Gaz walked down into the catacombs beneath Zim's mighty fortress, hoping that her brother was still alive and well. She knew he could be annoying at times, but they were still brother and sister and she still loved him deep down. Of course, she had done her best to hide these feelings from Dib, as she was not the 'caring' type.
She opened an ancient looking door labeled in the Irken language. Gaz recognized the symbols from what Zim had taught her so that she might be able to do his paper work. She ran her fingers over the markings, like a blind person reading brail.
"Test Ward A," she read aloud to herself. Looking around and seeing no one, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The foulness reached her first. God, she thought, it smells like road kill and vomit down here. She held her nose and started down the dimly lit corridor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He wept for his friend, now realizing that he was truly alone. She would be missed, not only by him, but by the majority of the Swollen Eyeballs. Dib stopped mourning suddenly, when he heard the soft approach of footsteps in the dark corridor. He feared that it might be Zim and his cronies, come to do horrible things to him like they had to Kala. The people in the other cages cringed in fear and sank into the darkness, not wanting to be seen. Being seen meant death here. No one wanted to see other members being tormented mercilessly and ripped into pieces. Dib caught sounds of many people crying, trying desperately not to be heard. The footsteps became louder, Dib noticing at least two different sets. He followed the others and sank into the shadows as best he could. Fear and panic crossed his mind when he heard a familiar voice.
"That human, I want that one."
Zim? Dib thought. Oh no, he's come to autopsy people and tear them to pieces!
"What about Dib, sir? You've been wanting to torture him for soooo long!"
"I'm aware of that Xeeg, but I want him to see what is happening to his secret society members first. Eh heh heh heh..."
"Uh oh. Sir? You'd better come look at this..." Xeeg said.
"What is it, soldier?" Zim walked over in front of the adjacent cage to Dib. "Ew... foul human stink beast. Put her with the rest of the 'experimentals'."
"Yes, s..."
"Hey, Zim!!" Dib got up, anger mixed with fear and his adrenaline pumping. "You leave Kala alone!! I swear you are the scum of the universe!! You're all alike!! Conquer and destroy!! No compassion for even your own kind!! Just a programmed monster, bent on destruction!!" Dib picked up one of the few rocks in the cell, and hurled it toward Zim. The rock nailed Zim in the head, causing a small gash to form, his alien blood trickling down his pale green skin.
"For that, human, you will pay!" He said as he pointed to another cell where yet another Eyeball member lay, curled up in the shadows. Xeeg followed Zim's direction and opened the prisoner's cage, pulling the young man from his sanctuary.
"No! Please... I beg of you!" The man cried desperately.
"Silence!" Zim yelled at the man, slapping him across the face.
"Leave him be!" Dib screamed at Zim, crashing up against the door of his cell, a loud clank issued.
"Eh heh heh... Place him on the table, there," Zim said, pointing to a large metal table. The table had straps much like Dib's own table, but there were far many more questionable objects installed there. One such object included a 24 inch steel blade, curved to slice through extremely thick skin. Dib gulped but continued his ranting until Zim asked him a simple question.
"Perhaps you'd like to take his place, Dib?" Zim smiled evilly, gesturing toward the table.
"I don't care what you do to me, Zim. You won't win. Humanity won't let you. As soon as I die, there will be another one like me. No matter HOW many of us you kill, there will always be another." Dib stated, valiantly. "Go ahead and kill me. There will be others."
"Ftt... Tis' not your time to die, human. I have 'special' plans for you," Zim replied back, in a sarcastic manner. He directed Xeeg to place the man on the table. Xeeg forced the young man down, strapping him tightly to the table. The straps were so tight that the man yelped in pain as his circulation was cut short.
"Now...," Zim began, rubbing his hands together. "Let the 'fun' begin. Eh heh heh..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dib?" She called out, hoping her brother would answer. "Dib, are you down here?" Please answer, she thought silently to herself. She looked into the cages of the people down where she was and was horrified at the conditions they were in. The people were very underfed and their hair, if they had any, was grimy and messy. The cages weren't kept up well and the people looked like subjects of tomentous experiments. Oh please be alright, Dib, she thought to herself.
