CHAPTER ELEVEN
Nick and May stood in the center of a gazebo, with flowers strewn over the top in long garlands. There were Vortians standing all around, watching the scene unfold as a priest stood in front of the two. Nick rested his gloved claws on May's cheek, and she rested her hand on his as they nervously blushed. It was an important day for them.
"Barutashem elokinmech, holamshekol barahlicvec…" The priest read, his flowing, dark blue robes quivering in the wind that blew as clouds puffed by gently overhead. "Barytashem elokinmech holamtozer haddam…"
At last the words ended and the priest handed them both a bottle of some strange liquor. They downed the small bottle and then tossed it to the floor of the white gazebo, breaking them into little pieces, then kissing deeply. The crowd cheered happily…
They were married.
"So, how did you like the ceremony?" May asked Nick as they headed down the pathway of the park back to her home.
"I thought it was WEIRD." Nick admitted. "And the vategel burnt my throat like somebody shot a hot coal down it…" He then lowered the veil over his mouth and smiled. "But I love you." He said, and that was reason enough to endure a thousand burns of the throat.
He kissed her long and deep then, and they were happy.
…
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…
…it had been many years. Red and Purple were now Tallest. Spork had been eaten by the same Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob that had eaten Miyuki, and Nick was a communications officer on board the Massive.
But at the moment, he had other worries on his mind. "Aw, that's great! Kiss the kids for me, May." He said, smiling as he turned off the communications chip on the side of his head momentarily, hanging up the call. He then headed over to a warehouse and pressed an "Open" button. "Okay, back to work." He announced.
The warehouse door opened and Nick held up a clipboard. "Frontline Battle Mechs!" he announced. Red and Purple had asked him, since they were short-staffed, to take inventory of Warehouses 1-3. "Numbers one…two…three…fo-what the?" He blinked, then called out. "OY! Has anyone seen FRONTLINE BATTLE MECH #4?" He yelled out. "I'm supposed to bring it AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"
He gasped in horror then scuttled away on the ground for dear life JUST as "Frontline Battle Mech #4 came CLOMPING across the runway, past the Massive and the warehouses.
Dozens of ships were being blown to smithereens by the battle mech. People were scattering like flies around the thing. All of Irk was in fear as a madly-cackling Invader Zim sat in the cockpit…along with some operators…of the Frontline Battle Mech #4.
"Sir, we should stop!" The first operator spoke up.
"NO!" Zim snapped.
"But sir, we're still on our own planet!" Another operator begged.
Zim turned angrily on him. "Twist those knobs, twist those knobs! You!" He shouted, pointing with a clawed digit. "Pull some levers! PULL SOME LEVERS!" He chanted.
Meanwhile, the Tallest watched the whole ordeal unfold from a building's window. The carnage continued as people's screams echoed alongside of Zim's laughter.
"…I'm gonna remember this." Red said.
"Yeah, me too." Purple agreed.
Meanwhile…
"Okay, is the ship all ready?" Darth inquired.
The little form before him was a child with a very smooth body. He had no edges on his form, and large, cute eyes. His fingers and toes were like tiny sausages, his nose was like a dumpling and his hairy was very curly. He looked a lot like a cartoon character.
"It's all set, Uncle Darth!" Felix said. "Ha-HAP!" he saluted with his nubby hands. "The BINED is installed and I even painted the ship's interior bright blue like Miyuki's eyes were!"
"Ooh, I'm pleased." Darth announced. "At last, with the BINED, I will be able to see, if only through the ship's cameras." He grinned happily. "I'm proud of you, Felix. I was right to save you from that fire on Modius. You've been a good "nephew", even if you're not related to me by blood."
Felix squeaked happily and headed into the ship…
It was then that the "THUDDA-THUDDA-THUDDA" sound of Frontline Battle Mech #4 alerted Darth's attention, making his eyes widen. He turned his head and gasped in horror. "Oh NO-"
CRAAAASH!
It crashed right into his ship and a loud "OWWWW" could be heard from the wreckage as Zim cackled and continued to careen across the surface of Irk.
"…OKAY, NOW I'M MAD!" Darth howled.
"It's okay…I don't need all these internal organs anyhow…" Felix moaned out, raising up a finger.
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…Nick tapped the communications chip on the side of his head after patching the Tallest's call through to Sizz-Lorr of Foodcourtia, letting him know that a delivery had to be made. He leaned back in his chair as he looked around the Massive's main deck.
Everyone ELSE was at a "No More Zim" party. Zim had been sent to Foodcourtia and everyone was getting ready for a party while NICK was expected to make sure the snacks arrived on time at Irk. Nick sighed deeply and stood up in the chair. He wanted to call May back, but he wasn't getting good reception to Vort from the inside of the Massive and he had to stay inside the ship.
"There's got to be SOMEWHERE in this ship that I can make a call. Somewhere I can say "Can you hear me now?...Good!"." He thought out loud. He blinked then. "Where did I hear that…Run? No, not that…Sprint, yeah, a Sprint commercial…wait, what does Sprint make?"
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'll just search all through the ship until I find a place! How long can it take?"
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…
… "Now…I know…why they call it…the Massive." Nick moaned out, holding his head and staggering around the halls of the ship. He'd been walking around for an HOUR and hadn't found a single place that had good reception…and he had a sinking feeling he was lost. He was CERTAIN he'd passed that same soda machine before.
