Now then..Lox is property of enigmatia and Kalte is property of The Bubble Ninja at Deviantart. Frequency is somebody I personally own on my own. And Ember is based off of the character Ember that belongs to Zim's Best Friend, who's work can be found here on .
BLOOD SPORT: ROUND 6
Jana vs Kalte vs Black
I knew that when I married Nick I was going to endure insults from many, many sides. But I didn't care, because love is love. And we love Love. I love everything about it. It's often the source of everything that's good in this world. Sympathy, mercy, compassion, kindness, these are all forms of Love. A parent's love for their child, the love that two sweethearts have for each other, the love families share, the love that bonds friends together, the love that links human to fellow human, the adoration of Nature and all things in it, the devotion to God...
LOVE...IS...AWESOMESAUCE.
But...unfortunately, though love does more good than bad in the world, obsessive love is the reason why SHE'S here. I've seen it in her eyes...
They had been talking about Blood Sport. They'd been far, far out in space. They'd not expected IT to suddenly appear on their ship.
"Who...are you?" The goggle-wearing Vortian had whispered in fear at the being that pitilessly grinned at him, claws digging into his head as he was lifted up.
"Heh. Call me..."
Crushing, agonizing pain. A scream that died before it could get out. A horrified expression frozen on the crew member's faces before the entire ship vanished from reality, exploding in a blast of smoke and fire and-
"Where..."
Lard Nar rubbed his eyes as he stood up and looked around the dark abyss, seeing his crew members lying nearby. He was confused...puzzled. What was going on? One moment he was facing this...THING...and then the next-
"...I died." He realized, and suddenly hot, bitter tears sprang to his eyes. He fell to his knees and began to weep. He'd failed. He had only wanted to save his people. But he'd failed them. Failed his crew. Failed his sister.
Oh, May, I'm-
...what...what was that?
There was something there. Something standing behind him, looking down at him. It wore a black cloak.
"Do you know who I am?" He asked quietly, a vague accent in his features that Lard Nar could not quite place.
"No, I don't think I-"
The hood was lowered.
"...yes. I know you, lord." Lard Nar said softly. "...I...I suppose I should recite the "Sh'Ma". He admitted, holding his hands together. "Sh'ma yisro, adon elohay, adon e'ho, hear me now, my Lord, my God, the Lord is One..."
"Lard Nar...it's time for the rest of you to go home." The being said as soothing light began to cover the members of the Resisty one by one.
"...but...I AM home." The Vortian murmured, getting a look at what lay beyond, confused at the being's words.
"Well, actually...you see, it's just not your time." Death insisted, placing a furry, white paw upon Lard Nar's body and pushing back. Lard Nar felt himself gently drifting down...down...
"You and the others will have to wait for a little while...but it should all work out. You simply need faith..."
...
...
...
...Frequency took a long sip of his beer as he turned his head to look over at Nick, who was nervously tapping the tips of his fingers together as he sat at the bar with him. "What's happedy-hap?" He wanted to know.
"May. She's pregnant. And furthermore, they're delivering the baby right now." Nick told him, chewing on his lip as the Experimental American sipped his drink again.
"Ah. Ain't that cute, she's havin' a shorty!" Frequency laughed. "Aw, don't freak out. It'll be good for you. Trust me."
"Well, well."
A voice spoke up. Sly and intelligent with a slight flair to it. The owner was a dark-blue-eyed Irken with a blue outfit and a fairly long body. His outfit didn't look too interesting...but there was something on the front. A red and grey orb...and his PAK. There was a tingling energy coming from it. Nick recognized the Irken and blinked a few times.
"Lox?" He asked.
"Correct!" Lox laughed, bowing deeply. "Magician extraordinaire! And guess what? I'm doing a little favor for the Committee that Nexus is chair of." He told the two as the bartender rolled his eyes behind the counter, wishing that he didn't get quite so many nutjobs here on the space station.
"A favor? What kind?"
"Well, you see, Nexus has volunteered all of you for some psychological research project...MINE." He grinned. "I'm going to listen to all the people on this space station blabber on about feelings and what Blood Sport is like and how it affects your personal lives and BLAH-BLAH-BLAH." Lox remarked, waving his hand in the air in a "Gimme a break" fashion as Jana walked into the bar, sitting nearby.