"I'll never forgive myself if you're gone," she cried silently to herself as she tried not to look at the people. She continued walking a little down the corridor until she heard a rather insane laugh. She recognized it immediately.
"Zim," she whispered malevolently. What is HE doing down here? she suddenly asked herself. She decided to silently investigate and headed toward the maniacal laughter that drifted and bounced off the prison walls.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was not going to watch this. It was too much. One of his own members, probably someone he even knew, was going to be biopsied before him. He didn't want to hear his tortured screams, the sound one makes when they begin to choke on their own blood, he wanted to hear nothing, but Zim wasn't up for that idea.
"Eh heh..." Zim turned away from his helpless victim and squinted evilly in Dib's direction. "Xeeg," he began. "Go retrieve that prisoner, there," he finished pointing to Dib in the shadows.
"Yes, sir," Xeeg opened Dib's cell and dragged him out. He pushed Dib with the end of his laser gun. "Go," he hissed, pointing the barrel of the gun at Zim. Dib went reluctantly to the cell where Zim and the helpless man lay. Xeeg continued to direct Dib toward a chair that was being dragged in by other Irken soldiers and told Dib to sit.
"If you so much as move," Xeeg started, "You will be shot on sight." With that said, the other soldiers strapped Dib to the chair, making sure that the straps were tight.
"That ought to hold you," one of the soldiers said, smiling maliciously at Dib as he patted him on the back. As he left the cell, he issued a short maniacal laugh.
What was Zim going to do to him? Dib thought. He'd said himself that it wasn't yet time for him to die. He's had 'special' plans for him. Why was he now being strapped to a chair in the same room with Zim? He didn't have to wonder long, however, as Zim began to explain Dib's purpose for being in this particular room at this particular time.
"Eh heh... Hello, Dib. You're probably no doubt wondering why you're strapped to that chair." He looked at Dib and smiled at his frightened expression. "Well, I see this as fitting punishment for your ignorance all these years of trying to track me down and expose me. You, Dib, are going to watch this man," He paused, gesturing at the man who lay strapped to the table. "You are going to watch this man die. He's going to die a very slow and painful death and you are going to watch the entire thing. You will hear the entire thing. The horrible sight you see here will undoubtedly be played over and over in horrendous detail in that overlarge head of yours."
"All I have to do is close my eyes!" Dib screamed at Zim. "I don't HAVE to see anything!!"
"Oh, but you do," Zim replied. "Because if you don't, well let's just say it'll be unpleasant for you." Zim pointed at the many Irken soldiers in the room. "Now, let's have some fun, shall we? I may be the ruler of this planet, but I am still a scientist, Dib. Now," he said as a soldier wheeled in a cart full of sharp, metal objects, "Let's see what this hu-man is composed of." And with that, he took a scalpel in hand and cut the man's thin skin, purple blood gushing from the incision.
"Wha?" Zim looked at the man curiously. "You, friend, are obviously not human. So... the question arises, what are you?" Zim squinted angrily at the man who did not appear to be in the least bit injured, even though he was bleeding profusely from his chest.
Dib was astonished to find that he had not known about this man before. Now that he looked at the man, he did look somewhat alien-ish. His sunken green eyes and black messy hair didn't help matters. His thin was the very palest purple, almost white in color. Zim took the man's hat off his head, so that he could see his face clearly. When he did, however, he shrieked in terrifying anger!!
"You!!" Zim pointed a finger at the man, whose wound had since, stopped bleeding.
"What the hell?" Dib cocked his head at the man when he saw what lay beneath the shadows of the hat. The man had huge ears much like that of a wolf or other large dog.
