TAK
The thudding of her heels on the metal accompanied her as she ran through the Massive. The map of the ship downloaded in her PAK, she moved fast. Her goal was unmistakable: Save Zim. How she'd do that, was a concern for later. Right now, she just had to get there in time. Sure, the Tallest were injured and it would take a while before they could get to the Grand Hall, but they could still have Zim killed before they restored, if they wanted to. She doubted they would willingly miss the moment, but perhaps they'd sacrifice the experience, just to tear her plan apart.
Tak turned a corner, and ran right into a guard. Caught by surprise, the irken couldn't handle quick enough before she shot him, with a laser gun she'd retrieved from her PAK. She ran further, paying the presumably dead body no attention; he hadn't been the first. However, she ran into way less obstacles than she had expected. Must be because everyone on the Massive was gathering in the hall…
Killing the guards on her path almost became routine, so when she turned another corner and she caught a glimpse of a creature, she immediately raised her gun, until-
''WHOA, WHOA, NO! DON'T SHOOT! IT'S ME!''
Tak came to a stop, her eyes widening as she realized who stood before her.
''Dib!?''
She eyed the shaky human, who had raised his hands instinctively upon seeing the gun. Breathing heavily, a corner of his lip twitched as confirmation.
Tak lowered her gun, panting herself, too. After a second, her SIR hopped in front of her and bowed her head.
''At your service, master.'' Mimi said.
Purple eyes switched from her robot to the human and back, trying to make sense of it all. Before she could verbalize her confusion, the Dib spoke loudly:
''Whoa- what happened to you?!''
He pointed at the extensive blood splatters on her uniform. She realized her face, especially her mouth and chin, should be covered in dried blood, too. Tak regained herself, shaking her head shortly before stepping towards Dib.
She didn't answer him. Instead, she lifted her gun and landed a hard blow on top of his gigantic head. Dib yelped.
''HOW COULD YOU LEAVE HIM!?'' She shrieked.
The human rubbed his pained scalp, opening his eyes to look at her.
''I-I know that was stupid but-'' He stammered, trying to explain himself.
''He- he told me he didn't want me anymore and had fallen in love with you…''
''AND YOU BELIEVED HIM?!'' Tak waved her gun around in anger.
''WHAT GOOD HAS EVER COME OUT OF BELIEVING THAT DUMB IDIOT?!''
''Well, I-'' Dib tried, but Tak silenced him with a rough push.
''Whatever! I don't have time for this. Come on, Mimi!''
Tak stepped away, her SIR following swiftly. Dib cried ''Hey!'', before he followed, an unconcerned GIR by his side.
''Tak, hey slow down- I'm coming with you!''
Her eyes stubbornly fixated in front of her, she yelled back:
''I don't need your help, human. You'll just get in the way.''
Tak was surprised to see Dib jump in front of her assertively, blocking her path and forcing her to a stop. She tried to force her way with a deathful glare, but it wasn't effective.
''Listen, Tak!'' Dib started persistently.
''I know I messed up, but-'' His gaze left hers for a second. His golden eyes glistened with emotion, but his voice didn't tremble.
''But I love Zim! And I'll die trying to save his ass so- so if you love him too- which I know you do!'' He raised a finger accusingly.
''Then you'll let me help you, because if irken military is as strong as I've been made to believe, I'm pretty damn sure you'll need it.''
The human seemed to be done and Tak sighed. Purple eyes met the human's. She had to give it to the stubborn thing: he was courageous. Extraordinarily stupid, but courageous. This mission would probably end in his death. She wouldn't really feel bad if he died, but she couldn't imagine the pain it would cause for Zim.
''Fine.'' She decided. Before Dib could smile relieved, she continued, though:
''But you better be useful. And obedient! I'm the boss, you're listening to me!''
She emphasized her words with forceful pokes to his chest.
''And so help me, if we fail and Zim dies because of you, I'll kill you before the Tallest get the chance!''
With that, she paced past him and picked up her jog again. She heard her three new companions follow her, and thought through her options. Mimi sure would be helpful, but she wondered if the human and that horrible, glitchy SIR unit of Zim would bring more complications than relief.