"Want a drink?" The bartender asked Lox.
"Well, I'd really enjoy a Gin and Tonic with a slice of lemon."
"All I got left is this." The bartender said, holding up a glass and pouring out some high-quality Jagermeister.
"...ah. Fine." Lox took a small sip, then turned to Nick and Frequency. "And since I happen to make my living in analyzing people, I think that you'll be very interesting cases." He told them all.
"Oh really?" Nick folded his arms. "Okay...do me. What can you tell about me?" Nick asked.
Lox looked him up and down. "Well, from your outfit, you're a communications officer. Furthermore, your height and the big silver seal upon your belt signifies a high ranking. I'd wager you're Senior Officer?" Lox asked.
Nick nodded his head. He was impressed.
"You've got a very round head." Lox added. This made Nick frown a bit. "And rather large eyes. Open wide. Rather...soft. You look nervous too, I can see your leg jiggling." He added, pointing at Nick's leg. "And judging from the fact that you have a wedding ring around one of your fingers and I've seen you hanging around with a Vortian whom you've been snogging, I will make an educated guess that she is pregnant and the baby is due very soon? Perhaps set to come out any hour now?"
Nick nodded firmly. "Quite." He told Lox. "You're very, very good." He added.
"Why, thank you." Lox said, bowing deeply. "It's all observation, my friend." He told Nick. "Now...let me look at you." He remarked, rubbing his chin as he examined Frequency, who put the beer down.
"What'll you have?" The bartender asked Jana.
"Vortian Firewhisky. Now." She demanded. The bartender poured her a glass as Lox looked Frequency over.
"...you're very liberal-leaning, I'd imagine." He told Frequency. "I see the peace sign you wear around your neck. Furthermore, it's PINK. And despite the temperature in this room, you dress in a manner revealing you probably wear that sort of outfit constantly. Combined with your accent..."
"Yeah, not bad, dude. Not bad at all!" Frequency admitted.
"I also wager you've lifeguard experience based upon your outfit. And, judging from that outfit AND accent, you surf."
"Right on." Frequency said, raising his fist up in a salute.
"But you're carrying a knife on you. I can smell steel. And since I don't see it in your pockets..."
Lox reached up and ripped the red cap off of Frequency's head, revealing a butterfly knife hidden atop. "This means you're used to hiding weapons. I take it you're an experienced killer. Possibly since childhood. Furthermore, by looking in your wallet..." Lox reached into Frequency's pockets. "I see you're a member of the ASPCA as well as the NRA. You seem to have both a value on animal life and yet belong to a group of "gun nuts". Therefore those allegiances, combined with your sneakiness at hiding weapons, make me assume that you are some sort of assassin."
Frequency took the butterfly knife off his head and twirled it around in a fancy fashion before sheathing it and placing it back atop his head along with the cap. He then snatched the wallet out of Lox's hands and tucked it away. "Yeeeep." He said simply.
"And you." Lox looked Jana over. "You're...an assassin as well. I can see the faint bulge of hidden weaponry in your pockets. Your eyes...slanted. No funny business at all. Your body is tense, ready for a possible fight, you're experienced in killing."
He then dove into her side pocket, pulling out a ticket. "I see a betting stub. I take it from this you are a bit of a gambler. And judging by the high amount you put upon YOURSELF to win, I take it you are also very overconfident. Also, I can see clear disdain on your features every time you look at those two, a disdain that strengthened when I mentioned that the communications officer had gotten that Vortian pregnant. Therefore I judge that you are racist. And from the way you're flushing, I've got it in one, haven't I?" Lox asked with a cocky grin.
THWUDDA-WHACKA!
He was knocked through the air and onto a table as Jana leapt up, spiraling around before slamming her foot into his stomach, making him roll onto his side and vomit profusely as Jana walked off, waving a hand in the air. "Got it in one." She commented calmly.
"Daaaaaaaamn." Nick muttered. "I thought artists were supposed to be SUICIDAL, not HOMICIDAL."
