Rain-Soaked Slave
C6: Resolve
[Disclaimer: Jhonen V. owns "Invader Zim." I own whatever I write/create. Don't steal and don't sue.]
Gaz woke up again in the same bed. She felt rested and well again, and stood from the bed. The room was empty, so Gaz walked out the door. She walked slowly down the hallway until she came to another door. It opened automatically and she found herself looking at about five people. They were standing by computers imbedded in the walls, watching the lights flickering and knowing what they meant.
"Ah, Lady Gaz." one of the people looked up from the computers, "Are you looking for Master Ian?"
"Uh, who are you?" Gaz blinked a bit.
"My name is Grey." the person, a woman, bowed, "I can take you to Master Ian, if you want to see her." Gaz nodded and Grey began to walk off, the human following closely.
As they walked, Gaz noticed that there were few people in this place, this ship they were in. After a while, she just let it be and followed the brown, spiky-haired woman in front of her. They went through one last door of they many they had walked through, and Gaz found herself standing over space. All there was between her and space was a catwalk.
In reality, there was actually a thick pane of something between the catwalk and nothingness, but Gaz didn't know. She looked around the huge circular room and saw the catwalk stretched all the way round, and more people and computers stood on them. Grey beckoned Gaz to follow her a while longer, and led her up the catwalk to the center of the room where a chair sat alone in the crossing of all the catwalks.
"Master Ian, Lady Gaz is awake." Grey said to whoever was sitting in the chair. A black head snapped up and the person stood from the chair swiftly. Gaz smiled and jumped happily into Ian's awaiting arms.
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"Dad, get up." Dib pulled at his father's arm, "We've got to get ready." Despite the pulling, Professor Membrane didn't move. He seemed distant, and he didn't want to move.
"Dad, are you listening to me?" Dib snapped, "We've got to go!"
"I should have been listening to you forever." Membrane sighed, "I should have listened to you whenever you tried to tell me something."
"Dad, we don't have time for this!" Dib growled, "Gaz is in danger, and we've got to get rid of these aliens!" When his father made no move, Dib decided to just drag him out of the lab to home. But he needed help.
"Zim!" he called, "Zim, get over here and help me!" But Zim was on his knees as well, his eyes wide and blinking.
"I…I'm not in the army?" the Irken whispered, "I…I don't believe it."
"Zim!" Dib shouted angrily, "Stop acting so weird! Help me get my dad out of here!" When Zim made no response, Dib lost his little patience. He stomped over to the alien and kicked him smack in the butt. Zim fell on his face and then leapt to his feet.
"What was that for?" Zim shouted.
"Listen to me!" Dib snarled, "We need to get my dad out of here so we can get ready for Ian's attack!"
"There is no point!" Zim howled, "Ian can't be beaten! She's the most evolved being in the universe!"
"She's nothing!" Dib yelled in return, "She's just a stupid jerk!"
"Ian is the most evolved, the most deadly, and the most feared being in the universe!" Zim grabbed Dib's collar and shook him, "No one can beat her! She can't die! She'll kill all of us if we don't obey!"
"What are you talking about?" Dib asked once he straightened his glasses. Zim let his hands fall to his sides and sank to the ground.
"Ian is the master of a race from the planet Ion." he began to explain with a long sigh, "The Ionics are highly evolved, and come from a planet that almost always has rain. The Irken empire has never been able to conquer Ion because of the rain, and because we had so many casualties just from fighting Ian. When she cares for someone or something, she'll protect it with her own body and power until her opponent is too weak to go on.
"About twenty thousand years ago, a truce was made with the Tallest before Red and Purple. The Irken empire has been beneath Ian for all that time, but until now, we've never really had any orders from her. She doesn't care for conquering, and just left most of it to us. She has been planet-hopping for these twenty thousand years, and it seems she likes the look of Earth enough to take it herself, along with the armada."
"But I still don't get it." Dib said, "If Ian has that much power—which you still haven't explained to me—why would she bring your armada here?"
"I don't know why." Zim shook his head a little bit, "I think it has something to do why your father. He's the smartest person on this waste-ball of a planet, and I think maybe Ian's worried about him. A little worried, anyway."
"Now what do you mean when you start talking about all of this 'power' stuff?"
"As I said, the Ionics are highly evolved. They've got inordinate amounts of energy in their bodies—like a human's natural pacemaker overclocked. They can focus that energy in any way they want, and they've gone beyond the need for certain things. Ian herself is the most evolved. She can go without food and water for years, and she doesn't need air. Her energy levels are higher than a laser cannon capable of destroying a planet and they can go up if she wants them to. Everyone who knows who Ian is is scared to death of her. She doesn't need to use her powers to keep anything in line.
"If you're trying to think of some way to destroy her or beat her, there isn't. Ionic skin is close to indestructible, and everything under that skin is even tougher. The Ionics are just too strong. Unless we just go peacefully, there's no telling how many of you humans will die."
"So you aren't even going to try and get back in the armada?" Dib questioned, "Why not?"
"I don't want to disobey Ian." Zim heaved another sigh, "And besides, there seems to be little else to do but submit."
"But we can fight!" Dib snapped, "We have my dad on our side! He can figure out a way to beat Ian and your armada!"
"How dare you say such things about the armada!" Zim leapt to his feet in defense, "It—betrayed me…" He lowered his head and clenched his hands to fists. His shoulders began to shake until he finally whirled around and slammed both fists down against the nearest table.
"Damn them!" he cried in rage, "Damn them all! They played me for a fool! A patsy! They never cared if I conquered this stupid planet! They just wanted me the hell out of their way! Damn it all!" He began to pound on the table with all his might, screaming angrily.
"Zim, calm down!" Dib rushed over and pulled the Irken away from the table, "Who cares if they don't? It doesn't matter to them, but it matters to us now! We have to save our planet now! It doesn't mean a lot to them, but it'd mean a lot to everyone if we could just save this world! It'd mean a lot to me if you'd help me." Zim looked down to where Dib's hands were. They were clasped tightly around Zim's black-gloved hands, and Dib had a strange little hopeful look in his eyes.
"What do you mean it would mean a lot to you?" he asked, wondering.
"I don't really know." Dib just shrugged a smidgen, "I just—"
BANG!
It was at that moment that the backstage door burst open and GIR flew in. He bumped into his master and skid on the floor until he stopped beneath the table Zim had been pounding on earlier. The fact that GIR had bumped Zim wasn't interesting.
The fact that the bump had made Zim fall to kiss Dib on the lips was interesting. They stood there in total shock for about five seconds. The ten seconds after that was for savoring it.
"Was that what you meant?" Zim blinked once they parted.
"Yeah." Dib smiled, "I guess it was." Zim paused, then smiled as well.
"Then let us work to save this world."
"Let's."
—to be continued—