I'm sorry about the lack of updates but things haven't been going so hot
around here. My aunt just got a double organ transplant and a
friend of mine got in a car crash and didn't make it (Thus the lack of
inspiration to write). And don't take this the wrong way but NO MORE PLOT
ADVICE! I already know where the story is going and have it planned out. So
please, I respect input but you may be giving away parts of the story, thus
lessening their impact.
.To be so blunt.
Excuse me for the rudeness but that's how it is. Well, if you want to read the newest edition after that rant, go ahead. To borrow words from the master:
"Now that you're primed and ready for laughs - ENJOY!" - Jhonen Vasquez ______________________________________________________
Zim sat in the ship's captain's seat, staring up at the ceiling. One foot was propped up on the copilot's chair, the other on the floor. He sighed. Things were not going as planned. The engine would take weeks to fix, and plus, they didn't know what to do next. Spluge was out walking the streets, getting newspapers and anything else that might yield information. Zim wanted to sleep. He couldn't go to bed; Gaz and Dib were bickering in the dormitory. He was trying to fall asleep in the cockpit, but it wasn't working, there was too much light. He looked out the windshield, out the door of the hanger. It was starting to drizzle. He sighed again, and put on a pair of sunglasses, hoping to block out most of the light. Surprisingly, they did. He leaned the chair back and tried to get some rest.
But his efforts were too late. Just as he was getting comfortable, Spluge came back. "Hey Zim, what's up?" Zim groaned, but didn't move. "What did you get? Anything interesting?" Spluge flipped through a stack of papers and tabloids he had picked up. "Haven't really checked yet. Hey - get a load of this."
Spluge tossed a magazine titled, in Irkin, 'Empire Times'. Zim lifted it up above his head, which was still facing the ceiling, to look at the cover. Once he got a look at it he straitened and took his foot off the seat.
"Well hello," he said, lowering the sunglasses to see over the rims. "What have we here?"
The cover story was entitled: "War Games Success Story". On the cover was a snapshot of a female Irkin, the leader of the winning squad. The picture was from the waist up; you could see the one hand on her hip and the other holding a rifle towards the ground. She was looking over her shoulder at a soldier who was talking to her. Her eyes were deep blue and she had a fan of orange around her right one like war paint. The sub-heading was: 'Youngest Squad Leader Ever to Win Back-To-Back Titles'. Zim whistled.
"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh. how did they ever let THAT into the military?"
Spluge leaned to look at the cover and smiled. "You're telling me. That kind of woman can make a strong man weak and a smart man stupid."
"You can say that again. Man, I'm sleeping well tonight."
Spluge laughed. "Your height and tastes may have changed, but your common sense hasn't, she's gorgeous."
Zim purred. "She can lead me into battle any day."
"Christ, Zim," said Dib out of nowhere. "Is this really the time to be ogling Irkin women?"
Zim looked at him and cocked an eyebrow over his sunglasses. "I'm not dead yet."
Just then Gaz walked in. She wore her all too famous: 'Doom' expression. "Is this yours?" She asked, pulled GIR up to shoulder level. He squirmed and hollered in her grasp. "He was trying to eat my Game Slave batteries. And unless there's a Radio Shack somewhere around here, those have to last me a long time. Could we PLEASE turn him off?"
Zim reluctantly shook his head - GIR had caused them enough trouble. "Sorry, I'm trying to make some modifications, and unless he's on I can't judge if he's working properly with them."
Gaz gave Zim a look. "Was he EVER working properly?"
Zim had to consider this for a long time. "Oh, quite whining about your stupid Game Slave!" said Dib, venturing into dangerous territory. "Don't you have more important thing to do?"
Gaz opened one eye open wide and squinted the other. "I'm going to help Zim with the engine when he gets the parts, but until then I'm TRYING not to go insane with boredom! God, we've been here several hours and haven't done anything! Excuse me if I can't find anything more constructive to do."
"Well you could at least read up on the schematics!"
"Hello! I'm trying to AVERT boredom!"
"Well-"
"ENOUGH!" Screamed Zim desperately, standing up and taking off his glasses. "That's it! I'm going stir-crazy! I'm gonna go for a walk. One more minute around you two bickering and I'm gonna crack!" Zim tossed his sunglasses on the captain's seat and nearly slammed the Vooter's door when he left. Spluge ran after him, to tell him about the riots near the federal building. For a moment there was silence. Until -
"Nice job Dib! Now he's probably NEVER going to come back!"
"ME!? Hey, you were the one."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Zim zipped up his hoodie and shoved his hands in his pockets. He was already out of the hanger before he realized he might not be dressed properly - human fashion wasn't exactly 'all the rage' on Irk. He stopped to take inventory: Khaki shorts that went past his knees, Adidas shoes, and his pink uniform shirt under his hoodie. Not very normal, but not all together weird. The hoodie was navy blue, a neutral color. He supposed he would be all right and continued walking.
The streets of Capitolia, the Irkin capital, looked different, but on the whole were just as he remembered them. The same buildings were still there, like the Federal building where Spluge had said something about riots. "Supposedly," Spluge had said just before Zim took his walk, "Some Reaptarian civilians are protesting outside, to free the captive Reaptarian fleet from prison. You might wanna check it out - we my find some allies." So that's where Zim was headed. He passed few Irkin's on his walk, because of the light rain. The rain, of course, was not like Earth's. It resembled the consistency of acid rain on Earth, because of the sulfur dioxide. The only suspicious look he got was from female Irkin, considerably shorter than him. She locked eyes with him, and didn't stop looking at him until they had passed each other. In fact, every Female Irkin he passed gave him that look. He guessed that his increased height must have made him more attractive, but he was joking. His clothes must have just been weird.
As he walked through downtown Capitolia, he gazed up at the architecture he had not seen in at least seven years. The silver buildings curved majestically overhead, reflecting the pink-orange sky. He sighed, knowing he would never look at them the same way again.
After about ten minutes of walking, he turned the corner to the Federal building. Outside the street was blocked with Reaptarian protesters, circling and waving signs written in both Irkin and Reaptarian. The place was crawling with soldiers, trying to keep the situation under control. To Zim, the commotion looked too risky at the moment to approach any of them. He tried an alley on the side of the building to avoid it.
The alley, thankfully, was much less hazardous. Rain swirled into sewer grates under his feet, drawing small rivers of dirty water along the concrete. He sighed and watched them, pondering his next move. He followed one around the corner of a building, to where it emptied through a grate and into the sewer. He looked up - and down the barrel of a blaster.
A soldier was aiming a blaster at him form point-blank rage. Zim gasped and yanked his hands out of his pockets; unconsciously reaching for the blaster at the small of his back he always carried, with his right hand. He would have drawn it if the soldier hadn't lowered the gun. The soldier holstered the gun and in one move flipped up the visor of the helmet and took it off completely. "Oh my God, I almost shot you," said the soldier. Zim however, didn't hear it.
He stared in disbelief at the person he almost shot. Looking back at him was the gorgeous Lieutenant from the cover of the magazine. She was dressed in normal, black armor instead of the silver suit from the war games. The only difference was that across her chest was a red strip, signifying her superiority. She was only a few inches shorter than him, by the looks of it. Her eyes were the same blue color from the cover. 'My God,' thought Zim, 'She's even more beautiful in person'. His jaw hung open slightly in awe.
"Sorry. I thought you were a protester trying to sneak in through the back. We've had more than a few attempts at that." She tilted her head slightly at him. "You OK?"
Zim realized that he had been staring. He snapped out of it and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh. yeah. just a little spooked by a blaster aimed at me. Doesn't happen everyday." She didn't realize that he was lying; when he was an Invader, he almost ALWAYS had a blaster aimed at him. She was lucky his gun reflexes were not what they once were, or else she probably would've had a bullet through her head by now. She smiled slightly. "Speak for yourself."
He smiled back stupidly, dazed by her beauty. He shook his head, trying to come to his senses. "You guys having a lot of trouble with protesters?"
She shrugged. "Enough. Several of them broke a window in the lobby earlier. But nothing big since then." She sighed. Zim marveled at the beautiful sound.
"Well, be careful now. There are other soldiers roaming the alleys." She turned to leave. Zim's mind raced. He couldn't just let her walk out of his life like that, could he?
"Wait!" he said. She looked at him over her shoulder. "Yes?"
He took a deep breath before starting. "Look. I don't usually do this. but. well, do you think we could, maybe, go get a drink somewhere real quick?"
