The Control Brains rose from the ground whipping their tentacles violently sparks emitting from their ends. Zim and Skoodge were still suffering from the high pitched sound waves causing their antennae paralyzing pain. Dib was about to freak out in fear again but after seeing how incapacitated the Irkens were pushed it aside and began aiming his now fully charged arm gauntlets at one of the brains.
"Alright Dib! It's up to you! Whatever these things are doing doesn't affect you! You Can Do This!" he told himself before unleashing a massive blast from his hands.
The huge blast vaporized three of the Control Brains instantly, nothing but ash remaining but unfortunately for Dib…
"YEEEOCH!! AHHH AHHH!!! WHY DOES IT BURN???" he screamed as he shook his hands desperately in attempt to cool them down. It seems his weapon had another downside besides speed.
Meanwhile Zim was fighting a losing battle with eight different electric tentacles that were electrocuting him and whipping him around the chamber violently. Skoodge was firing at the tentacles coming for him but he wasn't gaining any ground, just barely holding them off.
Gir was laughing hysterically as he was also being tossed around the chamber
"HEEE HEEE HAHAHA!!!! THIS IS FUN!!!!!"
Zim is in the air but releases his spider PAK legs to help his fall before getting out his plasma powered Gatling Gun.
Before he could fire though, a control brain plugged itself into his PAK shocking him.
HAHAHA! IT WAS FOOLISH TO COME HERE ZIM! YOU'VE ONLY MUTLIPLIED YOUR SUFFERING!!!
YOU SHOULD'VE JUST WENT TO SLEEP LIKE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TOO! NOW WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU DIE A SLOOOW DEATH!!!!
The whole planet appeared to quake ferociously and echoed with the laugher of the control brains.
Despite being in pain Zim smirked grasping a small device in his hand and seeing the brain that had him stopped moving.
WHAT? WHAT IS? WHY CAN'T I ACCESS YOUR PAK???
IMPOSSIBLE!!!!
BLASPHEMY!!!!! HURRY UP AND DELETE HIM!!! QUIT MESSING AROUND!!!
I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!!! I CANNOT ACCESS HIS PAK!
RIP IT OFF THEN!!!!
Zim took that opportunity to use the device in hand. He pressed a button and a long laser whip emerged from the device. It sliced the brain holding him in half like butter.
Zim used his PAK legs to land safely again before unloading his Gatling Gun on the other tentacles trying to grab him.
"It worked! Hahahaha! IT REALLY WORKED!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" He laughed manically
"Never again will I, Zim be a victim of you STUPID FUCKING BRAINS!!!!!" he continued firing while slowly backing up until he was against one the walls.
Skoodge was running and dodging the flailing tentacles himself, trying to get to Gir who was the only one of them having a great time despite all the damage he was taking.
"SIR UNIT! YOUR MASTER NEEDS YOU!" he shouted
Gir's eyes suddenly turned red and he stopped in mid air! A blue force field emitted around him and he scanned the area until he found the weak spot Zim instructed him to find earlier
"TARGET ACQUIRED!" he stated before he blasted off towards the wall, the tentacles unable to stop him.
"Yes Yes YES!!! GOOD GIR! Now if I could just get over there…" Zim rambled as he surveyed his surroundings.
Meanwhile Dib was fighting near the entrance of the chamber more reluctant to use his arm gauntlets despite their efficiency, because they burned his hands. Unfortunately for Dib he was soon wrapped up by one of the brains, it's tentacles seemingly wanting to rip him apart as they twisted around his arms and legs.
"Nyahh Nooo Nooo No! I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going!!!!!" Dib shrieked and squirmed
A SHAME YOU HAVE CHOSEN ALIENGNCE TO A DEFECTIVE MORON….YOUR CRANIUM IS MOST IMPRESSIVE! IT COULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL…
Dib grunted and wrestled trying to grab the gun Skoodge gave him earlier but then he felt an electric shock course through his body violently! He struggled to breathe and his heart felt like it was going to burst!
