Warning: Some swearing in this and future chapters
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Then (3,000 Years ago)
After the cupcake fiasco, where Zim refused to stop smiling to a happy Dib. Gaz made her way home.
Hearing the familiar sounds of PAK legs, she looked up, expecting Zim. But instead looked up to see Tak.
Wasn't she that female Irken who tried to turn the planet's core into snacks? She also grew a bit like Zim.
With nothing else to do, she followed her to their house. Seeing Tak breaking into the garage, she found her yelling with Dib over her ship.
Gaz sat on the grass and resumed her game, letting her stupid brother handle it.
Over the sounds of her game was the sounds of their fighting before Tak's retreated before halting in front of Gaz.
The two stared at each other.
"He's not going to give it back, you know." Gaz stated simply. Tak deflated with a huff. Retracting Her PAK legs, she stood on the ground.
"I noticed. But I need that ship!" She growled at the garage.
"Why not just make a new one? What happened to the one you had?"
"It was destroyed in the crash." Tak grumbled before stalking away. She yelped at the fence security system.
Gaz just shook her head. Sighing, she paused her game to look up at the garage.
She had an idea, but groaned. Dad always did try to get them to bond over something…
~/~
Base
Mary waited until after Zim finished his briefing and after various questions from the other Gaz's on the line.
She raised her hand. Unlike earlier where she knew she wouldn't get in trouble for interrupting, she couldn't do that here.
Startled, Zim looked at her. "Yes Mary?"
She nodded before facing the other Irks. "There was something we overlooked I noticed as Zim reviewed everything. What about all the Gir's? What about the past Dibs?"
"Hmmm. Continue." Tak regarded her.
"Think about it. Yes, Irks have cloning. Yes, it would be a simple matter to copy a Gir's memory banks and copy it into another. But what about the Dibs? By my research we're all Human or mostly Human due to cross breeding. As such, we don't use cloning. We're born naturally. When we go to the past to change things, we need to consider this: Zim had a near century temper tantrum where he continuously fired down on earth to kill everyone he saw."
Zim baulked as the others laughed.
"Don't even deny it, Zim. I call it like I see it." She teased before facing them again. "If we change even THAT event, any Dib born after that will no longer exist or even be as they are. Back then, we had a massive population that dwindled to less than a quarter to what it was after. Without that, whatever combination of humans getting together to be the eventual ancestors to your Dibs would no longer be that. They have other choices now. Other Humans to pair with. By Zim NOT attacking. All Dibs… myself included… would never be born." She concluded sadly.
Silence. It didn't occur to any of them.
"And so...I have a compromise." She shook her head to get back on topic.
"And what do you propose?" Following the voice, she was surprised to see Mala from the vision.
Smiling, Mary continued. "Earlier today, we had confirmation that blood from 3,000 years ago is still usable for cloning."
"You're referring to the original Dib creature yes?" Tak smirked. Mary nodded.
"Yes. So! We also learned that I can travel to the gate. We can try this two ways from what I can tell. First, after we back up your PAKs we let you all try to go through the gate as well. If you can, then just bring anything with your Dibs DNA on it to be cloned in Zim's base. It doesn't all have to be at once, but the option is there."
They nodded at that. Zim also gave his agreement.
"And the second option?" Skooge voiced.
"The second is if you don't make it through. If you can't go through the gate, and your PAKs do, just give what you have to me. Either you find a way to store the DNA in your PAKs, or I hold on to them. All we need is either blood, strands of hair, dead skin, hell, even fingernail clippings. Anything." She shrugged. "If neither option works, objects can go through the gate due to its original design. If you have something that belonged to them, I'll take it with me and then return them to you once cloned." Mary concluded.
Silence.
Some looked like they were close to tears (considering that they can't cry.)
"Can you take my doll?" Skali spoke up. Mary looked to her in surprise. "I don't have anything of Sara's left. Just this doll. I have no DNA to use… can you take it?
"Was that Sara's?" Mary asked gently as Skali crushed the doll in her hug.
"No… We were… we were lost in an old human shelter when we ran into a cult. They thought us Irks were demons possessing you Humans. Sara died before Zim and Gir found us. This doll is from the room we were held in." Skali curled in a fetal position.
Mary gave a gentle smile. Tears falling from her own cheeks as if they were Skali's
"It would be my honor to care for your doll while we wait for you again." Skali peeked up from the doll and gave a wobbly smile in thanks.
