Matthew reveled in the misery of all that stood present before him but especially the alien that was crying for the deceased girl. Everyone around him was exuding a vast amount of negative energy derived purely from their sadness and that fueled him. Not a soul there was without the somber feeling, even those that had barely met her because of Zim's lamenting howl. The two who were hurting the worst outside of Dib and Zim were Gir and Krit. Krit had never cried before, never let loose a single tear for anything ever, but they slid out of his eyes as he saw her lifeless body. That woman had become so much to him just in those few days, she had been so powerful that it seemed nothing could touch her. Now she was gone forever. He ached in a way he had not experienced and wished he couldn't but he ached none the less. As much as he did ache, he knew, he could see, he could hear, and he could feel that Zim's ache was enough to fill 50 planets.
Gir was a robot he was never meant to have feelings but he did. He could feel happy, mad, excited, thoughtful, he could even regret and right now he was feeling sorrow. Perhaps not as much as the others but for a robot it was a heavy enough pain. He understood well enough the concept of life and death but had never taken it too seriously even when he awoke from his own, he didn't think about it much. Confronted with the passing of his mistress who had saved him and brought him back to life, the Sir was struck. He wanted to comfort his master in this time of need but even Gir knew that wouldn't be much help. He had nothing to say. He had failed her, he had failed Zim too. He promised things to both of them and now it was broken much like his nonexistent heart. No one could console him though many wanted to. They just hung their heads down in silence.
What could they do now? It seemed inappropriate to start an all-out war with anyone, especially because this was Dib's own sister who was laying there lifelessly. He did not care about them being there at all even though he knew what they wanted to do to him. He didn't care about the last reigning Tallest being out of their cells, he didn't even care about Tak right now. The only emotion he had in him was deeply rooted remorse and bitter regret. His sister, his baby sister, was gone forever. Just like that. One moment he had seen her, alive and well, livid at him sure, but alive, and now she was no more. Slipped right through his fingers like sand and the reason was because he didn't hold her tight enough or maybe it was that he had such a loose grip on her.
His vision was blurred by tears that poured like a broken damn out of his eyes. No amount of medication could ease this pain in his heart. He lost his mind as he lost his sister and it was his own doing. Clarity, he finally had clarity and it took losing her to see that. He had pushed her away without meaning to do so. While he was off chasing after fictious and nonficticious beings of the supernatural he left her alone, he never cared to ask how she felt, how she was doing, if she was happy, if she ever thought about mom like he did, if she was ever suspicious of dad like he was, what her dreams were, what kinds of things she liked. He had inadvertently not cared at all. All he cared about was taking down Zim.
He wanted so badly to show everyone he was right, to be on top, to become a hero and he did. At what cost? It was not worth it if it led to this. Every step he had taken, every damn step, had been leading to this. He tore her away from Zim, the one thing he could see now had made her truly happy. She smiled when around him, laughed, loved. He had seen how her eyes had brightened whenever he was around no matter his guise. His brain kept making excuses to paint her as a victim in all of this, he did not want to come to terms that his sister betrayed him, but the reality was he had betrayed her. She was retaliating like an animal trapped in a corner. He had done everything he could to tear her away from what he thought was his enemy. Was Zim really his enemy? Even if he was, it didn't matter now. Not a thing mattered. Zim sat there rubbing his face against her cold one shaking so much it seemed like he was having a seizure.
Dib looked at him. Enemy or not, he could not hate him if he cared for Gaz that much, and even he did not deserve to have such a heavy pain upon him. He felt bad for Zim, a thing he never thought he would feel for the being. He had so much to atone for, so many apologies to give, but it didn't matter now. Dib felt he deserved jail for the murder of Gazlene Membrane. He had not pulled a trigger, stabbed a knife, or lit a match but he might as well have. He had killed her with his ignorance.
Dib felt his heart split in two because there was nothing, he could do now to fix any of this. It didn't matter what actions he took now, nothing could bring her back. As he sat there watching his arch rival sobbing broken heartedly over his sisters' body, he didn't notice or remember that Matthew was right there. He was sitting there just waiting and watching and most of all laughing loudly enough that it was a wonder how no one seemed to notice him. It might be that they did hear him and see him but didn't do anything about it at the moment as they were in mourning mode. That was until he spoke, words sharp as knives if not sharper, words that hit harder than anything.
