The unlikely pair!
Chapter II: Waking up from her slumber!
Zim paced up and down in his living room, he couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. "So, let me get this straight. You, my idiotic, destructible and unpredictable robot servant cleaned the mess made by Tak's escape pod, why?" It was very early in the morning and Zim already has set his mind on cleaning the destruction inside of his living room caused by Taks escape pod. He however discovered that Gir has already taken care of the mess.
Gir just shrugged his shoulders. "I just guessed you would appreciate it if I helped out around the house a little."
Zim opened his tightly shut eyes. "Don't give me this attitude, young man." He was at a loss of words, he just couldn't get over the fact that Gir was doing something other than cause problems. He then suddenly thought of something, a thought that if you knew Gir was all to understandable, he narrowed his eyes. "Where did you put the pod?"
Gir gleamed up to his master. "The what now?" Gir obviously didn't know what his master was talking about.
Zim angrily pointed at the couch. "THE BIG ROUND THING THAT CRASHED ON THE COUCH YESTERDAY. TELLLL ZIIIIIM!"
Gir slowly nodded upon hearing his master speak clear sentences to him. "Ohhhhh yeeeeeah, the poddy thingy. I made a sock puppet out of it and then I threw it in the front lawn." Exclaimed the little Sir Unit proudly.
Zim almost fainted. "You did what?" He immediately rushed towards the window to observe his front lawn and sure enough there was the escape pod undisguised for every nosy human of the outside world to stumble upon. "Gir, for a moment I seriously considered you to have updated your circuits, BUT THIS!" He pointed at the destroyed object in front of his door that mesmerized and polarized the neighbouring humans. "This forces me to buy the processor that I promised you yesterday. I will do that, but first." He put his disguise on while walking out the front door.
"Ehm, dear pitiful human earth skum. I know you very much enjoy my decorative round object, however I must take it inside for…it isn't weather proof."
The humans surrounding the escape pod gazed in the sky. "But it's not cloudy and the weather forecast didn't say anything about rain today." The human glared sternly down at the green boy. "THAT GUY'S TRYING TO TAKE AWAY OUR METAL BALL!"
Zim was clearly at a loss of words for the second time of the day. "Ehhh, I meant, huhhhh." He threw dust from the ground straight at the faces of the humans, he then proceeded to put the pod under his arm (he somehow managed that) and scurried to his door making it quickly inside his house.
"Hey, where did the little green kid go?" The humans were freaked out by Zim's magical disappearance. "HE TOOK THE BAAAAAALLL, HE TOOK THE BALL." One of the humans fell to his knees wailing uncontrollably. The others simply shrugged and walked off.
Zim re-entered the living room as he announced. "And now I shall order you another processor, so that I might rid myself of your stupidity once and for all." He marched past his robo servant, who was lying on the couch playing a handheld game.
"Mmmmhmmmm." Was all the little fellow responded to Zim.
Zim then opened the trashcan, putting the escape pod in it. As he realised that the pod didn't descent on his own, he climbed on top of it jumping furiously so that it might go down the elevator shaft. Zim began to really get irritated after a few jumps, he sat on top of the pod thinking of ways how he might still successfully drive the thing down. However, as he thought about an ingenious way to remove the pod, the floor below him crackled and gave way. "Huhhh? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Zim began crushing through the floor, plummeting into the elevator. "Ehhh, that was just fantastic. Now, where do I store you, filthy machine? I think the only level that has enough space for this object would be the medical bay." Zim pressed the button and the elevator buzzed to life taking him down to the medical bay. Once he reached the destined level, he got out of the elevator pulling on the pod to make it follow him. After he successfully maneuvered the round thing out of the lift, he kicked it and the pod rolled away towards a corner. "Ah back there is as good as anywhere else."
Zim headed towards the lift as. "What the hell?"
He was completely startled by this sudden sound. "Ehhhh? Who are you? A demon or a slaughter machine from the planet blortsch?" Zim quivered in angst as he carefully observed his surroundings, he pretty quickly found the source of the noise. "Oh, it's just you, Tak stink. I began to wander if maybe something horrible infiltrated Zim's base."
Tak glared at the small Irken boy with big eyes. "I have so many questions."
Zim shifted around in his stance. "And you shouldn't forget them, who knows someone someday may be able to answer them accordingly." Both of them stared at each other. "Ehem, okay, bye now." Zim turned around to ride his elevator.
"Wait, Zim. YOU need to answer my questions." Tak announced irritated. "What happened? Why am I in your base? Did you help me? And if so, why?"
