Hurray! Here's the third chapter! Oh yeah, for those of you who were wondering, this is gonna be a pretty long fic, and I promise to finish it and update fairly often. Another thing, am I supposed to put disclaimers on every chapter? If you don't like knives and blood, you might not wanna read this chapter.

Disclaimer: Weee! Me dun own Zim!

Torture-topsy

Zim woke up slowly and with much pain. Every breath was like knives going down through his throat. He was so hot that his blood felt like it was boiling. Every bone in his body ached with pain, and he could feel his pulse going through him. He wished he hadn't woken up.

Zim opened his eyes a little and strained to see his surroundings. He saw that he was in an almost completely empty white room with a bright light hanging above him. Beside him was an iron table with a sink and a box of disposable rubber gloves. There was also a little rolling chair.

'Is this the hospital?' he pondered, confused. He shut his eyes and wiggled his antennae while he thought. Wiggling his antennae always helped him concentrate more. 'Wait a minute...' How could he be wiggling his antennae while he had his wig on?

Zim lifted his hand to feel if the wig had fallen off. But before he could even get his hand off the table he was lying on, it was stopped by a locked chain. He tried lifting his head to see how he was caught, but something was holding his head in place. Suddenly realizing his situation, Zim kicked and struggled to get loose, but every limb was tied down.

"Well, good morning, sunshine," came a voice from behind. Zim's eyes narrowed as he recognized the sound of his enemy's voice. "Glad to see that you're awake." Dib walked out from the shadows and looked down at the Irken's face.

Dib had a cocky smirk on his face and an evil glint to his eyes. It wasn't the determined glare that Zim had been accustomed to, and he was surprised by it. Dib calmly brought out a tray filled with nasty looking instruments on it. He sat it down on the iron table next to Zim and sat down on the rolling chair.

"Well, Zim, the day we both knew would come is finally here. No more procrastinating. It's the beginning of your end," Dib said smugly. Zim glared up at him, hateful and terrified at the same time. Dib chuckled at this and shook his head. "Nothing can help you now. You're completely helpless." Dib's glasses gleamed in the light as he grinned.

"Welcome to my dad's lab, Zim. You see, I was just going to take you down to the Swollen Eyeball Society, but then I thought, what's the fun in that? You see, Zim, I want to enjoy your suffering, and how can I do that if we just get rid of you quickly? That's why I brought you here - for my own personal enjoyment."

Zim glared up at Dib, wishing he could melt him with his eyes. He pictured himself choking Dib, suffocating him to death. Then he'd burn his remains and stomp on the ashes. Filthy human...

Dib ended Zim's thoughts of revenge by taking off one of the Irken's boots. He slowly picked up the knife and hovered it around the arch of Zim's foot.

"Hope you aren't ticklish, Zim," Dib said, grinning evilly. Zim's eyes widened as Dib drew the knife closer and closer to his flesh. He tried to pull away, but it was impossible while being chained.

Dib slowly dug the knife into Zim's foot, savoring every moment, every jerk of pain. Zim bit his lower lip, trying not to show weakness. Suddenly, Dib jerked the knife deep into the middle of his foot. Zim cried out in shock and pain, and Dib laughed in victory.

Zim shut his watering eyes tightly and looked away. He couldn't believe that he'd let his enemy win. He had dishonored everything that was Irken. He couldn't bare to think of what the Tallest would say when they found out about his death.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open. Somebody stomped in, apparently furious. It was Gaz.

"Dib, you spilled soda on my new video game cartridge, and now it's ruined! You're going to buy a new one for me with your own money. Right now."

Dib groaned. "Gaz, can't you see I'm busy?"

Gaz grabbed Dib's shirt collar. "NOW." Dib sighed and laid down the knife. He knew better than to toy with Gaz. He glared down at Zim. "Don't you move now," he said as he walked out the door.

Zim moaned in agony after Dib left. The pain from his bleeding foot and his sickness was crippling. However, urgency pumped through Zim's entire body, telling him that he needed to get out.

"My backpod!" Zim cried out, suddenly remembering. Almost certain of escape and already planning revenge, he soon discovered that his backpod had been ripped off. "NO!" Zim yelled in rage, tears of frustration running down his face. Now there was no way out. His fate was sealed.

Zim sadly laid his head down, defeated and hopeless. He closed his eyes and hoped that maybe he could beg Dib to finish him off quickly, although he knew Dib would just laugh.

He opened his eyes slowly, testing to see if they hurt worse closed or open. While he was doing this, he noticed that the chains that he was tied down by were locked with a key, and could easily be picked. Zim sighed, knowing that this information wouldn't help him at all, and lowered his antennae in depression.

"Antennae..." Suddenly it came to him. Zim could pick the locks with his antennae. Zim smiled and nearly laughed as the simple answer came clear to him. He first unlocked his head, followed by his arms and legs. He put his boot on his foot and winced as he planted it on the floor.

Chuckling weakly, Zim limped over to the door and opened it slowly. He walked out and soon discovered that the Prof.'s lab was huge and that he was completely lost. Zim sighed and trudged over to a nearby vent. He tore the cover off and clambered in. After checking to see if he had left a path of blood to his destination and making sure that the vent cover was sealed up tightly, Zim laid down and fell asleep.



Poor Zimmy! Dib's such a meany! Anway, please review or I shall suffocate! I am greedy for reviews! More, more, I demand more! Yee..thanx!

-Crystal