"Damn, that bitch is stupid fly, if I weren't married, I'd wanna pull up to that bumper and smack that monkey." Frequency remarked.
"Okay, surfer boy, WHAT the hell was that?" Nick asked.
Frequency held up a book titled "Ebonics 101: Scoring Chicks In A Single Line".
"...ugh." Nick moaned. "And to think, that fanatic is going to be in Blood Sport's next round...do I REALLY wanna watch her?"
"Just go wait for your babe to get done with her babe. I'll tell ya how the round went down." Frequency promised. Nick nodded eagerly and ran off as Frequency pulled out a small walkie-talkie.
"I'm followin' her. Like I promised. Over." He spoke softly into it.
"Keep an eye on that one." A kindly, feminine voice spoke up from the other end. "I've noticed a pattern about her, and I don't like it."
...
...
...
...Zim sat down in the chair across from Lox as he faced the psychological evaluator. "I don't know WHY I need to do this. Nothing is wrong with Zim!" Zim insisted.
"Why don't you tell me what made you get into Invading?" Lox asked.
"...well, originally, I WASN'T into Invading." Zim told Lox. "I was just interested in what the Empire wanted me to do. When I was seven years old, the only things that I loved were my the Empire...and Erin Nightshade, the Arosean. Now, Erin was...well, she was as lovely as any non-Irken could be. Not as lovely as myself, of course, but still, acceptably lovely." Zim remarked.
"Go on..."
"Well, I went into Invader training because it meant I'd have more chances to see her. I mean, I really didn't care too much about anything else. But then, during...during the first training exercises, I got all caught up, you know? And...well, I fell in love with it! With the excitement and the shooting and explosions and the DOING, you see?" Zim remarked.
"Uh-huuuuh..." Lox took a few notes on his notepad, nodding.
"Well, anyhow, that's why I became an Invader. Because, you know, every day you must, as the HUUUMANS might say..." Zim cleared his throat. "Step up to the table". I've gone one-on-one with Dib constantly. And it's the constant challenge that keeps me going! Heh, you know...it's almost a crime to mess up this beautiful face, but I am Zim...I can handle the pressure." Zim insisted.
"And Ember? Tell me about your girlfriend."
Zim blushed slightly. "...I just..." He spoke quietly. Nervously. "Okay, um.... I can be myself around her... you know? Every little thing we do together just seems better when she's there by my side. This human girl is...she is really something. She...she truly is." He said, smiling at the mental image of her.
...
...
...
...the desert region. Dry, arid, and bad-smelling. A single, solitary cloud hovered overhead as a bird "cawed" in the air.
"I now regret wearing this." Black, the "Exiled" Tallest muttered as he moaned, rubbing his head with his armband communicator. He was BOILING in this heat due to the fact that he was dressed all in black. He decided to take his cape off and, still muttering, wrapped it around his head to keep the sweat out as he walked along the desert past some huge rocks that were scattered around.
Meanwhile, Kalte was also sweltering in the heat. He wore a dark grey outfit that showed off the top of his chest with white shorts, many-laced black boots and antennae that were curled up like a paperclip. He had his whip hidden in his cloaked outfit and was rubbing his forehead, not saying a word as he looked around the desert region from atop an enormous statue of a large stone head of some kind with square-like features and a very long and large nose. He looked it over.
"Ugly." He decided.
The eyes opened up, revealing glowing red orbs. He blinked a few times, then shrugged and tossed two knives into them.
BEEEEEEOOOOOO. The robotic/stone thing shut down and let out a splutter as Kalte rolled his eyes and headed off in the direction of a form far off in the distance who was trying to catch her breath.
And that was, in fact, Jana.
"Why? WHY did I wear black to this stupid..." She muttered. "Of all the times to be in this outfit, this is just...ugh, the things I do for my Lord Zim." She decided, standing back up as she walked away from the tree. She heard a cry in the air and looked up to see a bird of some kind land on the tree. It had a dark grey-colored body with a fairly sharp beak, but, most noticeably of all, it had a large vest-like chest of pure white plumage on the front of it's body.
"...hmm." She continued walking.
"Hmm." The bird repeated.
