District 10...
Just so you know, A Non-Human is stealing your wallet while you're reading this…
Dib wearily opened his eyes. He wasn't in the alleyway anymore. But he wasn't dead. He looked all around the room he was in. It was made of Irken technology. Wires drooped from the ceiling, Irken logos were all over, electronic hologram maps were displayed of Irk, ect.
"Where…Where am I?" he asked no one in particular. He didn't even know if there was anyone in the room. He was just staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, looks like someone is awake." A familiar British-voiced accent asked. Dib turned his head around and saw Tak sitting right there besides him. He instantly tried to get up after seeing her.
"Tak?-"
"Dib, you need rest" she said, pushing him back down.
"I…um…I didn't expect to ever see you again…but you're here!" he said smiling, "By the way…where is here?"
"Dib" she said, obviously changing the subject, "Calm down. Everything is okay. What do you remember?"
"Remember?"
"Yes. What has recently happened to you?"
"Oh…um…I…AHHHH! ICG! THEY'RE COMING AFTER ME!!!!!!"
"Now calm down! You're safe for now." she said soothingly.
"TAK! I SWEAR I QUIT WORKING FOR THEM! PLEASE FORGIVE M-"
"It's okay. I'm not mad."
"…THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL ME FOR MY BIO-CHEMISTRY! MY OWN FATHER AGREED TO IT! AND NIGERA! HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME TOO!"
"Don't worry. No one will find you down here."
"And then I came down here, to District 10! And a band of Irkens were beating me to death, and then I blacked out!…What happened?"
"Shhhhhh. Toby saved you."
"…Toby saved me? Who's Toby?"
"You know Toby! Remember?"
"Toby…Toby…TOBY GARETH! That's him! I remembered! HE saved me? When? How? I-"
"Dib, you need to be relaxed." she said, stroking his Antennas. Dib started to calm down. It felt good. Really good. He smiled, and he noticed he was getting, uhh, certain "Urges".
"Oh, baby…" he said to himself.
"What?" Tak asked.
"Huh?" Dib said, completely love-struck. Tak noticed that she was stroking a tender part. She blushed, and quickly pulled her hand away. But Dib seemed sad that she had stopped. She smiled, and tenderly grabbed his hand, causing him to blush.
They looked into each other's eyes, and advanced closer to each other, not even realizing what they were doing. As their lips almost met, their moment was ruined as an angry Toby grabbed Dib by the collar.
"Where is it!?" he shouted into his face. Tak became self-conscious at what nearly happened and picked herself up.
"What?" Dib asked wearily.
"The Fluid! WHERE IS IT?" Toby asked angrily.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know you have it, Dib! Tak and I must go home! And we can not unless we have the Fluid! I saved you! I am giving you a place to stay right now! SO TELL ME BEFORE I TURN YOU IN…"
"TOBY!" Tak shouted, mad.
"I swear to god, I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Dib. I can see what is happening to you. Only one thing could do that! THINK. When did all of this first happen?"
"…Um…I…uh…"
"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED TO GET SICK WITH ALL OF THIS!?"
"IN THE SHACK! IN THE SHACK!" Dib pleaded. Toby was really frightening him.
"Toby! You're scaring him to much!"
"Not now Tak! You were in the shack. Then, when did you get sick while investigating?!"
"…When I got sprayed in the face…by…some black fluid…Was it in a silver cylinder?"
"Yes! Yes! That is it!"
"I confiscated it to ICG! The guys down at the lab have it!"
"DAMMIT!" Toby shouted, banging his fist against the wall. He dropped Dib and went over and kicked another wall.
"What is this place?"
"It is none of your business, human." Toby sneered. Tak frowned and punched him in the arm. He slouched in pain.
"You always have to punch me in the Acid burn spot, don't you?"
"Yes" she replied coldly, "But I did it on purpose this time."
"Why?"
"Because, you're being too hard on him!"
"Why should you care Tak?"
"Because! He's my friend!" she said hugging him. Dib let out a big smile. The love of his life cared about him. However, at that moment, something clicked. The room around him wasn't a room. I mean, there was a chair a couple feet ahead, along with controls. The whole "room" was covered in Irken technology, electronic Maps of Irk…It was obvious what this was…
"Oh…dear…lord…" he spoke, "This is the missing part of the Massive, isn't it?!"
"Never mind…" Toby said.
"Tak, is this the missing piece?!"
She sighed.
"Yes Dib…It is…."
"Oh my god! Oh my god! I am freaking out here! Where are we?!"