He turned around sighing heavily. "I seriously didn't think you would ask so many questions. Anyhow, to keep it short and snappy. You fell from the sky crashing with your escape pod into my house. By the way this crash made a big mess and I expect you to compensate me for it. I then took you down in my medical bay, Gir wouldn't have stopped screaming otherwise. But don't flatter yourself, I lasted 5 hours of none stop screaming before I agreed to help you." Zim explained as he seated himself in front of Tak's bed.
Tak rolled her eyes at this. "I am sorry, that my unconscious body caused you so much inconvenience." The sarcasm practically dripped from her lips, that however was obvious to everyone but Zim.
Zim bowed a little in his chair. "You are most welcome, Tak-beast." Zim was oblivious to the not seriously meant apology from Tak.
"I was being sarcastic, Zim. Besides you only reply with 'you are welcome' after someone thanks you for something, not after someone apologized, and I am not entirely sure why I just explained that to you, you don't understand it anyway. Anyhow, I will be on my way so that I am out of your antenna and you're out of mine." Tak rolled over into a sitting position, she then ascended from the bed, but as soon as she tried to put weight on her feet she fell forward. Tak was lucky however, for Zim instinctively grabbed her to avoid her from making contact with the floor. Tak started to claw at Zim. "What the heck, pervert. STOP HARASSING ME." He simply shrugged off the assault from Tak and placed her back into the bed.
"Tak, as much as you despise me and I despise you, ohhh how much Zim despises you. But after I put so much time and resource into saving you, I won't allow you to sabotage my hard work. I found lots of shrapnel in both of your feet, they will need some time to heal, that's why you are unable to put weight on them for the time being. But…I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure that you get better as soon as possible, despite of how much I hate you. We will both learn to deal with this situation…eventually."
Tak glared at Zim, she had seriously mixed kinds of emotions for him at this particular moment in time. On one hand he did safe her life and made sure that she would get better, at least that's what he just said. But on the other hand, Zim was the reason for her not being elected as an invader and that's why she tried to steal his mission, that lead to her being shot out into space which lead up to her crashing into Zim's base. So basically Zim was the reason for her to be in that situation in the first place. So for Zim to safe and take care of her is his obligation really, in the mind of Tak that is. "Ahhh, this day just keeps getting better and better, whatever Zim. I'm just going to use my Pak legs, don't expect me to thank you, because I won't." Tak tried to release her Pak legs, to her astonishment however they wouldn't eject. "What the?" Tak glanced back at her Pak, now she understood why they wouldn't deploy, her Pak was wrecked. She was really getting tired at this point, she gazed at Zim with pleading eyes.
Zim simply nodded his head. "I will fix it for you, but first of all I need to fetch you a spare Pak so that I can safely remove this one from your back."
Tak was getting irritated by all of this, Zim was her enemy she was supposed to hate him and he was supposed to hate her, not help her in her darkest of moments, but she had no other choice but to accept this development. "Ahhh my head hurts sooo much, is this from the crash also?"
"Ehhhhm" Zim thought back on how her head would brush on the floor after he'd lifted her over his shoulders to bring her down to the medical bay. Not only did her head brush on the floor but with every elevation in his path Tak's head would get hit by them. "Yes, I think so. Ehem, I am going to fetch you some painkillers real quick."
As Zim got up to get the medication, Tak turned around in the bed, placing her feet back on it, she also put her head back on her pillow. "Ahhhh, that is better." Zim re-arrived at the bed with a syringe just as Tak opened her eyes. "What are you doing, don't come near me with this devilish object." Tak began to panic, she hated syringes.
Zim quirked a non-existing eyebrow at Tak. "Relax, I won't need to punctuate you, again." He stuck the syringe into the IV bag that was connected to Tak's arm. He released the fluid inside the injection. Tak followed the path of the plastic tube that emitted from the IV bag and she realized that its destination was her arm, she fainted. "Ehhh? Seems like she has problems with syringes. Hehehehehahahahahahaha, I keep that in my mind, who knows it might come in use one day." Zim then took a closer look at Tak. "It's remarkable. She, that beastly female is one of Zim's greatest enemies and yet she somehow is decently tall, oh how cruel biology is sometimes." Zim then found his eyes glued to Tak's antenna, he was mesmerized by those curly appendages. He somehow liked them, they seemed to be hypnotizing him. Zim neither couldn't stop staring nor…smiling at them. After a few seconds Zim's mind finally kicked in and he shook himself out of the trance-like state. "That was weird. Ehem, I should probably fetch this Pak for Tak. She'd want hers to be repaired as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe Gir's right and she'll reciprocate after all my hard effort." Zim put a blanket over Tak's, yet again, unconscious body, he then made his way deeper into the base to find a suitable Pak for her.
