Interesting reactions for the last chapter.
I know some people didn't like it, and I don't blame you! If you thought it was weird reading it, imagine how weird I felt writing it!
Still, I appreciate everyone's honesty!
But, it's not changing the course of the story.
Forward, march!
Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or other relating characters.
Chapter Seven: It's Official
Gaz lay on the examination table in the medical ward with Dib sitting next to her and Tak beside him. She had told him to scram, but he insisted on being here, even after she had given him a gash running down his forearm.
Tenn ran a small pen-like device in circles around Gaz' lower stomach, humming a happy tune.
Gaz wanted to shout at her. How could she be humming happily in front of her? Was she totally oblivious? She had been raped for crying out loud!
Noticing his sister's anger bubbling yet again, Dib spoke up, interrupting Tenn's tune. "So, anything yet?"
"Almost, just a few more seconds." Tenn circled Gaz' stomach a few more times with the pen. "Look here." She pointed to the screen as she emptied the pen's data into the computer.
An image started forming. It was in black and white, just like a sonogram.
"Here." Tenn pointed to a little white dot on the screen. "This is the fertilized egg. Congratulations, Gaz. You're with smeet."
Gaz sat up promptly, kicking Dib in the face on her way up. "Where is that Zim? I'm going to tear his organs out to nourish this smeet of his! I'm going to make him wish he were a girl! I'm going to make him suffer, then I'm going to kill him, then I'm going to bring him back to life so I can kill him again!" It almost seemed like a dark aura was forming around her.
"Uh, Gaz." Dib patted her shoulder. "There's something I need to tell you. Something we all need to tell you." He could already feel the beating he was going to get for this.
So the explanation went, finally revealing the truth to Gaz.
Of course, she had been outraged. At everyone.
Everyone.
Dib had to hold her down so she wouldn't tear out Tenn's antennae.
Once she had calmed down, and agreed not to kill anyone (just yet!), Dib told her he had asked Zim to do it. He told her it was Zim or Red.
That or her life.
No Irken lived for free. Everyone had to contribute something to the Massive. Everyone, no exceptions. Gaz was contributing a smeet. She would get to live for it.
Knowing they did it to save her life helped a little, but she was still outraged. Why had they not told her before she agreed to join the massive? It would have saved her a lot of trouble.
"Do you understand though?" Tenn asked her. "This is very important to the Massive and to your survival."
"Yeah, I get it. Make sure the baby lives and Iive."
"Smeet." Tenn corrected. "It's going to be an Irken child, not a human child."
Dib cracked a smile, recalling the similar conversation he had with Zim about the offspring.
"It's going to take nine months for the smeet to come to full term since you are human. Don't worry though. As Smeetery Director, I'll be right here to help you through anything and teach you how to properly take care of a smeet." Tenn couldn't hide her excitement. The smeet may not have been hers, but it was still going to be special. It's been so long since she'd had a special project, just one of the many factors prompting her to take part in Impeding Doom Two.
Gaz leaned back on the table, sighing.
Great, a smeet.
She was going to be a mother at fourteen. Every teenager's dream. She simmered silently, letting everything settle in.
What's done is done. Besides, it was highly unlikely they would perform an abortion if the smeet would mean so much to them.
Her mind started turning gears.
There were other methods. Maybe she could 'accidentally' fall down a flight of stairs. Maybe not, Dib was probably going to have someone with her at all times. And there were no stairs up here; it was all transportation tubes and teleporters.
She missed being on earth where she could terrify everyone into listening to her. She still had a good amount of power here (as the average height of the Irken was a little under three feet), but Dib still had more. If he told someone to follow her and she told them not to, they would listen to Dib. He was taller.
Miyuki may have been tall thanks to her human-half, but they should seriously reconsider who becomes leader. Purple was an idiot, if anything happened to Red, the entire Irken population would be screwed.
"Gaz?" Tak asked, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. "Would you like to get something to eat?"
"Yeah, whatever." She hadn't had breakfast yet. Might as well simmer in anger on a full stomach.
Pregnancy Stage: One Month
There had been no physical change in Gaz yet. Her stomach remained flat, something she was happy about, and her appetite remained consistent.