"She was pregnant you know."
His voice had been so chipper when he spoke it, disturbingly delighted about the whole thing. Zim's head snapped upwards at the statement, his orange-tinted tears staining his green skin, and his eyes seemingly redder from crying, got wider. Just when he thought his heart could take no more agony the bastard had delivered another blow. Just when he thought he could not scream any louder, hurt any deeper. His Gaz's life was enough torture to his soul, enough to send him to his death bed, enough to make him walk this plane without a speck of joy in him for eons. Now he had to add onto that the death of his own smeets. He had not even been told she had any and learning it this way, it carved into him until that torment was etched upon him, in his eyes, in his skin, into his body, until his veins were pulsating with the pain of it. Dib heard it too, his head whipping towards the person who had wiped away Gaz's life and was even more evil, having taken it when she was... Alien or not, villain or not, it didn't matter who the father was that was still his sister and those were, no had been, could have been, his nephews and nieces.
Tak wrapped her arms around her stomach and sighed somberly, feeling as forlorn as she possibly could.
She could not handle that, hearing someone who would take away a woman's life was enough, but to take away the lives of unborn children... She could not fathom it. Now it felt personal, it felt like she had to get involved with the killing of Matthew because this was unspeakable. This was an atrocity. She didn't like Gaz too much only because she had never got to know her, but that didn't matter. They were both women who had fought valiantly and shown tenacity, she could respect that and her decisions to go against every code of conduct to save her mate. There was something else too, Tak was with child herself and she felt a strange kind of hollowness hearing anyone's chance at motherhood wiped away so coldly.
Zim slowly got up causing everyone's eyes to be on him as he had not made too much drastic movement. He carefully laid Gaz's body on the bed, folding her arms over her chest with a solemn reverence, and stroking her hair in a tender way. He sighed shakily as he closed her eyes, he could not bear them staring at him, accusing him. He turned towards Matthew, his eyes darkened with malice where they had just had a gloominess. The air about him shifted drastically like a hot wind on an otherwise freezing day. He scowled at the black smoky figure who was standing perfectly still, waiting for his death, welcoming it. Killing him would do nothing, it would not bring her back, it would not rectify a thing, and it was what he wanted anyways but Zim would still kill him regardless.
He lifted his gun to the smiling creature as more tears came out of his eyes speaking volumes for all the things his voice could not utter any longer. Speaking seemed invalid. It had no meaning any more if not to talk to her and hear her talk back to him. He would have no trouble murdering him, no trouble at all, and he would let himself enjoy it just a little, let himself have that one pleasure before he resided in his pain forever. He would do it for her. Dib locked and loaded his gun, never taking his eyes off the smug arrogant son of a bitch. He also knew that ending his life wouldn't do a damned thing but he'd relish it.
After that he would give it up, give it all up, he didn't care anymore, none of this mattered anymore. He had gained nothing. He had lost his family. What was the point? Zim could have his planet back, have it all, it didn't matter. It was just a rock. Nothing had meaning, nothing had purpose. Tak was readily by Dib's side, raising her custom blaster. She had hated Zim for so long, hated him for very silly reasons, and now it just was gone. They weren't enemies in that moment, they weren't friends either. They were just banded and bonded together in their equal hatred of this person.
They would have shot repeatedly until his body parts were all over the place, until his insides were his outsides, until his blood splattered across the room, they would have filled him with holes to somehow pacify the one left behind by Gaz. They would have killed him, gladly, but they could not. Not because they didn't want to, they wanted to badly, but his attention, everyone's attention was now on something else. That something else was Gaz. Her body had a heavenly lavender glow outlining it and she was levitating above the bed as the glow got brighter and consumed her entire form.