"...huh?" She turned around, noticing the bird had spoken.
"Huh!"
"...is that...a parrot of some kind?" She wondered.
"Is that... a parrot of some kind!" The bird repeated.
"Well, it IS." Jana smirked slightly. "Polly wanna cracker?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"Polly wants your sweet ass." The bird said.
"...what did Polly just say?" Jana asked, still smiling, but now one eye was twitching.
"Uh, "Polly", that's me...wants, that's a "desire", "your sweet ass". That's your badonkadonk. Your heinie. Your bum." The bird said.
"...I'm hallucinating." Jana muttered. "It's the heat." She realized. "I'm hallucinating in the heat."
"Daaaamn, and lookit your LEGS, girl! They go on for MIIIILES." The raven spoke up, sniggering as it held a wing over its beak.
"Why couldn't I get a nice hallucination?" Tallest Black murmured as pink elephants walked around him, tooting their trumpets like horns as they shook their butts at him. "This is just...weird."
"It's about to get weirder." A grey elephant with floppy ears remarked as it flew around in the air, playing an accordion.
Frequency, hiding away behind another strange, stone head sniggered to himself as he watched the Irkens hallucinate. Irkens just couldn't handle a lot of heat. It made them highly susceptible to-
...suggestions...ideas...
Idea. A good one. Frequency carefully crept around the statue, heading for a nearby hill, sliding down it and pulling out a sniper rifle, inserting a special cartridge into the round...tranquilizers. He then grinned darkly and readied himself as he peeked over the hill, looking around to make sure nobody else could see him before zeroing in on the far-off Black.
"Ready...aim...oh, wait." He noticed somebody was approaching the Tallest...it was none other than Jana herself. "This could work." He realized.
"...are you another hallucination?" Jana and Black asked at the same time. With that, their eyes widened and they then got into battle positions.
"Ooh, at last. A worthy challenge. I was hoping to test it on somebody...TALLER...but you'll do." Black remarked, licking his lips in a sinister fashion.
"I can tell you don't like the Tallest." Jana whispered. "Well, I don't either. You survive this, maybe I can make use of you."
"I was thinking the same thing. We shall see who will "survive this"." He told Jana calmly before rushing forward.
Meanwhile, Kalte saw the two clashing in the desert, their forms tumbling on the sand as he readied his swords, eyes narrowing. The targets were in sight. Time to put an end to this, nice and quickly.
...
...
...
..."Okay, tell me about yourself, Ms. Ember." Lox asked the human girl politely.
"Well...when I was a little girl, my dad used to have what my mom liked to call "Episodes." Heh. That's a flattering term for...well, for him getting drunk and then beating the shit out of me. That's how I turned to the Bible, actually. It wasn't that I picked it up and found it to be a darn good read, it was because I needed a reason to live so I could endure being knocked from room to room. My BROTHER wasn't any help. Too much like my deadbeat dad." Ember muttered, shaking her head.
"And so...what happened after that?"
"Well, I began reading about the importance of reaching out. I read the line "The Lord is My Shepherd" and I got it. I was a lost sheep. And I realized that I should look for other lost sheep. And there Zim was at the dance, standing there all alone, and I looked at his eyes. In them, I... I saw somebody who wasn't sure where he belonged and didn't know how to get where he wanted to go. And I took his hand. And you know...we don't talk too often. Mostly he talks, I listen, but..."
"But?"
"...I feel really safe, yet totally independent at the same time when I'm with him. I can say whatever's on my mind and even if he doesn't like it...even if he doesn't understand it... he respects it. He seems to like me for who I am." Ember said happily.
...
...
...
... With a bound, Jana leapt up through the air, landing on Black's stomach, one fist raised up as she slammed it into his cheek a few times before he knocked her away with a harsh punch, rolling away on the sand as he jumped back up. He then extended his PAK leg and she barely avoided being skewered in the arm...only to get skewered in the shoulder as he sneered.
"Ooh, does that hurt? Well let me know if there's anything I can do to make things more...PAINFUL!" he laughed, twisting it and making her scream. But she wasn't out of it yet. She grabbed ahold of the PAK leg and swung her body, making him go flying away through the air to hit a nearby statue head, making it fall over. She then grabbed ahold of a knife by her boot and flung it, hitting him in the cheek and he gasped, holding his wound as she stood up, twirling a few knives.