She looked to the side, thinking. He knew she was going to say no, he just knew it. She was on duty; she couldn't just walk away from her post.
"Well, I can't just up and leave my position."
"Well, you're the leader aren't you? I can tell by the strip on your chest." Of course, she didn't have to know he was staring at her chest for a different reason. "You could say you were interviewing a witness to the riots, or something. Please?"
'You're coming off desperate,' he thought, 'She's never going to go now.' He was so dead set on rejection that when she answered, he almost fell over.
She glanced at the watch imbedded in her wrist armor. "Well, I usually don't do this either - but you've caught me in a good mood. Sure, where to?"
Zim's mind was temporarily paralyzed with shock. "Um. I saw a café just across the street."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
They sat by the window, facing the rioters from afar. They both ordered Blachia, a sort of Irkin cappuccino. After they ordered, Zim rest his head on his hand and just looked at her, disbelieving she was really there. She took a sip of her drink then set it down. "I see you recognized the symbol on my armor - are you in the military?"
He didn't blink as he answered. "I used to be in the military."
"Really? What were you?"
"An Invader."
She seemed slightly impressed by this - Invaders are higher up than combat forces. "Really? That must have been interesting. What happened?"
"Oh, you know, conquered worlds."
She chuckled. Zim thought he was going to die. "No, I mean why aren't you an Invader anymore?"
He felt really stupid - of course that's what she ment!
"Oh. Um. honorable discharge. A cousin of mine was having trouble with a business and since I was his only known relative, they discharged me to help him." Might as well keep the original cover story.
She nodded and lifted her drink to her mouth. She brought it down and licked the froth off her lips. Zim felt like he was being tortured, and shakily drew in a breath. "Oh my God."
She looked up. "Hmm?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. Say, I think I've seen you somewhere before."
She smiled. "Yeah, on the magazine covers."
He nodded. "Oh yeah, now I remember. That's a pretty impressive record."
She sighed and looked out the window. He sighed as well, and continued to look. After a moment she turned back to him. "What?"
"I can't seem to take my eyes off you." He said without thinking. This seemed to be the right answer, thought. She blushed slightly at the compliment. She took a sip of her drink. "You know, I don't even know your name."
"Zim." He said, once again without thinking. He realized the mistake, but was too slow to retract it. She raised an eyebrow. "Zim? Did you say Zim?"
He frantically searched for an explanation. "No, no, it's Zin. Zin."
"Oh," she said. "Mine's Elize, in case you haven't read the article already."
Elize, he thought, what a beautiful name. He put the hand that wasn't supporting his head in his pocket. It was then that he realized he had no money.
He almost panicked.
"Um. Elize. about the-"
"Oh, I'll pay for the drinks. I can write it off as a business venture on my Federal credit card. Thanks, tough."
He nearly cried with relief. He picked up his untouched drink and sipped it. It's taste was one he had loved back 'in the day', but now it tasted slightly bitter. Still, he drank it; it brought back a certain feeling of nostalgia. He lowered his cup just in time to catch her glancing at her watch. "Oh, crap. I'm sorry; I was supposed to check in a little while ago. I have to leave." She got up from the table, sliding her credit card through the slot in the table as she did so, taking care of the bill. He stood up to see her out. "Listen - is there any way I could contact you? Maybe get together again?"
She smiled. "Well, I'm usually stationed aboard the Gargantuan with my squad, but I have a leave coming up soon. Sure, here's a number." She grabbed a napkin off the table. "Got a pen?" Surprisingly, he did. She leaned against the window as she wrote down the number, and Zim couldn't help but notice the curve of her back. When she was done she handed him the napkin and the pen back. Smiling, she bid him farewell. "See you again some time," she said.
"Yeah. See you."
She walked back across the street. Zim leaned against the doorframe and watched her leave.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Zim was in much better spirits when he got back to the ship. He felt as if he was walking on air, and whistled. He walked by the cockpit, where he greeted Dib warmly. He passed Gaz in the hall, and gave her a peck on the check. She stopped and looked at him, puzzled, as he continued down the hall. He skipped into the dormitory, where he plopped down on his bed, grinning. He sprawled out on his back and spread his arms. He sighed. It took him a moment to notice Spluge standing against the wall.
"And why are you so happy?" he asked, crossing his arms. Zim closed his eyes and grinned. "I got a date."
Spluge let out a 'ha'. "No kidding. With who?"
Zim laid a hand on his chest and sighed deeply. "With that blue-eyed angel on the cover of 'Empire Times'."
Spluge made a sarcastic sound. "Yeah, right."
Zim opened his eyes. "No, I'm serious. She almost shot me, for Christ's sake. I asked if she wanted a drink, she accepted - one thing led to another, and now I've got her number! Can you believe that?"
Spluge just looked at him. "I'm not sure if I do. Tell me, is she as pretty as in the picture?"
Zim sat up. "Are you kidding? My God, I almost orgasmed watching her eat!"
Spluge sat down on the bed. "You really got her number?" Zim nodded enthusiastically.
"She said she's stationed on some ship called the Gargantuan. If I call there and dial this extension I'll get her. Gargantuan. tell me, why does that sound so familiar?"
"Probably because that's the ship the Tallests command. It used to be the 'Massive', but they upgraded several years ago. If she's stationed there then she must be highly ranked."
Zim's eyes widened in realization. "My God, it is! Wow, I didn't know that."
Spluge huffed. "Figures. She IS related to 'em."
Zim's bow lowered in concern. "What?"
"Yeah, I thought you knew. Purple Tallest is her friggin' uncle!"
Zim pulled back his antennae, and the color drained from his face. "You're kidding." He said, hoping he was. Spluge shook his head. "No."
Zim ran a hand over his head and exhaled sharply. He kept his hand on his head as he looked at the floor. Spluge sat there for a moment, then leaned close to Zim, talking in a quiet, serious tone.
"You mean to tell me that you got involved with this girl, not knowing she was niece to one of your worst enemies?"
Zim just looked at him.
"FUCK, Zim!" shouted Spluge as he spun up from where he sitting and covered his forehead with his head. He walked a little ways before turning back sharply to face Zim. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the floor. When he looked up, he spoke softly, trying to keep his voice calm. "You love this girl don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Don't lie, you'll make things worse."
Zim gripped his right shoulder with his left hand, hugging himself somewhat. "I think I do."
Spluge swore softly. "And does she feel the same way?"
Zim shrugged solemnly. "Maybe, she showed interest."
Spluge shook his head. "Well there's only one thing we can do: Pump her for information, use her, find out all you can from her. She is his niece, she'll have some insider information-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." said Zim, getting up from the bed. "First of all, I don't even know if this is going to pan out yet, second. I don't want to use her like that."
"Oh, come on, Zim, you were an Invader!"
Zim stopped for a second and looked at Spluge, surprised and hurt.
"I mean, no offense man, but you probably had to do a lot of LOW shit to conquer all those worlds."
Zim sighed, knowing it was the truth. Spluge's expression softened. "I'm sorry man, but that's how it is."
Zim turned away, opening and closing his fists. "But it feels so wrong."
Spluge sighed, and rest a hand on the shoulder of his young friend. "I know it does, IT IS wrong. But this may be our only chance for leads. I mean. I didn't help you smuggle in two aliens for you to chicken out. It's too late for that."
Zim looked at Spluge with sad eyes. "I know. But I don't know how long I can hold out." Spluge put an arm around him and they didn't say anything for a long time.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After she shared a drink with Zim, who she knew as 'Zin', Elize walked back to the Federal Building to check in with her squad by radio. She didn't have to check in personally, so she could have technically checked in at the café without leaving, but she wasn't supposed to let anyone hear her conversations with military personel. She put her helmet back on and pressed the 'talk' button on her radio. "This is Lieutenant first class checking in. All is well, over."
Lieutenant Tao's voice came over the speaker. "Rodger that, Lieutenant. We were just starting to worry about you, over."
"No need for that, everything's fine, over."
Elize turned the corner into the alley and almost ran into another soldier, which turned out to be Teke. Elize sighed in relief. "Don't do that, Teke, you scared the shit out of me."
Teke removed her helmet. "Who was that?"
Elize played dumb. "Who was who?"
Teke smirked. "That cutie you were at the café with. C'mon, tell me, a friend of yours?"
Elize tried to make her expression serious. "No, he was a pedestrian. I thought it would be a good idea to get a civilian's perspective on the riot situation. Ya know, to get a better understanding of their standpoint."