As soon as he was inside of his elevator he pushed a button, which would lead him to his lab. Zim then suddenly caught himself thinking about Tak and her mesmerizing curly antenna, he couldn't stop thinking about them. "You've got to be kidding me. What the hell is wrong with you, Zim! You are an invader, an elite soldier sent by the tallest to eradicate all of mankind. You are not supposed to waste your precious time thinking about this ghastly female that destroyed your base…twice." He reached the level on which his lab was located, he marched inside. "Computer, FEEEETCH ME A FRESH PAK." He seated himself as he awaited for the requested object to arrive. "Hmmm, which processor am I supposed to get for this nuisance of robot upstairs? That one's an octagon processor, that sounds pretty good…but sadly it only has 3 out of 5 stars on Irkmazon. What a waste of my time. That one seems to have more stars 4,5 out of 5, but is it a processor worth of the AMAAAAAAAZING ZIM? That is the question. Hmmmm it has 6 cores, which should be more than enough for that dim-witted Sir Unit, I'll buy it." As soon as Zim made his purchase, a new Pak arose from the ground. "Ahhh, that's what I call timing, Computer. Good job." He took a close look at the Pak, inspecting it from every side. "That should be sufficient for the Tak-Glob. I'll take it up to her as soon as I'm finished with my newest devilish plan to ruin hyumanity, ahahahahahahahahahahaha."
In the medical bay:
Tak laid in her bed in the medical bay, she shifted a lot in her sleep, she seemed restless. Inside Tak's dream the source of her restlessness seemed obvious. Tak was kneeling on a podium in front of the entirety of the Irken race, next to her stood the beloved Tallest, Red & Purple, above the Irken crowd hung the Control Brains, menacingly. Taks hands were cuffed together with laser cuffs, wrapped around her neck was a big laser cuff that was connected with the floor of the podium, furthering her vulnerability and humiliation. The Tallest were deeply glaring at her and the crowed gazed with hatred up to her. She was trapped in one of her deepest and hauntingly terrifying nightmares. Tak wasn't sure of what might happen, she was both deeply confused and terrified of what might happen to her. Suddenly Red floated forward, he fazed the attended audience in front of him. "This here Irken female is being persecuted for high treason. This cleaner drone had the audacity to pretend to be an invader, in doing so she inflected immeasurable damage to the reputation of the Irken Empire. That is why we gathered here today, my loyal brave Irken kind, to execute justice by putting her on trial in front of the all-knowing Control Brains. By handing over the decision to the Control Brains, we can ensure a just and swift trial."
Purple floated to his companion. "Also, after this trial is over we have tons of snacks prepared for you down the hall, so I suggest we get this over with as quick as possible."
The Irkens cheered on their leaders. One of the Control Brains took over, starting with the trial. "Cleaner Drone, Tak. You are being accused of high treason. Should you be convicted you can be banished, IF we take pity on you, however the conviction could also be execution. Do you understand."
Tak was about to cry, she's no traitor. She is loyal to the Empire, she would never so much as think about harming her own race, let alone actually doing so. "My Tallest, my Control Brains, I would never do something like that, this is a misunderstanding. I am…"
"SILENCE! You were asked if you understand the allegation and the consequences that come with it, if we come to the conclusion that you did this heinous deed. So, I ask you once again. Do you understand, a simple yes or no will suffice." The Control Brains swiftly established their authority.
Tak gazed fearfully up at her judges. "Yes, my Control Brains. I understand."
"Good, now that this is over with, let's officially begin the trial." One of the Control Brains stated as the Irkens on the ground floor cheered them on. "Prosecutor, state and elaborate the allegation this Irken here is accused of."
Tallest Red floated back, so that he stood close by Tak. Red talked more to the audience on the ground floor then the actual judges, it seemed almost like it was a show of dominance from the tallest. "This cleaner drone named Tak, never took the military training tests which are required to be an Invader. And yet she made her way towards the planet earth with the intention of invading it. I am even ignoring the facts that firstly by pursuing this fever dream of being an Invader, which she clearly is not, she left her cleaning job without permission. Secondly she tried to invade a planet, which is not even intended for our conquest of the universe. Therefor she gave our allies the perception that we are ignoring our established contracts with them. Because we seemingly choose planets by arbitrariness and that is why she inflicted immeasurable damage to our reputation, as I've stated before. Thank you, high Control Brain."
