Authors Note: Sincerest apologies to everyone who had to wait for this chapter, things went seriously FUBAR after I made it back home to the states. Hopefully the RL stuff didn't leak into my writing. I will do my best to knock out the last few chapters within a timely matter. As always please leave reviews/suggests/complaints I love any type of feedback.
Edit: apologies again, apparently a few paragraphs had been somehow cut out when I originally posted this chapter. I have fixed the issue and hope that any confusion caused will be set straight.
-Chapter 12, Rage.
POV-Gaz
Her heavy footfalls stirred small clouds of ash as Gaz ran through the rubble which used to be a sprawling metropolis. She was extremely grateful for the gently falling ash and dust around her it acted like a thick fog, obscuring her from the view of the surrounding Irken. She could hear them as they continued to fight Zims machines, the Irken were doing better than she would have hoped. She pushed that from her mind, it no longer mattered, she needed to find Zim. She found the crumbled side of an apartment building and trotted up towards the roof, she needed a better look at her surroundings. As she made it to the top, she was disappointed, the ash was too thick even at this height.
Gaz turned to climb back down when she heard a massive explosion, she spun back around trying to locate the source when a gust of wind slammed into her. She fell to her knees and grabbed handholds in the rubble, within moments the wind abated and she took a look around. She was standing within a few blocks of the massive walker that had been the center of the blast. Gaz could clearly see fighting going on through a large hole in the machine. For a moment she could swear she saw Zim fighting in there, but the ash was returning and her vision was becoming clouded once more. She went to the edge of the roof, trying to find a way to the hole in the walker but the city around it was completely flattened.
Gaz cursed, trying to think of another way in when a second smaller walker came into view. It was turning its weapons towards her and she took a few steps back. She could see the heat coming off its massive cannons as they powered up. She didn't know if her shield could handle weapons of this size, besides Gaz was tired of hiding behind her shield. She sprinted forward leaping at the machine just as it unleashed its hellish energy at the building. The air smelled acidic as tons of concrete and steel were instantly vaporized and Gaz could feel the heat from the beam. It felt like an eternity as she sailed through the air above the destructive blast before it ended and she slammed into the chest section of the walker.
Gaz could feel herself sliding down the smooth exterior as she tried in vain to find a handhold. Frustration mounting with her anger at being so close, she slammed one fist into the hardened metal shell. It gave, her suit enhanced strength proving too much for the metal alloy. Her body jerked to a halt, anchored to the improvised handhold. Gaz positioned her body Stomach flat against the Walker, then clenching her other fist she punched a second handhold into the smooth surface. It was a little awkward at first but soon enough she was climbing with haste, feeling more and more like some crazy cartoon character with each step. Gaz could hear the muffled voices coming from the crew inside.
The walker began crashing through buildings in an attempt to dislodge her from its outer hull. Gaz climbed doggedly on, ignoring the rubble and smoke, forcing herself to concentrate on getting to the top of the machine. Her muscles burned with the constant exertion, but she ignored the pain, knowing this walker was only a stepping stone on the way to her real objective. Finally she made it to the armor-glass shell that made up the control center of the walker, half a dozen Irken fervently manipulated the controls desperation clear on their faces. Gaz smiled a small predatory grin before slamming her fist into the clear shell. Cracks formed immediately and the crew fought desperately to find some way of denying her entrance.
It was to no avail, on the third swing Gaz broke completely through the armor. Shards rained down upon the terrified Irken as they attempted to ready some sort of defense. Gaz didn't give them the chance, within moments she was among them snapping out quick punches and devastating kicks. The small Irken bodies were easily shattered against the interior of the walker or quickly thrown outside to fall to their deaths. It was all over in a matter of heartbeats, Gaz stood triumphant in the control center, finally taking a moment to survey the surroundings she was elated to see that this machine was still closing on the massive walker.
She could see the interior clearly now, Zim was fighting and he was losing. She had to think of some way to help him. Glancing at the controls she saw one console that wasn't too damaged from the fighting, it had a simple joystick sticking out of the center with dozens of buttons in a ring around it. She grabbed the joystick and saw it move the left arm, she did a quick estimation of where the walkers would pass the closest and stuck the arm straight out in that direction. Climbing out from the control center Gaz hurried along the edge of the walker, the heights were dizzying and the speed at which the walker was moving made her stumble at several points.
Gaz lined up on the arm, hoping that she would be able to make the jump and that she wasn't leaping to a horrible death. She saw the tallest, Red, moving slowly towards Zims prone body. He struck Zim with a whip and she could hear him cry out in pain. Her fear was replaced by a raging fury, she would make these aliens pay for hurting Zim. She sprinted forward, running the length of the outstretched arm in a matter of moments. She leapt as she hit the end of the arm, her jump was good but it was going to be close.