Teke gave her a look. Elize cracked a smile. "He WAS a cutie, wasn't he?"
They both giggled. "So what happened?"
"You know, it was the strangest thing. First, I almost shot him because I thought he was a rioter. Then, out of the blue, he asks if I would get a drink with him. I guess I must have thought he was good looking at the time, because I agreed."
Teke put her hands on her hips. "Picking up guys on duty. Your life is a fantasy."
Elize shrugged. "Not really, it just looks that way to the untrained eye."
They laughed. "So when are you going on leave?"
Elize smiled. "Tomorrow. That leaves four days before the banquet to do NOTHING! I can't wait. I haven't gone on leave in SO long."
"I don't remember you EVER going on leave. Well, there was that time during the Food Courtia battle, but that wasn't even for a whole day."
"Yeah, that doesn't even count."
Teke put her helmet back on. "I'd better get back to my post before Tao yells at me again."
"Tao was giving you a hard time? Well don't worry about that, I'll tell him you were on orders from me - he'll shut up real quick if he knows what's good for him."
They walked back to their posts, laughing.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The same day Elize met Zim, Red awoke restless. He felt worried after Purple's premonition during the night. He felt bad that he couldn't help him in some way, but he knew that Purple had his own demons to sort out. It was best to steer clear of internal conflicts like that.
But still it unnerved him. He rolled out of bed.
He shrugged a robe over his shoulders and examined the bandage on his neck. The doctor had said he could take it of this morning; it should be fully scabbed over. Carefully, he lifted the corner of the wrappings and began to pull them off. He winced in pain as the surgical tape pulled at the tender flesh, revealing his wound. After the dressing was completely removed, he probed the lesions with his fingers. They weren't too deep, but deep enough to scar. Two dark red lines down the sides of his windpipe like an inverted equal sign that would remain there the rest of his life. They would eventually heal and turn to scar tissue; green and uneven. But until then they were very sensitive and would have to be delt with carefully. Red smirked. Wouldn't Purple be disappointed.
He was still bored. There were no meetings, briefings, or reports of any kind scheduled for the day. Usually he would have no problem sleeping through the entire day, but he was already wide-awake. He could watch programming on the viewing box (him and Purple did get every channel in existence) but that thought bored him too. He sighed.
Then the buzzer sounded. He went to go answer the door.
He looked at the small monitor next to the door, which displayed a soldier behind it. Red quickly donned his 'I just got up, you're bothering me' face and opened the door.
The soldier on the other side looked surprised to see Red, even though he rang the buzzer. Red leaned against the doorframe and yawned. "Yes?"
"Um. Sir, I was asked to see how you were doing. after the attack an all."
Red nodded his head sleepily. "Fine, just fine. I." he trailed off when he noticed the standard issue blaster holstered against the soldiers hip. It wasn't out of the ordinary - every soldier, of every rank had one. It wasn't unusual for this soldier to have it, but it gave Red an idea.
"Um. Sir?" asked the soldier confusedly. Red snapped out of it and looked at him. "Huh? Oh. Yes, I'm fine. That is all soldier." He turned back in the room and the soldier walked away.
Red, now wound up, walked briskly into the bedroom, where Purple still lay sleeping. He leaned over the bed and nudged his shoulder. "Purple.Purple. wake up."
Purple groaned without moving. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because of the nightmare, but Red thought he was just being difficult. He nudged him harder. "Purple!"
"What?!" he said in a loud whisper, obviously irritated by the fact he was being awakened. Red ran over to Purple's side of the bed.
"Could we go to the shooting range today?"
Purple peered through the haze of sleep at Red, puzzled. "What?"
"Oh, c'mon. I'm bored. I haven't been there in a while, and I know it's been even longer for you. There's nothing to do today so we might as well."
Purple shook his head groggily. "I don't want to."
Red rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor in front of the bed. "Come on! There's nothing to do!"
"There's nothing stopping YOU from going. And besides, the only shooting range we could go to is the one at the Invader's academy, and I don't feel like being ogled and asked to sign autographs."
Red growled in frustration. "Without you there's no competition, it will be almost as boring as if I didn't go at all. And who cares if they make a big deal out of us, its nothing new."
Purple sighed and propped himself up on an elbow. "Competition? Red, you've always been a better marksman than me."
"So? You're still better than anyone I'll find at the academy. And if they WERE good, they'd probably throw the match. Besides - I'm a little rusty, you might get lucky."
Purple sighed. "Red."
"Oh, please? Come on." he clasped his hands together and leaned them on the bed. Purple sighed and looked at the bedside clock. "Do I have to get up right now?"
Red shook his head. "No, take all the time you need."
Purple groaned an: 'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this' groan and looked back at Red. "Fine. Give me fifteen nano-cycles."
Red smiled and got up. "Thanks Purple." He was about to walk away, when he leaned over and gave Purple a peck on the check. "I love you." He ran off and Purple groaned, pulling the comforter over his head.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After twenty nano-cycles, they were in the car on their way. Red crossed his arms and glared at Purple, who had fallen asleep in the seat. Finally, after a few moments, he kicked the seat, waking him from his inappropriate slumber.
"Uh. what.?"
Red glared at him.
"What?"
Red sighed and looked out the one-way window. "You could have stayed if you were just going to sleep all day."
Purple rolled his eyes. "I tried to reason with you but NOOO. Well. I'm sorry. I'll try to wake up." he looked around. After a moment he threw a suggestive look at Red. "I know what'll wake me up."
Red smiled slyly. He began to move closer when Purple pointed at the backseat Java-machine. "Hand me that coffee."
Red hung his mouth open, then harrumphed and hit a button on the machine. After it poured, he thrust it at Purple and then recrossed his arms and legs. "You're terrible." He said, looking out the window. Purple chuckled and took a sip. He looked at his coffee, then back at Red. "What? No sugar?" Red threw several packets at his face.
He shrugged. "Fair enough." He picked one up off the seat, opened it, and poured it into his coffee.
After another sip, Purple held it in his hands between his knees and stared into it, thinking. His dream last night had caused an entirely new wave of premonitions. And they weren't normal premonitions; they were mixed with a feeling of déjà vu, like something past was coming back to get him. Zim? Well, Zim was a large part of it, but he was not the complete story. It was as if his history was trying to resurrect itself, through Zim. But. Zim couldn't possibly know -
"Purple?" asked Red, now concerned instead of irritated. Purple looked up like nothing was the matter. "Yes?" Red opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it and looked back out the window. "Nothing." Purple took a sip of his drink and replaced it between his knees. "I feel a little more awake now, if it's any consolation."
Red said nothing. Purple took another sip.
"Maybe kicking my ass in a shootout will cheer you up."
Red smiled without taking his eyes off the scenery. "Maybe."
Purple quickly downed the remainder of his coffee. Red straitened in his seat. "We're here." He sighed. "Damn, it looks to be a bigger deal than I expected."
Purple raised an eyebrow. Red pointed at him. "Don't say anything."
Purple threw his hands up in mock surrender.
They felt the car slow to a halt, and a soldier who had been riding in front walked around to open the door. "Put on your 'happy face' Red," said Purple before the door opened. "It's show time."
The door opened and immediately they heard the excitement outside. The car was soundproof, so until then they had heard nothing. They stepped out and the noise grew louder.
The good news was that because it was the Invader's academy, there were no civilians to get out of hand. The crowd of undergraduate Invaders was relatively behaved, but still just as wound up. Red and Purple walked in, side by side, waving. After they were inside, the crowd quickly dispersed and went about their business. Red gave Purple a look. "See. It wasn't that bad, was it?" Purple rolled his eyes.
Red and Purple were approached by Academy officials as soon as they walked in the door. The president clasped his hands together and greeted them joyfully. "Welcome, welcome! What brings the Almighty Tallests to our humble establishment?"
"We were actually interested in practicing our marksmanship," stated Red professionally. "Tell me, is the shooting range open?"
The president's happy demeanor faltered. "Actually, there are exercises scheduled in the shooting range today. - But we could postpone them if you would like."
Red shook his head. "No, no need for that. Don't want to infringe on the training of our Invaders, do we?"
"No, certainly not." Said Purple. "But tell me, is the hologram platform free?"
The president became happy again. "Why yes. Would your highnesses like to practice there?"