He fell to his knees, groaning. "Soooo tiiiiired…" He mumbled. "Maybe a soda would help…"
He approached the soda machine and was about to get a nice orange soda when he noticed something…odd.
A crack…faint, but there, and behind the machine.
Carefully, Nick moved the soda machine to the side and saw that the crack was an outline for a hidden doorway. He opened it up and gasped at the sight…
It was an ancient-looking room with strange technology that he'd seen only once before…back at the lab at Research Station Nine on Vort. Going up to a small, circular-shaped gold thing, he looked down at a notepad.
"Scientist's Log 68723…gateway technology project a failure. The Tallest deem it only to be useful for powering soda machines, not in peering into other realms of existence…"
Nick noticed there were wires connected to the gold thing running into the walls, with one of them going into the soda machine outside. Curious, he reached out and touched the thing…
And it sparked with a white flame, opening up and showing…
A planet…none other than Irk. Nick was amazed. So amazed that without thinking he reached out and to those looking at the planet from IT'S point of view, it appeared as if a giant, gloved claw reached out from a swirling misty portal that had been ripped open in time and space. It glowed and touched the planet…
Nick felt a SPARK jump through him and he jumped back. He felt nervous…like he'd done something wrong.
And yet…he wanted to try it again. He could see the thing swirling, a new image appearing. It looked…pretty! And familiar too.
He reached out and-
TWHOOOOMP!
Suddenly the ground around him was shaking over a dark sky as people ran around, screaming as a pillar of blue, burning light shot up into the heavens. A howling, screaming siren could be heard, but even that didn't quiet the sobbing wails of those around him…hundreds upon hundreds of Irkens all trying to run.
"What's going on?!" He asked of one Irken who looked down at him, red eyes narrowing. He was rather big and had a nasty glare about him…
"The planet is going to BLOW!" He snapped. "Get out of my way!" He shoved Nick down and Nick groaned, rubbing his head.
It was then that it sank in. The planet…was going…to blow up.
IRK was blowing up!
It was like that movie he'd seen. Titan AE…what had the AE stood for? Something…something…After something…after…what on IRK had it stood-
Earth, that was it! Earth!
Holy Cow, he had to get OUT of there! He looked around, desperate. A horrid feeling of fear was rooting to the ground. He could see people carrying little smeets, fresh from the factories, towards ships in a desperate attempt to save the little one's lives. He felt sickened…what kind of monster would blow up a planet and allow so many innocents to die? And there were so many smeeting factories on Irk…
This was a genocidal action…this was a holocaust…and he was right in the middle of it. He sank to his knees, sobbing…
And he found himself right outside of the strange, golden thing, the tears still brimming in his eyes. He looked up just in time to see the entire planet break off into horrid chunks with an enormous rippling explosion. Pieces went flying here and there and Nick realized that somebody was SCREAMING and it was none other than HIM-
He couldn't take anymore! He decided to get out of the room and quickly moved the soda machine back to cover the thing up completely.
What Nick didn't know was that the other planet Irk, the one he'd seen before actually entering the gate, was unharmed of any sort of action…and even better off. It swirled along, it's first living beings sleeping at the moment…unaware that something had been placed within them…a tiny shred of True Power that would, one day, manifest itself...
And thus in that other reality did the Irken race become blessed by a human soul…blessed to become new Wonders of the Universe…
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…Nick returned back to his station, shaking all over. It wasn't every day that you saw your other homeworld blown up into itty bitty chunks. He needed something to get his mind off of that horror…
He thought of May. And her son, Bo…Bo had talent…art talent. Nick grinned a little, happy tears coming to his eyes as he thought of Bo's hands moving across the paper, creating beautiful blends of colors. Didn't Bo have a birthday coming up?
He should get him something good. VERY good.
Wait! The Tallest always seemed to know where the best sorts of party stuff could be bought. Perhaps it was somewhere in their private files. It wouldn't hurt just to PEEK…
Nick quickly typed away at the computer console, easily hacking in. But as he peered into the files, he saw something that shocked him…journal entries…
Detailing the plans to take over more planets…Operation Impending Doom TWO…
Vort was on the list…and the plan was approved by Tallest Red and Purple.
NO.
It couldn't be. It COULDN'T…hadn't they given up on trying to take Vort in Impending Doom One after Zim had…?
Not Vort.
But it was. They were going to take it over.
He had to DO something. He had to WARN them.
He shut down the computer and found himself tearing out of the main deck, out of the Massive and out onto the planet's surface. He ran and ran until he reached a place he felt he could call her safely and his gloved claws shook like mad as he pressed the communication's chip on the side of his head…
Sadly, Nick was unaware that he'd been CAUGHT by the ship's security systems. Now he was marked. Now they would know that he knew about Impending Doom Two.
And thus, the next day, Nick was tossed into the prison hold of the Massive…and he was told he would be judged for the charge of treason by the Tallest in a few hours.
"Why don't you people think for yourselves?" Nick muttered.
"The Tallest are the voice of the people." The guard remarked as he looked down at him. He turned away and left Nick in his cell as Nick folded his arms, stewing.
"Yeah, the voice of the people. Cuz they have all the MICROPHONES!" He yelled back. "Var Na Tishanti! KISGAREEEEE!" He swore. "YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE! I'LL GET OUT! I' SWEAR TO GOD ALMIGHTY I'LL GET OUT!"
A rifle butt to the face shut him up.
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