POV-Zim
His body was giving up, pain coursed through every limb and he felt an unconquerable exhaustion down to his core. So tired, Reds smile stretched across his face "Finally Zim-Traitor you will know death." Zim tried to remember why he wanted to live, So tired, just want to rest. Red couldn't help but gloat in his victory "oh don't worry Zim-Traitor, soon those little Ape-Creatures will join you in death. Once I kill you we will end this planet, destroying every speck of evidence that it ever existed, and you Traitor will die knowing that it is entirely your fault." Dark, everything feels so cold; I think I will sleep now. Zims eyes began to close, Reds smile widened as he saw victory easily within his grasp.
Gaz "ZIM!"
Zims eyes snapped open, Gaz. Reds hand descended upon Zim, the harsh smell of ozone filling the air between them. Zim let out a low growl as his hand shot up grabbing Red by the wrist. Red tugged against Zims grip, but he didn't budge. Zims eyes widened in surprise, they are tall like me but they don't have my strength. Red activated his other gauntlet and struck Zim with the electrical discharge, Zim lost control of his body once again cursing at his foolishness.
Zim could hear sounds of a scuffle behind Red but could do nothing as Red raised his whip once more to finish him. Suddenly Reds body slams down into Zim, something collided with Reds back then went skidding off across the floor. Zim, not wanting to waste another second, grabbed Red by the collar and slammed his head into the floor. Rolling over to get on top of the Irken leader Zim flexed his claws and slammed his hand into Reds armored chest. To Zims surprise his hand went straight through, piercing metal and flesh like it was nothing, stopping only as Zim felt the beating of the Irkens Squeedlyspooch in his hand. Gripping the writhing organ Zim pulled with all his might, tearing the massive organ out Reds chest. Zim smiled as he watched the last light fade from Reds dying eyes. Blood and gore covered Zim as he stood to find the source of his assistance, and had to duck immediately as Purple went sailing over his head.
With a loud crash Purple slammed into the far wall, Zim spun around then stopped stunned. Gaz stood across the room, blood coating the bottom of her boots and several places on her gauntlets. She was standing in some form of martial arts stance, with her feet shoulder width apart and one back slightly, both arms were up defensively and she was motioning a challenge at purple with a single finger held out triumphantly. Zims chest swelled at the sight of her, forgetting his pain for a moment he stood and began trotting over to her. He only made it a few steps before collapsing back to a Knee, Gaz broke her stance and ran to his side. Gaz "Zim, how badly are you hurt?" Zim did his best to smile at her "oh I will be fine Gaz-Mate, I'm just a little light headed from seeing you in that skin tight armor." As if on cue he coughed, blood spilling out from his mouth and Gaz gasped with concern. Gaz was about to say something when Purple cut her off "Foolish Dirt-monkey, now you will die with you precious Traitor." Purple flexed his arms out, four metallic appendages shot out of his Pak. Two of them ended in wicked looking claws while one ended in a strange looking nozzle, the last looked like a single eye with two small lenses attached underneath.
Gaz dropped back into her fighting stance while Zim, on reflex, stepped slightly in front of her with his claws and teeth bared protectively. Purple laughed at them "You two think killing Red will do anything other than bring me absolute joy? He was an ignorant fool, and I detested sharing power with him. I'm GLAD you killed him, now I will rule the entire Irken Empire myself fools!" With that he charged, clawed arms shooting out at Zim while the strange Nozzled appendage launched a gout of flame at Gaz. Zim screamed "NO" as the flames engulfed Gaz, this cost him as the claws raked across his wounded chest causing him to stumble and fall hard onto the ground. Purple quickly closed the distance to the prone Zim, bringing the Irken flamethrower around to incinerate his enemy. As Zim watched the murderous appendage whip through the air towards him he also saw Gaz roll out from the smoke behind Purple. She was lightly singed and sweating but otherwise unharmed, he felt his chest relax as relief flooded through his body. She sprinted towards Purple, leaping into the air in an attempt to kick him. Somehow purple dodged at the last second, whipping a claw down at Gaz and catching her mid-air. She was slammed into the floor with a resounding thud as Purple brought his second claw slicing down at her.
Gaz spun her legs up and around, dodging the claw and coming up into a fighting crouch with one fluid motion. Zim rolled to his side, feeling the flames lick his back as he barely managed to dodge Purples attack, thinking quickly he hopped up and grabbed onto the metallic arm wielding the fire. Zim "Gaz attack him now!" she nodded and sprinted forward, purples claws slashed down in rapid strikes that Gaz easily dodged and deflected. Zim smiled, close combat was definitely her area of expertise, but his celebration was cut short as a laser seared into his arm causing him to lose his grip on the Flamethrower. As the appendage snaked back towards an oblivious Gaz, Zim shouted "Watch out!" he watched helplessly as she turned to face the incoming danger barely moments before fire engulfed her position. Zim wasn't given a moment to process what he had just seen as several more lasers were fired at him. He dodged and rolled, using his jets for a much needed boost of speed, while trying to determine the location of the attack.