They looked at each other, then back at the academy president. "I think so." Said Red. The President clapped his hands once. "Then it's settled. I'll take you there now, myself. Guards - make sure no student goes near the holo-platform area. We don't want the Almighty Tallests to be disturbed."
He motioned for them to follow him and they did. After a brief walk, they arrived in front of a seemingly normal door. The only peculiarity was a small monitor and keypad next to it. The president turned to them. "I take it you know how to work the halo-platform, so I'll leave you alone. It you need anything there's an intercom in the-"
"Yes, thank you for your concern, but we would like to get started." Stated Purple bluntly. The president nodded and was on his way. Purple began to type on the keypad. "Hmm. what'd ya say, Red. How 'bout an obstacle course?"
Red raised an eyebrow. "You're suddenly gun-ho on this. Why?"
Purple laughed. "No reason. Now - I think I got this thing right. Yep, there it goes."
Red didn't notice Purple smirk as the doors opened. There WAS a reason Purple was so happy. The doors slid open and they stepped in.
The room was roughly the size of a hanger on the 'Gargantuan'. It was void of color; completely black walls, floor and ceiling stared back at them. They stood side by side at the center of the room, waiting to initiate the program. Purple nodded at Red, who yelled out into the cavernous room: "Initiate Program!"
There was a brief hum as the simulation booted, then a blinding flash of light. When the flood of illumination subsided, Purple found himself to be clad in armor, holding a blaster. The room was no longer a black void: It had been transformed into a jungle of metal structures much like the battle arena his niece had competed in. He looked at the blaster, then at his own armor. He smirked. "Hey Red - it's been forever since-"
He turned to look at Red, but he was no longer there. ".I've. worn. battle armor."
He must have run off into hiding already. Which ment he probably was staking out a vantage point - right now. A shot whizzed past Purple's helmet so close he could feel the air rush past.
Purple knew Red was more accurate than that, if he wanted to hit him, he would have. That was just his way of saying 'get your ass in gear'. Purple shifted his weight, ready to run into hiding. He sighed. "Shit."
He ran and pressed up against a structure facing the opposite was from where the shot was fired. Purple was feeling less confident than he had at the beginning - Red was a better field soldier and marksman than him. Purple, although trained for it, was ment for piloting rather than ground battles. Put him behind the stick of a battle-cruiser, and he was a master. But hand him a Blaster and a helmet - that was a different story. Red was much more used to field tactics than aerial dogfights. Purple cocked his blaster and advanced.
Purple's advantage would come in the third stage of the course. Red had not known which simulation Purple had chosen, and most likely would have protested if he DID see which one was picked. But it was too late for that. Purple would simply fare the best he could until the first stage was over.
He ran; his blaster towards the ground for safety. He ran past a break in the trench, momentarily loosing cover. Fire rang out and echoed off the walls as shots hurtled past Purple, nearly hitting him. He spun up against the trench wall and took off his helmet. He had a brilliant idea: He threw the helmet off in the distance, into a clearing to his left. The helmet made a loud noise, and shots were fired towards it. This gave him just enough time to maneuver:
He stepped back through the break in the trench, to see the direction in which the shots were coming from. He spotted Red at the top of a distant trench, only his arms and head leveled above its apex. Purple fired twice: both shots came close, but nicked the top of the structure instead of hitting Red. Red quickly ducked back behind the trench's crest. "Shit." mumbled Purple to himself. He turned back behind cover and advanced.
Before running into the clearing to fetch his helmet, he checked to make sure the coast was clear. He carefully looked around, and saw no one. He hit the side of the metal trench, making a loud noise, and quickly ducked back under cover. When no shots were fired, he assumed it was safe. He carefully stepped out, then walked quickly to his fallen helmet. He bent over to pick it up -
"Hold it right there," said a voice. It was shortly followed by the cocking of a blaster. Purple, knowing it could only be one person, turned and looked. He smirked when he saw him. "Oh you're good."
Red smirked under his visor. "Clever trick with the helmet, but you shouldn't have retrieved it. I knew you would, though." He approached Purple. "Stand up strait."
Purple sighed, straitened, and put his hands in the air. Red circled in front of him, and took off his helmet. He kept the blaster aimed at Purple, relishing his victory over him. Purple sighed again.
Red crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. "You're so CUTE on the edge of defeat."
Purple narrowed his eyes. "Just get it over with."
Red shook his head from side to side. "Tich tich tich tich tich, you're no fun." He uncrossed his arms and leveled the blaster with both arms. "Turn around."
Purple reluctantly turned his back to Red, preparing to be 'executed'. Red carefully aimed, making sure not to hit Purple in his helmet less head. He squinted one eye and squeezed off a shot.
The paint pellet hit Purple, hard, high in-between his shoulders. He felt the pain before the shot's echo wore off. He hunched over and reached over his head to where the shot made contact. He stopped biting his lip just long enough to swear. "FUCK Red! That hurt!"
Up until now, Red had been trying desperately to contain his laughter. He rolled his eyes when Purple burst out. "No kidding, ya think it's supposed to feel good?"
"LEVEL ONE COMPLETED. TEN POINTS AWARDED TO PLAYER ONE. LEVEL TWO: COMENCE."
The structures and scenery dropped away in a fashion that was surreal. Suddenly, Purple found himself in the pilot seat of a battle-cruiser. Through the windshield he saw that he was in a long, illuminated tube, with obstacles every so often. He was no longer in paint-splashed battle armor, but the field robes of a pilot. He wore a headset with a microphone. He gripped the joystick between his knees and smiled mischievously. "Bring it on."
"LEVEL TWO: EVASIVE PILOTING."
Both Tallests sped through the course. The first obstacles were simple: structures here, structures there; you just maneuvered around them. After a while they started to become more complex. Moving obstacles, columns, walls that would come out of nowhere. Purple steered with little effort, while Red was becoming fatigued. Purple caught a glimpse of his ship as it barely cleared a moving wall. "What's the matter Red? Not so big without a sidearm, eh?" said Purple into his headset. Red cursed. "Fuck you."
Purple laughed.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Near the end of the second level, they reached a strait-away. It was an old- fashioned race to the finish. Red, having narrowly escaped the obstacles, was dead set on beating Purple. All he had to do was beat him to the finish line, and he would be ahead by another ten points. But this was easier said than done; Purple already had a significant lead. He had been burning his anti-matter boosters for the past several cycles, and had gained a lot of ground. Red, however, had yet to use his; he had been too busy avoiding barriers. Now that he had the chance, he turned them on.
The sudden lurch forward drove him back into the seat. He tried to hang onto the controls as the G-forces pulled him farther away, but his hands were quickly ripped free. The walls of the tube sped past him so fast they were almost unrecognizable.
Purple saw Red approaching on the picture-in-picture feature of the screen. His speed seemed almost uncontrollable. in fact. it WAS uncontrollable! Red was spiraling out of control. Purple nearly screamed into his headset. "Red! DECREASE speed! I repeat, I am not trying to trick you - DECREASE YOUR SPEED!"
Red, however, could barely hear him over the roar of the engines. He could hear Purple's voice vaguely, saying something, but he couldn't make out words. It only got more frantic as he approached Purple's cruiser.
"DAMMIT, RED! YOU'RE GONNA RAM RIGHT INTO ME! I-" just then, Purple's engine died. He stared, wide-eyed at the controls. He glanced up at the small screen in the corner, to see Red's out of control ship barrel towards him. He covered his head with his arms and braced for impact.
The ships collided with a shrill, metal-twisting screech that echoed off the tube walls. Purple's slammed into the tube wall from the blow, and sparks went flying between the grinding metal. The two ships - now so badly mangled you could not tell where one started and the other began - finally bounced of the tube wall and barrel-rolled through the air. Both Tallests screamed as the two ships - now merged - seemed to slingshot through space uncontrollably. The finish line neared, and the two ships hurtled past it. Not long after, they skidded across the ground and ejected their pilots onto the hard, tube surface.
Both Tallests were flung into the air, slid across the smooth metal surface and stopped some distance from their vehicles. Red managed to get his arm under him, and used them for support as he lifted himself. He hissed in breath as the muscles in his shoulder screamed at him, presumably from a blow when the ships collided. He reached across his lesion-ed neck to massage the sore area. He took off his headset. He looked to his right; to the other side of the tube, and saw Purple.
Purple had yet to move. He lay, motionless, with his back to Red. Slowly, an arm creped behind his back in an attempt to roll himself over. Red sat up strait, despite the pain coming from his shoulder and neck. "Pur?"
