRR, but hopefully before the end of July! XD