Gaz had been used to darkness all of her life until Zim came along and sparked her light from long ago. Now in the endless black it felt almost strange especially the tarry water feeling almost like floating very slowly. Her movements were so stilted so she stopped fighting only for now, she needed to conserve energy anyhow. He was dragging her along for such a long time it felt and she heard nothing at all, not steps, not voices, not even the wind. Even with Matthew there it felt like she was alone and it was ice cold.
Gaz was not the type to lose hope or give up, especially on Zim, and she knew he would not give up either. He'd batter and bruise his body just to get to her and mercilessly murder any person who stood in his way to get to her. Knowing that made her relax even though she was uncertain of where they were heading or what he meant to do. Suddenly a striking light burst before her eyes, almost making her blind because she had nearly forgotten what it looked like. She blinked and adjusted to it.
They were in a room, just a room nothing special. It was rather plain with only a few bits and ends and a bed of sorts sitting there. The thing she noticed was that there was no door or at least it looked like there was no door and just a window, a wide rounded edged rectangle window. Gaz briefly thought this was a room mid-build or abandoned at some point for there not to be any door at all. However, no door is what Matthew wanted, it would mean that even if she kicked him down there was no way out. She tried not to make it too obvious that she was searching for other ways out. The ducts seemed her best choice. Matthew had not let go of her arm and she had not attempted to attack him. If she played her cards right, he might fall for her being weak and she could use that. Even if she didn't, she had plenty of other things to use against him. Powers or no powers she would not go out without a fight.
"I see you are noticing there is no escape for you, little Gaz," Matthew drolled with venom in his words. She wanted to spit in his eye for using that term towards her. Only one man could call her that without getting his teeth knocked out. "And I'm sure you have noticed the wide window here. Do you know why I chose this room? It isn't because you wouldn't be able to escape though that is part of it. It's because whoever finds you won't be able to come in. They will just have to sit there and watch."
"There are weapons that can easily break glass," Gaz explained, breathing in deeply and letting it out smoothly. She was not afraid, absolutely not, she was just channeling her energy.
"Clever witch but you see you are wrong. It's bullet proof, even by Irken weapons. Even if it wasn't, they would risk shooting you by accident."
Gaz spoke nothing but was not deterred by this in the least. She stood tall, chest out, shoulders back, head held high. "So, what are you waiting for?"
"Patience, princess," He spat out, cold black eyes scanning her, "I want to enjoy this and ending you right now would spoil the fun. I'm sure you can appreciate that much."
"You're awful at this," Gaz retorted, using this moment to whip her hand out of his grasp. She kicked harder and faster than she ever did before, knocking him to the ground but she knew it was only a minute that he'd stay down. "You wait too long and your captor escapes."
Mimi had been watching, not wanting to exert herself trying to save this woman unless necessary and right now she seemed to be handling herself well enough. She watched Gaz speed off and use the lone table as leverage to get up to the ducts, using her bare hands to try and pry off the grating. Her fingers were getting cut by the sharp edges but she ignored the pain. It was screwed in tightly but she pulled with all her might, adrenalin racing through her system, powering her through it. Mimi shook her head and decided this girl needed her after all so she snuck through the shadows and onto her shoulder. Gaz didn't look that surprised or even shocked she would take any help she could get from any source.
Just to get out was enough even if it led to Tak or Dib. At least she was away from him. Mimi unscrewed each screw fast but carefully let them fall to the ground. She hopped inside of the vent ready to assist pulling the woman in. It was a tight squeeze but she would just about fit it. Gaz wasted no time and asked no questions, she lifted herself up feeling the air through the duct hit her face. Freedom was just within her grasp but something else had a grasp on her, her leg specifically. Matthew had gotten up and saw her trying to escape though he did not see the robot cat. He grabbed her hard by the ankle and yanked her hard towards him.
Gaz knew she could not speak telepathically to Mimi or any other robot, she was not Irken, but she tried, she tried with every breath she had in those precious milliseconds before her body thumped onto the floor. She told Mimi to go, to go and find someone, anyone, even if it was Tak, tell them where she was. Mimi blinked, raised one paw, and then nodded as if she understood. She was off, her soft paws barely making a sound. Gaz didn't know if she even heard her and if she did, she didn't know that it was possible for a human to speak like that with a Sir unit but whatever the case Mimi was gone and Gaz could only hope she would get help.
Gaz didn't even have time to notice MiniMoose following quickly after. Her back crashed onto the floor along with the back of her head so hard it would have easily knocked her out but it didn't. She had a slight concussion and her back felt like an elephant just tap danced upon it but she was fine. She refused to make any sound for him, if that's what he wanted, and she refused to show him any signs that she was submissive. She was being dragged towards him, like cattle toward the slaughter. Matthew stood there, a towering dark cloud, semi formless, his eyes alive with anger and blood dotting the side of his mouth. That was the only thing not black on him and it stood out.