It was then the others slowly spoke up with their own stories. Doon had dog tags, but he DID keep a hat that belonged to his Dib, pulling out of his PAK, there was a hair and dandruff still in it. Some had DNA, others just had objects like Skali.
Mary asked them to store the objects carefully in something that she can easily carry. Any DNA will go in a separate thing for her to carry.
On that note, Purple directed her to the transporter. Now she just needs to meet them at the Massive.
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Massive
Tak made a mad dash to her quarters to get the photo. It was a selfie of an older Gaz and a Smaller Tak in the ship they built together once it sunk in Dib wasn't giving hers back. She gripped the old photo. The two really bonded building the thing.
In Earth terms, Gaz was her… friend. They held a mutual hatred of her brother and Zim and just all around enjoyed each other's presence as the only ones with any form of sanity in their whole Skool. Stuffing it into her PAK she saw her reflection in the mirror.
Her Skull necklace. It was Gaz's. She gave it to Tak when they finished the ship to wish her luck out in space.
Closing her eyes, she can still see Gaz smiling as she waved goodbye that night in their backyard.
And now here she is. Second in command for the entire Empire!
Looks like it was lucky after all…
She was shaken from her thoughts from the intercom informing her of Mary's arrival alongside the other Gaz's. They were still arriving by the time she found the lab they were directed to. Nodding to Skooge, the two opened the bulkhead doors.
Tak leaned against the door frame to smile at Mary (with Zim's Gir unit holding a small camera to record everything they say about their respective Dibs. She didn't want to miss a thing). They were surrounded by Gaz's happily telling her stories, while holding their momentos in front of the camera, and taking turns being connected to cables and cords to copy the data in their PAKs. Even the various Gir's are excited talking to the duo. Off to the side, a few were debating what to put their momento's in.
Indeed, very lucky.
Tak smiled, looking at the photo once more, she felt Skooge nudge knowingly at her before they joined them.
"Gaz Tak! Gaz Skooge!" They all stood at attention.
They walked over to Mary and Gir. "I, too, have a momento to add." She spoke shyly. Which scared some of them, wondering if she was ok. At her growling at them did they calm.
Mary just smiled, and Gir focused on her as she held the photo in both hands facing them.
"My name is Tak. I am the first Invader to receive the Gaz Rank. I also know the Human it received its name from. Pointing to the photo.
"Is that-?!" Mary asked in wonder. Tak smiled.
"Yes. This is Gazlene Membrane. Dib's younger sister. She is whom the rank is named for. As for my dib, mine barely lasted a month! I don't even remember their name." She huffed. They just rolled their eyes expecting no less from her. "My momento is this photo. I WISH she was my Dib. But… If you can bring this photo back. If I don't make it to the past. Please , convince my younger self to give Gaz a chance. We bonded over building a new ship for myself after Dib refused to give back my old one. We even mutually mocked Dib and Zim whenever they were being idiots. Which was always!"
She groaned. Calming, she looked at the photo. "She was my… friend."
They all stared at their commander.
Mary gently reached for the photo to get a better look. Looking up at Tak, she grinned. "Tell me Everything!" Mary found a swivel chair and got comfy, preparing for a long story. Gir dutifully followed her and surprisingly kept the camera steady.
~/~
Skool
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Mr. Galloway bid his students goodbye and glared at the two empty ones. Gathering up his things, he then went to his small commuter ship and flew to the Resisty Base.
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City
Clary ran disguised through the city, as far away from Red and the Resisty as possible! After Red left her alone, it was easy to snag the data pad out of view of the camera, shut off said camera and spy in the security feeds.
It took forever ! But there was finally an opening when a meeting was called with the heads of each department. Hitting record, she bolted for it!
She ran into the barracks on her way out for clothes. She found pants shoes, a large robe with a hood and something to fasten the hospital gown tighter as a shirt, before she was almost walked in on.
Finally making it a good distance away, via stowing away on various ships, she made her way to the apartment-
Empty?!
Leaving quickly, she continued on, swiping a pair of headphones, she paired it with the data pad to listen in on the meeting.
Startled, she sees Blue and Teal in a giant mecha flying overhead to the ruins. Then followed by the Voot Cruiser at a slower pace.
What now?!
Audio from the meeting then caught her attention
Holy crap!
She finally had answers for her brother.
She did, however, agree with that Human guy. Something doesn't add up.
Sighing, she looked to the sky.
Well, confirmation at least. She is, infact, a clone.
What to do… what to do…
Groaning, she went after Stell to see what they're up to this time while she decides on her next course of action.