THIS LIFEFORM'S PAIN AMUSES ME!!!
AGREED HE WHINES LIKE A LITTLE SMEET!!!
Suddenly a violet blast of light shot at the tentacles holding him. A blur of green and purple caught him mid fall and took off with him. He couldn't make out who his savior was but felt grateful regardless as his consciousness slipped away.
Zim and Skoodge were doing fairly better in their battle against the control brains now that half of them were taken out, but Zim was hesitant to kill anymore until he could infect them. So apposed to his usual approach of shooting everything carelessly he was just trying to dodge until he could get to Gir.
"MASTER PERMISSION TO DESTROY THE ENEMIES" Gir shouted from across the room.
"No Gir! Just maintain your position until I get there" Zim answered.
He narrowly dodged another swing. He crouched down and grabbed Skoodge saving him from another electric tentacle attack.
The control brains were growling more furiously now, the chamber breaking from the vibrations of the sound waves.
"Damnit! Where the FUCK IS DIB SHIT!!! HE could AT LEAST give us cover fire! THAT MISERABLE HUMAN!!!" Zim yelled over the noise.
"I haven't seen him! Maybe he's been killed!" Skoodge answered
"ARRGH NO! I hate him but Gaz will kill me if I come back without him!" Zim growled
Zim opened his PAK and got another device out making a shield around him, Skoodge did the same and they booked it in the direction of Gir. Between dodging the falling debris of the roof, jumping over the gaps in the ground and trying to avoid the frenzied tentacles it seemed to take hours!
"Finally! Good work Gir now get out another container!"
"Yes Sir!" Gir saluted and obeyed
STOP THE HERETICS!!! AT ALL COSTS!!!!
KILL THESE FOOLS BEFORE THEY KILL US!!!!
Zim grinned as a tentacle flew towards him, he moved in time to avoid it. The Control Brain unintentionally attached itself to the storage container.
"Cover me minions!" Zim commanded as he ran to the weak spot to insert the disc. He quickly punched in the controls and sure enough the Control Brains were losing power.
IMPOSSIBLE!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING???
QUICKLY WE MUST STOP HIM!!!
ZIM YOU'LL BE KILLING YOUR OWN KIND? ARE SO DEFECTIVE THAT YOU WOULD DO SUCH A THING!!!!
Zim paid no mind the to pleading brains and only focused on the task at hand while Gir and Skoodge held off the brains.
Threat level 20%...15%.. 5%
ZIMMMMM!!!!!
YOU MUST STOP!!! ALL IRKENS WILL die… there ill be no moreee
Their voices began to dissipate, the rumbling of the planet slowly stopping. Skoodge let out a huge sigh and wiped sweat from his forehead.
"YOU DID IT ZIM! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY IT!!!"
Zim was still collecting from the monstrously huge brain
"OF COURSE I DID!!! I AM ZIIIIIM!!!! And today has proven that NOTHING CAN DEFEAT ME!!!!" he yelled triumphantly.
"…I can" Gir replied red eyes aglow
Zim and Skoodge stared at him with frightened expressions on their faces.
"YOU GUYS ARE FUNNY HAHAHA!" Gir laughed eyes blue again, causing the Irkens to sigh in relief.
"Skoodge, locate the Dib Monkey and bring him back here until I'm finished" Zim ordered.
"Right!" Skoodge saluted and began his search.
Elsewhere On Irk
Dib groaned and slowly blinked his eyes regaining consciousness. He got up and held his head.
"What happened? Where am I?" he asked himself as he surveyed his surroundings only to be met with a gun to his face.
"I'll be asking the questions human!" a familiar voice sharply said
Dib still disoriented tried to make out her voice but it wasn't ringing a bell and he couldn't see because apparently he lost his glasses mid battle. He was kicking himself for not getting contacts right now.