"You sneaky bitch," He growled out as he watched her body slide towards him. Her eyes had fire in them, a fire he hadn't forgotten as it was one of the last things he saw before his trip to the nightmare world. Those gold spheres glared hard at him, those eyes he used to think might look at him one day in that way he looked at her. But she only saw green. Gaz summoned flames, tinted with mostly purples, feeling their power surge around her. The flames went up her arms spreading from her fingertips and circling around her wrists. She shot out a ball of fire at him but it was stopped by a black smoke shield. Again and deflected. Again and stopped. Again and no luck. He had every attack covered. It was dark energy against dark energy, both different and similar, but he had not been touched by any emotions, he had left those behind.
"You can't defeat me and do you know why? I'm stronger than you!" He exclaimed, raising her up by her waist and slamming her down upon the bed. She still made barely a grunt even though her upper and lower back would most likely need healing for several weeks after that. One arm held her waist down, tightly and another was at her throat. Her hand went to his hand, the fire trying to burn it off of her but it kept getting put out by him. Slowly the purple was fading to lavender then white no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much energy she exerted. Nothing was working. She would not relent. She still could punch his smug face. This time he was prepared for it, he saw her muscle twitch to get ready to hit him again and so he started to sap away her energy as he had done with the Irken guard. Just enough to where she could no longer fight, not enough to kill her. Not yet. He still wanted to drag this out for as long as he could.
Gaz felt a sudden power outage in her system, like something had unplugged her. She felt drowsy almost, like something was injected into her- or more like taken from her. It felt like when she had blood drawn, only it felt like instead of one pint it was 3. She was woozy but coherent, she could see and hear and think. His hand grasped tighter at her throat and there was nothing she could do about it but choke lightly, feeling the icy- burn of his own energy start to crawl into his fingers. Gaz did not want to go down like this, go down having landed only one good hit on him but she did not have any choice. She could only heatedly glower at him with all her might and curse at him, that's all she had energy to do.
"There now, that's better. I like you so much this way, struggling against yourself, trying so hard to deny that death is imminent. I'm going to squeeze those pretty eyes right out of your head or better yet I'll keep them there so your precious boyfriend can stare into them."
"Fuck you."
"If you had this wouldn't be happening," He remarked, digging into her neck harder, "But no. You chose an alien over your own kind. Such a pity. I could just take you, right now, but the thing is I feel nothing for you anymore. Just hate."
"Then we are the same."
"I've almost drained you to the point of no return yet you still fight me. You should beg for me to spare you! I won't of course but beg anyways, it will be so sweet to hear."
She wasn't going to, wasn't going to at all. He didn't deserve that. She would die silently. The thought of death should have frightened her but she was more so worried. She was worried for only one person really- Zim. She thought of the sheer agony he'd be in when and if he ever found her, his crying if he could cry, his shouts of pained sadness. She regretted nothing, not a thing, she had loved again. She had met someone who loved her no matter what. She had been happy, had felt light, had been calmed, soothed, and given a purpose. She had friends even. Poor Gir, he would be broken-hearted if he even understood, and MiniMoose his squeaks of sadness would never end, and Louie, who had risked so much just to make sure his sister lived happily.
The only good thing that would come of this is to be an example in front of Dib, an example of what happens when you let power overcome you and he'd see with his own eyes that Zim did in fact have nothing but adoration for her. 'Zim', her mind whispered softly, wanting his image to be the last thing she saw, the last thing she could think of, letting all the memories and warm times they shared flow forward. His smiles, his laughs, his touches, his kisses, his hugs. Everything to comfort her, guide her graciously on her way to whatever end awaited a Gaz. Be it hell where she belonged or heaven where possibly her mother might be, she didn't care. He wasn't there and it would be hell regardless without him.
She hoped he would be strong, strong as he always had been, that he would not be so forlorn and at a loss that he might end his own life. She somehow doubted it, he'd suffer greatly, forever and ever, endlessly since he lived so achingly long. That made her hurt too, knowing he would never find peace or joy again. Never love again, never give love again, never open up again, he'd be worse off than she had ever been because he had never felt that way before and now never would. He'd sit upon his throne, having everything he wanted- his planet would be safe, there would be an Irken reign again, Dib would have his arse kicked, and life would flourish. Yes, everything but her and that was a cruel sad irony. He would have to lose her to gain that. As she went through that bitter fantasy, she remembered something that made her eyes round. Gaz swore not to beg, she swore she wouldn't but now she remembered- she had a reason to beg, not for her own life but for someone else's.
