Dib sat up, rubbing his eyes. He groaned and looked around. He knew he was in the hospital due to all the medical equipment surrounding him.
"Good, you're awake," a voice said nearby. Dib turned and saw a Plookesian dressed in what he assumed to be medical garb, standing in the doorway. "We thought we were going to lose you for a little bit."
Dib felt something constricting wrapped around his throat, and he pulled at it without thinking.
"Don't do that, please," the doctor said, rushing over and pulling his hands away. "These bandages will help with the healing process. They have a special gel on them."
"Why am I still alive?" Dib wondered aloud. "I thought Zim wanted to kill me."
The doctor looked at his clipboard. "Let me see. Ah, here it is. He only made a thin incision, and didn't cut deep enough." He looked up at Dib. "It seems to us as if he didn't really want to kill you, but merely provide a distraction so that he could escape."
Dib nodded, processing this new information. "That definitely sounds like something the old Zim would do."
"We need to know everything you know about him, so that we will be better prepared to stop him in the future."
Dib thought a moment. "Well, he used to be very rash, jumped to conclusions often, that kind of stuff. But now, he's much more dangerous ever since he demolished my planet. Its very exhausting dealing with him."
The doctor nodded. "Any weaknesses?"
Dib was silent for a few moments, thinking back to all the times Zim was injured. "In the past, before all of this happened, he seemed to just experience pain like a normal person. Or alien, in his case. He still gets wounded, bleeds, all that stuff. I think he even died once, but I brought hm back."
"And why did you do that?"
"I was scared." Dib admitted, softly as he looked away in shame. "I thought that I needed him to keep me alive, I thought that I would die without him to guide me." He shook his head in disbelief. "I was stupid to believe that. I could have survived just fine without him around."
"Maybe if you'd found us first," the doctor said, examining Dib's wounds. "It looks to be healing nicely. But we will have to keep you here anther few days just to make sure there are no complications or other problems we should be aware of."
Dib sighed, running his hands along the bedsheets in thought. "What if Zim finds out where I am, and comes looking? He might kill all of you just to get to me."
"We won't allow that," Another Plookesian entered the room, extending his hand toward Dib. "Greetings. I am Cree, Kosav's second-in-command. I have heard good things about you, young Dib, and I would be pleased to work alongside you to stop Irken Zim."
Dib smiled slightly. "Thanks, I appreciate that. I can't do this on my own."
Cree sat down in the chair next to Dib's bed. "So, where do you think Irken Zim would go now that his plan to take our city has failed?"
Dib thought for a minute. "Well, I've known him long enough to know that, sometimes,, when he's really determined and has his mind set on a certain goal, that he wouldn't give up easily. He'd try again, but he'd use a different tactic."
Cree nodded. "I see. And what do you think that tactic would be now?"
Dib sighed in thought. "Well, while I was with him, he did bring up his ship a lot. Said something about wanting to get out of here, with or without me. Maybe try that?"
"Thank you, you have been most cooperative," Cree said, standing up and taking out a communicator from his belt. "Sir?"
"Yes, Cree?" Kosav's voice erupted from the device.
"The human believes that Irken Zim will try to head for his ship to escape. What do we do?"
"Have ten of our best snipers surround that platform," Kosav commanded immediately.. "Conceal them well, and do not, under any circumstances, allow Zim to see or be notified of their locations."
"Capture or kill, sir?" Cree asked, readying his forces for combat.
"Capture him if you can," Kosav said. "Do whatever you have to do to take him down, but do not kill him. I have several questions to ask him, and I want answers."
"Yes sir, right away," the Plookesian said, ending the call. He flicked a switch on the device and spoke into it. "Wren?"
"Sir."
"Have ten of our best snipers surround the landing platform that Irken Zim's ship is housed, and have them wait there. Do not engage until I or Kosav gives the order."
"Right away, sir." The call was ended, and Cree turned back to Dib. "Do not worry, human Dib. We will not let him harm you."
Dib hoped that he was right.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Zim walked through the city, now dark, the air growing colder as it slowly became night again. His senses were on high alert for any wandering stragglers out of their homes. He had an almost overwhelming desire to kill, and it only got stronger with each passing moment.
He eyed the various buildings lining the deserted street, their blinds drawn and no sign of life. He knew there were people inside, just waiting to be slaughtered. Zim stopped and gazed at one particular house, suddenly struck with the mental image of carnage.
A thick metal chain wrapped around his victim's throat, Zim pulled tight, their face turning blue as they struggled to breathe.
He walked toward the front entrance and stopped at the door. Pulling at the handle, and of course finding it locked, Zim again shot the lock and entered, pulling out his knife as he prepared to kill everyone he could find in this building
He slowly and very cautiously walked through the kitchen area, looking around with caution. He left the lights off to avoid being caught by whoever lived here. He opened and closed the various cupboards, noting the food stacked neatly within the compartments.
He wandered into the living room, standing in the middle of the room and listening for any signs of life within the rest of the house.
He saw a closed door toward the back of the house, and approached it, his guard up. He quietly twisted the knob and found it unlocked. Entering into a hallway, he slowly continued forward, leaving the door open behind him, in case he needed a way out if things got bad for him.
Silence so far, which was good.