A painful groan was his only answer.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NOW WASN'T THAT WORTH THE WAIT!!!!! (#11 coming soon, I promise.)
Hey people: Reviews encourage me to write.
.To be so blunt.
Excuse me for the rudeness but that's how it is. Well, if you want to read the newest edition after that rant, go ahead. To borrow words from the master:
"Now that you're primed and ready for laughs - ENJOY!" - Jhonen Vasquez ______________________________________________________
Zim sat in the ship's captain's seat, staring up at the ceiling. One foot was propped up on the copilot's chair, the other on the floor. He sighed. Things were not going as planned. The engine would take weeks to fix, and plus, they didn't know what to do next. Spluge was out walking the streets, getting newspapers and anything else that might yield information. Zim wanted to sleep. He couldn't go to bed; Gaz and Dib were bickering in the dormitory. He was trying to fall asleep in the cockpit, but it wasn't working, there was too much light. He looked out the windshield, out the door of the hanger. It was starting to drizzle. He sighed again, and put on a pair of sunglasses, hoping to block out most of the light. Surprisingly, they did. He leaned the chair back and tried to get some rest.
But his efforts were too late. Just as he was getting comfortable, Spluge came back. "Hey Zim, what's up?" Zim groaned, but didn't move. "What did you get? Anything interesting?" Spluge flipped through a stack of papers and tabloids he had picked up. "Haven't really checked yet. Hey - get a load of this."
Spluge tossed a magazine titled, in Irkin, 'Empire Times'. Zim lifted it up above his head, which was still facing the ceiling, to look at the cover. Once he got a look at it he straitened and took his foot off the seat.
"Well hello," he said, lowering the sunglasses to see over the rims. "What have we here?"
The cover story was entitled: "War Games Success Story". On the cover was a snapshot of a female Irkin, the leader of the winning squad. The picture was from the waist up; you could see the one hand on her hip and the other holding a rifle towards the ground. She was looking over her shoulder at a soldier who was talking to her. Her eyes were deep blue and she had a fan of orange around her right one like war paint. The sub-heading was: 'Youngest Squad Leader Ever to Win Back-To-Back Titles'. Zim whistled.
"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh. how did they ever let THAT into the military?"
Spluge leaned to look at the cover and smiled. "You're telling me. That kind of woman can make a strong man weak and a smart man stupid."
"You can say that again. Man, I'm sleeping well tonight."
Spluge laughed. "Your height and tastes may have changed, but your common sense hasn't, she's gorgeous."
Zim purred. "She can lead me into battle any day."
"Christ, Zim," said Dib out of nowhere. "Is this really the time to be ogling Irkin women?"
Zim looked at him and cocked an eyebrow over his sunglasses. "I'm not dead yet."
Just then Gaz walked in. She wore her all too famous: 'Doom' expression. "Is this yours?" She asked, pulled GIR up to shoulder level. He squirmed and hollered in her grasp. "He was trying to eat my Game Slave batteries. And unless there's a Radio Shack somewhere around here, those have to last me a long time. Could we PLEASE turn him off?"
Zim reluctantly shook his head - GIR had caused them enough trouble. "Sorry, I'm trying to make some modifications, and unless he's on I can't judge if he's working properly with them."
Gaz gave Zim a look. "Was he EVER working properly?"
Zim had to consider this for a long time. "Oh, quite whining about your stupid Game Slave!" said Dib, venturing into dangerous territory. "Don't you have more important thing to do?"
Gaz opened one eye open wide and squinted the other. "I'm going to help Zim with the engine when he gets the parts, but until then I'm TRYING not to go insane with boredom! God, we've been here several hours and haven't done anything! Excuse me if I can't find anything more constructive to do."
"Well you could at least read up on the schematics!"
"Hello! I'm trying to AVERT boredom!"
"Well-"
"ENOUGH!" Screamed Zim desperately, standing up and taking off his glasses. "That's it! I'm going stir-crazy! I'm gonna go for a walk. One more minute around you two bickering and I'm gonna crack!" Zim tossed his sunglasses on the captain's seat and nearly slammed the Vooter's door when he left. Spluge ran after him, to tell him about the riots near the federal building. For a moment there was silence. Until -
"Nice job Dib! Now he's probably NEVER going to come back!"
"ME!? Hey, you were the one."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Zim zipped up his hoodie and shoved his hands in his pockets. He was already out of the hanger before he realized he might not be dressed properly - human fashion wasn't exactly 'all the rage' on Irk. He stopped to take inventory: Khaki shorts that went past his knees, Adidas shoes, and his pink uniform shirt under his hoodie. Not very normal, but not all together weird. The hoodie was navy blue, a neutral color. He supposed he would be all right and continued walking.
The streets of Capitolia, the Irkin capital, looked different, but on the whole were just as he remembered them. The same buildings were still there, like the Federal building where Spluge had said something about riots. "Supposedly," Spluge had said just before Zim took his walk, "Some Reaptarian civilians are protesting outside, to free the captive Reaptarian fleet from prison. You might wanna check it out - we my find some allies." So that's where Zim was headed. He passed few Irkin's on his walk, because of the light rain. The rain, of course, was not like Earth's. It resembled the consistency of acid rain on Earth, because of the sulfur dioxide. The only suspicious look he got was from female Irkin, considerably shorter than him. She locked eyes with him, and didn't stop looking at him until they had passed each other. In fact, every Female Irkin he passed gave him that look. He guessed that his increased height must have made him more attractive, but he was joking. His clothes must have just been weird.
As he walked through downtown Capitolia, he gazed up at the architecture he had not seen in at least seven years. The silver buildings curved majestically overhead, reflecting the pink-orange sky. He sighed, knowing he would never look at them the same way again.
After about ten minutes of walking, he turned the corner to the Federal building. Outside the street was blocked with Reaptarian protesters, circling and waving signs written in both Irkin and Reaptarian. The place was crawling with soldiers, trying to keep the situation under control. To Zim, the commotion looked too risky at the moment to approach any of them. He tried an alley on the side of the building to avoid it.
The alley, thankfully, was much less hazardous. Rain swirled into sewer grates under his feet, drawing small rivers of dirty water along the concrete. He sighed and watched them, pondering his next move. He followed one around the corner of a building, to where it emptied through a grate and into the sewer. He looked up - and down the barrel of a blaster.
A soldier was aiming a blaster at him form point-blank rage. Zim gasped and yanked his hands out of his pockets; unconsciously reaching for the blaster at the small of his back he always carried, with his right hand. He would have drawn it if the soldier hadn't lowered the gun. The soldier holstered the gun and in one move flipped up the visor of the helmet and took it off completely. "Oh my God, I almost shot you," said the soldier. Zim however, didn't hear it.
He stared in disbelief at the person he almost shot. Looking back at him was the gorgeous Lieutenant from the cover of the magazine. She was dressed in normal, black armor instead of the silver suit from the war games. The only difference was that across her chest was a red strip, signifying her superiority. She was only a few inches shorter than him, by the looks of it. Her eyes were the same blue color from the cover. 'My God,' thought Zim, 'She's even more beautiful in person'. His jaw hung open slightly in awe.
"Sorry. I thought you were a protester trying to sneak in through the back. We've had more than a few attempts at that." She tilted her head slightly at him. "You OK?"
Zim realized that he had been staring. He snapped out of it and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh. yeah. just a little spooked by a blaster aimed at me. Doesn't happen everyday." She didn't realize that he was lying; when he was an Invader, he almost ALWAYS had a blaster aimed at him. She was lucky his gun reflexes were not what they once were, or else she probably would've had a bullet through her head by now. She smiled slightly. "Speak for yourself."
He smiled back stupidly, dazed by her beauty. He shook his head, trying to come to his senses. "You guys having a lot of trouble with protesters?"
She shrugged. "Enough. Several of them broke a window in the lobby earlier. But nothing big since then." She sighed. Zim marveled at the beautiful sound.
"Well, be careful now. There are other soldiers roaming the alleys." She turned to leave. Zim's mind raced. He couldn't just let her walk out of his life like that, could he?
"Wait!" he said. She looked at him over her shoulder. "Yes?"
He took a deep breath before starting. "Look. I don't usually do this. but. well, do you think we could, maybe, go get a drink somewhere real quick?"
She looked to the side, thinking. He knew she was going to say no, he just knew it. She was on duty; she couldn't just walk away from her post.
"Well, I can't just up and leave my position."