Darkness had been the thing Gaz had seen when her light was snuffed out. Utter darkness, more pitch black than even the shadows from which Matthew crawled from. She could not attest if this was heaven, hell, or some kind of purgatory but she stood there for a while and let it sink in. She was dead, that much was for certain, he had taken all of her life away. So, this was to be her fate then? Stuck in an endless void? Was it supposed to be some kind of mocking gesture of how she had died?
Then bright white speckles appeared, then blue ones, and even red. They twinkled. They were stars. Was this the good place then? Surely no hell would have such imagery in it. No hell would give her this double-edged sword of a blessing. Was this meant to comfort her? Was the ferrier going to come at any second and guide her away? She could see the big dipper so clearly now, still disconjoined with some of the stars missing. This was exactly how her sky looked now.
Was she a ghost? A space ghost? Was she going to float around here watching from above as life below passed her by? She had so many questions and no big man upstairs or red horned devil to answer for them. Just the silent twinkle of the stars. Gaz focused solely on her favored constellation, drawing over it with her finger tips. What was this place and why was she here? One of the brighter constellational stars, almost purple in color, seemed to shine just at her. She wondered if it really was a star at all or just another planet Dib hadn't conquered yet.
She noticed now she was not in anything but her undergarments. She should feel upset or something but she wasn't. She was dead right? What was the point of being embarrassed at all? Maybe she was supposed to be led in naked, stripped of her worldly possessions. Although she still had her skull locket and that was nice of them to let her keep. She clutched it and thought of everything and everyone she was leaving behind and how they would be hurting for her. She also thought of her poor smeets, they had not even gotten to be fully developed before they were obliterated.
Gaz sighed then gasped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Was it God, an angel, some kind of harbinger of death? Gaz turned to view the person or thing wondering if she'd be blinded by its brilliance. What she saw shocked her. It was a woman, a beautiful woman, dressed in a modest long dress with dark purple buttons aligning the front and dark pink ruffles. She had long pink-purple hair and golden-brown eyes. This woman was, or at least was identical in appearance to, her own mother. Gaz felt a sea of emotions. Relief, joy, sadness, even a bit of anger but most of all she was confused. Either this was some person who came in the form of her mother to soothe her as they walked into the real after life or this was Heaven and she was in it. Her mother, or someone like her, took Gaz's hands in her own. They were oddly warm for someone meant to be dead. The woman blinked and smiled sweetly.
"Is this heaven...?"
The woman laughed, just like her mom, so gentle and free spirited. "Not really no."
"Then it's the other place... or purgatory."
"My sunshine," The woman soothingly said, giving Gaz an endearing look. This had to be her mother, only she could call her that and say it so kindly, just like she had when Gaz was small. How or why it didn't matter. She was there. Gaz went directly into her arms and held her tight not even caring about her own lack of clothing. Light tears floated away from her eyes as she buried her face on her mother's chest. Her mother brushed through her hair and hummed their song. She smelled like her, like gingerbread and wonderful nice sweet things, the entire opposite of Gaz.
"Mom...I've missed you so much..."
"I know my darling. I have missed you so much too."
"Where have you been? Where did you go? Why are you here?"
"So many questions but I suppose we do have time for it. This is a long and quite complicated story, Gazlene, but one you, looking back on it, should have known. Just lay against me a while and I will tell it. I permit you not interrupt as well."
Gaz would not. They had all the time in the world now and there was no one she wanted to spend eternity in the arms of more than her mother... save one.
"You see, my dearest sunshine, a long time ago on Irk there was a Queen and she had many children. When it was time to go from monarchy to tallarchy she stepped down off her throne and died at some point of old age. She was older than the oldest earth tree, you see, and that is very old for an Irken. Even though she died her legacy lived on in her offspring but that would not continue on for an even longer time. Miyuki came to rule with Spork and they were the first and possibly last of the Tallest, of any of their race, to have natural birthed babies or as they called them smeets. She loved him and he loved her, it was a rare but special thing. However, it did not last as they eventually passed on too though they weren't nearly as old as the Mother of Irk. They only had, at the end of it all, two descendants. One of which is not worth mentioning but the other became a rogue. His theories were wild and rabid, no one believed him, he said there was a great prophecy but no one took him seriously. He went from planet to planet to find out who would fulfill this prophecy. This is where we come in.
