Chapter 7

"Until You Finally Snap"

Tak stared at Mimi, Mimi stared at Tak... A very awkward meeting, just like any other that Tak had encountered through her life. Tak awkwardly looked around the room, then back at Mimi, "So... Um... I'm Tak...Yeah... Uh...Welcome... To life...Er... I guess...Heh.."

Mimi continued to stare silently, Tak just looked around again, "Um... Okay then..." Finally, Mimi's gaze flashed, and she responded, "You seem shy, Mistress.." Tak's gaze snapped back to her SIR Unit, "Oh! Uh... Right... I- It happens to me a lot..." "I see...," Mimi responded. Tak just sighed softly, she had not expected this to get so awkward.

Suddenly, there was a rough pounding on the door, It was Bull. "WAKE UP, TIK! IT'S TIME TO GET TO WORK, YOU LAZY ASS!" Tak stayed silent for a moment, then responded with equal anger, "IT'S TAK! ….. Damn moron..." The pounding suddenly continued, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOUR NAME IS! GET UP, AND BRING ME YOUR DAMN FOOD AND GET TO FUCKING WORK!"

Furious, Tak bared her teeth, but Mimi had gotten up, storming to the door. Tak quickly caught her, "No! He can't know about you! I'll be fine, stay here!" She whispered urgently, and Mimi relaxed, but still glared at the door where Bull stood outside.

Tak got up and ushered Mimi into hiding, then opened the door where Bull stood, tapping his foot impatiently. "It's about time. What the hell where you doing?" Tak glared, "None of your business. Also, for the record, I'm not giving you my food. Not anymore."

Outraged, Bull lunged for her throat again, but Tak was faster, she jumped out of the way, and Bull tripped, falling to the ground. Tak landed on her feet, then glared at Bull, "I'm not taking your fucking orders anymore, so back off, or I'll hurt you!" Bull sat up, laughing, "You'll hurt me? Wait. Hahaha, You said your name was Tak? You must be that female that flunked her Invader test and got sent here! You're the one who fought with that girl because some other bitch committed suicide because she was too much of a coward to live her-"

That was it. Something snapped inside of Tak. Letting out a scream, she launched herself at Bull, using her spider legs and claws, and began attacking the huge, overweight Irken. Bull dodged some of the blows. He balled his hand into a fist, and slammed it into Tak's chest, sending her rolling across the filthy ground.

Tak stood up, running at full speed at him, she pulled out a high powered laser and began to fire at him. Bull let out some of his own PAK lasers and began shooting at her as well. Janitors sprung out of the way of all the blasts. Some getting frightened, while others cheered in pure excitement, chanting eagerly to see some excitement for once in their dreary lives.

She finally got him, shooting the laser at his arm. Bull let out a screech of pain, and fired at Tak as well, but she continuously dodged out of the way, due to her small size and weight, she was able to do so. Abandoning the laser, Bull launched his enormous body, pinning Tak to the ground. He snatched her laser and threw it, then raised his fist, ready to strike her.

Tak struggled desperately, then braced herself for pain, 'No... No... I will never, EVER be too afraid to fight back again... NEVER!' Tak moved quickly, sliding her claws down Bull's neck. Blood began to trickle, then flow out of the wound, and Bull let out a choked gasp.

He fell to the ground, gagging and gasping. A few Medics and Slave Drivers rushed to the scene. The blood seemed like a never ending tide coming from Bull's throat. Tak stared, eyes wide, 'I-I... Did I...'

Suddenly, Bull let out one last snarl of defiance at her, then shuddered and lay still. The Medics stepped back, all of them eyeing each other nervously, Rain stared at Tak through a wide, disbelieving gaze.

Tak stared silently at the corpse on the ground. 'I-I killed him... I killed him...... 'Well, good. He deserved to die... No one will get in my way...' Tak quickly did a double take, 'Where did that come from?!' Tak shivered, staring at everyone, they all eyed her fearfully, like she was some sort of monster.

Suddenly, her anger returned, and she glared at them, "Well?! What the hell are you all looking at me for?! Show's over, Leave me alone!" All the janitors turned around fearfully, and the Medics and Slave Drivers just continued looking over Bull's corpse.

One of the Slave Drivers grabbed, Tak's arm roughly, "I think Almighty Tallest Red and Purple should hear about this!" Tak shook in fear, then realized, 'Red and Purple? What happened to Spork? Is he dead?' Rain frowned, "Wait... What happened to Spork?" The Slave Driver turned to her, "Oh, He died two days ago. Apparently some creature ate him or something. People say the creature was created by a young soldier named Zim."

'Zim?! Zim killed Spork?!' Tak shuddered, Zim was a serious danger... A killer, 'But Spork's death sounds like an accident... I'm the killer... I killed Bull... On purpose... Did I? I didn't mean to kill him...'

Another Slave Driver frowned, "Hmm... Red and Purple are a bit young... I guess that's not that big of a deal, as long as their good leaders... I feel that Spork was beginning to lose his mind in the end..." Rain nodded in agreement, "So do I... Ever since Miyuki was killed, he seemed to have gone downhill mentally.."

Tak just awkwardly stood there, still being held on the arm by the Slave Driver. The Slave Driver sighed, "I guess that means Red and Purple are really busy with training from the control brains..." He turned on Tak, "You got lucky this time, Defective. But mark my words. One more mishap like this, and I'll kill you right on the spot! Now, get back to work, you murderer!"