"M-MaAH-tthew..." She choked out through her squeezed windpipe, sounding so passive and gentle it almost surprised him. He smirked, finally gaining something from her. "Puh...please..."
"Please what?" He tested, black eyes meeting gold, watching with pleasure as the light was dying down.
"I... I'm...p-pregnant... Please..."
Matthew's smile only grew wider, more sadistic than hers had ever been. She knew then, without him saying anything, that he would not have mercy no matter what, that her death was going to happen. It was not that she was so concerned about but the death of her babies. She had not even confirmed if she had any or not but the thought that maybe just maybe she did caused a panic in her. She was desperate to save them, in any way possible, even if she had to sickeningly beg. Her life meant nothing, nothing at all, but they were not even born into this world.
They did not deserve to die so quick. Gaz had always felt she was no mother, but at that moment that she was defending her unborn smeets she turned into one. Those were hers and his, they had made them together with love, not hate or disdain or under scientific curiosity like Dib and not in a pod. Her heart panged though she tried to still it. She would not cry, she would not cry. Internally she tried to soothe her stomach as Matthews claws scraped against it. He was testing to see if that was true, trying to find a heartbeat other than her own.
"You aren't lying then. I was going to be very mad if you had lied just to get some sort of pity. Feels like you got quite the litter of revolting pups in there. To think those could have been mine."
Gaz's heart dropped. So, she really was then. She really was pregnant and not just with one or two. The way he made it sound there were at least three, maybe more, and before she could even meet them, or hold them, or name them, they would all be wiped from this plane of existence along with her. She wished she could shield them somehow, put them in some protective thing which would stop him from killing them, that even if she could die, they might live. They would be very tiny, a clump of cells with a tiny heart, but they were hers and they were Zim's nonetheless. Matthew's hand gripped tightly to her throat, dark energy seeping through and burning her blindingly.
"I'm glad they aren't. I'm glad they are his then I'll get to relish it even more when he finds your rotting body!"
The pain was more than she could handle but it was not going to kill her, not yet, it was just torture. She screamed loudly, in aguish, not just because it hurt her to the core but because she wanted everyone to hear her, hear her and come running to where she was. This was not to save her own life, but hopefully save the lives of the brewd inside of her. As the first scream hit Dib's ears though it hit Zim first and louder, they both turned towards the sound. Dib looked back at Zim for a second, recognizing he had been right- she was kidnapped after all. It didn't matter he was going to save her now.
"Dib wait!" Zim cried out in imploring despair. He was not comfortable asking for favors or begging but he swallowed his pride. Dib had looked back at him again seeing his alien foe on both knees, head bowed to him, eyes to the floor. "Please, take me with you. She needs me and I need her. Please. I can't bare it..."
Dib stared at him with a blank sort of expression, regarding what was before him. His enemy was begging, on the floor even, for him to take him to go and save Gaz. If she was just a bargaining chip or just a play thing or tool then why was he like this? Why was he doing something his massive pride as an Irken never allowed him to do? Could it be that he truly did have feelings for her? That all of Dib's thoughts had been untrue? This would mean he was wrong about everything and furthermore that Gaz was no poor little thing dragged along for the ride, that this was not an abuser and his victim. They were a space bound Bonnie and Clyde. Dib could halfway believe Gaz falling in love with Zim but Zim with her? He loathed humans, he saw them as ugly, filthy, squirmy vermin.
What made her any different? Dib recalled how in the video Zim had held out his hand for her and she took it. He did not grab her or put his arm on her in a possessive way at least not a predatory type of way. A needy way was more like it. It was obvious that he needed her but Dib even then even now could not say it was for romantic reasons. Irkens don't love, not even Tak loved him and he could accept that and he felt Zim was even less than that in the feelings department. Zim only cared for Zim. If for some reason he took Gaz as a mate that's all it was to him, a mate, no better if not lower than animals. She was only there for one reason and that was gratification. He would not sire half Irkens. Dib could not fathom it, not at all. So, he shook his head no at him as he heard another scream.
"Even if you did need her, she doesn't need you. Right now, she needs her family more than anything and that's me. I'm going to be the one to save her and take her far away from you. You're the one that got her into this! You're the reason she is getting hurt!"
Dib stormed off before Zim could even reply back. Zim knocked his head against the cell door, shuddering with his teeth clenched. In his mind and under his gritted teeth he called Dib every name he could. His Gaz did need him, she needed no one else but him. He was her everything, she told him that, and he believed it and she was his. Zim could only entrust that Dib would save her as he said he would, if he could do that then nothing else mattered so long as she was safe and alive. He felt he would never be able to see her again, never hold her again, never kiss her again, never hear her voice again and the last remembrance of that voice would be her shrieks of pain. It didn't matter though, as long as she was okay. He also knew that Dib didn't stand too much of a chance against Matthew and that at least with Zim there his chances were higher but he was more stubborn than Zim. Why couldn't he just let bygones be bygones?