After a few minutes of running, Dib started asking questions.
''So eh, what happened? Last time I saw you, you were dying and now- you're running around freely and covered in blood- well, you were before too but… that was your own…''
Tak kept on running, deciding to summarize the occurrences of the last few days for the human (and Mimi). It might be useful for them soon.
''My body reacted badly to Zim's seed and attacked it. I survived, but my womb was destroyed, so we failed our mission. Zim was sentenced to death and I became the Tallest new pet slave.''
Tak swallowed heavily before she added:
''Skoodge has been killed.''
''Skoodge is dead?'' Came Dib's response.
Tak went silent. Dib was quiet for a few seconds, too, in respect for their fallen friend.
''Ehm, pet slave?'' The human then asked.
''A sex slave.'' Tak explained matter-of-factly.
''They were about to rape me, but I rebelled. We're now going to the Grand Hall to stop Zim's execution.''
''Jesus, I'm sorry.'' Dib said, surprisingly. Tak raised an eyebrow to his sympathy, but didn't respond.
They turned another corner, but found no new guards. Tak felt a weird sense of disappointment in her gut for the lack of security; she still had to get used to denying the wishes of her PAK and rebelling against the wishes of the Brains.
''So-'' Dib continued, panting a little from the quick pace.
''You 'rebelled'? You mean you attacked them? How did you beat them?''
''I bit Purple's penis off.''
Tak heard a loud thud and turned around to find Dib had tripped over his own feet and fell in shock.
''YOU WHAT?!'' He yelled, ignoring the pain that has got to come from a body that big to slam down on metal.
''Get up!'' Tak hissed furiously.
Dib did so, big, astonished eyes staring at her disbelievingly. Tak rolled hers and regained their pace.
''Jesus Christ..'' Dib squealed. ''Remind me not to get on your bad side.''
''I always do, yet here you are.'' Tak said, a little amused.
When their eyes met, the corner of her lip curled upwards as a semi-friendly gesture. Dib smiled back, although still looking a little shaky.
The time for smiling had passed, though, when they came close to the Grand Hall. Tak halted when they reached a corner, blocking Dib's way by extending her arm. Dib had to grab GIR's antenna to keep him from running further and exposing them. Tak inched closer to the edge of the wall to see what the situation behind it was.
They had arrived at one of the Grand Hall's entrances. It wasn't the main one, thankfully, but even this one was incredibly crowded. It was like every irken in existence tried to obtain a good spot in the audience. Tak bit her lip and turned back to her allies.
''So what's the plan?'' Dib asked.
Tak rubbed her temples. Their mission seemed absolutely impossible. How were they going to save an irken from his execution, when there were hundreds of guards, and thousands of spectators?
''I-'' Tak started,
''I- I don't know it's-'' She nervously moved her head to look at the crowd again.
''There are too many… I- I need to think.''
''I don't think we have time for thinking!'' Dib hissed.
Tak gestured with her hands towards the entrance, on the verge of panic.
''Human! We are outnumbered by 4 to a thousand! We can't use stealth, either! Everyone in there, except the tallest, is at least three feet shorter than us! We can't blend in!''
Dib was quiet for a second. Then, his face descended downwards, towards the small robots at their feet. The human cracked a smile.
''Maybe some of us can…''
ZIM
Zim listened to his own heavy breathing, staring at the pink floor he was pushed to his knees on. His wrists were bound together, with two soldiers guarding him at his sides.
This was it. He was going to die now.
But something was up.
The irkens around him were agitated. They hurried around on the stage, hissing messages and directions to one another. Zim eyed them warily and tried to pick up on what they were saying.
After a few seconds, he could make out some words of what was being passed around:
''They're conscious again… Purple in bad shape… She escaped… They'll be here shortly…''
Zim tried to make sense of it. The Tallest were injured? ''She'' escaped?! Could it be…?
A few minutes like this passed. Zim's gaze switched to the gathering crowd: it was enormous. Zim was surprised to see that not al off the faces out there showed excitement, though; some looked concerned or even somber. It seemed the loyalty of some of his ''fans'' went as far as to disagree with the Tallest's decision.
