The halls didn't look any better. Dark— black— except for the occasional red, uncharacteristically warmly pulsating light. There were indiscernible sounds echoing from throughout, deep rumbles and the sounds of grinding gears and machinery, probably as a result of what Zim had just done. It was also eerily silent. No guards could be seen from where the two were, nor could any be heard. Only occasional ambient noise and the distant panic. It could be a trap. But, there wasn't exactly a way to tell from what they could see.

The path back to the bridge wasn't clear from their memory or from looks alone. The action and the panic that had driven their decisions didn't leave them with a convenient way to trace their steps. So, Zim had to make heavy use of his map. He was nervous that guards would use that opportunity when he had his face in the map to attack. But, nothing at all. Instead, it was just a peaceful and relatively simple trip back to the doorway they had exited through from the bridge.

It was closed, but there was nothing at all preventing Zim from having it opened again. That certainly made this all feel more like a trick, seeing that it wouldn't have been hard for the Tallest to do something to make it more difficult to enter. But regardless, as Dib stood watch, Zim typed into the terminal, muscle memory starting to develop with the very similar, practically identical commands he'd had to type to open these doors manually.

Zim looked over to Dib. With that one look, Dib could easily discern what Zim was essentially asking. Dib nodded. Indeed, he was ready. With that, Zim tapped one last button on the terminal and quickly slid backward, next to Dib, with his gun up and ready. The door quickly slammed open, revealing the also darkened bridge. The only sources of light were yet more red emergency lights and the white ambient light from space, which made the whole area feel like back on Earth, when the moon was the only source of light in a dark bedroom.

The two, as confidently as they could, entered the bridge. They looked around. The navigators were still at their posts, but they might as well have been civilians or even scenery. Then, spotting them in the darkest corner of the room, the Tallest were stood next to each other. The moment they were spotted, Dib and Zim began to approach. And as soon as they began to do that, the guards sprung into action, having thinned out and garrisoned all around the room. Dib quickly took aim at the guards converging on him in the front, and Zim turned around after hearing guards behind him try to surprise him.

Zim quickly took aim and fired at the soldiers before they had assembled into any sort of formation, or before they had gotten any sort of cover. Dib hurriedly dropped down and rapid-fire shot into the small group of green gathering together. The Tallest passionately directed the soldiers, both of their voices overlapping and mixing into the general clamor in the room as they slowly walked to the door at the front of the bridge, which was only a couple of meters away.

In the darkened room, it was hard to tell how the combat was going. The Tallest could only really tell when the red emergency lights reached the peak of their brightness. And then they would steadily drop in brightness as they continued to pulsate. Red took note that, if they survived this, they would make sure that these lights got changed.

Then, it became apparent, after maybe the twentieth pulse of the emergency lights, that the guards were not doing all that well. Really, they oughtn't to have been surprised; these two had managed to get this far already, and the soldiers that the Tallest had deployed hadn't stopped them yet. And as this dawned on them, they quickly got nervous. Red continued to watch, hastily considering what to do, and Purple leaned over to the door and started to try and open it. A stray yellow laser from one of the guards struck the door and Purple leaped backward with a yelp. Purple tried to yank Red away from the door, and for them to find some other way to either win the fight or escape. Red was pulled but continued to shout directions throughout the room, practically unfazed, at least, physically.

But still, Dib and Zim continued to fight against the guards. Soon, it got the point that Dib handled the remaining guards as Zim quickly went back and got the door they had entered through, closed and disabled. The goal was to make sure that no more reinforcements could arrive from outside. And after that, he rushed past Dib and the few guards that remained to the door the Tallest had just been beside. Red and Purple pulled back, looking around for something to attack Zim with.

Nearly immediately after Zim had completely disabled that main door, Red decided, with no other exit in sight, other than breaking straight through the walls or the window in the front, that he would have to take brave, perhaps stupid, procedures if he and Purple were to survive. So, he lunged forward, managing to get Zim before he could turn and see Red approach. Red wrestled the gun out of Zim's hand quickly, and then attempted to get him on the ground. But as it were, Red's momentum slowed, and Zim put up an immense fight.

The final guard, reaching over to try and use one of the passive, terrified navigators as a shield, was shot right at the base of their neck, and a second shot struck them point-blank in the forehead, and they collapsed onto the ground. Dib turned his attention to Zim, struggling against Red. And, remembering their new plan, he briskly paced over to Purple. Purple looked up and spotted Dib quickly approaching him, and his attention shifted from studying the fight Red was in and debating if he should intervene to trying to find a way to get away from the Earthling. He stumbled backward, and Dib raised his gun and pointed it at Purple's head.

Neither Zim nor Dib were exactly excited to enact this crucial step of their plan, but they reminded themselves that the Tallest would never accept letting Zim leave, alive. And that only if they believed that their life rested on, against their intuitions, letting Zim live, would they agree to such a thing. And again, the alternative that had been the main plan up until twenty minutes ago had been simply killing them. So, the fight between Red and Zim, and the new, easier fight between Purple and Dib continued.