Then he saw it, the arm with the strange eye, it was stationary just a few meters above Purples head. But as Purple watched Gaz's direction the Eye was watching Zim. One of the twin lenses below the eye glowed brightly before firing another laser at Zim who rolled behind a console for cover. Zims mind was racing, he knew that he could play only a minor role in this fight. With Purples shields able to deflect Zims lasers and the multitude of arms defending his body it would be nearly impossible to injure the Irken monarch. His chest felt heavy, he surmised that he must be bleeding internally. Zim knew he needed his medical concoction and fast, his body might survive the trauma but it wouldn't hold up for long in this battle. He risked a glance, seeing Gaz losing ground as she deflected the claws and dodged the flames, he ducked back behind cover as lasers skittered off the ground around him. He had to do something, so he lunged out from cover and fired a few blind bursts at Purple before he made it to a second console. Zim almost laughed, his shots had bounced off of Purple's shield like before but one had almost hit his metallic arms. They aren't shielded, perfect.
-Pov-Gaz
The claws were easy enough to deflect, after the first few minutes fighting this green freak Gaz knew their limitations. They could only strike from a downward angle towards her, so she never had to guard her legs and had a fairly free range of movement. The flame spitting arm was a different story, it seemed to rotate around his body, enabling it to attack from all kinds of directions but even it had limitations. While it was pretty terrifying to have flames launch out at you, the range was very important. Gaz had successfully dodge the attack twice just by taking a few quick steps back, if the weapon wasn't right in your face then you really didn't have to worry about it. Gaz was slowly giving ground, trying to lull her foe into a sense of superiority, she knew given a little time and confidence that he would slip up. She just had to make sure she was there when he did.
She saw Zim pop out from cover and take several shots at Purple, but he was missing badly, he must be in worse shape than I thought. The laser fire didn't even hit Purples shields, she had to bring an arm up defensively as a strike landed far too close to her, need to push that to the back of my mind or I will lose and if I lose then this freak might kill Zim. Her face set into a hard scowl That is so not happening. Purple doubled his attacks, sending Gaz into a twisting dance of blocking and dodging until she ran into the far wall. Seeing that she had no place left to move Purple screamed "Ha! I have you now Dirt-Creature!" Gaz couldn't suppress the smile, hook line and sinker, Purple brought his flame spewing arm to within inches of her face and she could feel the warmth radiating from the tip.
Before the flames could exit, Gaz grabbed a hold of the metallic limb and using her heightened strength she slammed it into the wall. The impact warped the nozzle, sealing the end and effectively rendering the weapon useless. The sudden change in pressure caused the back of the limb to swell then burst, covering Purple in a light red liquid. He leapt back, screaming "You worthless Animal!" Trying in vain to shake the thick liquid from his body. Gaz took the opening and rushed forward, placing all of her weight on her left foot she spun letting the momentum carry her into a powerful roundhouse kick. She her foot was within inches of striking Purples stomach when his clawed arms managed to interpose themselves and block her strike. The force of her blow sent purple sliding across the chamber, his feet slick with the flammable goo.
Purple wiped his eyes clear and glared at Gaz "You will pay you pathetic earth monkey!" he grabbed two strange hand held objects from under his robe, aiming the first at the floor he flexed his hand causing a strange blue energy to emanate from the device. The energy wrapped around purples arm, three long energy whips erupted from his hand while his arm became incased in blue energy armor. He lifted his right hand, holding the other device, and aimed it at Gaz. Twin bolts of lightning shot forth, they expanded and struck off the floor and ceiling before striking Gaz's shield. When they impacted the air around her ionized resulting in a deafening crack, the force of the weapon threw Gaz against the far wall. Purple "Now you shall feel the wrath of the Almighty Tallest."
Gaz was having trouble breathing, her chest ached and her back felt like it was on fire. That really fucking hurt she managed to regain her feet, leaning heavily on the wall. Purple was slowly walking towards her, the strange lightning gun was held at his side, while he lazily flicked the energy whips back and forth. Gaz fell into a simple guard stance, preparing for another debilitating hit from the lightning gun, when she saw Zim roll out from behind a nearby console. He stopped on a knee directly behind Purple, Gaz saw a flurry of blasts go above purples head and she gasped. The arm with the eye that had been watching purples back was shredded by Zims shots, He didn't miss earlier, he was aiming for the arm. Purple roared and spun around on Zim, his energy whips tearing through the console before slamming into Zim sending his body tumbling into the far wall.