"Just what the HELL are you doing here?! Do you have a death wish?" she asked harshly
"Wait…a minute! TAK?" Dib asked
"Who else? Stupid human! Did you really think someone as dainty as you are, with literally no military training or experience could possibly destroy the mightiest beings in the universe???" Tak asked furious
"Well no… but I had to try! Not that it's any of YOUR business anyway! Why do you care?" Dib asked
Tak snarled "You're helping HIM aren't you? That wretched embarrassment of an Irken! Why Dib? I thought you hated him? I thought you were smarter than this!"
Dib gulped "Look it's complicated ok… reallllly complicated and I don't have time to tell you everything!"
"If you value your life, you'll MAKE time!" she ordered
Dib laughed "If you wanted me dead, you wouldn't have saved me"
Tak sighed and lowered her gun "Fine don't tell me!"
Dib took a deep breath and stared at her for a while. He honestly thought after the whole ordeal on Earth that she had died. She was just pretending but when they were kids she was the only one who treated him as an equal, that didn't call him crazy. That stuck with him and it gutted him to find out she was just using him the whole time.
"What're you staring at?!" Tak snapped
"I'm just curious… what are YOU doing here Tak?" he asked
"Take a guess Dib! I'm being deactivated! Although I'm not STUPID enough to try and fight the Control Brains like your pal Zim!" she explained
"Look I don't like Zim either! But he already defeated a bunch of the control brains! He took all the substance? I guess? and stored it in his robot! You don't have to die Tak!" Dib said but kind of regretted telling her so much. He couldn't help it though, it just slipped out.
"hahahaHahahaHAHAHA! Dib hahaha! You are TOO funny! I'd rather die with my honor in tact, then to live with the shame of knowing that MORON saved my life!" she laughed.
Dib frowned "Why do you have to be so stubborn? Tak, my Dad could help you too! He's not an idiot like Zim! He can free you from this life"
"Shut up Dib! And go home! Use your big head and take Zim's ship while he's still here!" Tak ordered
"I can't do that!" Dib yelled
"Why not?"
"The whole reason I came here was to make sure his dumbass doesn't die!"
Tak shook her head "What happened Dib? You wanted that bastard dead as much as I did! That's why I liked you! Now you're just… stupid! Like the rest of your people!"
Dib was getting frustrated "It's not for Zim! it's for my sister!"
Tak looked at him confused
"Gaz? What does she have to do with Zim?"
Skoodge was hovering around the area trying to find Dib but having no luck. He did find his broken glasses, and a dropped gun he had given him and started to fear the worst.
He landed atop a building and got a out a communication device from his PAK.
"I can't find the human anywhere Zim! I found his glasses and his gun but otherwise no sign of him! Are you sure he's alive" Skoodge reported
"Yes I'm sure, He's fragile so I have his vitals constantly monitored to make sure he doesn't die! He was in distress earlier but he's stable now! We just need to find him! I'll finish up here and join you shortly" Zim said
"Right!" Skoodge replied.
He got a heat seeking device from his PAK to see if it would help. It picked up on something he forgot to consider… the bodies of thousands of smeets below the surface.
"The Tallest told us the smeeteries were being closed down! That they were being deactivated! They really just left all the smeets to die slowly???" he thought to himself horrified.
He shook it off and decided to find Dib first and worry about that afterwards.
Zim and Gir went back to the Voot Cruiser and loaded the storage containers into it. Zim went inside to check if any the ship received any damage.
"I can't believe you're still alive… thought I'd finally be rid of your ass.." the computer said
"Yes! Hate to burst your bubble computer! But Nothing can kill Zim! NOTHING!" Zim laughed.
He stopped when he heard eerie growling in the distance.
"Computer? What was that?" Zim asked
"Who cares? Nothing can kill YOU right?"
"You're such a dick computer!"
Zim saw Skoodge in the distance and decided to follow him.
"Gir stay here and guard the Voot until I return!" he ordered
"YES SIR!" Gir saluted
Dib explained his situation to Tak and she looked completely flabbergasted! Her eyes bulged out her head and she felt the need to sit down.