Tak couldn't believe it, those allegations were bullocks. Zim wasn't an Invader either and yet the Tallest sent him to planet earth, they already ignored their contracts on their own. Now it dawned on Tak, someone must've spilled the beans to the allies of the Empire and the Tallest now needed a scapegoat so that they won't lose their faces. "We have conducted your statement, prosecutor. What say you, cleaning drone Tak?"
Suddenly the laser beams, which chained Tak to the floor, gave way a little and she was able to stand up. She faced the Control Brains with pride and honor. "High Control Brain, senate of Brains, my Tallest and fellow Irkens. I heard what Tallest Red was saying just now, however I don't think that the allegations against me are rightful. Firstly, I would've been an Invader if it wasn't for the buffoon Zim, but that is beside the point. Secondly, planet earth was already inhabited by 'Invader' Zim, therefor the planet was already assigned to an Invader. That would mean that accusing me of high treason, would also mean that Zim is guilty of the criminal act of high treason as well. He damaged the reputation of the Empire far before I showed up on earth."
Purple floated forward, speaking up. "Hold on a minute. Planet earth was assigned to Zim, that is correct, however this was an individual decision by us. Zim was sent to the planet under the pretense of invading the planet, but it is actually a banishment that has been well discussed and sanctioned with our allies. So these facts are vastly different and they cannot be compared to one another."
The mass of Irkens once again cheered on their leaders as they stated their obvious lies. Each and everyone knew the truth about Zim's banishment. The Tallest were sick of Zim and they tried to get rid of him by sending him as far away from the Empire as possible, that is true. However, they sent Zim to an unknown planet in the vastness of space, so it was impossible for them to discuss this decision with the allies of the Irken Empire, because they didn't know where he would land and 'fulfill' his mission in the first place. "Both of these statements are partly true and are therefore equally just as well. To pass a judgement on the account of these statements is impossible, so both of them are being dismissed. Despite this, the allegation that the cleaner drone named Tak pretended to be an Invader and has taken measures that are reserved for Invaders only still stands. Keeping both of these facts in mind, the senate of Control Brains have decided that you, Tak, are not being judged on the account of high treason, but on the account of pretentiousness of a military rank. In conclusion the punishment for this crime is forced labor." Suddenly a wire lunched out of the high Control Brain, it connected itself with Tak's Pak. On a nearby screen appeared her social status in the Irken race, it read Cleaning Unit. "Cleaning drone, Tak. For this crime against the Irken military codex, you are being degraded to a food service drone. You will be send to the snacking planet Foodcourtia, there your punishment will consist of serving 50 years under the Empire. Also, you will be barred from ever serving in the military again. Prosecutor, do you accept our judgement?" The screen changed from cleaning unit to food service unit, marking Tak from now until the fulfillment of her punishment as an outcast from society.
Tallest Red & Purple floated before the Control Brains, gazing up with respect and in unison they answered. "Yes, all knowing Control Brains. We accept your judgement."
"And you, food drone Tak, do you accept your punishment?"
How incapacitating, they already acknowledged her as a food drone, rendering her answer worthless from the get go. Tak was furious about the judgment from the Control Brains, however she knew better then to challenge them, she would only make it worse for herself. "Yes, almighty Control Brains. I accept your judgement and my punishment."
"Fellow Irken soldiers, we once again executed justice on behalf of the Irken laws. Let this judgement be a lesson to each and every one of you who thought about breaking our laws. Our laws exist to ensure peace and prosperity for every single Irken in the universe and we will always persecute every individual that breaks them. The Control Brains now will resume their slumber until we'll be needed again."
As the Control Brains shut down, the Tallest once again grabbed the attention of the Irken crowd below them. "Indeed a very just and wise judgment by our immeasurable intelligent Conrol Brains. Soldiers, arrest this food drone and escort her to Foodcourtia." The soldiers that stood the trail by walked up to Tak. They released the boundaries that connected her to the floor, they then linked her collar cuff with her handcuffs. The soldiers then escorted Tak out of the room.
"And now that this trial has come to an end, help yourselves to the snacks. The universe will be ours for the taking." Tallest Purple announced as the crowd cheered them on.