"We are kind of underground…"
"TAK! Do not tell him anything!"
"Kind of underground? What…does….. that…. Mean?"
Dib moved up a little and limped over to a latter he saw behind Tak. He could see light shining from above it. He tumbled over, using it as his means of support, and looked up. Above, was the shack.
"It's…It's all under your shack?…"
"Yes."
"Tak!"
"For 20 years…you've…you've had it here all along!?"
"I believe you have already figured out the answer to that Dib." Toby said, fiddling with the command controls.
"Oh my god! This is SUCH a find!"
"Oh lord" Toby mumbled to himself.
"Yes, Dib. You see. The fuel goes into to here" she said, pointing to an Irken-like pipe leading into the back engine, "And then once the fuel is drained into the engine's core, it will have enough power to start up again. And once it starts up again, we will be able to fly up again into the MASSIVE. Once this ship, or "piece" is connected, we will be able to fly away."
"QUIET! We can not trust him!"
"Oh my lord! You guys are brilliant! I always knew Irkens were intelligent! But you guys are geniuses! This is amazing!"
Tak blushed a little at all of the praise she was getting from him.
"Um, well, you know, it's no big deal…"
"Yes it is, Tak!" Dib said hugging her with joy, "This is the most smartest thing that anyone I know could ever do! Hell! It's smarter than anyone in the universe could ever do!"
She blushed even more.
"Thanks Dib, but, it was mostly Toby…"
"I don't care! You two are the smartest people ever!"
"Well, I AM really good with engineering…"
"You're good at everything!"
She become more flushed. She started to get hot in the face, and knew she was probably as purple as her eyes. (Irkens have purple blood) Why did she feel like this?
"You know someone can't be good at everything…"
"You're just being modest! You're intelligent, nice, understanding, beautiful-"
Dib stopped. He had just said something he was thinking about in his head. His face instantly turned red. Tak was already blushing, but saw him blush, which made her blush even more. The two smiled at each other, trying to hide their embarrassment.
"Yes. Well done." Toby called out at Dib sarcastically, "Tak is great and the ship is perfect. But all of that is useless now! The fluid is gone! And it is all your fault!"
"TOBY! He's changed, okay!? He's not working for ICG anymore! Lay off!"
"Oh god. It is my fault! You guys are doomed because of me!"
"Exactly!" Toby shouted. Tak just shot him a death-glare.
"It's okay Dib. It's not all your fault…"
"Yes it is! It's all my fault! That corporation was a mistake from the start!"
He sunk his head in his hands. Tak felt sorry for him and pulled him close hugging him. As they hugged once more, a tiny smile crept onto their faces.
"I do not get you Tak. You are comforting the guy who ruined us."
"He didn't ruin us!"
"Yes! Yes he did!"
"I'm sorry!" Dib pleaded, "I am!"
"Yeah, well, sorry will not help us now."
"Listen" Dib said, starting to get angry, "I apologize. I did something stupid, alright? If you don't want it, then don't take it."
Toby seethed. He was angry at the loss of the fluid.
"Fine. I am sorry as well" Toby said, turning his back on them, "It is just a real shame that we do not have the fluid. I could have fixed you…"
"Wait. What?"
"Forget it. We do not have the fuel…"
"Wait! Hold up! Hold up! Are you saying that if I could get you back that fuel, you could get rid of my Antennas and turn my arm into a human one again?"
"Yes. There are machines on the MASSIVE that could fix you."
"Oh my god! This is fantastic! You can fix me!"
"No. Not anymore. If you had the fuel, we could fly away, and I could gain access to the healing bay. I could make everything normal again, but you do not have the fluid."
"Okay, okay, no problem! We'll, uhh, just go out and collect some more!"
"Dib" Tak spoke up, "It took sixteen years just to get that amount…"
"What?" Dib said, slightly flinching.
"Yes. The fuel is very rare and hard to come by. We collect it from whatever is left of our old technology. So the only way to leave is to get that container back from ICG."
"DAMMIT!" Dib screamed, wailing, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! 16 FREAKING YEARS!?"
"Dib it's okay." Tak said, holding his hand. He seemed to calm down a little bit because of this.
"You worked at ICG, am I correct?"
"Yes, Toby." Dib said. Those initials were starting to make him feel sick every time he heard it.
"Well, with your keen knowledge of that place, we could possibly infiltrate it and get the fuel back!"
"Yeah, and then we'll both get killed. That's a suicide mission. What's the point of going to get something so that we can survive only to die trying to get it?"