Zim was nearly thrown against the wall, but Dib spotted Zim get close to being overwhelmed, and an over the shoulder shot at Red's leg served to give Zim, well, a leg up. Purple was thrown down to his knees after a brief tussle that had resulted in Dib's glasses being swiped off and sliding across the floor. Red struggled to stay focused on the fight that he was currently involved in due both in part to the injury he'd just sustained, as well as Purple's attack. It created a good opportunity for Zim to sweep Red's legs, including the bleeding one. He easily tumbled to the ground, slipping on the small pink puddle of his own accidental creation.

Purple found himself disturbed by the other's beating as well, and was quickly bashed by the butt of Dib's gun. With no guards at either of the Tallest's disposal, with no guns of their own, and without the much-appreciated help of the other, they were quickly injured and subdued despite their height advantage.

A swift kick to Red's chest, similar to what Red had done to Zim earlier, brought out a coughing fit as the right side of his face rested in the warm pool of rose-colored blood. A sure strike straight into Purple's face came with a brutal cracking impact and nearly pushed him over onto his back. Dib grimace after that. But he reminded himself of Earth's fate if this wasn't carried through, and of the things these two had done in their lives. And with a solemn, nearly frowning countenance, he continued the assault.

Red was sat back up, on his knees, being held in place with a forceful grasp by Zim, the muzzle of his gun resting against the back of Red's head. Red's eyes struggling to stay open in the pain and blood loss, he watched as Purple was on his front, his face smashed against the ground, facing toward him, by Dib's foot, pressed against the back of Purple's neck. And Dib's gun was pointed down, right at Purple's head. And for a long, palpable silence, Red's desperate glare stared into Purple's terrified eyes, and vice versa.

"So? Are you gonna kill us, then?" Red spat.

"Not if you give us what we want," Zim responded.

"Oh, rich, Zim. You get a native buddy who can hold a gun like you and you suddenly think that—"

"Red! Shut up!" Purple interjected.

"Well? What is it that you want?" Red asked.

"All of us leave and go back to Earth, and you don't attempt to kill me again," Zim answered.

"If only we were awarded the same thing. But you've nearly killed us a—"

"Shut up!" Purple pleaded.

"It's the same outcome either way, Zim. If you back to Earth, you'll just end up killing me anyway," Red stated.

"What about him?" Zim gestured to Purple, for Dib to see. Dib lowered the gun closer to Purple's head.

"I don't think this kid's got enough confidence to pull that off," Red admitted.

"Red!" Purple cried out.

Dib put his finger on the trigger. "This Earthling's a nervous wreck. And he's just putting on a façade. He couldn't pull the trigger if his life depended on it."

"He's already killed all of our guards! Red, please, don't do this!"

"But you know that Zim's just gonna kill us when we least expect it. And it's probably not gonna even be on purpose."

"You don't know that! Red," Dib tightened his grip on his gun, "he's offering to leave and let us live."

"And why would we trust Zim?"

"Because that's all we can do!" Dib pushed down on Purple with his foot harder. "Please, don't kill me."

"I don't believe you'll do it, Zim."

"Red!"

"Okay," Zim said. He gestured to Dib, using his free hand to mimic what he wanted Dib to do. He got the message after a moment.

The trigger was pulled, and the sudden sound of the gun having been fired rang throughout the bridge. The green ray came down towards Purple's head, and it struck the ground next to him, practically grazing him. Purple screamed in terror; something which Red also did, for Purple.

"Purple!" Red screamed, as a sudden thought, as a way to see if he was alright, as desperate metaphorical reach out to help. Purple screamed again, still mortally terrified. Seeing that he wasn't immediately dead, "Don't shoot him!"

"Then agree to the deal," Zim directed.

"Yes! Yes! You and your group can leave! Don't shoot him!"

"You'd better not go back on your word."

"I won't! You can go back to Earth and we'll leave you alone. I'll have you escorted back to your ship, even!"

"And you'll leave us alone even after we leave?"

"I— I—"

"Well?" Zim pressed. Dib pointed the gun back at Purple's head, and not to the side.

"Don't kill him! I'll leave you alone!"

"Alright." Zim let go and pulled back, causing Red to nearly topple over. Dib got off of Purple and stepped back.

Red struggled to get onto his feet, after everything that had happened. He hastily limped over to Purple, who was trying to get up himself. Red held out his hand and helped pull Purple up. The two's eyes were watery, with tears moments from forming. And the two instantly pulled each other into an excruciatingly tight embrace, their bruised arms pressing against each other.

After many long, silent seconds, they pulled back some, and they passionately and forcefully kissed. Every little bit of contact had them physically feel that the other was okay, was alive. And that affirmation that the other was okay was desperately needed, and the solace of the other was the only thing their minds could focus on. Not their pain, not the deal they had just made, not anything that had happened that day. Just the other's bloody, exhausted face. They continuously pushed their faces, their lips, even harder together, as if it were possible to make them any more together.

After practically an eternity of breathless desperation, with the two keeping their eyes open as another way to just take in the other after both of their near-death experiences, they eventually pulled away. Their panting faces still stayed mere centimeters away from each other, the other's hot, humid breath on their own face. They were both alive. And they both needed each other's close presence. Somehow, the Tallest had both lost to Zim, and yet had still survived.