"This is just… insane! We Irkens are bred for war! We're not even supposed to have reproductive organs! It gives us one of our many advantages in battle!" Tak replied shocked.
"How does having no reproductive organs help in battle?" Dib asked
"Would you like a demonstration?" she asked her boot a little too close to his balls for comfort.
"NO NO NO THANKS! I get it!" Dib squeaked
"Haha, I forget how funny you look when you're frightened Dib!" she teased.
Dib blushed and looked away "I really need to get back the battle… but it was nice catching up… I still think you should come with me"
"I suppose I could at least accompany you back to your "battle" it will be amusing to watch Zim die!" She replied
"Gee Thanks!" Dib sarcastically remarked
"Come on Dib! Put yourself in my shoes… if you only had 12 hours to live and you had an opportunity to watch your old enemy die would you not take it?" she asked
"I keep telling you! You don't have to die!" Dib yelled
Tak ignored him and hovered into the city
"Hurry up Dib! They'll most likely be heading for the next brain chamber like the morons they are!"
Dib growled and followed.
"By the way… what is hen tie?" Tak asked
Dib's face flushed furiously "What was that?"
"Hen Tie!? You said you seen a lot of it or something when the control brain wrapped around you! What is that?"
Dib coughed at the hilariously awkward question
"Ahemm well it's ahhhh… some people on my planet… like to make weird… OH LOOK IT'S ZIM!!!" Dib shouted never being happier to see the alien.
Zim scowled and Skoodge looked confused.
"Hey DIB SHIT! YOU REALLY LEFT OUR BATTLE JUST TO FLIRT WITH THIS BITCH!!?" Zim screamed
Tak and Dib flew closer to them reluctantly
"She's not a bitch Zim! She saved me!" Dib shouted
"The only bitch around here is Skoodge! I can't believe an actual competent Invader would sink so low as to obey Zim!" Tak laughed
Skoodge frowned and Zim aimed his gun at Tak
"HEY ZIM! STOP IT!" Dib screeched
"You probably told her everything like the dumbass you are! She knows exactly how to exploit your weaknesses!" Zim snarled
Tak laughed condescendingly and Dib got defensive.
"Look she saved my life so I'm not going to let you hurt her!" he whined
Zim growled annoyed "AARGH INFURIATING HUMAN!!! Just when I think you couldn't be anymore useless you prove me WRONG!"
In the distance again a thunderous growl was heard making the planet tremble again.
"We destroyed the main control brains… what the hell could that be?" Skoodge asked.
"I don't know and don't want to find out! Skoodge keep your eye on the "janitor drone" over there" Zim smirked
Tak growled in frustration.
"I will finish my mission here and then activate the planet's self destruct! Surely that should be enough to take care of whatever that growling creature is!" he explained
"Zim! If I may! I made a recent discovery! While looking for Dib I discovered that the underground smeeteries were not immediately deactivated"
"What!" Zim shouted
"The Tallest said they were stopping all production of smeets some time ago... We assumed this meant that they were going to deactivate them immediately but as you can see…" Skoodge explained while bringing up his datapad "They're still alive, barely able to function"
The three of them looked at the datapad in disbelief.
"I knew that Tallest were cruel but THIS… Why couldn't they just press a button and end their suffering!" Tak ranted
"So they just left hundreds of baby Irkens to die? Is that what I'm hearing?" Dib asked
"Not just die… suffer" Tak said.
Zim was silent for a moment before he snapped out of it.
"Well we'll just have to go to the smeeteries then…. Deactivate them ourselves" Zim said
"I needed to go there anyways"
"So I heard you dumbass!" Tak laughed
"You told her! You! YOU! UGHHHH! Stupid ass human!" Zim growled
"Not cool human" Skoodge shook his head disappointed
Dib looked embarrassed and just shrugged.
They all landed near another brain chamber. Zim paced a bit before deciding their next move.