~/~
Resisty
Back at the Resisty, everyone was on alert. Mary and Stell's disappearance has everyone on edge.
Where did they go?
And then Purple flew off this morning. His little group for the raid just sat together in the mess trying to figure out if they should still go. More than half were gung ho for it, eager to be the first inside Zim's base. The rest were weary and worried for Purple. They actually liked the shy Irk.
Galloway joined in after a bit and grumbled about Mary the whole time. When asked why he's even joining them, he simply put that if that little brat won't take this seriously, it's up to the adults to handle it.
~/~
The Meeting
The head of each division gathered together to plan their next course of action.
That group consisted of a member of each represented species. For the Humans, was the highest ranking soldier they managed to sneak in undetected. Jacob Grover. Standing next to him was an ally, Doon. (He's still unaware that Doon is Irken). Doon told Zim and Mary he'd meet up with them after.
There were a dozen people currently sitting at the large table with a map of the city and the nearby field taking up most of the space.
After a few minutes of everyone just arguing about the girls' whereabouts, the door opened to reveal Red, holding something in his hand.
"She's with Zim." He stated simply, stopping all conversations.
"Red?!"
"How do you know this?"
"Why are you here?"
He remained silent until their questions ceased. Then he stepped forward. With the practiced ease of one who was once in charge of an Empire, he practically towered over them. Presence demanding respect.
"What do we know so far? Let's review, shall we?" He then started to slowly walk around the table as he spoke.
"Mary. The 403rd Human Ranked: Dib since Zim started the tradition. We know this. We ALSO know that she is not focused on her Invaders' demise… but more focused on studying the rank: Dib and its origins."
There were various angry shouting, grumbling and general confusion on WHY she's even researching it.
Red patiently let the buzz die down before continuing.
"Let me answer that. After all, I have known since the beginning." He tossed the thing he was holding onto the table.
The metal disk from the Field that lit up to show Dib, himself, as a hologram.
General confusion.
"I don't recall this Dib. What number was he?" More questions similar to this.
"THIS… is Dib Membrane. He lived and died 3,000 years ago. He's the son of Professor Membrane, famous scientist back in the day. BEFORE Zim took over the planet."
Several gasps of shock and outrage.
"So…" Grover started, looking at Red. "Are you saying that this is the Human responsible for all of this?"
"Indeed. As you are now aware, I used to be the Almighty Tallest alongside Purple back in the day. We were in charge of everything."
Silence. Those who didn't know gaped at him in horror. Red started to circle again.
"During that time, we were starting Operation Impending Doom 2. The reason most of you are without a planet back then. Zim was the one banished to Foodcourtia for ruining the first Operation. During the assigning ceremony for the second, Zim quit being banished when he found out about it. He BEGGED to be an Invader but we wanted nothing to do with him."
"What did you do?" Grover asked, considering this new intel and if there is any truth to it.
"We picked a planet at random and sent him as far away from us as possible. With any luck he would just keep flying!" He grinned.
"And that random planet…" Grover groaned, face in his hand. Red grinned wider. "Earth."
"Indeed. Upon arrival he set up his base, where it remains to this day. In fact the upper house literally hasn't changed, but I surmise below ground has."
"Wait, the house stayed the same?" Someone asked.
"Yup! And guess what he found when he arrived." Red stopped circling and pointed to the hologram.
They all stared in dawning realization.
"Dib Membrane." Red stated in finalty. "According to the then-Invader Zim's reports, he went to a nearby Elementary Skool to to learn more about their culture. Dib was in that class and noticed right away that he was an alien. But no one believed him. Myself and Purple received COUNTLESS reports of Zim's failures to detain or kill this Human! Whereas other Invaders were planetside at most a week or two before takeover, Zim was here for years. Dib stopped him every time."
"So THAT'S what inspired the Tradition after his takeover!" Another shouted in realization.
"Correct." Red let them talk this over, each even pointing to the hologram as they did so.
Red just stood there, contemplating his next move. Doon stared at him suspiciously. Wondering where he's going with this.
Grover then interrupted. "Yesterday there was a report. One of our informants saw Mary talking with Zim's Gir unit before being led to Almighty Zim at a grocery store. A few minutes later Zim carried her out of the building and led her to the abandoned Membrane household. After a few hours, the duo plus Gir made their way to Zim's base and remained there. I'm going to assume that Mary confronted Zim for answers and then subsequently got them."
"A safe assumption, yes." Someone else asked. Everyone nodded, some looked skeptical.