Gaz ran forward, wanting nothing more than to reach Zims side, but purple had other ideas. Purple brought his energy whips around in a sharp arc, aiming for her head. On instinct her hand shot up to block the attack, all three of the whips wrapped around her armored forearm. Gaz convulsed and fell hard to her knees as electricity from the whips coursed through her body, she heard screaming and it took her a moment to realize that it was her screaming. Tears flowed freely down her face as her body tried to cope with the pain wracking her system. Disoriented Gaz could barely see the world around her pain and tears blurring her vision, something deep within her kept trying to force its way to the surface, Pull.
Her vision swam in and out of focus, she began piecing together her surroundings, Purple stood a few steps away from her, his energy whips forming an unbroken line towards her. A cruel smile was plastered across his face as he aimed the lightning gun at Gaz, Pull. Her body felt numb, her heart was having trouble keeping a steady beat. All Gaz wanted was to close her eyes, but some deep part of her wouldn't give up, PULL. Gaz stole a glance at her arm, the energy whips were still wrapped around her forearm but she had subconsciously grabbed onto them. Purples lightning gun was almost ready to fire, small arcs flashed out from the end of its barrel. Gaz knew she couldn't take another hit from that gun, she honestly doubted she could even really keep fighting him, but she had to do something.
Bracing her legs against the floor Gaz clamped her hand down hard on Purples energy whip and pulled with all her might. She had forgotten about the enhanced strength as Purples body jerked forward violently, his gun fired arcing into the ceiling and wall away from her. Metal gave way at the immense energy discharged, gouging a massive rent through the walkers interior. The Irkens body bounced several times, dropping his weapons in the process, before coming to a stop by the entrance Zim blasted to get inside. Purples Pak was mostly destroyed, the red liquid had splattered all over the floor leaving a thin trail back to the damaged console. Gaz smiled as she struggled to stand, It's about time for this bastard to die, she took a few shaky steps, covering the distance to the broken console. Reaching inside she grabbed a bundle of wires, sparks gently arcing from the exposed metal.
Purple pushed himself onto his knees before turning to stare daggers at Gaz. Purple "I will make sure you live through this Human, I will make sure that you personally beg me for death before I end your miserable existence…" his speech was cut short as he saw the smile on her face. Gaz didn't feel like talking to the Irken leader anymore, she brought the exposed wire down near the floor, Purples eyes widened in fear as he realized what he was covered in. Gaz exposed her teeth in a feral smile before a spark arced across igniting the trail of flammable liquid. In a few heartbeats purple was wreathed in flames, he rolled about on the floor trying to extinguish the fire but only managed in rolling ever close to the edge.
With a renewed scream purple rolled right out of the walker, plummeting aflame towards the rubble below. Gaz walked over to Zims prone body, rolling him over. His breathing was ragged and blood seemed to be leaking out of every part of his body, but he smiled when he saw her face. Tears fell freely from her eyes once again, he is so broken so hurt, Zim lifted his arm slowly wiping away her tears. Zim "Gaz-Mate do not leak for me, it is over and I will be fine as long as I have the Gaz-Mate." She held him tight against her, sobbing freely as relief flooded her, Zim just smiled and held her back. After a few moments Gaz helped Zim to his feet and the two of them made their way to the open hole in the wall, Zim leaning heavily on Gaz for support.
Gaz looked out upon the scene of destruction that used to be a bustling city and sighed heavily. Gaz "What happens now, will the Irken stop now that the Tallest are dead?" Zim shook his head "That is the least of the likely possibilities Gaz-mate, the next tallest will exert control of the empire soon. At most we have bought the earth hours, I fear this planet is doomed no matter what we do, now that the tallest are gone the rest of the Irken have nothing stopping them from just blasting the world into a lifeless rock." Gaz's heart sank at Zims words "Is there nothing we can do Zim?" Zim was about to answer then seemed to realize something "Maybe… with the tallest both dead that means I'm technically the next tallest Irken alive. If I can get back to the lair I might be able to confuse enough of the Irken to buy us more time." Zim cracked a small humorless smile "but the chances of it working are very small Gaz-mate."
Gaz nodded "that's fine, at least it is something we can try. Now all we need to do…" she was cut off mid sentence as lights and alarms starting blaring around them. The computer was saying something in Irken and Zims face immediately lit with worry, before Gaz could ask what was wrong Zim wrapped his arms around her and she felt a wave of pressure shoot through her body as his jets kicked on, sending the pair of them flying through the air away from the walker. She just had enough time to gasp a breath before the walker exploded behind them, arcing green energy erupted all around them and a massive shockwave slammed into them. The last thing Gaz saw before losing consciousness was the ground tumbling towards them.
END-Chapter 12.
Notes: hopefully the next chapter comes out within a few weeks and not a few months. Again my apologies for this taking so blasted long.