"Not bad, I admit." She told him as he got up, getting back into his fighting pose. "But not good enough.
"Presumptuous brat. I've been fighting since before you could spell the word." Black told her coldly.
"Move out of the WAY." Frequency muttered, trying to aim for Jana.
It was then that something flew through the air and a large whip wrapped around Jana. She had time to gasp in surprise as she was tossed to the side and a knife flew through the air, striking Black on the arm, making him gasp in pain. He reeled back, snarling angrily at the sight of Kalte, who twirled a sword and faced Black down.
"First you. Then her." He said, motioning towards Jana as he pressed a button on his whip. Instantly a surge of electrical energy surged through her body and she screamed in pain, reeling on the ground and moaning horribly as Frequency quickly put the rifle back around his shoulder, slinking off to move around the hill he'd been hiding behind. He watched as Kalte swung the sword at Black, forcing the Tallest back further and further along the desert as Black used his PAK legs to try and block the assault.
Once they were far away enough, Frequency knelt by the unconscious Jana and picked her up, cradling her gently in his arms and heading off behind a large rock face, resting her head against the wall.
"Jana?" He whispered, placing his paw on her head and speaking softly to her. "C'mon, babe...tell me...tell me why you're in Blood Sport. Spill the beans, okay?"
"It's...for Zim. It's all for Zim. He's best...Invader...understands...everything...I've watched his progress for so long...he'll be the one to make us great...make...all the...make all the others pay...Red...Purple...will pay for...exiling him...I'll...I'll kill all the Tallest..." Jana murmured out in a hypnotized tone.
Brainwaves...they were so easy for him to manipulate due to his wave-riding ability. He grinned and patted her on the cheek. "You rest easy." He told her. "I'm gonna go blow away the guy who did this to you." He told her semi-conscious form as he stood up, removed the tranquilizer round and replacing it with a new cartridge...Dum-Dums.
"What happened to "I've been fighting since before you could spell the word"?" Kalte mused, sizing Black up as the exiled Tallest gave him a nervous growl. Clearly this assassin was stronger than he'd anticipated. Kalte twirled around and delivered a harsh kick to the Tallest's face, making him go flying backwards.
Black re-righted himself and held up his claws as they glowed brightly. "You've got skill and style, but unlike you, I've gained Mastery over Space and Time! I can make life itself implode with a touch...and that shall be your fate!" He laughed, rushing forward. "Just like that stupid-"
A kick to his arm, sudden and swift, made him lose balance, and Kalte's fist slammed hard into his cheek. He gasped in pain as a tooth went flying out, and staggered back.
Things looked grim. Black was not a match for Kalte...he was too overconfident. But as Kalte finally pinned Black against a rock wall, his PAK legs holding Black's PAK legs away as he raised the sword up to deliver the final blow...
Frequency's surfer-boy accent roared out with gleeful rage.
"I'm gonna blow you into so many pieces they won't be able to pick you up with TWEEZERS!"
Kalte turned, eyes widening as Frequency fired off a round at him. Black and Kalte barely dodged in time as the round struck the rock wall Black had been pinned to, making it not only crack down the middle, but causing a small explosion to send shards flying through the air as Frequency re-aimed at Kalte, a camera drone hovering overhead.
"Well THIS is what I call unusual...but I LIKE it!" Nexus remarked, nodding his head.
...
...
...
... "Okay, so, what's your biggest problem with your race?" Lox asked, placing his hands together as he looked this new person over. The human sighed and brushed his hair back.
"...I really...it's just..." He bit his lip. "I tried. I really, really tried not to hate my whole species. But there were days when it just...the things we do get me so MAD! So often we forget the dangerous consequences of our actions, we don't bother to think about how wars or pollution or disregard for morality can endanger us. So many of us think that it's all alright if it feels good, in fact, an entire GENERATION was built up on that! GOD!" He threw his hands up in the air. "But..."
"But what?"