"Aieeee!!!!" Zim shrieked, trying desperately to get away from the man. Dib had NEVER seen Zim so afraid of anything in his life. He could see why Zim was scared as the man broke free his restraints and changed form. Fur began to form where there was skin, his face elongated so that he retained the features of a were-creature. Huge dragon-like wings issued from the man's back, spanning the entire cell width. On the creature's arm, rested a huge clamp like bracelet with many buttons and lights on it. His legs were dragon-like and had three taloned claws and one short claw higher up.
"Damn you!" Zim shrieked at the creature, who knocked him flat with one swipe of his massive paw. Zim's limp body lay on the cold concrete floor, unconscious. Dib looked down at his lifeless form, then looked terrified as the creature came closer to him. He closed his eyes as he thought that it would surely devour him, but was relieved and very surprised to find that it ripped away his restraints, setting him free.
"What are you?" Dib asked suspiciously at the creature.
"There's not much time," the creature replied in a low voice. "I'll explain later. Your sister, I believe, is down here looking for you. I can hear her."
"Gaz?" Dib yelled.
The creature looked at the door to the cell and ripped it from its hinges. He ducked into the doorway and stepped out into the corridor. Dib followed and was going to leave when the creature suggested that he come along.
"You? How can I trust you?! You're an alien... thingy..." He said, waving his hand around in circles as he did. The creature merely looked at Dib, issued a growl from its throat, and bared its rather sharp teeth.
"Eh heh heh... yeah..." Dib said, not wanting to be eaten. "Sure you can come. I guess I could always use a... a.... say. What are you anyway?"
"Never mind that now," the creature replied. "You must find your sister. Come. We will search for her and we must do it quickly before that idiot wakes up." The creature pointed back at Zim.
"Okay, well then. Shall we go?" Dib asked as the two continued walking down the dark corridor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eh heh... I know. It sucks, but I had to finish this chapter before I left. Sorry.
"Wait a minute! Didn't I set you on fire and bury you in the back yard?"-Lenore's response to Mr. Gosh's return
"Well, yes... but I just figured it was an accident. The important thing is that I'm back to smother you with my manly love." - Mr. Gosh's reply to Lenore in 'The Return of Mr. Gosh
She opened an ancient looking door labeled in the Irken language. Gaz recognized the symbols from what Zim had taught her so that she might be able to do his paper work. She ran her fingers over the markings, like a blind person reading brail.
"Test Ward A," she read aloud to herself. Looking around and seeing no one, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The foulness reached her first. God, she thought, it smells like road kill and vomit down here. She held her nose and started down the dimly lit corridor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He wept for his friend, now realizing that he was truly alone. She would be missed, not only by him, but by the majority of the Swollen Eyeballs. Dib stopped mourning suddenly, when he heard the soft approach of footsteps in the dark corridor. He feared that it might be Zim and his cronies, come to do horrible things to him like they had to Kala. The people in the other cages cringed in fear and sank into the darkness, not wanting to be seen. Being seen meant death here. No one wanted to see other members being tormented mercilessly and ripped into pieces. Dib caught sounds of many people crying, trying desperately not to be heard. The footsteps became louder, Dib noticing at least two different sets. He followed the others and sank into the shadows as best he could. Fear and panic crossed his mind when he heard a familiar voice.
"That human, I want that one."
Zim? Dib thought. Oh no, he's come to autopsy people and tear them to pieces!
"What about Dib, sir? You've been wanting to torture him for soooo long!"
"I'm aware of that Xeeg, but I want him to see what is happening to his secret society members first. Eh heh heh heh..."
"Uh oh. Sir? You'd better come look at this..." Xeeg said.
"What is it, soldier?" Zim walked over in front of the adjacent cage to Dib. "Ew... foul human stink beast. Put her with the rest of the 'experimentals'."
"Yes, s..."