My past I won't go into, it's not interesting rest assured. I had a normal life until I met him, Professor Gene Membrane. It was love at first sight I suppose, at least that's what I felt. It took him a long time to warm up to human companionship, he was a shut in most of his life with no real friends or anything. I had come to change that and change him and in doing so he found he loved me. We were married very quickly and then I was introduced to his son, Dibbert but we all called him Dib and really that's more dignified. He had never told me where his son came from, whether from preexisting marriage or not, but he had told me he was not able to create children biologically. I assumed Dib might be adopted but that seemed impossible as he was the spitting image of his father. It didn't matter, I loved him as my own. Then one day a miracle. I was with child. To him it made no scientific sense but I passed all his tests, I was not a liar or a cheater, and he was thankful for that. We just supposed there was a slim chance that somehow some way he had actually gotten me pregnant.
Really, I never thought about the what's and how's and whys. I was happy. When you were born, I named you Gazlene, your eyes burned bright like an amber fire. I loved you dearly I'm sure you know. It wasn't even that long that the biggest events happened to me, one I had found out what Dib was and that he was not the only one. As you can imagine this led to a lot of arguments over ethics between your father and me and drove us apart in a lot of ways. Then two, I met someone. I thought he was a person and that he was wounded but as I got closer, I saw he was not a person at all, he looked extra-terrestrial. He pointed at me and said a lot of nonsense, something about a chosen one or whatever and told me I had to leave with him. I ran away immediately. Months passed and you grew and very early on I noticed your powers and his words rang within me. There were so many moments that I began to realize what he said held some truth. I told your father, he was outraged, called me a lunatic, we were already at our breaking point. Then I decided to make the hardest decision I could ever make. The alien wanted you as proof but I told him to take me instead, that I wanted you to have a normal life on earth, as a normal girl.
He showed me off but no one believed him again so he was sent packing to another planet far away and I forcibly came him. I had nowhere to go and no way to get home or get to you. I knew though I'd see you again someday and that we'd have this conversation. You see that alien man was the lost descendant of Miyuki, and he denied the throne because of the prophecy. The prophecy stated that there will come in time where the Queen will be reincarnated into another form. You were that form."
Gaz laid there, hearing her mother's heart beat under the skin, and let all this information sink in. It really should have shaken her more than it did but when she put the pieces together it made all too much sense. Her somewhat unnatural adoration of outer space, her deep connection with it, the way she felt more at home amongst non-humans, the way she felt so at ease around Zim and his kind, her taste buds agreeing with non earth food, and how she had somehow telepathically spoke to Mimi. It all made sense now. Zim always told her she didn't belong here, she was not meant for this planet, that she was an Irken underneath a human skin.
He was right on the mark without knowing it. And how he had called her his queen over and over, implying that she was meant to be or would be. He was correct, absolutely correct. Even him knowing their song without having heard it on earth, it all was connected. Her mother would have sung it and from there it might have spread to him. In retrospect it wasn't surprising at all but she was still kind of taken aback at all of this. To think that's what she was, a mighty Irken Empress meant to rule the cosmos. Going from simple girl to that was more than a leap it was a jet boost.
She briefly thought of how Dib always remarked that their mother was abducted by aliens and in a way he had been right. She also thought of something else; that her father wasn't her father and her brother not her brother which, unfortunately, included dear Louie. The only person she was related to was her mother. Just how she was formed and when was up for debate. Gaz sort of mentally joked with herself that she was space Jesus and it wasn't that much of a stretch. She was already the Irken liberator come to free them from tyranny- it just took on a more literal form now.
Gaz liked to imagine that since humans were theoretically supposed to have come from star matter that so had she, that the Mother of Irk had burst into a million pieces and those pieces became stars and those stars became Gaz and Gaz alone. It would never happen again. Could have been anyone, really. Could have been even a male host but it was Gaz. She thought that it made sense for the Queen to choose her, a girl that maybe she could somehow, even in her death, have some sort of clairvoyance to see would not feel a part of her own planet. A girl who would love an Irken just the way he was, a girl that would love their planet, have a grasp on their language quicker than most, know how to already drive a ship without being taught, a girl who hated humanity and thought about it being better if it had been invaded proper.