Why couldn't he bury the hatchet just for now? Zim was willing to work alongside him if it meant rescuing Gaz so why wasn't Dib? Was he so prideful, so selfish, so idiotic that he thought he could and had to do it all on his own? Zim leaned into the dark corner of the cell, staring at the ceiling. The only sounds he could hear were her, crying for him. Even if she never said his name, he knew it was for him. Not for Dib, not for her father, not for anyone else. He winced with each one he heard, wishing he could block it out, but it was his only indicator that she was alive. If she could still scream, she could still breathe. At the same time Tak was leading away her two felons, at this point far away enough to not hear the screams, they sounded more like creaking pipes or releasing air from a train whistle to her. Louie's hearing was even less superior than hers so he could hear close to nothing but he knew Gaz was in trouble, he could just feel it.
He did think of her but he also thought of his wife and kids back home. He was going to be jailed on a strange planet millions of lightyears away and they would never be able to see him. He had lived so long without a father, he did not want his children to suffer the same fate. He doubted this female alien would buy his claims so he decided not to tell her. All he could do is wait. Maybe if he told Dib he might, maybe, let him go? He could only wish for that. That's all he wanted at this point as he could trust Zim would be able to save her. Pixi marched at one side of Tak with Gir on the other, his head down. She tried communicating with him but he wasn't budging. She knew that it was possible Tak could hear them at some point, even if they weren't hers, but Pixi didn't care.
Gir please speak to me! Don't you realize what she's going to do to us? She will disassemble us both and then you'll never talk to me again.
Gir looked towards her with a sad sort of expression. I failed my mistress.
I know, I failed my masters...but there's nothing we can do about it anymore.
His eyes flickered towards blue, closer to his normal cyan before turning back red. I'll miss you.
Pixi smiled sadly at him. I'll miss you.
Tak shoved Purple along toward the jail cells keeping good track of both of the prisoners, especially the one who looked like Dib. It was striking. He really made a convincing look alike but that's all he was. She could see faint differences, slightly larger ears, he was shorter, his head wasn't as big, and he had more of a broad chest. However, she only noticed these fine details because of how long she spent around Dib. No matter how she looked at it his flesh seemed too real, nothing at all like a costume, but then he was just a human who looked like Dib wasn't he? How could a human bypass her security network? She'd have to deal with him after Purple was secured. Mimi caught up with her mistress, if she was human she'd be ought of breath for how fast she went. Mimi jumped on her shoulder as she had done with Gaz.
'Mimi! You are alright. He didn't hurt you, did he?'
No of course not but he's hurting that girl called Gaz. She asked me to find help.
'Why would she ask for me to help her? Well I can't at the moment. I'm sure Dib will.'
Mimi seemed somewhat pacified by the answer, shifting towards the ground in her robot form. She noted the two others there but paid them very little mind. Tak pushed Purple again as they got to the cell he was meant to go in but both parties looked aghast at what was there or lack thereof.
"I thought you said Red was too scared to leave!" Tak roared in his direction, raising her staff to strike him. Pixi turned away, wanting to block out the sound that came but it came anyways along with his yelp.
"He was! Ask any of them he really was! I don't know where he's gone."
Another whack. "Liar! But it doesn't matter to me, I will find him, rest assured, now get into your cell. I'll finish with you later."
Purple sighed and started his way into the cell. Just when he was about to see some action! Plus, he had just gotten his Pixi back, that had been good too. Now she was going to be reconfigured to follow only Tak and Dib's directions. Not a good life for such a sassy Sir unit. When he and Red had been invaders, way way before they were even tall enough to be Tallest yet, they had been given the components to build a Sir unit. Back then you built it yourself to your specifications now it was all buttons and flashy things and they adhered to whoever they were chosen to slave for.
This was also before Zim was even considered to be an invader yet and besides they were way above him in both skills and height so of course they were first. They had argued back and forth about what color eyes to give their Sir caught between purple and red, naturally. They compromised with pink because it was a light red and close to purple. The Sir was female, there had been more female Sirs then now a days very rarely any as there was no reason for genders. When she awoke, they called her Pixi, her eyes were the exact same color as their favorite berries and, though they did not know this, her diminutive size was very pixie like.