"Hey, Zim!!" Dib got up, anger mixed with fear and his adrenaline pumping. "You leave Kala alone!! I swear you are the scum of the universe!! You're all alike!! Conquer and destroy!! No compassion for even your own kind!! Just a programmed monster, bent on destruction!!" Dib picked up one of the few rocks in the cell, and hurled it toward Zim. The rock nailed Zim in the head, causing a small gash to form, his alien blood trickling down his pale green skin.
"For that, human, you will pay!" He said as he pointed to another cell where yet another Eyeball member lay, curled up in the shadows. Xeeg followed Zim's direction and opened the prisoner's cage, pulling the young man from his sanctuary.
"No! Please... I beg of you!" The man cried desperately.
"Silence!" Zim yelled at the man, slapping him across the face.
"Leave him be!" Dib screamed at Zim, crashing up against the door of his cell, a loud clank issued.
"Eh heh heh... Place him on the table, there," Zim said, pointing to a large metal table. The table had straps much like Dib's own table, but there were far many more questionable objects installed there. One such object included a 24 inch steel blade, curved to slice through extremely thick skin. Dib gulped but continued his ranting until Zim asked him a simple question.
"Perhaps you'd like to take his place, Dib?" Zim smiled evilly, gesturing toward the table.
"I don't care what you do to me, Zim. You won't win. Humanity won't let you. As soon as I die, there will be another one like me. No matter HOW many of us you kill, there will always be another." Dib stated, valiantly. "Go ahead and kill me. There will be others."
"Ftt... Tis' not your time to die, human. I have 'special' plans for you," Zim replied back, in a sarcastic manner. He directed Xeeg to place the man on the table. Xeeg forced the young man down, strapping him tightly to the table. The straps were so tight that the man yelped in pain as his circulation was cut short.
"Now...," Zim began, rubbing his hands together. "Let the 'fun' begin. Eh heh heh..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dib?" She called out, hoping her brother would answer. "Dib, are you down here?" Please answer, she thought silently to herself. She looked into the cages of the people down where she was and was horrified at the conditions they were in. The people were very underfed and their hair, if they had any, was grimy and messy. The cages weren't kept up well and the people looked like subjects of tomentous experiments. Oh please be alright, Dib, she thought to herself.
"I'll never forgive myself if you're gone," she cried silently to herself as she tried not to look at the people. She continued walking a little down the corridor until she heard a rather insane laugh. She recognized it immediately.
"Zim," she whispered malevolently. What is HE doing down here? she suddenly asked herself. She decided to silently investigate and headed toward the maniacal laughter that drifted and bounced off the prison walls.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was not going to watch this. It was too much. One of his own members, probably someone he even knew, was going to be biopsied before him. He didn't want to hear his tortured screams, the sound one makes when they begin to choke on their own blood, he wanted to hear nothing, but Zim wasn't up for that idea.
"Eh heh..." Zim turned away from his helpless victim and squinted evilly in Dib's direction. "Xeeg," he began. "Go retrieve that prisoner, there," he finished pointing to Dib in the shadows.
"Yes, sir," Xeeg opened Dib's cell and dragged him out. He pushed Dib with the end of his laser gun. "Go," he hissed, pointing the barrel of the gun at Zim. Dib went reluctantly to the cell where Zim and the helpless man lay. Xeeg continued to direct Dib toward a chair that was being dragged in by other Irken soldiers and told Dib to sit.
"If you so much as move," Xeeg started, "You will be shot on sight." With that said, the other soldiers strapped Dib to the chair, making sure that the straps were tight.
"That ought to hold you," one of the soldiers said, smiling maliciously at Dib as he patted him on the back. As he left the cell, he issued a short maniacal laugh.
What was Zim going to do to him? Dib thought. He'd said himself that it wasn't yet time for him to die. He's had 'special' plans for him. Why was he now being strapped to a chair in the same room with Zim? He didn't have to wonder long, however, as Zim began to explain Dib's purpose for being in this particular room at this particular time.