"Okay I want to leave as quickly as possible so it's best we split up! Dib since your soooo fond of this would be job stealer you can go with her!"
"I don't have to listen to" Tak began before being shushed by Dib
"Sounds good where do you want us?" Dib asked.
Zim turned to Skoodge "You got a map of this place?"
"Yes here!" he replied tossing him a tablet like device.
"Okay Dib Stink! You two will be going into the main underground smeetery! Keep your communicator on you in case you run into any trouble! Skoodge and I will join you once we're finished getting all the brain goods here" Zim explained
"What exactly are we going to do in the smeetery?" Dib asked
"First extract any and all information from the computers about smeets and download it into this…" he reaches in his PAK for a disc and hands it to Dib.
"After that… blow it up!" he commanded
"Wait what??? We're just gonna kill all the babies!?" Dib asked frantically
"He's right Dib! I HATE agreeing with him but those smeets are beyond saving at this point…" Tak explained.
"Just do as your told! Like I said Skoodge and I will meet you there when we're done! Now get going!" Zim ordered
Tak and Dib rolled their eyes took off for the smeetery.
"Do you think we can trust her not to kill him?" Skoodge asked
"Nope! but I don't care! Gaz will believe me if I tell her, her brother was too stupid to listen to me!" Zim answered waving off any concerns before unlocking the chamber.
The Underground Smeetery
"Okay so we enter…. Here?" Dib asked while looking at his map.
Tak pointed out the console nearby that opens the elevator to the smeetery.
"It's a good thing I'm here! You can't read Irken!" she said as she punched in some codes.
The elevator rose from the ground shaking like it hasn't been used in years.
"That looks safe!" Dib yelled sarcastically
"Shut up and get in!" Tak ordered
They descended into the dark barely lit laboratory like building. The only visible light was from a computer monitor flickering.
"Damn I hope this thing works…" Dib complained
"It certainly could use some maintenance…" Tak said as she typed in some Irken codes.
Clink! Clink!
"What was that?" Dib asked
The room soon sounding like a bunch of … something smashing against glass. Dib wondered to another part of the room and shone his tablet light around to see what was going on. Some slight growling and scratching could be heard but he still couldn't find the source…
"What is that infernal racket?! I'm trying to work here!" Tak complained.
"I don't see anything but I'm trying to… find…out" Dib answered as looked at a strange looking window
A blur of green smashed against said window.
"Aahhh!" Dib screamed and fell back slightly.
"Hey Tak? You almost done because some creature is trying to smash this window to get to us!"
"You're lucky I'm doing this at all!" she said
"Sorry you're right…. I'm just getting freaked out!"
"Alright the data is downloading we just have to wait until it's done" she replied
"Now let me see what all the fuss is about…"
She stared at the window but didn't see anything.
"Hold on I'll activate my ocular implants! They help me see in the dark" she explained
Upon doing so, she saw hidden in the darkness thousands of very feral hungry smeets attacking the window!
"Aaaaaah! Oh my Gawd!!! What the hell is wrong with them!!!!" she screamed
"What is it?! What's trying to get us?" Dib asked
"They're smeets…. But different! Like if they've been infected with a parasite or something! Something happened to them but I don't know what!" she explained
The shrieks of the smeets grew louder and more ferocious.
"Perhaps the computer has the answers" she thought
"I can't believe how messed up your planet is!!! I can't wait to blow it up!" Dib yelled in fear as he charged his arms.
The glass broke and all that Dib could see were thousands of yellow glowing eyes and all that could be heard were their snarls and slurping sounds…
A/N: Holy crap guys! This was most challenging chapter yet! I'm sorry if it sucked! I tried lol. You wouldn't believe all the boss fight videos from horror games I watched to get inspiration! And yet I still feel like I fell short! Also Tak being back… I wasn't going to do that but thought of an important role for her so hopefully this chapter of the word tentacles said 1000 times didn't scare you away! And I'll see tou next time! As always thank you for reading my story! :)