"...but I love them. It's not our fault. People are good. They're stupid. Really stupid sometimes. But they're good. I remember thinking back...I remember this Parent/Teacher thing, everybody crowded around this women to help her after a poking incident. Or another time when people cheered and clapped at the idea of a machine that would ensure people would have energy all over the world no matter how poor they were. And...and I think of Zim."
"Zim?"
"It's because Zim was so weird and strange and different. I KNEW he was an alien yet all the other kids were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt just because he was new and he looked weird. They always thought of him as strange, but they pitied him more than hated him the way they hated me. They PITIED the person that wanted to get them all enslaved or blown up, and..." He sighed and smiled a little. "That actually makes me happy. It makes me happy that they'd want to believe the best in him because they felt sorry for him."
"Really?" Lox asked, looking amused. "That's interesting..."
...
...
...
..."Hold still and lemme turn ya into a wall decoration!" Frequency bellowed out as he fired away at Kalte, who jumped through the air, dodging the shots as Black hid himself away, pulling out a small bottle of healing potion. He held it up to his lips and downed it in a single gulp as Kalte suddenly leapt through the air, spiraling around and striking the Bounty Hunting surfer's gun away...
THWACK.
A harsh kick knocked Kalte back as Frequency rushed forward, eyes glittering as Jana peeked over the top of the hill. She gasped at the sight she saw as Black looked at the scene with her, eyes widening as the ripping and tearing of flesh rung in their lack of ears. Kalte remained silent to the end as a harsh "SQUA-GLUKKK" noise tore through the air and a slurping noise lasted for several minutes...
Then it was done.
Frequency now stood over Kalte, blood oozing down from his sharp teeth as his slightly-hunched back turned, allowing him to face them. Blood dribbled down his chin and onto the still chest of the Irken below as Frequency's yellow eyes gazed at them intently, breathing in deep, ragged breaths as he licked his lips free of blood, then stood up as the precious life from Kalte's neck drained out.
"Sorry ya had to see me like that." He muttered as Black and Jana looked at each other, the camera drone having captured all of the horrid violence. "I don't like gettin' so nasty 'n stuff. It's major uncool."
"Innnnnteresting." Nexus thought out loud as the center gem on his body glowed brightly. "Quite the nasty little animal you are, deep down!" He laughed, patting the gem. Another soul added...
"Well..." Frequency shrugged. "Now, what about you two?" He asked. "You gonna fight each other now?"
Black and Jana looked at each other, nodded...
BLAM! Two PAK legs sent Frequency flying through the air over the sand dunes with a "WAA-HOO-HOO-HOO". The two then turned to the camera drone. "We're done here." Jana said, taking out a knife.
SZZZAT! She stuck it in the drone, making it fall to the sand with a THWUMP, smoke rising from it. Smirking, she turned to Black.
"Now...let's deal. You hate the Tallest. I hate the Tallest. What do you say...we work out a compromise?"
"What would you like to do?" Black asked, looking interested.
"Well, you see...as Tallest, I know you can allow certain rules in this competition to be bent to your whim. I'd like to deal with a few...off-planet threats. Like...OTHER Tallest who might cause trouble."
Black's grin was the work of demons. "Well, my dear...you've got yourself a deal." He whispered, taking her hand and shaking it eagerly. "Now...what shall we talk about?" He added with a sly grin.
...
...
...
... "So...you're the last one." Lox said, placing his fingers together as he raised an invisible eyebrow. "And also the most interesting case, I imagine! Now then...tell me. What is it that drove you to create Blood Sport?"
Nexus leaned back in the enormous, plushy chair that so many others had been sitting in before. He took a deep breath as Lox frowned slightly at the helmet he wore. "Why don't you take that off? There are no secrets here."
"...you SURE you wanna see what I look like underneath?" Nexus inquired, grinning like a shark.
Somehow this got Lox to gulp. A chill ran through his lanky body. "...on second thought...whatever makes you comfortable, sir. Now, again...why did you create Blood Sport?"
"...well, I guess it all started as a way to bring artists and writers together who really could appreciate a violent but GRIPPING story that would have elements of tragedy, drama, some black comedy-oh." He blinked. "Sorry, I almost broke the Fourth Wall, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you almost did. Try again." Renee yelled out from down the hall.