Suddenly, a guard gave a shout, announcing the Almighty Tallest's arrival. Zim's head snapped to the tyrants, who hovered on the stage.
Zim gasped for air when he saw their state. Red's face was looking a bit blueish; even the best of the best irken medicine couldn't have seemed to fix his injuries. Purple's weren't really visible, but his expression said more than a bandage ever could. His face was stuck in a permanent look of complete terror. His eyes big, he stared in front of him aimlessly. His hands seemed to be shaking. It was clear something had traumatized him severely, while Red's face just screamed murderous intentions.
All in all, Zim had expected them to be a lot more cheerful for his execution. He'd almost feel insulted, if he didn't suspect Tak being behind all this.
The Tallest took a stance in front of the crowd. Red silenced it by raising his arms.
''Welcome, mighty irken soldiers!'' He shouted. There was no trace left of his usual glee and pride when addressing his people. It sounded like he just wanted to get it over with.
''We are gathered here today for a very joyous occasion.''
The Tallest turned around to look at Zim. Purple still looked absent and terrified, while Red looked as malicious as Zim had ever seen him.
''TODAY,'' Red shouted,
''MARKS THE END OF 'INVADER' ZIM!''
He emphasized Zim's ''class'' sarcastically. The crowd roared. Zim again, noticed that not all of the gathered irkens were celebrating his upcoming death. He saw a group booing and shouting angrily.
Zim dropped his head.
The feelings inside of him were difficult to place. Grief and anger, over Skoodge. Fear, for the torture and death he was facing. Heartbreak, over Dib. And maybe the slightest bit of hope. Did Tak really escape? Was she the one to injure the Tallest like this? Where was she?
The cacophony from all the voices around him faded. He'd had a good life, up until he'd received the new mission.
It would all be over soo-
Zim looked up when he heard surprised shouts. All of a sudden, all the eyes in the hall followed two small robots racing up on the stage. Zim's jaw dropped when he recognized them.
''G-GIR!'' He shouted.
The guards aimed their guns at the intruders, but they were too late. As Zim's SIR unit shot him a quick smile, GIR and Mimi both shot two small devices out of their arms. The tiny, pink objects clattered on the stage, bleeped for a second, then exploded in an enormous blast of smoke.
The impermeable, black fumes coming from the smokebombs made it impossible to see anything. Zim recognized the smoke: he had used these little grenades himself back in the day. The smoke wasn't toxic, it was just meant to confuse and disorientate the enemy. And it seemed to be working.
Zim heard distressed shouts and running. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see anything, but it was no use. As it turned out, the irkens that were assigned to guard him didn't fail their jobs just yet; they had grabbed his arms instinctively. He felt their claws bore in his skin nervously.
In the darkness, Zim's thoughts raced. It had been GIR and Mimi, unmistakably. He'd had spent way too many hours with his little, broken robot to not recognize that little face out of a thousand SIR units. Mimi was easily recognizable: she still looked like an earth cat. Zim bit his lip.
What were they doing here?
Loud thumping of boots on metal announced the arrival of a panicked soldier. The second he appeared into vision, he crashed right into Zim from the side. They both slammed to the ground, Zim painfully so, as he couldn't catch himself with his hands. His cheek on the cold, hard floor, he squinted his eyes open again. The soldier had gotten up and ran away again, while Zim's guards shouted alarmed.
As Zim tried to get up, the fog finally started to fade. He saw vague outlines of the people on the stage, pink and silver colors starting to emerge slowly.
Just when the fog cleared enough to finally see fairly well, a loud, shocked cry screeched over the stage.
Zim's head (and everyone else's) snapped to two tall figures. As the last amount of fog finally faded, Zim's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
Dib had grabbed Tallest Red himself from behind. His arm was locked around his neck, making the taller alien's spine bend a little backwards. Dib's right hand was holding a human gun, which was pointing at Red's temple.
Hello dear readers! Sorry for the delay, these action chapters are pretty difficult to write. I hope you'll like them! Things are getting exciting!
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