Two soldiers walked next to Tak down a hallway, she walked in between them. She had a lot to think about, how could the Control Brains be that cruel to her? Yes, the punishment could've been far worse, however she only fulfilled her duty to help the Empire in its extension, didn't she? Sure it was a little uncalled for by her pretending to be an Invader, but it wasn't like she didn't know what she was doing. After all she was already trained as an Invader, she passed all the necessary classes with flying colors, just not the last test, thanks to Zim. It was simply unjust for her to be punished even though she did everything in her power to serve her Empire as best as she could. She glanced at the two guards, the one on her left was taller than her, by a bit. The one on her right however was far smaller than her. Suddenly, after they rounded a corner the soldier to her left grunted and shortly thereafter fell to the ground with a thud. Tak couldn't believe her eyes, this soldiers Pak was ripped out of his back. She turned to face the cause of his death. The smaller Irken soldier stood behind Tak and the now on the ground lying soldier, one of his Spiderlegs retracted from his Pak. The soldier reached out for his face, he lost his mouth coverage. It was none other than Zim, that would explain why this elite soldier was that small, he was no elite soldier in the first place. "Tak, we must hurry to my ship and get you out of harms way." Zim started to trot away when he noticed that Tak didn't follow him. "Quickly, we haven't got much time."
Tak shook herself out of her trance, she ran after Zim. Together they were running down corridor after corridor. Tak was brutally confused at this point, when was she taken to Irk in the first place, that is where she was, wasn't it? How did Zim find her and why did he help her again? It just didn't make any sense, nothing in her life made sense anymore. Both of them came closer and closer to the hangar where Zim was headed. "Zim, why are you here? Why are you helping me?" Suddenly Zim came to a halt, staring at Tak. "What the hell? I thought we needed to be quick, don't we?"
Zim continued to stare at Tak as everything went dark, the only light source still available was shining on them. The two of them were the only People who mattered at this point. "Why am I helping you? You are the only one who can answer that, Tak."
She blinked confused. "What do you mean? I don't know why you are helping me. And why are the lights out."
Zim took a step towards Tak. "We are in your head, Tak. You are unconscious and dreaming. I am in your head simply because you think about me. Perhaps you acknowledge that I saved your life back when I fixed your legs and that I have taken care of you. And now you are trying to find a way to cope with these feelings by letting me save you from this situation in your head. You want to know how to deal with both your emotions and myself." Tak's antenna dropped to her cranium, that was pretty deep and she honestly didn't want to think about something like that. Zim was still the cause of her ruined and he still was responsible for the situation she was currently in, wasn't he? Why DID she dream about Zim saving her, it made no sense what so ever. Zim took a few steps closer, closing the gap between him and her even further, Tak thought her heart would explode any minute now, for it pumped in an alarmingly fast pace. "…Or perhaps you feel something for me that has nothing to do with hate and me saving you simply made you aware of that." Tak couldn't believe her own mind, did Zim drug her with this syringe of his, that must be it, how else would she ever come up with thoughts as twisted as these? Zim leaned forward, his forehead was now touching hers, he deeply stared into her eyes causing Tak's heart to pound even faster than before, if that's even possible. Zim then closed his eyes and leaned in to Tak's lips, he was about to kiss her. But despite her resilient behavior a second ago, Tak started to close her eyes as well, did she actually want to kiss Zim? But at the last second Zim broke away. "But you'll have to find out for yourself if anything of what I just said is actually true." Tak was blushing furiously at the fact that she almost kissed Zim, albeit being only in her imagination. Zim took a few steps back and soon enough vanished from the light.
Tak woke up from her slumber, it was so sudden that she sat upright in her bed, it took her a few seconds to figure out where she was. "I cannot believe that actually happened just now, uhhhh." Tak laid her head back on the pillow, she turned her head to the right and saw a new Pak laying besides her bed on a small table. On the Pak was a note, she grabbed the note and started reading it. "Dear Tak-beast, this is your substitute Pak for the time being. Just replace it with your current Pak and I shall repair your original Pak as soon as possible, or my name isn't ZIIIIIIIIIIIM! PS.: And my name IS Zim." Tak gave a reluctant grunt at the idiotic Irken, but at the same time blood rushed to her cheeks, she was a little flustered at his thoughtful gesture. Before Tak changed her Pak she noticed something, she noticed that something was missing. Her headache, it was gone. Zim actually took care of it and she didn't have to face consequences because of it, well besides her fainting at the sight of the syringe. Tak still couldn't classify her feelings, everything was just so complicated. She changed her Pak with the one besides her, Tak immediately felt a thousand times better, the Pak worked wonders on her. She then let her head sink back into her pillow once more, it didn't take long for her to drift back to sleep.