She served them loyally and they cared for her more so than most were really supposed to care for a Sir unit. She was sweet and spicy, just like a perfect combo of them, noble, proper, but had a lot of quips and jokes when need be, plus she always knew of the best snacks. When they fell down and hurt themselves, she helped them and when they succeeded, she congratulated them. They had never had anything like a friend but each other. Pixi had been more or less their friend, a faithful companion.
As they got taller, they realized what they were destined to be and that they would be glad to have Pixi by their side when they became the Tallest. Then one day the new models were brought in, Red had been attracted by their shiny bodies and new features, but he admitted they weren't like Pixi at all, they all looked the same. While they were distracted all the old models were rounded up, including Pixi and hurled into the sun. Through sheer luck she had escaped that but lost her memory and they lost her, never truly knowing what had happened to her and never replacing her.
Now all their hard work was going to be destroyed. On top of that for some reason Red was missing, which would only serve to make Purple lonelier and get more abuse, as if he was supposed to keep track of him. What did he look like; Red's keeper? Well he guessed he was, and Red was his, they kept each other. Kept each other out of trouble, kept each other happy, kept each other safe. Until now that is, Red was gone and no one would keep Purple safe any longer.
They had been each other's everything from the start, even being born mere seconds from each other in tubes right by each other. He sighed again. Why he left he would never know and where he went was another mystery. Those thoughts were all answered with a whacking sort of sound, hard and crunching like hitting the back of a head or a bat to baseball. It had not come from Tak hitting Purple but from someone hitting Tak, confirmed by her falling to the floor. Standing over her holding a branch or something like it maybe a metal rod was Red.
"Doesn't feel so good when it's you, now does it?"
"Red!" Purple shrieked gaily, eyes sparkling. He had left because he was not going to sit around and be made a coward. He had been Tallest once, a warrior, an Irken elite, an invader. Anything BUT that word. And he was sick of Tak and Dib and their abuse, whether physical or verbal. Mimi was pissed, no one attacked her mistress and got away with it. She leapt up and went to attack Red but Pixi stopped her, grabbing her out of the way and landing with her on the floor. It was an almost literal robo cat fight between the two female power house Sir units.
"Go now!" Pixi cried out as she fought. Red and Purple were inclined to do so, Louie as well was thankful to be saved, but Gir stood there. His eyes went between cyan and red back and forth over and over, stopping midway between both. A spark aligned up his back and antenna as he charged forward to defend Pixi, halfway in anger at her being attacked, and halfway protective of his girlfriend. Red, Purple, and Louie left them. Louie did eventually excuse himself to find the meeting room so he could update Krit and the others. That left Purple and Red alone with Purple leading the way back to where he remembered Zim was thrown into the holding cell. It wasn't like them to care even slightly about Zim, they had disliked him strongly, might have even hated him way back when. Now things were different, he was leader of a rebellion to take down Dib, and his sticking at their side, at their defense, had cost him losing track of that mate of his.
He had brought back their Pixi, rescued them as well as many others, and planned on saving them all- the entire race of them. Zim had also grown up, literally of course he was tall not as tall as them but tall and figuratively he had grown up. He had matured in some sense, if he was that same short angry ridiculous failure they had known he would not be planning everything so carefully.
Purple felt he owed him something and out of the two of them Purple liked Zim better than Red. Red couldn't stand him but even he had to admit he was a brave soldier to the end. Once this was all over, he would accept Zim back and encode his Pak to say he was a proper invader again. He deserved a chance now that he had shown he was worthy of one. Red had stopped in the middle of his running because Purple had stopped. He turned around and hugged his companion tightly around the waist, bending a little so his head was on his chest.
"I didn't tell you thank you earlier for coming back for me and hitting Tak. It was a wonderful hit, really."
Red pat his head and sighed in a he's such a hopeless dope but I love em' kind of way. He halfway smirked. "Thank me later when this is all over."
"Okay! Do you think we will go back to being The Tallest again or...?" Purple led off as he let go and kept his pace up towards the holding cell. Red shrugged a little, nonchalantly and unconcerned. "Well," Purple added on, "I guess it doesn't matter as long as we have each other...and free snacks."
Red rolled his eyes a little, a friendly smirk on his face. He hadn't given it much thought to what would happen once they were free from all this mess. At first, he was thinking he'd be glad to be Tallest again, have people under his thumb, but he did recognize there could easily be a shift in power and that it could even come from Zim himself. Yet he was saving the guy. Weird right? Perhaps he was maturing a bit too. Though he still wanted to have some place of power if for some reason he could not be the Tallest. They found Zim quickly enough, he was sitting sullenly in a dark corner that matched his dark mood about a certain darkly evil clouded boy who was touching nay hurting his dark but beautiful woman.
