Chapter 9: An Old Enemy Returns

Zim gasped . . . but he had nothing. He didn't remember this guy. He drew a complete blank.

"Well?" Reddington asked.

"You seriously don't remember me," Rockwell's new face said. Now he spoke with a British accent.

"No," Zim said.

Reddington looked at the new face, and he narrowed his eyes. Someone who knew and clearly hated Zim? Well, to know him was to hate him, so that didn't narrow it down. British accents. He could only think of the adventure involving Spike from the Buffyverse. This was clearly not Spike.

"You took everything from me!" Rockwell yelled. He stood, and he removed the skin covering one of his arms, revealing a robotic hand.

Finally! Zim jumped at the chance. "I don't even know who you are."

"Goddammit it, Zim," Fitz said in his ear. "Now's not the time."

"What? You have a movie line for everything! This one time, why can't I have one?!"

"Who are you talking to?" someone at the table asked.

"Oh dear God," Reddington said.

"Shut up, Zim!" Brandon said in his ear. "You're not supposed to acknowledge us!"

"Shut up, Ellis, just shut your mouth!" Fitz yelled.

"You bastard!" Zim roared. "You just told me not to—"

"Jesus Christ, Ellis, these people are gonna kill you!"

Only then did he realize what had just happened.

"He's wired!" someone shouted. Everyone pulled guns out and aimed them at Zim and Reddington. Reddington sighed and held up both hands.

A laser went off, and it cut everyone in the room in half . . . except for Zim and Reddington. They both looked at the source, and the phony Rockwell's robot hand had turned into a weapon.

"It can't be," Reddington said.

"Ah, someone finally knows who I am," Rockwell said.

"But the universe reset," Reddington said. "You found your beloved and married and lived happily ever after."

"That's the Earth-1 version of me," Rockwell said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Zim yelled.

"Of course he doesn't know you," Reddington said. "We must be Earth-2. Weird. I always assumed that we were Earth-1."

"Fuck," Zim said. "Someone tell me what's going on!"

"Take it easy, Renegade," Fitz said. "Keen and Ressler on their way. ETA of . . . seven minutes."

"You don't know him because you're such a wretched human being that you managed to ruin his life in a completely different parallel universe," Reddington said. "Or something to that effect. I'm not very clear on this, myself."

"Tell him who I am," Rockwell said.

"H. George Wells," Reddington said. "In another dimension you were responsible for the death of his beloved, Weena. And you accidentally chopped his arm off. Nice replacement, by the way. Very chic."

Zim blinked. He processed. The rusty gears in his head creaked. "Who?"

"Do not make me explain that again."

Wells roared and raised his laser directly into Zim's face. He fired.

TO BE CONTINUED!