"It is the only way. I can see what is happening to you. The transformation is almost complete. Soon, you shall be one of us."
"I'll never turn into an Irken! That's impossible!"
"Dib. Open your freaking eyes, man. Look at you. It will not be long now…"
Dib sighed. He was right. He sat down and rested his face into his palms. Tak was sitting next to him and scooted over, eventually leaning on his shoulder.
"It'll be alright Dib…"
He felt a little better and rested his head on the wall.
"Thanks Tak…"
***
Dib sat on the ground of the Shack. They had to board up the windows so none of the other Irkens would be able to look in and see him. He sighed. Is this what he was reduced to?
Tak sat next to him. She enjoyed his company. Being nervous around him was not an issue at the moment, as she was clutching her stomach, starving. Her and Toby were not able to afford food for some time now. Dib noticed this and decided to see what was going on.
"Hey, Tak?" he asked.
"Uh-huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Are you sure? You look all woozy"
"Oh, I'm just a little hungry is all."
"Oh. Hey, when's the last time you ate?"
"About a week ago."
"A week- A WEEK AGO? How come you haven't eaten in so long?"
"Because. The Nigerian gangs operate scams. One of which is the food scam. They buy out all of the stores in Johannesburg and sell us the food we can eat, I.E. Chips, doughnuts, ect. And sell it to us at outrages prices. Me and Toby can't afford any more food, so we have to just activate our PAK's survival Mode. It feeds us through a tube. We still get hungry, but it's enough to keep us alive…"
Dib was angry with rage. How could this be happening to these Irkens? He nearly popped a blood-vessel as he saw his secret love starving.
"Don't worry Tak" he said soothingly, stroking her face, "I'll buy you some food."
"But Dib!" she wearily begged, "The Irkens! They'll kill you!"
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"But I don't know what I would do without you!"
Dib let out a big smile. She really did care for him.
"Don't worry. I'll be back."
She looked up at him. Just by looking at his face, she could tell he would survive.
"Bless you, Dib. You're a good man."
And with that, she kissed him on the cheek. Dib's eyes widened, and he became completely love-struck. His eyes became droopy and his tongue was hanging out. He staggered by the door, grabbed a blanket and wrapped himself up in it, and headed out. Still unsure where he was, as he was in a world of his own…
***
Dib made his way through the District. He had to keep himself rapped up inside the blanket. He made his way to one of the food stands and was waiting in line…
"I'll pay you next week, I swear!" The Irken if front of him begged.
"No Money, no Food! Now get lost! Freaking bug! This isn't a damn charity!!!"
The Irken slouched away. Dib pitied him.
"Maybe I should buy him some chips too…" he thought to himself.
"NEXT!" The gang member shouted. Dib walked over.
"Aw great! A freakin' HOBO! Get fucking lost!"
Dib had to admit he looked like a Hobo. He was rapped up in a moldy blanket, covering everything but his eyes.
"No, umm, hi. Listen, I'm not a hobo, I have money…"
He pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket.
"Very well, 'den! What the hell do you want?"
"Um, yeah, could I get 39 bags of Chipz, 67 boxes of Doughnuts, and 123 bottles of Soda?"
The operator's eyes lit up.
"YES MAN! Alright boys! Get this guy his freaking order!"
The other scam operators scurried around getting everything.
"HEY! YA FUCKING BUGS!" the operator screamed, "This guy has bought out this stand for today, Go back to your crappy little shacks!"
"WHAT!?" One of the Irkens screamed. The other ones started to join in too. Dib started to get uncomfortable and quickly grabbed the box of everything he ordered and started to walk away very fast. One of the Irkens in the line was very pissed. He had saved up enough monies to buy some food, and now, they wouldn't be up and running in over a week. He was starving. And this freaking homeless person off the street just came in here and bought all of the food? That was not okay. The Irken then grabbed Dib by the shoulder, and socked him right in the jaw. He went down to the ground and dropped the box. The Irkens then started to grab the contents out.
"HEY! HEY!" the operator screamed. He fired his gun, killing one of them, "YOU FREELOADERS GET AWAY FROM HIM!!! YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR FOOD AROUND HERE!!!"
They scattered. The Irken that socked him was still pissed and he grabbed Dib and socked him again.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!?? YOU STUPID BUG!" the operator screamed and came over and punched the Irken. Dib stood up a little and grabbed the box, crawling away. While the operator was screaming at the Irken, he saw Dib crawling away, and whipped the blanket off of him.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING YOU FILTHY HU-" The Irken stopped dead in his sentence as he saw him. Half human, half Irken.