He shoved Tak towards the broken down equipment, and she knocked into another janitor. The janitor flinched, turning around. "I- I'm sorry, please! Don't kill me! I beg you!" Tak flinched, attempting to explain to him that it was an accident, but he ran away, fearfully whimpering.

Tak sighed softly, turning and beginning to clean up the mess around her again. There was quite a bit of equipment, but the one thing that seemed to catch her eye, was a broken down Spittle Runner. She stared at it, all it would need was some rewiring, maybe a clean up and- No... How would she manage all that without being noticed?

But she couldn't help but to think about it again. Perhaps there was a place where Tak could hide the broken down ship and repair it herself. It would be the perfect means of escaping! One step closer to fulfilling her promise. She would be feared by everyone else now anyhow. It was like she had stolen Bull's position by killing him.

"You're thinking about escaping, aren't you?" Tak turned and looked to see Rain. She frowned, unsure if she could trust the crippled Medic. "I-I..." Rain shook her head, "It's alright... I won't say anything. You don't deserve to be here. You did nothing wrong... I'll tell you what, I'll move that Spittle Runner somewhere where you can work on it without being noticed."

Tak eyed her, feeling a bit of surprise and hope spark in her chest... "I- I... Thank you, Rain..."

Rain nodded, "Now, You'd best get to work before you're caught." Tak nodded, then got to work quickly, Finally, things were beginning to go her way.

She finished her work, and turned to Rain, who ushered her into a cave, the one clean part of the whole planet. The ship was there, and Tak quickly and eagerly got to work pulling her tools out, then began to wire parts of the run down ship.

Rain smiled, watching her, "By the way, I saw your SIR Unit... She thinks a lot of you... Even though you two just met..." Tak did not look up from her work, but frowned, "Did she leave the dorm?!" Rain shook her head, "No... I went to go and see if you had any of your tools in there that I could bring to you... I felt like I had to help you... We seem to be in a similar position after all..."

Tak continued to work. "What do you mean?" Rain sighed, "I never wanted to be a Medic... I always wanted to be an Invader... But I was involved in a serious training accident. The Medics said my legs would never work the same again... I'd never be a soldier..."

Not knowing what to say, Tak just silently continued to wire the ship, she then spoke after a few minutes of silence. "I'm sorry..." Rain shrugged, "Eh, You can't change the past. At least I still managed..." Tak nodded, "Yeah... Sometimes I'm not even sure if it's worth trying, but... Something happened to me... Someone died, and it was my fault... I promised her that I would become a great soldier for both of us... and that's exactly what I'm going to do..."

Rain nodded, "Don't give that up... You're young, you have great determination and spirit... You don't see many soldiers like that anymore... You have a strong will... Just keep being proud like that and you'll achieve your goal eventually... I know that you will... All that potential is wasted with you being in this place..."

Tak didn't say anything more, but just smiled, continuing to work. "T- Thank You... Rain... This means so much to me..." Rain nodded, "Anytime... You'd better get some rest... You have a long day tomorrow." Tak nodded, then turned to leave and get some sleep.

This had lasted a few months. Every day, she'd work outside cleaning, then come nightfall, she'd work on her ship. Rain would always be there with her, the two talking through all the work, and Tak had been grateful for her company. Mimi had begun joining her at nightfall too.

News had spread around last month that Operation Impending Doom had been a complete failiure. And it was all because of Zim again.. Tak began guessing that Zim truly was a defective, and he truly did have problems. Not long after that, there was talk about Operation Impending Doom 2.. Now Tak was interested... She had decided, she did not want any revenge, as she didn't want to stoop to El's level, but perhaps... She could contact the Almighty Tallest, and see if they'd give her a second chance...

She had finally finished her ship, it had taken about four months of people fearing her, getting in trouble with the Slave Drivers, fighting through illnesses and injuries caused by her work, but it was finally finished. Tak was ready. She was very much ready to leave that place.

As she crept out of her dorm at dusk. She turned to Mimi, "Come on, we need to hurry... I don't want to get caught. I could lose this chance, and I could lose you too... That would hurt... Come on.." Mimi nodded, and slowly followed. As she turned to enter the cave, she turned to see Rain standing at the cave entrance.

Tak stared at her silently, then smiled, "Rain... Thank you... I- I couldn't have gotten this far without your help... I- I'm... I'm going to miss you..." Rain just gently hugged her, "We'll meet again, I promise, Tak. As it turns out, I'm leaving this place tonight too. I'm going to another planet to do some work elsewhere... I'll be seeing you again someday... I promise..."

Tak just pressed her head into Rain's shoulder for a few minutes, then Rain pulled away. "Alright, You'd better get out of here before you get caught... That wouldn't be good for any of us." Tak nodded, "Goodbye Rain... Come on Mimi... We need to get out of here..."

One more time, Rain hugged her, "You have a kind heart, Tak... Don't ever let that go... No matter what anyone else says about it..." Tak dipped her head, "I'll try... Rain... I'll try to..." She finally stepped into her new ship, along with Mimi.

Mimi turned to her with a gentle smile, "Well Mistress? Ready to get out of this hell hole?" Tak nodded, "I'm ready..." Tak powered up the ship, and shot Rain one last glance, she then took off, quickly leaving the filthy planet.

She just started up her communicator... She had to contact the Tallest.