Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or any of its respective characters. Mara and Machi are property of Monlight the Hedgehog.
Anyone interested yet in doing some kind of fan-comic or illustrations for this story? I would be so excited and flattered if they did.
-Juana
Chapter Twelve: How Did You Get Here?
"...Keef...that's your name, right?" Dib had finally figured out who Tak's partner was. Keef laughed out loudly again and answered stupidly,
"Yeah."
"How did you become partners with Tak? How did you get here? This doesn't make sense!" Keef laughed again, even louder ths time, then answered,
"When Tak arrived at our skool, I saw all the attention she was getting from Zim. I got jealous, so one day I followed her home to her giant weenie stand, but I found out she wasn't really human. She beat me up and told me that if I valued my life, I would tell no one of her plan, and she wouldn't kill me. I said 'okay'. Then she heard something above us and ran off to investigate. Minutes later I heard your voice, then a small explosion, then Zim's voice. By that time I was pissed off at how much time you got to spend with him. So when Tak returned, she and I made a pact to join forces. She accepted me since I seemed to hate you as much as everyone else at skool. Now I'm here, ready to kill you for stealing him away from me."
Dib relaxed and said,
"Okay, so let me get this straight-you think I purposely stole Zim from you so I could get his attention? Are you in crazy? I mean, do you honestly–OW!" Keef kicked Dib's leg and hissed,
"He was my only friend, and after only a day of time spent together, he left me for you. I don't know how you did it, but I'm going to learn so that he'll be mine, and only mine!"
"You're..." Dib was going to say 'insane', then decided against it.
"You're...absolutely right, Keef. I'm sorry. If I had known you liked Zim so much, I would have definitely let you spend more time with him without me there to ruin it. I'm sorry." Keef bought it instantly.
"Really? You mean that? I'm so sorry, Dib! Here, let me help you out of those-"
"NO!" Tak forcefully knocked Keef down and dug her heel into his chest. "You IDIOT! He's lying to you. He wants you to let him go free to warn the betrayers, but we need him. He knows more about Zim than we do."
"Tak, please," Dib pleaded, "I'm of no use to you. I just want peace for your people. Power is nothing compared to happiness."
"Shut up, human. Your race will be next on the Armada's to-do list. As for you, Keef-beast, you stay away from this one and don't listen to a thing he says to you. He wants to sabotage us. He'll take Zim away from you forever, not to mention my promotion as an Invader. Is that clear!"
"Y-yes, ma'm..." Keef huddled into a corner and didn't talk to her or Dib. Tak turned her attention back to Dib.
"The Armada is on its way, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, rock-dweller. You will die, Zim will die, and that betrayer, that woman they declare as their 'queen', she will die too. But I want all three of you to die in a public execution, aired on intergalactic monitors all over the universe. I want the rest of life itself to know that there is no messing with my people. Your deaths will be slow, painful and so well-known that no race will ever dare defy the Irken race again."
"Tak...you're crazy." Dib knew it was the wrong thing to say, but he didn't care. It had to be said.
Tak gave Dib a cold, dark look, then suddenly leaned over him and bit his neck, cutting into his flesh and drawing blood. Her claws dug deep into his shoulders, despite his protective jacket. Dib screamed-it was the most painful thing he'd ever felt. Irken teeth seemed so clumsy and misshapen, but the reality was they were razor-sharp and intense.
She drew away and allowed his blood to drip from her mouth down her chin and splatter onto the cold floor, like a wild beast after mutilating its unfortunate prey. She eyed him dangerously, then noticed his scars–his flimsy jacket sleeves had fallen past his elbows. Reaching out, she touched his arm, examined the damaged, then drew one sharp claw down ever so slowly. She did not go deep, but Dib winced in pain. Tak smiled malicious and hissed,
"If you thought that hurt, wait until your execution." Dib glared daggers at her, but said nothing. He knew better than to infuriate the crazy woman any further. Tak seemed satisfied with his silence, because she turned around, grabbed a handful of Keef's hair, pulled him up and hissed into his ear,
"Put your disguise back on. We're going to see what's going on for security. Dib-human, scream all you want. No one will hear you." Keef grabbed his mask, and with that, they disappeared in a blinding flash of white light. Dib sighed and winced in sharp pain. He was bleeding badly, but Tak had seemed to know when enough was enough. He knew he wasn't going to bleed to death.