His eyes here hooded, his expression agonized. They could hear acutely the female scream and at her scream he flinched, placing his hands on his antenna and curling up in a fetal position. Neither of them had seen him like this. Red didn't even know that was his mate yet but he was a lot quicker to the draw than Purple, he could guess it seeing as no one would react to a comrade or troop member being tortured like that. She must be his "Liascep"- his intended, or life mate. It was an ancient sort of word and he wasn't sure why he knew it. Must have drudged it up from memory of the good old days when Miyuki reigned. She had invented the word really and it was never used again since.
"Hey Zim, don't look so glum. We're here to bust you out," Purple enlightened in a jolly sociable sort of way. Zim's head bolted upwards hearing the Tallest voice and also what it had said. He turned to see not just Purple but Red too.
"How...and where is Gir... and Pixi?"
"Fighting Tak's sir," Red responded, unlocking the way out for him with such ease it made Zim feel like a moron. They were leagues ahead of him and could get him out of such a simple cell but not even they could have hacked into the system for their own. Purple clapped for Red as if he had done something awe-inspiring by just opening a door. Red bowed one way then bowed the other way.
"Please hold your applause."
Red oofed as he got the wind knocked out of him hard. Zim was up and rushing towards the sounds of his beloveds' cries. The two ex-Tallest looked at each other with raised eyebrows then back at him before chasing him down.
"Hold on lover boy," Red said stopping in front of Zim and holding onto his shoulders. "How do you expect to do anything with those cuffs on?"
Zim looked down at his hands encaptured by spherical metal tubing. In his haste he had plum forgot he even had them on. His eyes looked pleadingly at his once ruler, putting his arms in front of him silently beseeching. Red studied them for a bit, finger stroking his chin. They looked standard enough, not anything that would only open to Tak's voice. He thought about an old trick some prisoners used to get out of these types of braces and employed it. It had hurt his finger a bit, sliding it into a tiny hole there to press against an even smaller barely touchable and not even visible button but Zim's arms were free. He thanked him quickly then was off again.
"Oh, you okay, Red?" Purple asked gently, looking at his slightly bruised finger.
"Yeah I'm fine Pur. Let's make sure he doesn't hurt himself."
"You haven't called me that since the academy," Purple nostalgically sighed but he was not just standing there sighing, he was running alongside Red.
At the same time that they were running Louie had found his way to the secret meeting room. He remembered Gaz's instructions with clarity. She had spoken them in such a detailed way and lead them with the grace that only a born leader could do. She wasn't just meant to be here she was born to be here. When he came in everyone turned to him, most likely expecting Gaz herself or Zim or someone of some importance. Krit was the only one who had concern written on his face. If Louie was here without anyone else then there must be trouble. Big trouble because last Krit knew Zim was in a real jam. He and the Irken army were just about to head out and fight, whether to liberate Zim himself or to go against Dib it didn't matter. The time for waiting was over. He needn't say anything, they knew what they had to do. Krit went over to the man and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.
"Stay here, okay? Keep the young ones calm and the old ones warm. Care for the women and give courage to the men. You'll be safe here. Don't worry, sir, I'll make sure Miss Gaz is okay."
Krit spoke so well, in Louie's opinion, such a brave lad he was. Ready to face war and possibly his own death but doing so knowing that it was for the good of his people, for his future, for his planet. Alien or not Louie did not enjoy knowing this child, only so much so older (in retrospect) to his own son, might meet an end but what could he do? All he could do was what the boy asked of him, protect those who stayed behind, those who had families just like him, with frightened children and shivering elders. He would do that and when the final bell tolled and the Irkens, he hoped, won their freedom back, he would be all too glad of it. He hoped to tell his children all about it when he got home, maybe someone could write a book about it even. Krit somehow became the leader of the group, not of his own decision or will, it just was. He knew where to go, he knew how to get there, and he knew a little more about the situation at hand. He was not the oldest, the wisest, the tallest, the smartest, but he was in a sense one of the bravest. Skoodge had commended him for his quick thinking and quick feet for without him Zim might have been in more trouble and their plans even more messed up than already was.
This was the lineup as it were, Krit and the band of rebellers, in front of that Red and Purple, in front of that Zim, and in front of that was Dib. Behind them all was the three Sir units, now having stopped their fight and coming to an agreement to quickly find their respective masters. Tak needed Mimi, the Tallest needed Pixi, and Zim needed Gir that's what they knew. If they quarreled nothing would come of it and they would have all failed. MiniMoose ended up bobbing alongside them. Tak was also just behind the army, with Mimi on her shoulder now.