"WHAT THE FUCK!!?" the operator screamed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
"you're one of us" the Irken said in disbelief. Dib just stared, unsure what to do next.
"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!!!" the gang member said.
Dib tried to dash, but he grabbed him. The Irken watched all this, but then a determined look came across his face. He grabbed the operator, and head butted him.
"Run for it!"
Dib was amazed at this guy. One minute, he was trying to kill him, the next, he just saved him from being killed.
"Why…Why did you help me?"
"You are becoming one of us. We Irkens have to look out for each other."
Dib was amazed.
"Thank you…"
"You are welcome. But hurry! He will wake up again!"
Dib stood up a little and grabbed the box, dashing away…
***
He made his way through District 10. He was in a grassy plain part, and had stopped there to get a rest. He was getting hungry too, and opened up a bag of chips.
"Tak will be so happy…" he thought to himself.
He wondered if he actually knew what he was doing. She was an Irken. Would he ever have a chance with her?
"OW!" he screamed as he was chewing. He spit out his chips. Something hurt. He stuck his hand inside his mouth. He felt around his flat teeth. And then, he felt it…
Two fangs. He could feel two teeth that were now fangs. The ones you would find on an Irken. He was shaken. How could this be happening to him? He really was turning into one of them.
His eyes started to tear up.
"What am I doing?" he said too himself.
He was living in District 10. He was on the run from the law. He had feelings for an Irken…
Then, it rang…
His cell-phone…
He reached through his coat and grabbed it. He immediately put it to his ear.
"Hell - Hello?"
"…Babe?…"
"Oh thank god" he said to himself, "Zita!"
"…Are you okay?…" the voice on the other end said, tearing up.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine for now…"
"Where are you?"
"uh…I…um…"
"Never mind that. Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm okay sweetie…"
"Will you be coming home?"
"I…Uh….."
"Please answer me…"
"No."
"But…But why? Your father said he was trying to help you…Why did you leave me?…"
"Oh no, babe, I didn't want to leave you!"
"Then why did you run away?"
"I had too!"
"But you were going to get an operation, and you were gonna get better, and-"
"No, no, no! My father is working against me! He's trying to kill me!"
"Why would your father kill you?"
"It's complicated…But I'm gonna try and get myself better, I swear!"
"It's those Irkens, isn't it?"
"What?"
"That's the reason why you left. You cheated on me with those…those…things!"
"No, baby, please you got to believe me, I didn't do that to them! It's all lies!"
"I don't know what to believe any more…"
"Please, don't give up on me, because….I haven't given up on you!"
"You…You mean you've thought about it?!" the voice said, getting even more teary…
"What? No! Listen, I know things are tough right now, but, We'll be okay! I'm gonna get back and I'll hold you, and I'm gonna kiss you, and everything will be alright again! Please!"
"I don't want you to hold me again…"
"What?" Dib said. Her voice was so teary he could barely understand it…
"I don't want you to hold me again Dib!" her voice echoed, sobbing, "And I don't know if I need you to hold me again!"
Dib felt his whole world around him crumble to dust…
"…Babe?…" he said, crying.
"Goodbye"
The phone was filled with more sobbing, and it shut off. Dib lowered it down. He was paralyzed in his mind. He had lost Zita. All because of this. He started to build up anger inside of him.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" He screamed into District 10. No one was around, but still, he ranted, "I'VE LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!! YOU FUCKING IRKENS! DIE! ALL OF YOU CAN GO TO HELL!!!"
He screamed some more, before he eventually collapsed. He sobbed. He looked at his reflection in some shattered glass on the ground. He had lost Zita because of all of this. Something inside him snapped, and he yanked his arm. He was pulling so hard that he was sure it would come out of it's socket soon. But it didn't. He then went for his own antennas, and pulled. He screamed in pain. He pulled so hard that the antenna actually started to come out of his skull. But, he couldn't keep pulling. It hurt like hell. He fell down into the dirt. He kept staring at his reflection. At what he was becoming.
"What are you looking at!!??" he screamed at himself, "HUH!? You can't even look right, because you have this stupid bandage on your eye!!!"
He grabbed the bandage that was covering his eye, and tore it off. He screamed. His once bandaged eye was now an Irken eye of deep blue.
"WHY LORD!!!??" he screamed, getting on his hands and praying, "WHY!!!???"
He then just tumbled back into the ground and sobbed some more. He couldn't help it. He cried so much that the dirt he was in started to turn into mud. Why was this happening to him?
