Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, Jhonen Vasquez does. I only own this story and if anything I write resembles anything that already exists, it is coincidence and I don't mean to copy anything.
Sorry for the wait, my best friend just got married and there was a lot to do. Also there is going to be a lot of Gaz in this chapter. Anyway back to the story…ENJOY!
Chapter 28
Soon after Rayne left, Scoodge came over and told Zim that it was both of their turn to go on patrol again. Zim finally stopped fighting with Dib long enough to tell Scoodge that he would be their soon. As the pudgy invader nodded and walked off Zim looked around and saw that Rayne was missing.
"Where did Rayne go?"
"Well, while you two were goofing off, she told me that she needed to get something and would be right back." Gaz scoffed. Zim nodded and told the siblings to tell her where he went before rushing off after Scoodge to start his scouting shift.
"Well I'm bored." Dib stated.
"Explain to me why I should care. Wait, on second thought, don't explain anything. Just be quiet." Gaz replied. Dib whined at Gaz but she palpably ignored him.
"What did Rayne say she needed to get? Should we see if she needs help?" Dib asked.
"Rayne is perfectly capable of handling herself and doesn't need you to babysit her all the time. She'll meet back up with us when she's good and ready." Dib just rolled his eyes at his sister and started towards the cafeteria. Having nothing else to do, Gaz reluctantly followed. Once there Dib started to talk to the other aliens and annoying them with a bunch of questions. Neither surprised nor interested in what was being said, Gaz just sat down and pulled out her game slave. It was a while before she looked up to see Dib still bugging the other aliens and they started to look a little bothered. Sighing, she put her game slave away but before she could get up to drag him and his weirdness away, Gaz noticed Gir rush in and disappear around the snack counter.
"What is he doing?" Gaz asked herself. Gir rounded the corner again with a large stack of snacks balancing in his little arms and was wobbling back out the door, almost bumping into an Irken that just entered. Figuring that Dib should be fine on his own, she followed after the little robot and caught up to him in the hall.
"What are you doing, Gir?" She asked wondering why she even cared. She must have been more bored then she thought.
"Taking food to Pretty Lady to make her feel better." He squeaked without stopping. This confused Gaz for a moment.
"What's wrong with her?" Gir finally stopped and faced her with his usual grin on his face.
"She is sick. But don't tell, it's a seeeeecret. I'M GONNA MAKE CHEESE AND PICKLE PUDDING!" He then turned and continued down the hall. Trying not to imagine what concoction the little robot was going to make, she followed Gir to the room. She must have been feeling bad and didn't want the guys to worry. Typical Rayne. She entered the room to see Gir run and place everything on the counter before heading for the washroom. Gaz walked to the washroom to see Rayne sitting on the floor by the sink.
"Hey Rayne, you okay." Rayne looked up in surprised before trying to compose herself, thankful that she was starting to feel better.
"I'm fine, I just felt a little nauseous." She smiled. Gaz just rolled her eyes before she went over and put her hand on Rayne's forehead to check for a fever.
"You feel normal. Did you eat anything weird?" She asked, glancing at Gir who stood next to Rayne. Who knows what he would put in her food but Gaz was sure it would make anyone sick. Rayne shook her head.
"Just what we brought with us. But you guys have been eating the same thing and haven't got sick. Maybe it's just a bug. I've been feeling kind of tired lately and everything hurts as well but I figured that that was from all the fighting." Rayne explained. Gaz tried to think what else it could be before a crazy idea came to mind.
"How long has it been since we left earth?" Gaz asked.
"About two weeks, why?" Rayne asked. That seems a little early but who knows, Zim is an alien after all. Gaz thought.
"Rayne do you think it is possible that you're-"
"Warning: enemy ships in proximity." The alarm blared.
"Are you kidding me?" Gaz grunted.
"Gaz, where are the boys?" Rayne asked, sounding a little flustered.
"Dib was in the cafeteria, but Zim went with Scoodge on patrol." Rayne started to worry. What if he gets hurt?
"Let's go find Dib." Gaz said as she grabbed Rayne and pulled her along with Gir following close behind. Irkens and some others were running everywhere to get to their battle stations as the girls and Gir made their way towards the cafeteria. Before they could get there, Gaz heard a bang near the wall in front of them.
"Get down!" She yelled as she tackled Rayne to the floor just as the wall in front of them exploded.
"Breaches in sectors 2, 5, 6 and 13." The alarm announced. The girls stood in time to see four Meekrobs appear through the smoke and look straight at them. The one in front lifted his wrist before speaking into what Gaz guessed was a radio.
"Sir, target confirmed." He said.
"Good, your orders are to capture alive and unharmed." The radio answered back.
"Understood." The four soldiers then started to strut towards Rayne and Gaz.
"This way." Rayne yelled, grabbing Gaz and ran down a nearby hallway. Rayne didn't look back but she could hear heavy footfalls gaining on them. They just kept running until they turned a corner and slammed right into another Meekrob who, from the looks of it, just took out two of the Planet Jackers.
"Oh no." Rayne gasped. The Meekrob turned and saw the humans.
"There you are." He said. Rayne recognized the Meekrob soldier and, from the look on her face, Gaz did to. It was one of Lieutenant Garv's soldiers that they fought against back on the command ship. Gaz turned to see that the other Meekrobs had caught up and they were now surrounded. Backed up against the wall and having nowhere to go, Rayne reached down to realize she left her blaster back in the room. Remembering her battle suit, she was about to reach up to her wrist and activate it when the Meekrobs launched themselves at the two humans and restrained both of them. The two holding Rayne started to pull her away. Thinking fast, Gaz turned to Gir, who was also restrained. This better not end with us vaporized as well.
