Earth's Nightmare
A/N: Yay! I've met the 100 reviews goal! Thank you all so much for the reviews! (Hands out IZ cookies) Now it's forward and on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own IZ.
Chapter 14: Reunion
Gaz found herself rooted to her spot as waves of astonishment and incredibility washed over her. In front of her stood the tallest computer structure she has ever seen, with its blinking lights signals of various colors. Grey and dark blue wires and tubes were connected to it from all sides and there was a huge Irken logo with a red cross through it stamped on it. At the top of the computer block was a platinum screen that had a line through, kind of like one of those heart monitors.
To her left was a long row of people sitting in chairs, wearing white lab coats with black gloves with the same anti-Irken logo typing away fast on the smaller computers. None of them looked her way, every one of them is glued to their screen with showed charts and graphs and maps of the world with certain areas marked in red circles.
Gaz's eyes widened even further when she turned to her right, and saw what appeared to be a desk. Only the desk was curved like a crescent moon with hundreds of small-complicated looking buttons and levers on it marked in small print. The tall chair that was turned towards the supercomputer was empty. Maybe the person in duty is taking a break? Gaz wondered.
Her ambers eyes met a sliding glass door that stood behind the desk. On the glass were anti-Irken logos as well as caution and warning signs. There was a password pad next to it, meaning that whatever is beyond the door must be have either toxic chemicals or some irreplaceable files and documents hidden away. Gaz could smell the scent of metal and high tech machines in the air.
Obviously this wasn't a playground.
"It's been too long, Gaz…" A voice she hadn't heard in probably thirteen years floated to her ear from behind. Could it…could it really -after all these years- be? Gaz sucked in her breath as she slowly turned around. Her legs felt like jelly as she moved to face whomever was behind her.
There in front of her stood a male taller than her in his early 20's with somewhat long black hair and trademarked thick glasses. He was wearing a grey trench coat that had several tears and holes in it, but over all it was still in one piece. Despite his lanky appearance there were lean muscles on him and he wasn't as weak as he looked before from their childhood. He had definitely grown but there were still some recognizable features about him, including his overall 'nerdy' appearance.
Gaz couldn't help but smile at her brother's appearance, but with her it morphed into a smirk.
"You've still got a big head, Dib." She mocked with her hands on her hips.
"No, I don't! My body should've caught up to it now in growth!" He scoffed.
Dib couldn't believe that this female before him had been his GameSlave2-addicted sister who hated his guts and always threatened to doom him whenever possible. Gaz looked so…unlike how a brother might view his sister. For one, she had lost her dark and gothic demeanor and her straight unbendable lines have bloomed into voluptuous curves of feminine teenhood. (This does not mean he loves her that way people, so get your heads out of the gutters, please. I need them for clearing water storage.) Her dark violet hair had grown to her waist and shone in the dim lights of the control center they were standing in now. They too, had lost their overall rough appearance and looked soft and silky.
He grinned. "You're still my baby sister, you know."
"Don't make me hurt you, Dib." She said flatly, her arms crossed. Yet she felt the corners of her lips curl.
"So, how are you feeling? I'm sorry that I might've given you a scare back there…its just that one glance told me that it was you, and even though my brain denied it, thinking that you were, you know, dead and all since you might not have survived the Irken takeover I just had to get a closer inspection…and it really is you." Dib spoke, relief lining his voice. He was just glad that one of his family members was recovered.
Gaz couldn't stifle a gasp from her lips. "Irken takeover? How do you know?" She asked.
Dib sighed and shook his head. "I don't know much either, Gaz. All I know is that more than half of the population of Earth is gone now. The rest of the people who remained either submitted to slavery in exchange for their life whether they agreed to it or not, " Dib explained.
He motioned with his hand around the room, which Gaz was pretty sure to be underground, "These are the few who have managed to go into hiding. We're building a rebellion against Zim's forces. Weapons are being made, androids are being put together and plans are discussed about how we should approach this problem."
"This isn't right, Gaz, this is not how Earth is meant to be. Everything is out of order and we're the only ones left who even have the will to take back what is rightfully ours." He said before turning to a shell-shocked Gaz.
"I-I, Dib, I can't believe this…I've been forced to work as his personal—" Gaz began, but she was cut off by Dib.
"What?! He forced you to work as his personal slave?! He's going to pay for this one! Gaz, has he done anything to hurt you? You've got to tell me! Because if I ever see him again, I'll—"
"No, Dib…he hasn't done anything to hurt me…yet." Unless you count the times he's played the pervert. Gaz nearly spoke the last part out, but she didn't feel like it. She was hungry and tired from all that running. Her legs threatened to buckle, as her eyelids felt heavy.
"Gaz! Are you alright? Oh crap, you must be really tired and hungry. Don't worry; I'll take you to the resting quarters so you can rest and later eat…" Dib had to support Gaz by holding her shoulders since her body was slightly waving. He felt guilty that he wasn't taking care of her, as he should have. As he watched her amber eyes blink once, twice slowly dulling away in pursue of sleep, he decided to tell her about the news of their father later.