"Eh heh... Hello, Dib. You're probably no doubt wondering why you're strapped to that chair." He looked at Dib and smiled at his frightened expression. "Well, I see this as fitting punishment for your ignorance all these years of trying to track me down and expose me. You, Dib, are going to watch this man," He paused, gesturing at the man who lay strapped to the table. "You are going to watch this man die. He's going to die a very slow and painful death and you are going to watch the entire thing. You will hear the entire thing. The horrible sight you see here will undoubtedly be played over and over in horrendous detail in that overlarge head of yours."
"All I have to do is close my eyes!" Dib screamed at Zim. "I don't HAVE to see anything!!"
"Oh, but you do," Zim replied. "Because if you don't, well let's just say it'll be unpleasant for you." Zim pointed at the many Irken soldiers in the room. "Now, let's have some fun, shall we? I may be the ruler of this planet, but I am still a scientist, Dib. Now," he said as a soldier wheeled in a cart full of sharp, metal objects, "Let's see what this hu-man is composed of." And with that, he took a scalpel in hand and cut the man's thin skin, purple blood gushing from the incision.
"Wha?" Zim looked at the man curiously. "You, friend, are obviously not human. So... the question arises, what are you?" Zim squinted angrily at the man who did not appear to be in the least bit injured, even though he was bleeding profusely from his chest.
Dib was astonished to find that he had not known about this man before. Now that he looked at the man, he did look somewhat alien-ish. His sunken green eyes and black messy hair didn't help matters. His thin was the very palest purple, almost white in color. Zim took the man's hat off his head, so that he could see his face clearly. When he did, however, he shrieked in terrifying anger!!
"You!!" Zim pointed a finger at the man, whose wound had since, stopped bleeding.
"What the hell?" Dib cocked his head at the man when he saw what lay beneath the shadows of the hat. The man had huge ears much like that of a wolf or other large dog.
"Aieeee!!!!" Zim shrieked, trying desperately to get away from the man. Dib had NEVER seen Zim so afraid of anything in his life. He could see why Zim was scared as the man broke free his restraints and changed form. Fur began to form where there was skin, his face elongated so that he retained the features of a were-creature. Huge dragon-like wings issued from the man's back, spanning the entire cell width. On the creature's arm, rested a huge clamp like bracelet with many buttons and lights on it. His legs were dragon-like and had three taloned claws and one short claw higher up.
"Damn you!" Zim shrieked at the creature, who knocked him flat with one swipe of his massive paw. Zim's limp body lay on the cold concrete floor, unconscious. Dib looked down at his lifeless form, then looked terrified as the creature came closer to him. He closed his eyes as he thought that it would surely devour him, but was relieved and very surprised to find that it ripped away his restraints, setting him free.
"What are you?" Dib asked suspiciously at the creature.
"There's not much time," the creature replied in a low voice. "I'll explain later. Your sister, I believe, is down here looking for you. I can hear her."
"Gaz?" Dib yelled.
The creature looked at the door to the cell and ripped it from its hinges. He ducked into the doorway and stepped out into the corridor. Dib followed and was going to leave when the creature suggested that he come along.
"You? How can I trust you?! You're an alien... thingy..." He said, waving his hand around in circles as he did. The creature merely looked at Dib, issued a growl from its throat, and bared its rather sharp teeth.
"Eh heh heh... yeah..." Dib said, not wanting to be eaten. "Sure you can come. I guess I could always use a... a.... say. What are you anyway?"
"Never mind that now," the creature replied. "You must find your sister. Come. We will search for her and we must do it quickly before that idiot wakes up." The creature pointed back at Zim.
"Okay, well then. Shall we go?" Dib asked as the two continued walking down the dark corridor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eh heh... I know. It sucks, but I had to finish this chapter before I left. Sorry.
"Wait a minute! Didn't I set you on fire and bury you in the back yard?"-Lenore's response to Mr. Gosh's return
"Well, yes... but I just figured it was an accident. The important thing is that I'm back to smother you with my manly love." - Mr. Gosh's reply to Lenore in 'The Return of Mr. Gosh