"Hey You!" a voice from behind him said. He turned around. It was the scam operator.
"What the hell were you doing- Holy Shit!"
He looked at Dib. He was shocked when he saw Dib's now Irken eye.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO YOU!?"
"SHUT UP!!! JUST SHUT UP!!!!"
And with that, he sliced his Irken hand through the guy's chest cavity. He squealed, and then fell to the ground, dead. Dib stared down at the body, then at his own hand, covered in blood. He was killing people left and right to survive.
"…What have I become?…" he whispered to himself. He grabbed the box and ran away…
***
Tak laid down on the floor. Toby was on the Couch, fiddling with some stuff he had collected in his trash bags. Tak had been quiet for awhile, so he decided to spark up a conversation.
"You like him, don't you?"
"What?"
"Dib. You like him."
"Um, well, yeah," she said nervously, "he's my friend!"
"Tak. I've known you for all my life. I can tell just by the way you look at him, talk to him, defend him, you have a crush on him…"
"Are you crazy!?" Tak said even more nervously, "He's a human! You can't be in love with someone from another species!"
"Well, he is."
"Wh-what?"
"I can tell he likes you too…"
"You're crazy, Toby, I don't like him! And…" she said, starting to get sad, "…he probably doesn't like me…"
"Don't be so sure…"
"What is with you? Irkens can't be in love! It's…it's completely illogical! Plus, it's against the rules!"
"Tak" he spoke, "When we were born, that was against the rules…"
Before anything more could be said, Dib walked in, carrying the box of snacks. However, he was spaced out.
"DIB!" Tak said joyfully, "You're back!"
"DIB!" Toby said, not so joyfully, "What the Blorch were you doing out there?!"
"Dib saw that we were starving, and he got something to eat!" she said, hugging him, "I was scared crapless when you were gone! But you're back now- AHHH!!!! What happened to your eye!?"
Toby looked up and saw Dib's now Irken eye.
"It's the transformation, Tak. I told you, he's turning into one of us…"
"Yes" he said in a monotone type of voice, "I brought you snacks."
He dropped the box down on the floor. Tak looked down and saw it full and brimming.
"Oh my GOD! TOBY! COME LOOK!"
Toby ran over.
"LOOK HOW MANY SNACKS HE BROUGHT US!!!"
He looked down at the box filled with Chipz, Doughnuts, and soda…
"Oh dear Spork! It's enough to feed us for a month!"
"Thank you Dib!"
"You are welcome" he said, sitting on the floor. Tak suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, a serious look in her eyes.
"Dib, what happened?"
"Nothing…"
"DIB!" she shouted. Something was not right. Dib woke up from his own thoughts and turned his head to her, tears in his eyes.
"She doesn't love me anymore!"
"What? Who?"
"ZITA!" he wailed, crying.
"What do you mean? Who's Zita?"
"She was my girl-friend!"
Tak's heart suddenly sunk. He was in a relationship?
"I had to run away, and now because of all this, she doesn't love me anymore!" he sobbed, "This is all my fault!!!"
"No, Dib, it's not! What happened?"
"She doesn't want me anymore. Hell! She said she doesn't need me anymore!" he sunk his head into his hands, "If I only didn't get sprayed with that fluid! I ruined everything! You guys could've gone home, and I would have Zita's love because I wouldn't be like this! She was my true love, I know it!"
"No Dib, she wasn't" Tak spoke, "If she was your true love, she would've stuck by you. She wouldn't have left you just because of this! If she was your true love, she would love you anyway!" she cried, and then quietly thought, "like me"
Dib looked up at her, and knew she was right. But he still felt like killing himself. He had told himself that he didn't love Zita because of Tak, but now that he lost her, he knew that he did. But as Tak smiled down at him, he knew she was right.
"I will give you guys some time for yourselves…" Toby said, tip-toeing to the door, and then leaving the shack.
"Than you Tak" Dib spoke, "You're right. But it still hurts…"
"I know, I know…"
She hugged him, which made the two feel better. He got up and walked by the door.
"Hey" he said, "Do you think that maybe we…uh…y'know… could go down into one of those spots overlooking this District, and…spend some time together…or something?…."
Tak's face brightened up into a smile.
"…Of course…" she spoke, trying to keep her excitement.
"Great" he said as he opened the door and started to walk out, "can you meet me up at one in about 15 minutes?"
"Sure."
"Thanks."
And as the door was almost completely closed, he stuck his head back in and said "It's a date then."
Author's NOTE: Well, I put a lot more DATR in here. Great. Read and Review.