He decided it was time to calm down and think about his situation. First off, he knew his biggest concern was escaping so he could alert Zim and Miyuki. His second concern was getting through to Keef. Why did that dumb kid think Zim preferred Dib? They had hated each other back! Then again, Dib remembered, Keef wasn't too bright. He was impressionable and desperate. It had been no chore for Tak to recruit him as her partner.
Dib looked up at his wrists and suddenly hated himself for being stupid. All this time, his wrists had been simply hanging over the edge of the cuffs-he could slip out easily! Why hadn't Tak noticed that?
"Of course-Tak didn't chain me up...Keef must've done it." Dib began to speak to himself again. He slipped his wrists out easily and got to his feet. He looked around again and said,
"There has to be a way out of here. I just need to think." He continued to search, but he saw no doors or windows. He walked over to the place where Tak and Keef had vanished. He looked down and noticed the floor had a faint ring of soot surrounding a four foot radius. Dib stepped in the ring and instantly experienced a flash of white light. The light swirled around him; it boomed loud and fast. Dib tried to step out, but found he was unable, like he was trapped in this sphere of light.
Then, above him, a female voice asked calmly,
"State your destination." Dib figured it out.
"The Queen Miyuki's room."
"That destination is not available. State your destination."
"Um...okay. The main hall."
"Confirmed." Dib felt his weight shift as a sudden surge of power lifted him off his feet, then slammed him back to solid ground. He fell over and grabbed his neck with a cry. He didn't see which room he'd landed in, if he had landed in the main hall, but he looked up as he heard feet running towards him.
"Oh, crap..." He jumped to his feet and ran like hell. Behind him, a mask-less Keef ran as fast as he could to keep up with Dib, who was quite fast on his feet. Keef wouldn't have a chance. Dib gave his surroundings a closer look, and was glad he did, because he was able to see Tak swing out of nowhere to grab him. He ducked down, away from her sharp little claws and slid across the room for a few feet, then jumped up again.
"HELP!" he yelled desperately, 'HELP! TRAITORS! HELP!"
Three rooms down, Mara and her search-and-rescue team heard his cries for help. She yelled for her soldiers to move out and surround the perimeter. She ran out in the middle of the perimeter and was very surprised to see a bleeding Dib racing like a bat out of hell in her direction. She was even more surprised to see he was being chased by another human. She ripped out her stun gun and aimed it at the strange human's torso, then shot, just barely missing Dib. He jumped out of the way with a cry, fell over, and did a somersault right into an Irken soldier.
Keef was hit with the stun gun and went down quickly. Several officers ran in the direction from which he came in search of the other traitor, while Mara and a few other soldiers went over to examine Keef. Dib slowly got to his feet and joined Mara, who threw her arms around him and said,
"Geez, what happened? Someone bit you...and who is this human?" Dib winced as she gently touched the bite-wound on his neck, then answered,
"I need medical attention. I don't know how much blood I lost, but I'm feeling this stinging effect in my neck and shoulders." He didn't mention the slit Tak had made in his arm.
"Of course. Alek, take him to the medical center NOW," she ordered to a taller Irken. The Irken nodded and took Dib's arm to guide him.
"Wait," Dib said suddenly, "the other traitor is Tak. She's stronger––I've met her once before. She could kill both of us easily, no problem." Mara nodded.
"You're right. I want eight more soldiers to go with Alek and Dib. Protect them and yourselves. We'll take care of the human. Dib, do you know his name?"
"It's Keef. Zim knows him, but they aren't exactly chummy. Agh!" His hand flew to his neck, still concealing the new slit in his arm. Alek pulled him along quickly, followed by the other eight soldiers. Mara watched until they were out of sight, then turned to the rest of her soldiers,
"Let's take this one down for some interrogation. I'm sure Miyuki and Zim would love to see this."
So! Who knew it was Tak? I know, I know, lame. But Keef? I don't remember how I came to decide to stick his face in here, but I did. Review! Constructive crits, please.
-Juana