"Well, you're the leader aren't you? I can tell by the strip on your chest." Of course, she didn't have to know he was staring at her chest for a different reason. "You could say you were interviewing a witness to the riots, or something. Please?"
'You're coming off desperate,' he thought, 'She's never going to go now.' He was so dead set on rejection that when she answered, he almost fell over.
She glanced at the watch imbedded in her wrist armor. "Well, I usually don't do this either - but you've caught me in a good mood. Sure, where to?"
Zim's mind was temporarily paralyzed with shock. "Um. I saw a café just across the street."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
They sat by the window, facing the rioters from afar. They both ordered Blachia, a sort of Irkin cappuccino. After they ordered, Zim rest his head on his hand and just looked at her, disbelieving she was really there. She took a sip of her drink then set it down. "I see you recognized the symbol on my armor - are you in the military?"
He didn't blink as he answered. "I used to be in the military."
"Really? What were you?"
"An Invader."
She seemed slightly impressed by this - Invaders are higher up than combat forces. "Really? That must have been interesting. What happened?"
"Oh, you know, conquered worlds."
She chuckled. Zim thought he was going to die. "No, I mean why aren't you an Invader anymore?"
He felt really stupid - of course that's what she ment!
"Oh. Um. honorable discharge. A cousin of mine was having trouble with a business and since I was his only known relative, they discharged me to help him." Might as well keep the original cover story.
She nodded and lifted her drink to her mouth. She brought it down and licked the froth off her lips. Zim felt like he was being tortured, and shakily drew in a breath. "Oh my God."
She looked up. "Hmm?"
"Oh, uh, nothing. Say, I think I've seen you somewhere before."
She smiled. "Yeah, on the magazine covers."
He nodded. "Oh yeah, now I remember. That's a pretty impressive record."
She sighed and looked out the window. He sighed as well, and continued to look. After a moment she turned back to him. "What?"
"I can't seem to take my eyes off you." He said without thinking. This seemed to be the right answer, thought. She blushed slightly at the compliment. She took a sip of her drink. "You know, I don't even know your name."
"Zim." He said, once again without thinking. He realized the mistake, but was too slow to retract it. She raised an eyebrow. "Zim? Did you say Zim?"
He frantically searched for an explanation. "No, no, it's Zin. Zin."
"Oh," she said. "Mine's Elize, in case you haven't read the article already."
Elize, he thought, what a beautiful name. He put the hand that wasn't supporting his head in his pocket. It was then that he realized he had no money.
He almost panicked.
"Um. Elize. about the-"
"Oh, I'll pay for the drinks. I can write it off as a business venture on my Federal credit card. Thanks, tough."
He nearly cried with relief. He picked up his untouched drink and sipped it. It's taste was one he had loved back 'in the day', but now it tasted slightly bitter. Still, he drank it; it brought back a certain feeling of nostalgia. He lowered his cup just in time to catch her glancing at her watch. "Oh, crap. I'm sorry; I was supposed to check in a little while ago. I have to leave." She got up from the table, sliding her credit card through the slot in the table as she did so, taking care of the bill. He stood up to see her out. "Listen - is there any way I could contact you? Maybe get together again?"
She smiled. "Well, I'm usually stationed aboard the Gargantuan with my squad, but I have a leave coming up soon. Sure, here's a number." She grabbed a napkin off the table. "Got a pen?" Surprisingly, he did. She leaned against the window as she wrote down the number, and Zim couldn't help but notice the curve of her back. When she was done she handed him the napkin and the pen back. Smiling, she bid him farewell. "See you again some time," she said.
"Yeah. See you."
She walked back across the street. Zim leaned against the doorframe and watched her leave.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Zim was in much better spirits when he got back to the ship. He felt as if he was walking on air, and whistled. He walked by the cockpit, where he greeted Dib warmly. He passed Gaz in the hall, and gave her a peck on the check. She stopped and looked at him, puzzled, as he continued down the hall. He skipped into the dormitory, where he plopped down on his bed, grinning. He sprawled out on his back and spread his arms. He sighed. It took him a moment to notice Spluge standing against the wall.
"And why are you so happy?" he asked, crossing his arms. Zim closed his eyes and grinned. "I got a date."
Spluge let out a 'ha'. "No kidding. With who?"
Zim laid a hand on his chest and sighed deeply. "With that blue-eyed angel on the cover of 'Empire Times'."
Spluge made a sarcastic sound. "Yeah, right."
Zim opened his eyes. "No, I'm serious. She almost shot me, for Christ's sake. I asked if she wanted a drink, she accepted - one thing led to another, and now I've got her number! Can you believe that?"
Spluge just looked at him. "I'm not sure if I do. Tell me, is she as pretty as in the picture?"
Zim sat up. "Are you kidding? My God, I almost orgasmed watching her eat!"
Spluge sat down on the bed. "You really got her number?" Zim nodded enthusiastically.
"She said she's stationed on some ship called the Gargantuan. If I call there and dial this extension I'll get her. Gargantuan. tell me, why does that sound so familiar?"
"Probably because that's the ship the Tallests command. It used to be the 'Massive', but they upgraded several years ago. If she's stationed there then she must be highly ranked."
Zim's eyes widened in realization. "My God, it is! Wow, I didn't know that."
Spluge huffed. "Figures. She IS related to 'em."
Zim's bow lowered in concern. "What?"
"Yeah, I thought you knew. Purple Tallest is her friggin' uncle!"
Zim pulled back his antennae, and the color drained from his face. "You're kidding." He said, hoping he was. Spluge shook his head. "No."
Zim ran a hand over his head and exhaled sharply. He kept his hand on his head as he looked at the floor. Spluge sat there for a moment, then leaned close to Zim, talking in a quiet, serious tone.
"You mean to tell me that you got involved with this girl, not knowing she was niece to one of your worst enemies?"
Zim just looked at him.
"FUCK, Zim!" shouted Spluge as he spun up from where he sitting and covered his forehead with his head. He walked a little ways before turning back sharply to face Zim. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the floor. When he looked up, he spoke softly, trying to keep his voice calm. "You love this girl don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Don't lie, you'll make things worse."
Zim gripped his right shoulder with his left hand, hugging himself somewhat. "I think I do."
Spluge swore softly. "And does she feel the same way?"
Zim shrugged solemnly. "Maybe, she showed interest."
Spluge shook his head. "Well there's only one thing we can do: Pump her for information, use her, find out all you can from her. She is his niece, she'll have some insider information-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." said Zim, getting up from the bed. "First of all, I don't even know if this is going to pan out yet, second. I don't want to use her like that."
"Oh, come on, Zim, you were an Invader!"
Zim stopped for a second and looked at Spluge, surprised and hurt.
"I mean, no offense man, but you probably had to do a lot of LOW shit to conquer all those worlds."
Zim sighed, knowing it was the truth. Spluge's expression softened. "I'm sorry man, but that's how it is."
Zim turned away, opening and closing his fists. "But it feels so wrong."
Spluge sighed, and rest a hand on the shoulder of his young friend. "I know it does, IT IS wrong. But this may be our only chance for leads. I mean. I didn't help you smuggle in two aliens for you to chicken out. It's too late for that."
Zim looked at Spluge with sad eyes. "I know. But I don't know how long I can hold out." Spluge put an arm around him and they didn't say anything for a long time.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After she shared a drink with Zim, who she knew as 'Zin', Elize walked back to the Federal Building to check in with her squad by radio. She didn't have to check in personally, so she could have technically checked in at the café without leaving, but she wasn't supposed to let anyone hear her conversations with military personel. She put her helmet back on and pressed the 'talk' button on her radio. "This is Lieutenant first class checking in. All is well, over."
Lieutenant Tao's voice came over the speaker. "Rodger that, Lieutenant. We were just starting to worry about you, over."
"No need for that, everything's fine, over."
Elize turned the corner into the alley and almost ran into another soldier, which turned out to be Teke. Elize sighed in relief. "Don't do that, Teke, you scared the shit out of me."
Teke removed her helmet. "Who was that?"
Elize played dumb. "Who was who?"
Teke smirked. "That cutie you were at the café with. C'mon, tell me, a friend of yours?"
Elize tried to make her expression serious. "No, he was a pedestrian. I thought it would be a good idea to get a civilian's perspective on the riot situation. Ya know, to get a better understanding of their standpoint."
Teke gave her a look. Elize cracked a smile. "He WAS a cutie, wasn't he?"
They both giggled. "So what happened?"