She could not singlehandedly take them down but she could certainly gather more on her side who could. First things first though was getting Zim out of the way again, he was an utter nuisance. If she could go fast enough she could catch up with Dib. At that time Zim was now catching up with Dib himself, striding along him. He turned as saw the blur of green next to him with no cocky smile, no flash of excitement in his eyes, no victory anywhere on his face or coming out of his mouth. He was serious a could be, dead set on one thing and he was grimacing too.
"Zim! How did you get out!? No don't answer that it doesn't matter I'll-"
"You are right, it doesn't matter. Friend or foe, I don't care, I'm going to be there by her side so don't try to stop me."
"But I will stop you and I told you already she doesn't even need you!"
As if responding to that Gaz's voice yelled in utter agony Zim's name in a pleading tone. Zim's heart went as far down as it could go. She was desperately calling to him for help and he could not ignore that or talk with Dib. Dib had heard it loud and clear, Gaz was not calling for him. Gaz was not woefully screaming for him to help her. Not even in her time of need, in her final hour, with her last breath, did she call for him. No torture could wring that out of her because it was not what her heart desired in those moments where death was coming quick. He could try hard to tell himself lie after lie about how she didn't know he was on board so she didn't know he was there to help her but in desperation she would have called on even Jesus Christ if she thought he might come for her soul.
She only called out for Zim and Zim alone. Dib was so wrapped up in his head again that he didn't notice Tak was now somehow by his side keeping up pace with him. She was talking, he could hear her soft British murmuring, something about a war or an army. He should be listening but all that mattered right now was getting to Gaz even if she didn't need him. They were family, regardless, they had their fights, they slammed doors, and other siblings did hate each other sometimes but he was her brother. Want him or not he was going to be there to take care of his sister.
Not to prove himself, but because he had to. He would damn himself if anything else happened to his family. They were disjointed already. Mother missing or possibly dead, Father barely giving a damn unless you lived up to his standards, and the two siblings torn apart by grief and misunderstanding. He still loved her, no matter what happened, even if she didn't seem to care for him or acknowledge him, even if she thought the worst of him, wanted him to die, he would do anything he could to save her. Tak couldn't snap Dib out of it. She had heard Gaz's cries and just let it be. It was obvious he was more concerned about that then the fact that they had a whole fleet of Irkens just behind him. She would not say I told you so. However, she did not want to be reprimanded or anything for being this close and not helping at all.
The sister of her mate was still somewhat her responsibility and she could not let the woman die. They halted seeing Zim standing there with a gun pointed at a glass window and shooting but the bullets kept ricocheting off it even his plasma shooter seemed to have no effect. Dib could see what was behind the window and he felt like screaming too. His little sister was being strangled to death by that guy and the horror of it all was Dib had brought him here, he had given him a way to get to her. Just like everything else, it was his fault. There was no time to reflect on it. He got out his own guns, an Irken and earth infusion and shot alongside Zim, hoping two would be better than one. Zim's Pak was still deactivated thanks to Tak so he could only rely on what he had. Tak joined in too along with Mimi but not even the biggest gun had any effect.
Matt was chuckling darkly as he was watching the people who cared oh so much for this puny pathetic girl look on hopelessly while her life drained in his hands. He let her scream, actually he actively encouraged it creating more pain for her until water burned from eyes and traveled down her cheeks. Judging by how she was twitching she would be gone in mere minutes. Zim was panicking, heart rate going faster, his mind working out every algorithm possible to figure out what he could do to get to her. He took a deep breath in. He knew what he had to do and he didn't care what happened to him. All he cared about was his love.
He closed his eyes tightly as he backed up far as he could go then ran full speed at the glass, leaping and turning just an few inches before he got there so his Pak, his own life force, would hit it first. This was risky, it could end up costing him his life but if it worked, if the glass broke, then nothing else mattered in the whole world. He was willing to let Dib be her savior as long as someone was. Gaz needed to live. She was a strong woman she could live on without him, eventually she might be able to move on, and he was okay with that. As long as she COULD live on. The glass shattered into a million pieces, some ripped his skin, some stuck in there deeply as his body flopped hard to the ground.
His Pak went first, a small jolt of electricity whirring inside it and up his spine causing him to convulse. He was alive though. He got up, struggling against the pain. This was nothing, the pain he felt from hearing her scream like that, from knowing she was hurt, from having to sit there and watch her suffer- that was a million times worse. This was nothing. Blood dripped from his body but he did not remove the glass nor did he wipe away the blood nor did he do anything to check his vitals. His adrenalin was going strong and the horse blinders made him focus on one thing; killing Matthew. Dib was a pious angel in compare to what Zim saw Matthew as. Matthew let go of Gaz's neck letting her head droop down upon the pillow, almost a bit too kind of an action for someone so cruel. He even stepped to the side with a charming but very much evil smile, so satisfied with his work that he wished to show it off.