"Gir, defensive mode!" Gaz yelled. Gir slipped out of the Meekrobs grip and his eyes turned red before a large amount of higher caliber guns appeared. Glad that he actually obeyed her, Gaz quickly stomped on the soldier's foot while he was watching the robot, causing him to release her and she jumped out of the way right when Gir started to shoot at the soldiers. It killed two of them, including the one that was restraining Gaz. Thankfully the blast did little damage to the ship itself, leaving only a large scorch mark on the wall and ceiling. Quickly, another Meekrob tried to grab her but she ducked and jabbed him in the jaw, sending him stumbling back.
"Let go of me!" Gaz looked over to see the other two Meekrobs continue to drag Rayne away as she kicked and struggled to get free. But before Gaz could rush to her aid, the Meekrob she hit recovered and blocked her. Gir, whose guns reseeded back into his head, giggled before running passed both of them after Rayne. The Meekrob reached to grab the little robot only to be kicked by Gaz who proceeded to jump on top of him and knock his head against the ground. Dazed from the blow, Gaz was able to rip off the front part of his armor before she was shoved backwards. The soldier stood up and was about to reach for his blaster before a shoot rang out and the Meekrob fell forward and crashed to the ground. Gaz turned around to see Dib running down the hall brandishing his own blaster and being followed by a few Irken and Plookesian soldiers.
"Gaz, are you alright?" Dib asked.
"You idiot, stop worrying about me and help me go after Rayne." Without explaining anything, Gaz ran ahead to try and catch up to Rayne and her captors. Dib and the other soldiers followed close behind as they turned a corner and saw the Meekrobs going through an emergency maintenance door in the wall that their ship was attached to with Rayne struggling in hand.
"They used the same way to get in as we did on their ship." Dib commented.
"Shit they are getting away." Gaz growled as she grabbed the gun from Dib and started firing at the soldiers, careful not to hit Rayne. She hit one in the head but it only stumbled a little before turning towards them with a burned face looking very angry.
"Why you little-" Before he could charge the other one yelled to him from inside the ship.
"Enough, forget about them, we got what we came for!" The Meekrob turned and gave the group one last glare before jumping into the ship as the doors started to close. Gaz and Dib ran towards the door but it shut before they could get down the hall and just like that the ship was gone.
"No no no. This is bad. They may kill her or worse." Dib panicked but received a smack to the face from Gaz.
"She'll be fine, they said that they got what they came for when they took her and earlier they said they needed her alive and unharmed."
"But why would they take Rayne? I mean she-" Dib paused for a moment when it suddenly hit him. "Oh no. They know about Zim, don't they?"
"We can probably thank that stupid Meekrobs soldier of Garv's for that." Gaz commented.
"He must have escaped and told the rest of them. This is bad, this is so bad." Dib started to panic again which Gaz gave him another smack for.
"Get a hold of yourself, stupid. We first need to find the others and tell them what happened."
"Wait, where is Gir? I saw him run passed you." Dib commented. They both froze and looked at the maintenance exit.
"You got to be kidding me." Dib sighed.
"He must have slipped on the ship with Rayne. I guess that's a good thing…maybe." Gaz thought.
"Great, who is going to tell Zim? This can't get any worse." Dib's words reminded Gaz of earlier and Gaz smacked her forehead.
"What's wrong, Gaz." Gaz turned to face her brother with the most serious look he has ever seen.
"I think that it may be much worse than you think."
"I said let go of me!" Rayne kicked and screamed as they dragged her onto the command ship.
"Knock off your struggling or I'll rip off your legs." One of the Meekrobs grumbled.
"Screw you!" She managed to kick the soldier in the shin causing him to roar in anger.
"I said knock it off." He lifted his hand, ready to smack her when another hand caught his wrist.
"And I said that she is not to be harmed. Now go run the bio scan on her. I want to make sure she isn't carrying anything dangerous." Rayne looked up to see a rather large Meekrob, about six foot four, was standing in front of her. He looked the same as any other Meekrob, only his skin was a bit darker and he was wearing golden armor. After a few moments of pondering, Rayne finally lit up in recognition. He was the one that we saw interrogating Tallest Red.
"Yes Sir." The Meekrob answered as he released Rayne and walked over to a monitor that kind of reminded Rayne of a security checkpoint at the airport. Rayne looked back up at who she assumed was the leader only to find him examining her.
"Your species really does look weak." He cackled before grabbing her and pushing her into the scanner as a blue light started to run along her entire body.
"It makes me wonder why that Irken brat even keeps you around. I guess that will be his own undoing." Rayne knew that he was talking about Zim and she started to get mad.
"If you touch him, I swear I'll kill you." Rayne growled, not caring who she was threatening. The leader growled in return.
"Do you know who you are talking to, you pathetic waste of space? I am Commander Jax, leader of the Meekrob fleet and soon to be ruler of the universe." He bellowed before calming himself and then walked closer to Rayne to intimidate her.
"What do you want from me?" Rayne scowled.
"It is not so much you as it is your little Irken friend that I want; though you would make a perfect pet." Rayne's eyes widened, they knew about Zim. They were using her as bait. I have to escape. I refuse to be such a burden on Zim. Before another word was spoken, the computer started beeping.
"Commander, you may want to take a look at this." The soldier commented. Jax walked over to the screen and gazed over the Meekrob's shoulder.
"What is it?" The soldier pointed at the screen and the Commander's anteater like mouth curled up as he chuckled darkly to himself. Rayne started to get a little worried as Jax stared at her.
"It would seem I have just gained some more unexpected leverage." He walked over and grabbed Rayne by the arm and then placed his claws roughly on her stomach in a threatening way.
"You will do everything that I say or you can say goodbye to your unborn child."