"You know, it was the strangest thing. First, I almost shot him because I thought he was a rioter. Then, out of the blue, he asks if I would get a drink with him. I guess I must have thought he was good looking at the time, because I agreed."
Teke put her hands on her hips. "Picking up guys on duty. Your life is a fantasy."
Elize shrugged. "Not really, it just looks that way to the untrained eye."
They laughed. "So when are you going on leave?"
Elize smiled. "Tomorrow. That leaves four days before the banquet to do NOTHING! I can't wait. I haven't gone on leave in SO long."
"I don't remember you EVER going on leave. Well, there was that time during the Food Courtia battle, but that wasn't even for a whole day."
"Yeah, that doesn't even count."
Teke put her helmet back on. "I'd better get back to my post before Tao yells at me again."
"Tao was giving you a hard time? Well don't worry about that, I'll tell him you were on orders from me - he'll shut up real quick if he knows what's good for him."
They walked back to their posts, laughing.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The same day Elize met Zim, Red awoke restless. He felt worried after Purple's premonition during the night. He felt bad that he couldn't help him in some way, but he knew that Purple had his own demons to sort out. It was best to steer clear of internal conflicts like that.
But still it unnerved him. He rolled out of bed.
He shrugged a robe over his shoulders and examined the bandage on his neck. The doctor had said he could take it of this morning; it should be fully scabbed over. Carefully, he lifted the corner of the wrappings and began to pull them off. He winced in pain as the surgical tape pulled at the tender flesh, revealing his wound. After the dressing was completely removed, he probed the lesions with his fingers. They weren't too deep, but deep enough to scar. Two dark red lines down the sides of his windpipe like an inverted equal sign that would remain there the rest of his life. They would eventually heal and turn to scar tissue; green and uneven. But until then they were very sensitive and would have to be delt with carefully. Red smirked. Wouldn't Purple be disappointed.
He was still bored. There were no meetings, briefings, or reports of any kind scheduled for the day. Usually he would have no problem sleeping through the entire day, but he was already wide-awake. He could watch programming on the viewing box (him and Purple did get every channel in existence) but that thought bored him too. He sighed.
Then the buzzer sounded. He went to go answer the door.
He looked at the small monitor next to the door, which displayed a soldier behind it. Red quickly donned his 'I just got up, you're bothering me' face and opened the door.
The soldier on the other side looked surprised to see Red, even though he rang the buzzer. Red leaned against the doorframe and yawned. "Yes?"
"Um. Sir, I was asked to see how you were doing. after the attack an all."
Red nodded his head sleepily. "Fine, just fine. I." he trailed off when he noticed the standard issue blaster holstered against the soldiers hip. It wasn't out of the ordinary - every soldier, of every rank had one. It wasn't unusual for this soldier to have it, but it gave Red an idea.
"Um. Sir?" asked the soldier confusedly. Red snapped out of it and looked at him. "Huh? Oh. Yes, I'm fine. That is all soldier." He turned back in the room and the soldier walked away.
Red, now wound up, walked briskly into the bedroom, where Purple still lay sleeping. He leaned over the bed and nudged his shoulder. "Purple.Purple. wake up."
Purple groaned without moving. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because of the nightmare, but Red thought he was just being difficult. He nudged him harder. "Purple!"
"What?!" he said in a loud whisper, obviously irritated by the fact he was being awakened. Red ran over to Purple's side of the bed.
"Could we go to the shooting range today?"
Purple peered through the haze of sleep at Red, puzzled. "What?"
"Oh, c'mon. I'm bored. I haven't been there in a while, and I know it's been even longer for you. There's nothing to do today so we might as well."
Purple shook his head groggily. "I don't want to."
Red rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor in front of the bed. "Come on! There's nothing to do!"
"There's nothing stopping YOU from going. And besides, the only shooting range we could go to is the one at the Invader's academy, and I don't feel like being ogled and asked to sign autographs."
Red growled in frustration. "Without you there's no competition, it will be almost as boring as if I didn't go at all. And who cares if they make a big deal out of us, its nothing new."
Purple sighed and propped himself up on an elbow. "Competition? Red, you've always been a better marksman than me."
"So? You're still better than anyone I'll find at the academy. And if they WERE good, they'd probably throw the match. Besides - I'm a little rusty, you might get lucky."
Purple sighed. "Red."
"Oh, please? Come on." he clasped his hands together and leaned them on the bed. Purple sighed and looked at the bedside clock. "Do I have to get up right now?"
Red shook his head. "No, take all the time you need."
Purple groaned an: 'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this' groan and looked back at Red. "Fine. Give me fifteen nano-cycles."
Red smiled and got up. "Thanks Purple." He was about to walk away, when he leaned over and gave Purple a peck on the check. "I love you." He ran off and Purple groaned, pulling the comforter over his head.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
After twenty nano-cycles, they were in the car on their way. Red crossed his arms and glared at Purple, who had fallen asleep in the seat. Finally, after a few moments, he kicked the seat, waking him from his inappropriate slumber.
"Uh. what.?"
Red glared at him.
"What?"
Red sighed and looked out the one-way window. "You could have stayed if you were just going to sleep all day."
Purple rolled his eyes. "I tried to reason with you but NOOO. Well. I'm sorry. I'll try to wake up." he looked around. After a moment he threw a suggestive look at Red. "I know what'll wake me up."
Red smiled slyly. He began to move closer when Purple pointed at the backseat Java-machine. "Hand me that coffee."
Red hung his mouth open, then harrumphed and hit a button on the machine. After it poured, he thrust it at Purple and then recrossed his arms and legs. "You're terrible." He said, looking out the window. Purple chuckled and took a sip. He looked at his coffee, then back at Red. "What? No sugar?" Red threw several packets at his face.
He shrugged. "Fair enough." He picked one up off the seat, opened it, and poured it into his coffee.
After another sip, Purple held it in his hands between his knees and stared into it, thinking. His dream last night had caused an entirely new wave of premonitions. And they weren't normal premonitions; they were mixed with a feeling of déjà vu, like something past was coming back to get him. Zim? Well, Zim was a large part of it, but he was not the complete story. It was as if his history was trying to resurrect itself, through Zim. But. Zim couldn't possibly know -
"Purple?" asked Red, now concerned instead of irritated. Purple looked up like nothing was the matter. "Yes?" Red opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it and looked back out the window. "Nothing." Purple took a sip of his drink and replaced it between his knees. "I feel a little more awake now, if it's any consolation."
Red said nothing. Purple took another sip.
"Maybe kicking my ass in a shootout will cheer you up."
Red smiled without taking his eyes off the scenery. "Maybe."
Purple quickly downed the remainder of his coffee. Red straitened in his seat. "We're here." He sighed. "Damn, it looks to be a bigger deal than I expected."
Purple raised an eyebrow. Red pointed at him. "Don't say anything."
Purple threw his hands up in mock surrender.
They felt the car slow to a halt, and a soldier who had been riding in front walked around to open the door. "Put on your 'happy face' Red," said Purple before the door opened. "It's show time."
The door opened and immediately they heard the excitement outside. The car was soundproof, so until then they had heard nothing. They stepped out and the noise grew louder.
The good news was that because it was the Invader's academy, there were no civilians to get out of hand. The crowd of undergraduate Invaders was relatively behaved, but still just as wound up. Red and Purple walked in, side by side, waving. After they were inside, the crowd quickly dispersed and went about their business. Red gave Purple a look. "See. It wasn't that bad, was it?" Purple rolled his eyes.
Red and Purple were approached by Academy officials as soon as they walked in the door. The president clasped his hands together and greeted them joyfully. "Welcome, welcome! What brings the Almighty Tallests to our humble establishment?"
"We were actually interested in practicing our marksmanship," stated Red professionally. "Tell me, is the shooting range open?"
The president's happy demeanor faltered. "Actually, there are exercises scheduled in the shooting range today. - But we could postpone them if you would like."
Red shook his head. "No, no need for that. Don't want to infringe on the training of our Invaders, do we?"
"No, certainly not." Said Purple. "But tell me, is the hologram platform free?"
The president became happy again. "Why yes. Would your highnesses like to practice there?"
They looked at each other, then back at the academy president. "I think so." Said Red. The President clapped his hands once. "Then it's settled. I'll take you there now, myself. Guards - make sure no student goes near the holo-platform area. We don't want the Almighty Tallests to be disturbed."