A girl who had suffered so long wondering where she belonged, what her purpose was, and if she was meant to be alone forever. Gaz knew her powers were not normal but she just sort of accepted them and didn't question it too much. It was apparent that the powers had come from the Irk Mother herself. She had never been told the full story but she assumed she was the creator of all of their race including the Gallkins so she must have had extraordinary abilities to do such a thing, making her into some kind of goddess.
If she had the power to create life, she could have the power to take it away and given that she was built up of whozits and whatzzits collected in space she would have energy from dark holes, supernovas, and suns. Perhaps Gaz did not have all of those things but she had destructive dark forces one of which was fire and that also had the ability to make new life. With all this information swirling around in her cranium she really was only focused on one thing. Her mother felt warm, she felt alive.
"Mom...where are we...aren't I dead?"
"Your heart stopped and you entered a cryogenic sort of stasis so your body feels cold, like death. Think of this like a possum's defense system, you are only playing dead. It makes your enemy believe they have ended you."
"So, I'm not...then where is this...and why are you here? You aren't...dead, are you?"
"No, I'm very much alive and living on a little planet right in the big dipper. Your brother was lucky to not have marked that planet for destruction and I was lucky too. As to where we are, I couldn't say. This must be in your mind, I suppose. We are bonded by blood and perhaps when you reached this stage, I was able to contact you somehow. I'm still not entirely sure how all of this mumbo jumbo works, if I'm being honest. I know that I am asleep right now, so this could all be a dream. Whatever the case, you are here, and I can see the beautiful woman you have become."
Gazlene flushed appreciably under the praise as her mother stroked her cheek and gave her that loving smile that could bring back the light in Gaz's heart. A couple of ideas started bursting into her head all wanting to make themselves known but she organized them so as not to get overwhelmed.
"Wait...if I'm alive then my..." Her hand went to her stomach and everything in her felt like it was crossing its fingers. 'Please please please', her mind repeated.
"Just barely. If your heart stopped then your blood isn't flowing to them."
"I have to wake up or go back to my body. If I'm not gone then I'm going back right now and I'm going to do horrible unspeakable atrocious heinous things to the guy who tried to end my life!" Gaz pledged this as she wrung her hands and gritted her teeth. Her mother pat her head and she calmed down a bit. "But...you won't be there..."
"Don't worry about that, you can find me easily enough when it comes time for it. For now, you go back and you show them who you are, you take back your kingdom!"
Gaz nodded her head firmly and closed her eyes feeling her mother's lips on her brow. Gaz didn't know how any of this worked but she summoned up all her energy, all her power, all her courage, her strength, her love, her desire to go back, her will. She pictured herself there, she pictured herself with him, and she let one sentence become a mantra in her head. It was both in English and in Irken, sounding like her voice but an elderly mystical voice as well. I am the Queen and my people need me. It kept repeating in her head over and over again and though it was such a simple phrase it gave her more drive to keep going.
She felt an overwhelmingly burning surge enter her nervous system, whiz around her bones, dance into her brain, skip along each pore in her skin, and weave its way into her hair. As much as it scalded her, she let it continue, even with it going so far as to make her feel like she was dipped into lava but surviving it. It kept growing and growing, the sound of whatever was thrumming to life kept growing and growing, she heard her heart join with it, thumping hard, but another sound made her smile even more, it even made wetness dot her eyes to cascade down her cheeks. There were tiny hearts beating alongside it.
Her body was bathed in a lavender light as she felt weightless. She was floating but it felt nothing like that floating sensation she had before when traveling through the shadows. It felt harmonious. The air about her smelled different, it felt different, she felt different- changed somehow but very much still the same. Her body lowered slowly, gingerly, until her feet could feel a hard surface underneath it. Her limbs followed suit like ribbons fluttering down by her side until all of her was still. The pulsating lavender around her came to a halt matching her heart beat and as it calmed down and went back to its natural state so did it. Something just told her to open her eyes so she did, gradually, greeting by her long black lashes first and then- a breath of life was breathed into her. In front of her staring looking so astounded and beside himself, was the person she had been trying to get back to the whole time. His name bubbled up from the pits of her soul tickling her throat as it came spilling out of her mouth.