"Go ahead and shoot me, stab me, do your worst. I'll greet the reaper like an old friend and so will Gaz. She was dead the moment your body went crashing through the window."
No sound was heard. All quiet. Nothing. That darkness that surrounded the fiend could have swallowed Zim whole and it would seem like light compared to the darkness he was in now. They were too late. So much time had been wasted, so much bickering, so much arguing, so much stopping, so much pause. They were too late. Zim didn't hear Dib enter in through the broken window, he heard nothing not even his own heart. It was dead, it had stopped the moment he heard that hers had stopped. It was buried along with her, the woman who had stolen it and made it hers, the only person worthy enough to have it and she took it with her right to the grave. He didn't hear Dib's sobbing hysterically, yelling that it wasn't true over and over again amongst other things. He didn't hear nor see Tak's soft sigh as she bent down her head to mourn the woman because like her or not it was still a life she could have saved, could have not had her Dib suffer another great loss.
He did not hear the Tallest catching up gasping at Tak and then shutting themselves up when they saw the scene before them. He did not hear everyone else joining in and reacting the same. He heard nothing. They were too late. Gaz was gone and without her the entire plan, everything in his life, went with it. Nothing had any meaning any more, nothing. He felt something shatter inside of him, his sanity. An Irken was not meant to love it was not in their rules, it was not in their coding, it was not in their blood because when they loved they got weak and soft and when that happened, they got hurt. It was often physically but it was also emotionally. They were too late. If he had gone along with her a bit sooner this wouldn't have happened. If he had ran a bit quicker this wouldn't have happened. If...if...
There was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing without Gaz. A void, an empty void, filled with misery such as no Irken should ever feel nor any human could ever know for none loved so deeply as he did. He who loved no one and cared only for himself at first. What was the point of loving and feeling if it ended up in pain? What was the point of anything? He didn't hear Dib's war cries yet again as this time his rage was directed towards the person who deserved it but that person kept dodging him. He didn't hear that person's laughter, mocking and disturbingly gleeful. Zim's legs felt like they would give out, like his bones were no longer in his body. There were no bones there were no organs. There was nothing. He used his dead legs to walk forever it felt like towards her, what was her, what was left of her, his Gaz. He scooped her into his arms which felt so empty despite having her in them because she wasn't in them, it was just her shell.
The beautiful cold lifeless shell, a ghost that like Matthews laugh mocked him. Her eyes were wide open and staring at him, no longer glowing, no longer full of fire, no longer bright with passion or fury. They were dead like her. Dead and telling him, you were too late. He cradled her against his chest, wanting to absorb her death somehow, make himself die so that she could come back to life but he was dying anyways, a death more painful than hers might have been. He was dying because she was dead and yet he could not die. For all the pain inside of him at the moment and that he would carry like he carried her now for the rest of his life, he could not die.
He wished he was dead but what would that solve? She was still not going to be there greeting him in the afterlife. He could wish for that but it wasn't going to happen. He would never see her smile, because it had been too late, he would never hear her laugh, because it had been too late, he would never know love again, because it had been too late. There was no point in wasting his voice trying to get her to come back to life, asking her, pleading for her to just wake up from this endless slumber, to look at him with alive eyes again, to hold him as he held her, to be warm and soft against him.
So instead of senseless questions, instead of saying her name like that would rouse her, instead of speaking anything he did only what he could. His knees finally gave in, not from the weight of her, she was light as if her soul alone had been the weight of her, but from lack of use. There was no use for them any longer if not to run with her, to dance with her, to walk alongside her. He crushed her against him, hard against him, his body was trembling violently. Zim then let out a terrible wail, such a lament could outrival the ones known on his planet for the fallen. The raw emotion in his cry turned everyone there, except the obvious, to ice.
Even those that knew no such emotion broke a little hearing it. It was worse than a mother's cry when finding out her house was on fire with her children inside, worse than a father finding his daughter murdered in the forest, worse than any person who has lost any loved thing in their life. There was no way to describe it other than heart shatteringly soul destroyingly tormented. All who were close to her had been affected even those not so close but the one most affected by it was Dib. It went to his core, shook it along with his brain. He knew now, if he had only listened, if he only paid attention to her then she wouldn't have loathed him so. If he had listened to anyone this wouldn't have happened. He had been ignorant and stubborn and naïve and foolish and all of that had led to this. His eyes were open to the truth now. He could see clear as day that Zim loved Gaz, as he wept orange tinted tears on her face, her still unmoving face, as he held onto her limp corpse. He knew now that Zim loved her
but it was too late.