Zim noticed several other doors lining the hallway, and decided that he should check them. Better safe than sorry, after all.
He opened the one closest to him and peeked in. Nothing but junk. Must be a storage room. He closed the door and checked the next one. Bathroom.
The third door, however, yielded much better results. This one was a bedroom, and the bed was occupied by two forms.
Zim creeped over to the edge of the bed, staring down at them. Both Vortian. He raised his knife and held it over the nearest one, the male, debating with himself over wether he should kill him or not.
His head filled with thoughts of Dib, of his rejection. Distracting him from his current objective.
The sound of a baby crying slowly forced its way into his antennae, and he was dragged back to reality.
He left the bedroom and followed the sound, getting louder when he stepped back out into the hallway.
It was coming from just across him, and he entered the room it originated from. Standing up in its crib was a small toddler, looking to be no more than 3 or 4.
Zim walked over to it, the moonlight streaming in from the window making his eyes glow as they reflected the light.
The child stopped crying as Zim approached it, gazing up at the Irken with intense curiosity.
Zim grabbed the child by the arm just as its parents came in.
The father gasped in alarm when he saw Zim. Zim turned and stared at him, still gripping the child's arm in his claws.
"Please, don't hurt him!" The father pleaded. "He's all we have."
Zim quickly drew his gun and pointed it at him. "Be still," he said softly. "No noise, no movement."
A nod in response.
"What is your name?" Zim asked, picking the child up in his arms.
They shook nervously. 'Uh, Kren,"
"You have a lovely child, Kren," Zim said, switching his gun to the hand that held the child, using his free hand to stroke the kid's head. It sniffled every so often, lying its head on Zim's shoulder. "I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to him."
"Please," Kren whimpered. "Just… don't hurt him."
The Irken sighed. "Was that your mate in there with you?"
Another nod. "Yes, it was. Please don't get her involved in this. She has enough to worry about already."
"I don't care. I want you to go wake her and bring her here."
Zim waited while the order was carried out, soothing the child when it started to cry again. "Shhh," he whispered. "Do not fuss, little one."
The mother appeared a moment later, crying out In fear when she saw who was holding her baby. Kren tried to comfort her, hugging her in his arms.
She turned to Zim, furious. "If you do anything to him, I will-"
"You will not do anything to me, because I have what you love most." Zim interrupted her. "And I could take it away just as quickly."
The mother kept her enraged expression for a moment longer, then it collapsed into a defeated one. "What do you want?" She asked, her voice calmer now.
Zim smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Do you have a basement?"
"We do."
"Excellent." The Irken put down the child, taking their hand.
He aimed his gun at his new captives. "Lead the way."
They led him to the basement, a concrete room with very little.
The child started crying again, calling for its mother.
Zim leaned down towards it. "Your family is nothing," he said. "They would leave you for dead if they could."
"That's not true!" The mother yelled out in a panic. "Don't listen to him, sweetie!"
Zim snapped his head up, glaring at her. "SHUT UP!" He snarled.
"They don't love you." He whispered, speaking to the child again. "You are a burden to them, nothing but a chore. They would sacrifice you to save themselves."
Kren tried to attack him, but Zim dodged and drew his knife, kicking the alien's knee and slashing him across the stomach. The Vortian fell to the ground.
Zim sighed. "You're lucky that I want you alive. For now."
"What are you planning to do with us?" The mother asked fearfully.
Zim threw his knife on the ground and drew his gun. "Fight." He gestured to their child. "For him. To the death."
"Absolutely not!" Kren yelled, getting back up onto his feet.
"If you refuse, I will kill the both of you and take your child to raise on my own." Zim threatened, gently running his metallic fingers through the kid's hair. "And he will be an interesting experiment."
He gestured to the knife on the ground. "Pick it up, and kill your mate."
Nothing happened.
Zim pulled the child close to him and pressed the barrel of his blaster to its head. "Pick. It. Up."
Kren slowly bent down and retrieved the knife from the floor, shaking and trembling in worry.
Zim nodded towards the mother. "Now kill her. For your child."
Kren stood motionless for several moments, and stared at the knife in his hand. Finally, he turned to Zim. "No."
"What did you say?" Zim hissed, turning off the safety on his gun.
Kren threw the knife on the ground. "I won't do it. I won't give in to your barbaric demands. They're my family, and I will never hurt them, not under any circumstances."
The Irken aimed his blaster at the Vortian. "Then you will die, and your child is now mine to command."
Kren picked up the knife and ran at Zim, swiping at him again.
Zim dodged the attack and got behind him, placing his blaster to the alien's head and firing.
Kren's body crumpled to the ground, oozing green blood. His mate wailed in despair, rushing over to cradle her husband's head in her lap.
Zim shot her as well, picking up the child once the deed was done.
The child still had not stopped crying, and Zim searched through cupboards to find a way to make it stop. Finding a small bag of food, He handed that to the young alien, and it stopped immediately, oblivious to the carnage that had just unfolded.
"What will I do with you?" Zim asked the small child as it ate from the bag, shoving pieces of food into its apparently hungry mouth.
Zim glanced back at the now deceased couple, chuckling softly at the results of his little game. He headed up the stairs and out the door, the child secured safely in his arms.