Tenn had been happy to see the fetus hit the one month mark. The smeet's chances at survival were going up day by day. After spending a considerable amount of time on earth studying the human embryonic development, she felt confident she could help Gaz through this. Previously, her only knowledge with carrying smeet in the body came from a journal Almighty Tallest Miyuki had kept. She had written in it every day describing her pains, aches, and physical changes, but it couldn't be relied upon entirely.
Irken females carried children in an empty pouch found in the lower part of the squeedly spooch, a part which was dry and barren for most females today. Humans carried babies in the womb, an organ separate from their life sustaining brain and heart.
Gaz' pregnancy seemed to be a combination of both an Irken pregnancy and a human pregnancy. The smeet was growing in her womb, but the womb had filled with the green goo used to sustain Irken babies. The smeet developed at the same rate as humans, but did not develop all the parts a proper Irken child would. Irken babies were born with fully developed claws and teeth, but human babies developed these claws (which they called nails) and teeth after birth. The smeet's appearance was entirely that of Irken. As with most hybrids, one would never have suspected they carried anything aside from Irken DNA in them.
Gaz herself was getting used to the new predicament. She was used to having someone around her all the time and was finally coming to terms with the fact she was going to have a baby, or smeet, or whatever Tenn said it was.
Naturally, she was still furious at Zim and had been refusing to even give him a passing look, and when she did give him one, it was because she wanted to see where she was aiming her punch or kick.
The irritating alien had been keeping her company, even though she never spoke to him, thinking he could make it up to her.
As if.
Zim had already been sent to the medical ward twice thanks to her.
Still, he followed her around when he wasn't busy with earth, making sure she was comfortable.
Sometimes she felt bad for Zim (something she blamed on the hormonal changed caused by pregnancy). She always saw him hanging out with Dib or a few other Invaders here and there, but he spent a lot time with her. What a waste.
Pregnancy Stage: Three Months
Zim took his food and set it down on the table, taking the seat directly across from Gaz.
She didn't move or make any notion that he had joined her table.
"Off the table! Now!" Gaz glared at the few soldiers who were in the middle of their morning meal. They quickly scattered, not wanting to anger someone taller than them.
Zim watched them run off before turning back to Gaz. He wasn't leaving and Gaz wasn't tall enough to make him. "Feeling upset this morning?"
"Listen Zim." She reached over and grabbed the front of his military uniform, pulling him closer to her. "I'm going to forgive you for what you've done, only because someone is going to have to help me take care of this smeet! Got it?" She wasn't taking care of this thing by herself!
"I understand. You're choosing me as your love pig!" Zim proclaimed loudly, getting the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.
He still thought it was worth it when he was thrown into the giant pot of boiling stew.
Pregnancy Stage: Five Months
"Everything seems to be fine." Tenn said, removing her gloves. "Just make sure you eat a little more, you aren't gaining weight at a fast enough rate. Other than that you're good to go."
"Thanks." Gaz pulled her shirt down over her stomach, which now clearly showed. Finally, she could get out of here. Every time she had wanted to leave the ship, she would need a check-up to make sure the smeet would be okay, it was getting kind of annoying. They were blowing this way out of proportion.
"Alright then, let's go." Dib helped his sister up, not wanting her to have to strain herself. He had promised her he'd take her to Bloaty's Pizza Hog next time he went to earth. Besides, this trip would be good for her.
Tenn told him it would be dangerous to make long trips once the six month mark rolled around, so if he wanted to take her to earth, it had to be now.
Some trouble was springing up again with the resistances, forcing Zim to come along, so this would be a good opportunity for the two of them to spend time together.
Gaz was still prone to violent outbursts around her baby daddy, sorry, smeet daddy, but it never deterred Zim. He was confident he could win Gaz over and make her his companion unit.
They arrived on earth, landing the voot cruiser in one of the many landing pads that had been built around the planet.
As always, Dib helped his sister out. "Alright, I'm going to get this done as fast as I can. I'll join you guys when I'm done."
"Right this way, my dear." Zim held his arm out, intending for Gaz to take it, but she walked right past it, paying him no mind.
Dib took his over coat off and set it to the side. It had to be over ninety degrees now.
He had done all the standard procedures first (Checking the stock, looking over the factories numbers, etc.), now he could finally do some of his own investigating. The Irkens stationed here told him there had been some suspicious shipments coming in. When they had opened the crates they had found drugs, expired medications, and many of the other contraband human goods.