"How does she KNOW? Ugh." Nexus sighed. "Well, I wasn't good as a...solider. I wasn't strong. I wasn't skilled in shooting. But I was too damn tall for them to ignore. SO I became assistant to the Tallest of Education...and eventually an adviser. And I LOVED it." He smiled wistfully. "I could spend so much time just...being alone and looking out at the planet. Have you ever seen it at night?" He asked Lox. "Just...looked out over the tallest buildings and see it all lit up? It was just...it was beautiful." He said softly.
"Well, thanks to my advice, I kept the quadrant of irken space in complete order. Unforutnately this meant that some of our allies, like the Vortians, got pissed off with my kind of harsh tactics. They rebelled, I misplaed a speech due to me panicking, and then I got shipped to the frontlines and met Red and Purple. And at first...we hit it off. I mean, I REALLY liked them. And they really liked me too, but..." His smile became a slight, disturbed frown.
"...but what?" Lox asked calmly.
"They hired me to handle the paperwork of the Irken Empire and to allow them to spend more time being lazy and goofing off. In fact, that may have been their ONLY brilliant idea, having me file all their taxes and do the expense reports. I was good, you know." He said with a hint of pride. "Unfortunately they started getting...they let power "get" to them. They insisted on bringing planets in by force. And when we did THAT, we pissed the inhabitants off. We cut corners. More defectives began to be produced and the crime rate grew to SHOCKING heights. And that's....when it hit me."
Nexus grinned broadly and leaned forward, claws curling slightly. "I approached Red and Purple with the idea for a "game show"...a Game Show I called "Blood Sports". The worst of the worst of the worst would be stuck on a planet in a bloody competition! Let the lions fight the lions, I said. Let all the psychos and monsters and criminals kill themselves off and toss in a few politicians and war heroes that we don't like into the mix to make things MORE interesting. And that's how it all got started." He explained. "I like to think of myself as doing a service to Irk. I'm not only entertaining the masses, I've done more to bring Order to the Empire and Crime to it's knees than Red and Purple ever had the entire time they've been TALLEST!" He roared with delight.
Lox was taking a lot of notes, scribbling furiously. Nexus's ego was clearly as big as the helmet on his head. Delusions of grandeur, possible paranoia...god complex, maybe? But he didn't DARE say it.
"And that stupid communications officer's naïve. He thinks the whole thing is just an exercise in cruelty. He has no idea the good potential that it can bring. He has no idea that all of us have this...this desire to just take a gun to some evil creep's head and pull the trigger." He told Lox. "If YOU had the power to destroy the life of one that's caused the suffering of hundreds, wouldn't you take it?" He asked Lox.
Lox nervously waved his hand in the air. "I'M asking the questions here." He said.
But he was not honestly sure if he could have said "No" to Nexus.
...
...
...
...
Nick waited outside the teleportation pods for Black, Frequency and Jana to come back. Frequency muttered, holding his sore head as he exited first, then Black, then Jana. She noticed Nick was standing nearby and rubbed her chin. "Well...is there a reason you're looking at me like that, human?" She asked, saying "human" the way Mel Gibson might say the word "Jew".
""Do you wanna know why I wanted that to be you looking back at me from that commissioning award?" Nick asked her quietly.
Jana blinked a few times.
"Why I'd been happy to find out who you used to be?" The communications officer went on, lowering his mask to look directly at Jana's green eyes with his own. "Because it would have meant you were somebody who had all these big dreams and ambitions, somebody who wanted to inspire others to be incredible and who found joy in making pictures of beauty, somebody who had creativity in her heart and wanted to use it to leave behind a legacy of inspiration, not one of bloodshed. And even though things didn't turn out the way you'd hoped, at least it would explain why you are the way you are and...and make you HUMAN, forgive the term. But instead, you're nothin' but a big JERK who just likes being nasty for no reason." He said sadly, shaking his head.
