A/N

This is probably the most intense chapter ever. Warning, there is a lot of blood. People wanted a bloody fight scene so that Zim could get revenge, so here it is! I was listening to Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin towards the end of the chapter (I don't want to give away too much, but I'll just say it was whenever Zim 'changes') and it made it ten times better! Just a suggestion ;) Enjoy and Review.

I do not own Invader Zim or Diary of Jane

"Gaz!" Zim cried, rushing to her side.

"I-I don't understand…"

Zim cradled her in his arms. She struggled to breathe, shaking her head.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here," he said, stroking her softly. "I'm here…"

She remained still, afraid to look at him.

"Gaz?"

"Please… I don't want to be hurt again," she whispered, "if it isn't really you."

He kissed her, the tears burning as they rolled down his face. "It's me," he pulled back. "You've got to believe that. I swear it's me." He rose, standing guard in front of her and glaring at the other Irken. "And I won't let him near you ever again!"

"So, the mighty lover does live? Hmph. How tragic it will be when she has to witness your death twice!" His laugh caused Gaz to cringe. Spider legs crawled from each of their PAKs, both Zim and the look-alike. They collided and the room was filled with the sound of anguished screams, clanking metal, and ripping flesh. Zim jerked the legs out from beneath the Irken, causing him to fall. He pounced atop him and began striking him across the jaw, the nose, his neck. Anywhere he could land a blow, he powered each attack with the fury and rage he felt each time he thought of the pain Gaz had experienced.

"And it was all because of you!" Zim yelled.

He threw him across the room. The Irken staggered back, blood running down his temples. He tore an axe from the wall, laughing as he read the emergency warning.

"Only use in case of fire? Let's put it to better use!"

With teeth smothered in blood, he sliced the air with the blade. Each blow barely missed Zim.

"Suffer," he grinned, crimson sputtering from his mouth.

The ax scraped Zim's side, producing a heart-stopping cry that echoed throughout the room. His hands clung to his ribs and withdrew to find the blood seeping through. He walked parallel to the Irken, observing his movement and planning his evasion.

"Everything we worked for, each conflict Gaz and I ever conquered; you will not take that away from us!"

"Your efforts will die just as you will," he growled. "I just wonder how your precious little Gaz will handle your death. She couldn't make it through the last time and that was when you were still alive. How will she manage when she witnesses your true death?"

He hopped onto the ceiling, eyes peering at Gaz. Crawling across, he cackled as he dropped down, grabbed her, and placed the ax at her throat. Zim made way towards the pair, but the other Irken ceased his rescue.

"Don't move. You wouldn't want anything to happen to her, would you?"

"Forget about me, Zim!" Gaz hollered. "Just finish him off!"

"Eh, eh, eh," he mocked, "we both know you can't do that."

Zim sighed, but stepped back and glared hatefully as the Irken stroked Gaz.

"That's better. You see, we can all get along…"

"Where did you come from?" Gaz choked out, struggling in his grip.

"Why, from your father, of course!"

"What?" she questioned in disbelief.

"You see, your father and brother are responsible for my birth. They cloned him!" His finger pointed accusingly at Zim. "I am merely the product of science and humanity's naive nature."

"You're a clone?" Gaz asked. "Are there others?"

"There would have been if they hadn't unleashed your lover's beast."

"Don't you dare blame this on him! That was never Zim. That was you!"

"You think so? I admit, it was me down in the tunnel beneath the school. But I was not the one that you rescued from the laboratory nor was it me when you witnessed the death. No, my dear. It was all him. I suppose you just didn't believe him when he told you this earlier, did you?"

She remained silent.

"Wait a second," he peered at Zim scornfully, "he didn't tell you, did he?"

Gaz looked at Zim desperately, but Zim looked away shamefully.

"Oh!" he chuckled. "You thought that was all me, did you? You wanted to blame the merciless nature you witnessed on the monster your father created? How typical of humans. You cannot even accept that fact that there is a monster within all of us!"

"Enough!" Zim whipped a shard of glass at the Irken. The glass cut into his throat and threw him to the ground. Gaz staggered back, watching as blood trickled down his neck. Zim grasped her shoulders and, pleading, he said, "Gaz, that monster you saw in the beginning, the one that hurt you, that was me. But I promise, I didn't mean to! I didn't want to hurt you! I tried to explain what happened, with the injection and the clone, but I didn't have time. Please, forgive me…"

Instantly, her mind brought forth the nightmare she replayed in her mind over and over; the scene of his death. As he lay there, frantically pleading for forgiveness and drawing in the last of his breath, she was brought back to the present day to find Zim's eyes begging just as they were then.

Her watched beeped, alerting her and she gasped. Suddenly, Zim growled and fell to the floor. His back arched, his claws grew, and his fangs sharpened. He was changing. Tears dripped onto him as she remained by his side. Just as she had expected, her tears were not hurting him because of the injection.

"No matter what," she whispered, grasping his hand, "you were never the monster. They did this to you; they did this to us." She stroked his face. He glared up, eyes fiery and soulless. His growls grew deeper and she found that she was no longer afraid as he rose to towering heights. "Now, it's time to end this." Glaring at the clone, she pulled the fire alarm and water rained down upon him. The Irken cried out, burning in the foreign liquid. Zim snarled, throwing him to the ground and began shredding at his flesh. The clone grasped Zim's fist and stared up at him.

"We are alike. We are nothing more than slaves to these humans," he wheezed, "they will never stop betraying you!"

Zim roared, digging a metallic leg into his torso. The metal pierced all the way through and pinned him to the ground. He cried out, blood trickling from his temple and down his eyes. He looked at Gaz and reached a hand out.

"N-No! This isn't right! You are supposed to be with me. I am the original. I am not a copy! I am not a copy…"

Gaz shook her head, "you are a monster!"

"But I remember… I remember when we first met. I helped you move on from your grief, the loss of your mother. Your brother, he was always after us because he hated me…How could- How…"

It was then that she realized the truth. Since he was a clone, he too had the same memories as Zim. He had the copies of the experiences Zim actually went through, but in his mind, he was the original creator of those memories.

"Your memories are just copies," she finally said, her eyes filled with sorrow. "You never went through them because they cloned you—"

"No! I was the one to go through it. I made those memories!"

"It's never too late to make your own life," Gaz said lowly.

He shook his head. "If I cannot have you, what is the point in living?" His breaths grew shallow as he stared at the ceiling. The water pouring from the sprinklers dripped across his face as he whispered, "Roses are red, Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet…" He gasped, a final stream of blood dripping from his body, and glanced at Gaz, "and so are you…" and with that, he fell to the ground, his eyelids closing forever. She sighed, staring at the ground.

"Good bye," she whispered.

Panting, Zim removed the lifeless body from the metal shard and stepped towards Gaz. He hissed, yet stumbled in confusion He fell to the ground, squirming in pain. Gaz cradled his face between her hands and saw that he still held the same distant look within his eyes. She had to find a cure. There had to be a remedy. She had to— she stopped herself. I will get the vaccine from Dib. Everything will return to normal. But first, I just want to remain with him.

Instead, she kissed him and simply said, "Let's go home."

A/N

I have to admit: that was pretty epic. Especially the part where he recited the poem one last time to her. I have to admit, even though he was a blood-thirsty monster who nearly destroyed their lives, I sort of felt bad for him. -.- I am so weird. Anyways, the next chapter is the last chapter! Chapter 11 will be up soon!