"Zim!"
Everyone stood there, staring wide eyed and open mouthed at her. Literally everyone was mystified. They would say they couldn't believe it but they had all seen it clear as day. There was living proof standing right there, it had just spoke. Oh, and Fyi she was clothed. She just had this aura around her that exuded authority and power, a very slight halo glow around her form. Gaz's arms opened and Zim rushed into them. He didn't care how, he didn't care why, he didn't care about any of the details. She was there. He never held onto anything so tightly in his life. This was real not some fiction of his deluded fantasy, not some hologram, not some imposter either.
It was truly really her. Her scent overpowered all of his senses, her warmth wrapped around him like a blanket, her voice was the most beautiful wonderful sound he had ever heard. She was alive and that fact alone made him want to burst with rapture. Gaz held him back, just as tight. It had felt like an eternity if not even longer that's she had touched him, felt his skin, smelled that nostalgic smell he carried. Ever so briefly her mind wondered if the scent was nostalgic to her because it was the smell of her people. Then again, only Zim held this smell for her. There were others there, she knew, some of which were now vocally celebrating, but all of that was blocked out.
She needed to hold him and never let go. It was the clingiest she could have ever let herself be with him but it was necessary. She had lost him just as he had lost her and now, they had found each other again. Gaz wanted to kiss him, tell him everything, and keep on holding him but she had unfinished business-Vengeful business. Zim did not want to let her escape his grasp, fearful that if he did, she'd vanish, that she would just drop onto the floor like a ragdoll. She wiggled a little in his arms but he clung tighter still.
What if she was just here to say goodbye before she really went onward? What if this was just a phantom and the moment he let her loose her spirit would rise away? She lifted up his face to meet hers. She could tell he had been weeping, a lot actually, his face was marked by two ginger streaks. On her own face she could feel cool droplets that were now just sticky residue. He had held her and he had cried onto her face. She took her hand and let it rest there on his cheek. He nuzzled into it like it was more it's life force than his own Pak, giving it a chaste kiss.
"I... it's...it's...impossible!" Matthews panicked voice shrilly shrieked making everyone turn toward his direction. "You had no pulse...!"
"That is true," Gaz replied, loosening from Zim's grip if only slightly, to turn and face her would be assassin. Each word she spoke with purpose, making each one strike like a hammer upon hot iron. "My heart had stopped entirely but that did not mean I was dead. I told you, you are horrible at this. If it was me, I would have made sure, absolutely sure, without a shadow of a doubt that my victim was deceased."
Gaz rose her arm up, palm facing him. He stood there, sewed to the floor, unable to move a single inch out of sheer fear alone. From her elbow to her fingertips came a blinding energy but this time she was able to control it more, this time she would not miss. A fireball shot out from the center of her palm that he half assedly tried to block but it went right through his barrier and struck into him. His body turned from black to her favored color until that's all he was, purple smoke, then there was a crackling sound that grew until he combusted leaving behind only a thin wispy trail of smoke in the air.
And that was the end of Matthew. Gaz smirked. It felt good to dispatch someone who had dared think himself haughty enough to stop her. She felt herself lift upwards as Zim grabbed around her waist then crash into his chest and his lips upon hers. Her eyes closed serenely as she felt that, not caring about anyone's reactions or anything else going on. There was only the two of them. Dib had felt elated the moment he knew for certain his sister was alive again, now crying out of joy alone. He did have an idea of how it had happened, how someone could come back like that, but that scenario was a few seconds, she had been dead for far longer than that.