Where had they come from?
The boxes were unlabeled and untraceable, usually coming in with the standard shipment of equipment, food, and parts.
Someone had been messing with or intercepting the mail.
"I'll check with Zim on this alter." Dib told the Irken guard while scrawling his conclusion on the clipboard. "I think this is happening from another planet, not earth. You're dismissed."
The guard saluted Dib and returned to his post.
Great! Now that he was done, he could finally get some pizza and soda for himself.
Dib grabbed his over coat, throwing it over his arm, and left to find his Gaz and Zim.
"Gaz?" Zim asked through a bite of pizza. He was only eating it because it reminded him of his days on earth, struggling to get by as a new Invader. He still thought it was disgusting.
"What?"
"Can I touch your stomach?" It had occurred to Zim that he had never felt his smeet. He had seen other people place their hands on the stomachs of pregnant women to feel the babies kick here on earth. He wanted to know what it felt like.
"It's your smeet." She responded uncaringly.
Zim set his pizza down, wiped his hands free of the grease, and reached over to touch Gaz' stomach. He didn't feel any kicking at first, but after a minute, he did feel movement. The smeet must have been squirming around.
Suddenly, without warning, Gaz vomited. All over Zim's arm.
Zim pulled back right away, wiping the searing sick off of his hand. That was close; he could have had some serious burns. "Are you feeling ill?"
Gaz nodded, putting hand over her mouth. She hated it when she got these sudden bursts of nausea.
"Zim will find your brother, wait here."
"Feeling better?" Dib asked, handing Gaz a glass of some Irken potion that was supposed to help with the nausea.
She downed the glass. "Much. Sorry about ruining your day on earth." Because of her, Dib had to take them home before he had a chance to relax and eat some pizza.
"Don't worry about it. Zim's making it up to me." Dib laughed, finding it strange she had even apologized. It must have been the hormones messing with mind. "We're going to the bar that night and Zim is paying for everything."
"I'll be fine now. You can go with Zim. Tak will be here any minute now."
He wasn't supposed to leave her unattended, but Dib figured he could make an exception now.
"And I'll be like, pow!" Zim clumsily swing his fist in the air.
"You know, you talk like those beach girls when you're drunk." Dib slurred out himself.
"I so do not! You're the one that's totally drunk."
Dib laughed at having his point proven. "I didn't say I wasn't drunk." He took another sip from his cup only to find it empty. "We should probably get going now." No point in hanging around if there wasn't anything left to drink!
The bar drone watched the two Taller members try and walk out. They failed miserably. This always happened when people came in for late night drinks. Shaking his head, he typed in a message on the computer screen in front of him.
Tak laughed at the message she had just received. "Your brother and Zim have gone and wasted themselves. We need to go pick them up."
Gaz sighed and paused her game. "Let's go get the idiots."
"Gaz!" Zim threw his arms around her when she walked into the bar. "I've missed you so…"
"You're drunk, Zim." She pried him off of her. "And you're spilling your drink on my shoes! Tak, you drag my brother. I'll take Zim to his room." She grabbed Zim's collar. "Come on, you retard."
Tak stared at Dib, wondering how she was supposed to pull him all the way to his room. He was way too heavy. She's better call a few drones to help.
"Slow down, Gaz. Dont'cha want to enjoy this?"
"Zim, do you realize how late it is?"
If he did or not, she would never know. He just gave her a stupid smile.
"Here's your room." She took his hand and held it up to the bio-scan monitor. It read his print, opening the door for them to enter. She quickly let his form go on the bed.
"Wait!" Zim whined like a little kid. He grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace on the bed. "Stay with me."
"Zim!" She felt her anger rising. She had stopped her game for this? "Let me go, I want to go back to my room!"
It was too late. Zim was already unconscious, his arms still wrapped around her.
Gaz sighed, looking at Zim. Poor guy, through everything she had done, he still liked her. She had even thrown up on him today; she supposed she could let this go.
Just this once.
I always imagined Dib as a sad drunk, but it wouldn't have been very helpful here.
As I said, ZAGR is very minor, so don't expect juicy details or a whole chapter around it. Sorry.
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