"Take her to the resting quarters and when she wakes up, give her water and food…" Dib informed one of the workers as he walked by.
The worker, whose name was Eli nodded and carried her away.
Dib watched the sleeping form of his sister being carried away and his eyes softened.
I'm glad to have her back. Even though the chances of us winning against Zim is slim, at least I won't have to be alone in all this...
---
"There is nowhere for you to hide, Violet. I may be closer than you even think…" A dark voice chuckled sinisterly.
Zim was in his palace. He was watching a huge monitor screen that showed the face of a girl with long violet hair that was asleep. Her room was dark, so it was a bit hard to see. He turned a knob to adjust the lighting of the monitor screen. Ah, that's better…
Even as she laid there, with a furrowed expression on her pale face, Violet still looked striking to Zim. Her curvy figure was visible even with the eiderdown covering her body.
She was beautiful, headstrong, tall … —and feisty Zim added with a smirk as he saw her curl one of her hands into a fist. No doubt she was dreaming about beating it into somebody's face in her sleep.
Ever since he had first seen her standing there in front of him back at the main Palace chamber with that "Bite Me" expression, Zim had found himself unable to keep her out of his thoughts. Even when he sees an innocent spot of purple on anything he's reminded of her and her fierce determination. It burned him like fire, yet he was still the moth and he found her to be irresistible.
Now as the Tallest observed her, he thought about how she had run away when he had given her the opportunity of freedom as a test to see if he could truly trust her. She had failed, and for that she will be punished.
Severely.
Despite how he was infatuated with her, disobedience is disobedience, and there are consequences to be paid for it.
And Violet's consequence is that she will never see the daylight again once he finds her and captures her.
Zim had been beyond the range of shell-shocked when he had discovered that his greatest enemy was in fact alive and well. But now he found that he can, -how do those pathetic humans say it?- kill two birds with one stone.
He just needed a good plan, and based on what he has observed between the conversations of the last two Membrane siblings, he found a bait. He has already set up the lure, as well as the traps, so all that's needed is for Violet and Dib-stink to actually be here themselves.
He laughed forebodingly at the possible looks on their faces when they finally realize that it was too late to go back and too late to plead for his mercy.
He would take back the figure that shone in the monitor because she was rightfully his, and he would make sure that Dib-stink would be terminated for real this time…
…and by his own claws.
A sadistic grin crossed his face as he red eyes narrowed.
He was ready for them.
---
Gaz opened her eyes and she rubbed them sleepily. She had a peaceful sleep, and it felt so good to be able to sleep knowing that nobody was watching her. She sat up and stretched.
She had stayed here in this hidden headquarter for some time now. Dib had stayed with her to keep her company whenever he wasn't on duty doing whatever it is that he does. Over the days, Gaz had gotten used to this new form of lifestyle, even though it wasn't like before.
The room she is in now is her room, and Dib's room is right across the hall. He has shown her around the headquarters during her stay here. Gaz still feels bitter towards her brother, but it wasn't that deep loathing she had back when they were kids. After all, in a way he has saved her from being recaptured by Zim.
Dib had informed her of how he had been the first human slave for the Irkens when they took over Earth, and how he had narrowly escaped with cuts and slashes marks on his skin. Gaz was surprised when he explained that he had to fake his own death to escape and the Irkens dumped him into a large drop-box, which he suspected was for corpses or something. But luckily he escaped by using the sharp materials he carried with him to drill a hole at the bottom of the drop box.
Then he had gotten a hold of a weak and sick Irken guard and stole his special communicator, which he used to transmit a special signal to the computers causing the Irken network to go down long enough for slaves to escape without setting the alarm off. Of course, only a few managed to do so, as the Irkens most certainly weren't stupid creatures and they quickly figured out that their network had been hacked so they fixed it while reinforcing the guard system.
He also told her of their father, how he had disappeared. He said that he was sure that he wasn't dead, because of a mysterious e-mail he received from someone called "P.Membrane".
Gaz scratched her head, her throat felt dry so she reached for the cup of water near the bedside lamp. Gulping the water down, Gaz set the cup back on the table and started to reach for the lamp's knob when suddenly she heard the some of something sharp scraping against the wall.
Something sharp like nails, or more precisely claws.
"Dib?" She called out warily as she got out of bed wearing simple pajamas.
"Miss me, Violet?" A cold voice spoke, dripping with malice at her name.
Frozen and gasping in terror, Gaz whipped around to face the one whom she had hoped to never see again. There is only one being that calls her by that and it is—
"Zim!"
A/N: Er, yeah. Another cliffhanger. Don't you just love them? O:-D Lol, just kidding. I don't want reviewers threatening to kill my cavy just cause I personally find cliffhangers amusing and they put the fun in D-Y-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L. So tell me what ya think of this chapter and I won't torture you anymore with cliffies. (Invader Zim-like evil laugh) O.o Ok, that got me weird looks comin' my way. Review, please!
-AmEva