He did not care in the slightest what the reason was for it, she was back but that did not mean his plate or conscious was suddenly clear of all the burden he felt. It was his own fault and no one else's that things had come this far, had gone this way. He did not have anything to say when she kissed Zim, not a word, he only turned away a little and smiled to himself. She was alive and she was happy. He had wanted nothing else but that. Everyone else, save for Tak who was still utterly baffled and Mimi who pretty much didn't care all that much, celebrated. Cheers, whoops, hollers, even noise makers were brought into the situation and they hadn't even had won the war yet. Dib was standing there with his weapons down, he did not look like he was willing or able to fight anymore.
Even if he was this was still a victory in itself. Krit had breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she was okay though he could not attest to any reasoning as to why she had floated and glowed. He shook away the questioning, what did it matter, really? She was there again and that made him feel good inside especially seeing his mentor so beside himself with glee. Gir's eyes went completely cyan and he returned back to his good old normal self again, throwing confetti and blowing through a paper horn. He kissed Pixi right on her mouth and she just shrugged and let it happen. It had taken a long time before Zim was able to disconnect with Gaz in any way but he only did so because he had a million trillion kajillion things to say and ask. He pressed his forehead onto hers, a big grin never leaving his mouth.
"You have got a lot of explaining to do."
"Oh Zimmy...you might want to sit down for this... you might all want to sit down."
Gaz took a deep breath and began her story, from the beginning of what she saw in the dark after what she thought was her demise to now and everything in between. With each passing detail, each tidbit, each plot element, the faces around her morphed. Each one was a different flavor of "huh?", "what?", "are you for real?", "seriously?", and "oh my god!". She paid them no mind and kept going, knowing they would all be dumbfounded and struck to silence by her tale. They might not even believe her. She didn't care if they didn't, she knew it was true. She of course had absolutely no proof of these claims other than what she was told but she just knew it was the truth.
She could feel it. She felt the spirit of the Irk Mother in her. Her story winded down with the moment she opened her eyes and she stood there letting them all come to their own conclusions about it all. They would need some time to take it all in so she just let them. All jaws were at floor level, most likely even going further below that. All eyes were like moons, expanding across their faces. Everyone there was floored. Most all of them were thinking the same thing; This whole time she was our monarch and we treated her like (insert way that they treated her). In Krit's case he had not been cruel to her in the slightest.
He had given her respect and fought for her but if had known, if had any clue, he would have done a lot more things differently. It did click for him, that he felt a certain connection with her, that he felt like he HAD to be loyal to her, that he wanted to prove himself to her, and he never thought of why when at that point she hadn't done much. It just seemed right to do so. Now he knew why. In Pixi's case she had always been as polite as possible to the woman, as she would anyone she had served, the woman rescued her. It seemed she was always rescuing someone.
She had treated her with more decency than a robot deserved to be treated with, made her feel like she was kind of part of this weird whacky family. She had earned her wings so to speak. Now coming across this new knowledge, she wished she had done more, said more, respected her more. The Tallest had only just saw her and were gob smacked to say the least. This girl, this small human girl was to be their leader? It had been horrifying to have Dib lead them, someone who wasn't their kind but something felt different about her. If she was who she said she was it wasn't exactly the same as a human running things.
Either way it came as a shock to hear that. Dib and Tak felt like something had smacked them across the face and punched them in the stomach at the same time. That sting felt by Tak was the sting of recalling all she had done to Gaz even though it had not been all that negative. Hunting her down, being totally okay with her imprisonment, and other things had certainly put her on Gaz's shit list, for sure. Not to mention, given the light of recent info, the things she had done to the Irkens even if it was for the greater good was certainly not going to fly by her.
Dib was even worse off than her on the things he had done wrong list already and now this. He couldn't believe it. Gaz was like Anastasia, a lost princess of the Irken culture. No not princess, even bigger than that. He had heard a lot of crazy stories in his life, a lot of them he even made up himself, but this was by far the most insane story he had ever EVER ever come across. He also had a pang of relief knowing their mother was alive then a bigger pang of guilt knowing he could have accidently killed her with his reckless behavior. Then there was Zim who looked surprised at first like everyone else, thrown for a loop, turned upside down, but he started to slowly grin in a pompous sort of way. His arms crossed over his chest that was swelling with pride.
"Told you so."