He motioned for them to follow him and they did. After a brief walk, they arrived in front of a seemingly normal door. The only peculiarity was a small monitor and keypad next to it. The president turned to them. "I take it you know how to work the halo-platform, so I'll leave you alone. It you need anything there's an intercom in the-"
"Yes, thank you for your concern, but we would like to get started." Stated Purple bluntly. The president nodded and was on his way. Purple began to type on the keypad. "Hmm. what'd ya say, Red. How 'bout an obstacle course?"
Red raised an eyebrow. "You're suddenly gun-ho on this. Why?"
Purple laughed. "No reason. Now - I think I got this thing right. Yep, there it goes."
Red didn't notice Purple smirk as the doors opened. There WAS a reason Purple was so happy. The doors slid open and they stepped in.
The room was roughly the size of a hanger on the 'Gargantuan'. It was void of color; completely black walls, floor and ceiling stared back at them. They stood side by side at the center of the room, waiting to initiate the program. Purple nodded at Red, who yelled out into the cavernous room: "Initiate Program!"
There was a brief hum as the simulation booted, then a blinding flash of light. When the flood of illumination subsided, Purple found himself to be clad in armor, holding a blaster. The room was no longer a black void: It had been transformed into a jungle of metal structures much like the battle arena his niece had competed in. He looked at the blaster, then at his own armor. He smirked. "Hey Red - it's been forever since-"
He turned to look at Red, but he was no longer there. ".I've. worn. battle armor."
He must have run off into hiding already. Which ment he probably was staking out a vantage point - right now. A shot whizzed past Purple's helmet so close he could feel the air rush past.
Purple knew Red was more accurate than that, if he wanted to hit him, he would have. That was just his way of saying 'get your ass in gear'. Purple shifted his weight, ready to run into hiding. He sighed. "Shit."
He ran and pressed up against a structure facing the opposite was from where the shot was fired. Purple was feeling less confident than he had at the beginning - Red was a better field soldier and marksman than him. Purple, although trained for it, was ment for piloting rather than ground battles. Put him behind the stick of a battle-cruiser, and he was a master. But hand him a Blaster and a helmet - that was a different story. Red was much more used to field tactics than aerial dogfights. Purple cocked his blaster and advanced.
Purple's advantage would come in the third stage of the course. Red had not known which simulation Purple had chosen, and most likely would have protested if he DID see which one was picked. But it was too late for that. Purple would simply fare the best he could until the first stage was over.
He ran; his blaster towards the ground for safety. He ran past a break in the trench, momentarily loosing cover. Fire rang out and echoed off the walls as shots hurtled past Purple, nearly hitting him. He spun up against the trench wall and took off his helmet. He had a brilliant idea: He threw the helmet off in the distance, into a clearing to his left. The helmet made a loud noise, and shots were fired towards it. This gave him just enough time to maneuver:
He stepped back through the break in the trench, to see the direction in which the shots were coming from. He spotted Red at the top of a distant trench, only his arms and head leveled above its apex. Purple fired twice: both shots came close, but nicked the top of the structure instead of hitting Red. Red quickly ducked back behind the trench's crest. "Shit." mumbled Purple to himself. He turned back behind cover and advanced.
Before running into the clearing to fetch his helmet, he checked to make sure the coast was clear. He carefully looked around, and saw no one. He hit the side of the metal trench, making a loud noise, and quickly ducked back under cover. When no shots were fired, he assumed it was safe. He carefully stepped out, then walked quickly to his fallen helmet. He bent over to pick it up -
"Hold it right there," said a voice. It was shortly followed by the cocking of a blaster. Purple, knowing it could only be one person, turned and looked. He smirked when he saw him. "Oh you're good."
Red smirked under his visor. "Clever trick with the helmet, but you shouldn't have retrieved it. I knew you would, though." He approached Purple. "Stand up strait."
Purple sighed, straitened, and put his hands in the air. Red circled in front of him, and took off his helmet. He kept the blaster aimed at Purple, relishing his victory over him. Purple sighed again.
Red crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. "You're so CUTE on the edge of defeat."
Purple narrowed his eyes. "Just get it over with."
Red shook his head from side to side. "Tich tich tich tich tich, you're no fun." He uncrossed his arms and leveled the blaster with both arms. "Turn around."
Purple reluctantly turned his back to Red, preparing to be 'executed'. Red carefully aimed, making sure not to hit Purple in his helmet less head. He squinted one eye and squeezed off a shot.
The paint pellet hit Purple, hard, high in-between his shoulders. He felt the pain before the shot's echo wore off. He hunched over and reached over his head to where the shot made contact. He stopped biting his lip just long enough to swear. "FUCK Red! That hurt!"
Up until now, Red had been trying desperately to contain his laughter. He rolled his eyes when Purple burst out. "No kidding, ya think it's supposed to feel good?"
"LEVEL ONE COMPLETED. TEN POINTS AWARDED TO PLAYER ONE. LEVEL TWO: COMENCE."
The structures and scenery dropped away in a fashion that was surreal. Suddenly, Purple found himself in the pilot seat of a battle-cruiser. Through the windshield he saw that he was in a long, illuminated tube, with obstacles every so often. He was no longer in paint-splashed battle armor, but the field robes of a pilot. He wore a headset with a microphone. He gripped the joystick between his knees and smiled mischievously. "Bring it on."
"LEVEL TWO: EVASIVE PILOTING."
Both Tallests sped through the course. The first obstacles were simple: structures here, structures there; you just maneuvered around them. After a while they started to become more complex. Moving obstacles, columns, walls that would come out of nowhere. Purple steered with little effort, while Red was becoming fatigued. Purple caught a glimpse of his ship as it barely cleared a moving wall. "What's the matter Red? Not so big without a sidearm, eh?" said Purple into his headset. Red cursed. "Fuck you."
Purple laughed.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Near the end of the second level, they reached a strait-away. It was an old- fashioned race to the finish. Red, having narrowly escaped the obstacles, was dead set on beating Purple. All he had to do was beat him to the finish line, and he would be ahead by another ten points. But this was easier said than done; Purple already had a significant lead. He had been burning his anti-matter boosters for the past several cycles, and had gained a lot of ground. Red, however, had yet to use his; he had been too busy avoiding barriers. Now that he had the chance, he turned them on.
The sudden lurch forward drove him back into the seat. He tried to hang onto the controls as the G-forces pulled him farther away, but his hands were quickly ripped free. The walls of the tube sped past him so fast they were almost unrecognizable.
Purple saw Red approaching on the picture-in-picture feature of the screen. His speed seemed almost uncontrollable. in fact. it WAS uncontrollable! Red was spiraling out of control. Purple nearly screamed into his headset. "Red! DECREASE speed! I repeat, I am not trying to trick you - DECREASE YOUR SPEED!"
Red, however, could barely hear him over the roar of the engines. He could hear Purple's voice vaguely, saying something, but he couldn't make out words. It only got more frantic as he approached Purple's cruiser.
"DAMMIT, RED! YOU'RE GONNA RAM RIGHT INTO ME! I-" just then, Purple's engine died. He stared, wide-eyed at the controls. He glanced up at the small screen in the corner, to see Red's out of control ship barrel towards him. He covered his head with his arms and braced for impact.
The ships collided with a shrill, metal-twisting screech that echoed off the tube walls. Purple's slammed into the tube wall from the blow, and sparks went flying between the grinding metal. The two ships - now so badly mangled you could not tell where one started and the other began - finally bounced of the tube wall and barrel-rolled through the air. Both Tallests screamed as the two ships - now merged - seemed to slingshot through space uncontrollably. The finish line neared, and the two ships hurtled past it. Not long after, they skidded across the ground and ejected their pilots onto the hard, tube surface.
Both Tallests were flung into the air, slid across the smooth metal surface and stopped some distance from their vehicles. Red managed to get his arm under him, and used them for support as he lifted himself. He hissed in breath as the muscles in his shoulder screamed at him, presumably from a blow when the ships collided. He reached across his lesion-ed neck to massage the sore area. He took off his headset. He looked to his right; to the other side of the tube, and saw Purple.
Purple had yet to move. He lay, motionless, with his back to Red. Slowly, an arm creped behind his back in an attempt to roll himself over. Red sat up strait, despite the pain coming from his shoulder and neck. "Pur?"
A painful groan was his only answer.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NOW WASN'T THAT WORTH THE WAIT!!!!! (#11 coming soon, I promise.)
Hey people: Reviews encourage me to write.