"So… What now?" Grover looked from the hologram to Red.
Red so loved being referred to for orders. Made him feel nostalgic of being a Tallest. Back when being the Tallest actually mattered, anyway.
Grover continued. "By my understanding, all this happened because a delusional banished Invader kept getting defeated by a human child and took it out on the rest of the planet? Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling us."
Grover stood to stare Red in his large mono colored eyes.
"If Zim really hated Dib, WHY are there reports of a graveyard with a tribute to fallen Dibs? Let alone a grave he visits with continued frequency? Mary noticed herself that Zim is constantly depressed after leaving. As if asking approval or even a comeback? Why is the old Membrane house left alone? I have many god damned reports of Zim AVENGING Dibs who were wronged by us! By cults! God damn ! Why does Zim care AT ALL !? If he really held a grudge, then everything in the last few millennia does. Not. Match . If anything, he's PROTECTIVE of these Dibs." He pointed to the hologram near the end.
"What are you hiding Red? Or, should I say…" Straightening up and crossing his arms. " Former Almighty Tallest Red." He mocked.
With Grover and Doon on one side of the Table, Red at the other. The only sound came from the light buzz from the hologram.
Someone stormed through the door, the two continued their staredown.
"Forgive the interruption! There has been a report of Invader Blue flying away towards the ruins on a Mecha, shortly followed by Mary and Stell in Zim's Voot Cruiser heading the same direction!" He huffed for breath.
Grover faced him in confusion. "Somethings not right." Turning to Red. "This whole damned thing isn't right." With a final glare, he dismissed everyone. "And I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Before walking out.
Red stayed until everyone left, before making his way to Clary (Clone-Mary) in the med bay.
~/~
Then
"Hey Dib!" Gaz startled Dib. Walking around Tak's old ship in the garage, he looked to his sister wondering what she wanted now.
"Yeah, Gaz?"
She was silent before she sighed. "You're not going to give it back to her?"
"Hell no! I put too much work in this! It's the only ship I have that can keep up with Zim." He grumbled the last bit.
"Besides, Tak can make her own ship! Clearly she knows how!" Dramatically gesturing to the ship next to them.
Gaz crossed her arms in thought.
Ever since Zim came into the picture, she's been getting more and more involved in their battles. More and more aliens are showing up. And now Tak is apparently Earth-side until she gets another ship.
"Dib." Gaz growled and grumbled, forcing herself to say the next sentence. Dib took a step back, awaiting the next explosion.
"Can… you… teach… me?" Even her smile was forced.
"Teach…?"
"THIS!" She finally exploded. This ship! I donno… How to read Irken! Help me make a new ship for Tak so she can leave us alone! You know she's just going to keep coming back!"
Dib just stared at her like she just declared giving up videogames.
"You actually… what?""
"Yeah, Dib. Since these guys aren't leaving anytime soon, I might as well learn what's up… with ... you." She cringed.
But Dib just lit up at Gaz even bothering with this at all! She eyed him warily.
"Now just because I wanted to learn doesn't mean-" Dib tackled her in a hug.
Sighing, she hugged him back.
~/~
Resisty
Red punched the wall.
Clary escaped. And since he kept this project so secret, no one knows he even made a clone.
Just how did she escape? Since no one knew she was a clone, there should have at least been an alarm for a Dib sighting in-base!
Just what ARE these Dib-creatures!
~/~
Massive
Eventually taking a short break, some of the Gaz's excitedly showed her to the bridge, where the best view of space was.
Shyly waving to the crew upon entry and apologizing for the disturbance, she quickly made her way over to the others at the railing.
Seeing as all they wanted was to see space, the crew obliged if it meant they won't cause trouble.
Activating the bulkhead doors, it was amazing to watch the machinery at work, to open up to the outside.
They all looked smug as Mary stepped forward, mistified at the view!
Asking them to zoom in on Earth, Mary startled, but was quickly wowed as it zoomed in through realistic holograms to make a surrounding 3D view around her of several galaxies to eventually land on Earth.
Zooming past the sun, past a few planets was the Earth and the moon. A few button presses later: several small windows of Zim's base, her apartment, the Resisty, and various other places popped up on the edge of the display with Earth in the middle.
One of them picked up Mary's signature. At first, she dismissed it, thinking it was the clone. But nope! Searching for their clone, it was definitely with Stell and Blue. No, this Clone was making her way to said Irkens in a small stealth ship.
What..?
Wait… the only other clone at this point would be-
Red's clone!