"Are you...feeling...SORRY for me?" Jana asked. "Save your pity for the weak. Creativity and spirit aren't going to get you anywhere, just like your compassionate attitude. You need to look at it logically." She told Nick, poking him in the chest. "You need to be wise up the way I have. Get this through your head: The Tallest are stupid, your race is inferior, and there's no room for KINDNESS or DREAMS in Irken society!"
Nick was quiet for a while. Then he gently brushed Jana's hand away and sighed.
"Jana...if you honestly cannot see past my humanity...if you can so easily ignore my desire to try and be kind to you...if you're so eager to ignore the heart you once had, then I'd rather be a happy, dream-following inferior dunce than a wise, rational woman such as yourself." He spoke mournfully.
And with that, he walked off, leaving Jana alone...and stupefied. He lowered his head as he turned the hallway to go find his wife. The baby was still not yet delivered, but maybe by the time he found her again...he needed something to cheer him-
He bumped into someone. "OOF!" he rubbed his head and reopened his eyes, seeing a very, very familiar...and very, very BIG head. A head belonging to a young man with scythe-like black hair and glasses.
"Dib." Nick whispered, a smile spreading across his face as Dib, standing by a dark purple-eyed female Irken with a caped outfit to match smiled back at him.
"Hey." Dib said cheerfully.
"Hello, Nick." Tak said with a slight nod of her head.
...
...
...
...She was a rather beautiful female Irken. Rather large eyelashes...a green/blue, aka cyan colored Tallest's body. Curled up antennae and vivid life filling hose cyan eyes. Lady Miyuki stood by a SIR unit which had an oddly-rounded body. There were absolutely no edges on it at all, and it's eyes were big and oddly deep. It held up a glass of soda for her to drink as she looked over some recordings that Frequency had sent to her.
"She seems to be very, VERY interested in Zim." Lady Miyuki said. She had once been a Tallest of the Irken Empire, but was now hiding out in secrecy. Sitting in a chair, watching her from Foodcourtia via vid-screen was a Tallest with rather small but frighteningly powerful eyes like yellow beetles with a body to match the eyes. He looked rather obsessive...well, hey, the eyes were the gateway to the soul, and Spork WAS obsessive in many ways. Right now, it was over his Snacky Cakes.
"STOP STARIN' AT MY SNACKY CAKES!" he told a child nearby who kept pointing at him and his snacky cakes. That horrible child! "And I can't imagine why'd anybody would be interested in ZIM. He's just..." He shuddered. "He brings ruin to everyone and everything! It's like he's jinxed! It would be one thing if he was intelligent enough to USE his remarkable talent for screwing people over, but he's so criminally oblivious!"
"YOU were pretty criminally oblivious too, Sporky!" Miyuki laughed. "You didn't even know what pregnancy was for more than 90 years, remember?"
Spork blushed as he put a snacky cake into his mouth and chewed. "Mmmba-mmrgl."
"Anyhow, we definitely should be wary of her. There's a glint in her eye I recognize. She's got something terrible planned."
"Well WE can't do anything, can we? We need to stay hidden. And I'm not a part of Irk anymore. They can run the Empire into the ground for all I care. I'm retired. Out of it." He insisted.
"I'll bet your daughter could change your mind." Miyuki giggled.
"Ooh, don't you DARE-" Spork began. But Felix began fiddling with the machine.
"Ooh, you're losin-KRRRRK! We can't-KRRRRKZ! Breaking...breaking up!" He laughed, finally pulling the plug as he and Miyuki giggled together...
Unaware of a single ship that was approaching the space station they were hiding on. Jana held up a small picture of Miyuki and Zim kissing at a New Year's Party, a devilish smile spreading over her features.
...
...
...
... "Hello? Operator?"
"Yes? How may I help you?"
"Listen, I need to make a call directly to the Irken Colony on Sirius Minor, STAT. It's important."
"May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm Chief Scientist Trik, of the Research and Development in Irk's Weapons Program. Now PLEASE, I need to talk to my wife."
"Oh, Trik? THE Trik? Sir, I've...got some bad news, your wife's in the hospital. There's...been some complications of the heart cancer she was checked in for, we don't know when she'll be out..."
"But she's...six months with child..." Trik stuttered out, gripping the phone.
"They're doing the best they can, sir, I promise you..."
