|PART THREE|
[Azka's little group made it's way quietly up the hallways, stopping every once in a while to check for evil and to see if everyone was still there or not. She's separated Dib and Zim from each other with her body and Leboa has been pushed up front. Despite the dreary, life-threatening situation they're in, she seems overly happy and is humming and skipping along, duck tape still over her mouth. Dib is in front of Azka and mumbling to himself about something along the lines of disadvantages and not having a big head. Zim, on the other hand, is completely silent as he glares at the back of Azka's head, eye twitching every now and then. Azka is looking down at the ground, not paying any attention to anything what-so-ever. She seems to have lost it. All hope of them finding Daft is swirling around and around and down the drain as they walk along, not knowing what lies ahead for them in this hall of horrors. Azka mumbles under her breath everyone in a while, though nothing she's saying is making anyone fell any better.]
"I hope we find Daft. Even though we're all gonna die anyway."
"Hey! The backroom! They have to have a phone in here!"
[Zim grumbles and growls, wishing he still had his shiny metal bat. If he did, he'd bash them all over their heads and leave. Zim then begins to think to himself in a devious manner. His attention is diverted from glaring at Azka and Dib and to his little thoughts as a devious thought crosses his mind. He could easily use anyone of these guys as bait if they were to run into the evil THING perusing them giving him good time to escape. Yes. That was perfect! Zim began to chuckle to himself. Dib turns around to glare at Zim and raise his eyebrow. What could he be planning now? is the question on Dib's mind. What ever it is, it sure isn't good Dib decides.]
"Ok Zim...what are you doing now. What evil scheme are you cooking up? Huh? I'll have you know that whatever it is, I won't stand for it!"
"Scheme? Me? Never! I was merely....uh...laughing at how ironic this all is."
"Ironic? What's so ironic about this?!"
[Dib stops and turns around to stand in front of Zim and glare with his hands on his hips ready to argue. Azka, not watching where she's going, continues to talk to herself and walk, ending up running right into Dib.]
"I wish I had some crackers to throw at Zim's head. He's lookin' at me funny....I wonder why...OOF!"
[Azka runs straight into Dib, sending them both backwards a few steps as they try to regain their balance. Leboa has turned around and skipped over to them in time to be pushed over by Dib who's flailing his arms about to try and keep himself upright. Zim is watching amused as the three end up toppling over on Leboa. Leboa lays on the ground squirming and twitching under the combined weight of Dib and Azka. Dib rolls off Leboa and stands up to glare at Zim again. Azka is pulling herself and Leboa up as Zim's laughing at them, making Dib angry and the matter worse.]
"That's it Zim! That was not funny!"
"No...of course it wasn't funny. IT WAS HILARIOUS!"
"Shut up Zim!"
"Why should I listen to you, Earth Monkey?"
"Guys..."
"Because, Zim, I have a higher power on the show!"
"Right. If you have such a higher power over, me, Zim, Greatest Invader of all time, then why are you always at a disadvantage?"
"Guys?"
"Hey...that's right...But still! I'm co-host! All you are is a 'crew member'! So there Zim!"
"I am not as low as a 'Crew Member'! I SHOULD BE THE DIRECTOR! I SHOULD BE THE STAR! I AM ZIM!"
"Guys!"
"Yeah...Zim, the low-rate actor!"
"That's it Dib-worm! You'll pay for that insult!"
"GUYS!"
[Azka steps right into the middle of things and glares at them, silencing them both. Leboa is hopping around in the background happily, duck tape still over her mouth. Dib and Zim are silent, yet continue to glare.]
"Shut up and keep moving. I know were just going to die and all, but I really don't want to die with you two arguing over something stupid!"
[With that, Azka grabbed them and shoved them back in line and marched them down the hall. They had been walking for a few minuets when suddenly they ran into none other than...THE BACKROOM! Dib said the first thing that came to his overly large head of largeness.]
"Hey! The backroom! They have to have a phone in here!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. I remember that from the one episode where I had to call the ambulance when Gir set Crewman Joe on fire! That was when we were filming the 'Cupcake of Doom' episode..."
"Oh. Good to know that!"
"C'mon! It's our way of contacting the police and ending this nightmare!"
[Azka nodded and they entered the backroom to find one hell of a mess. As they were entering the backroom, Daft's group were coming down the hall, hesitantly. They stopped as they heard some shuffling and peered about the corner where they are right now. Daft pulls her head back and looks at her little group. Filler Bunny's still on her head, MiniMoose is now floating around Jhonen and Cameraman Bob.]
"What do you think it is?"
"Maybe it's the evil THING!"
"Squeak!"
"Good point MiniMoose. We won't know until we go find out."
"But...if we go find out and it turns out to be the evil THING, then we're doomed because none of us have any weapons besides that flashlight."
"Another good point Cameraman Bob. This thing would only be good for one or two hits and we'd have to be in close range where we could easily be captured and killed by it. Judging by what you guys have seen, I don't wanna come anywhere near that thing without a good weapon."
"Squeak!"
"So...what do we do?"
[They all grew silent as they searched for an answer. There was only one way to find out if it was safe and that was by going over to see what it was that was going down the hall. If it turned out to be the evil THING, then they'd have to flee and hope that the THING couldn't follow them. But if it was Azka and the others, then they'd be passing up their chance to see if everyone was ok by not going. It was a tough decision, but finally someone made a move. Jhonen sighed and walked around the corner and towards the backroom. Daft squeaked in fear and ran after him.]
"Wait! Jhonen! What are you doing! You're not armed!"
"I know, but we have to find out. Besides...we can always use Filler Bunny as bait while we escape."
"But...that's so cruel!"
"He'll be ok. He's been through worse."
"Good point...But Jhonen!"
"Shhhhh...."
[Jhonen was at the door when he turned around and hushed Daft. The others had crept up behind Daft in support. Jhonen's hand reached for the doorknob. This was it! They'd finally reveal who and what was beind the door! Whether it was good or bad, they had only to wait and see.]
"My gosh! Look at this place!"
[Dib's eyes were wide at all the ruined technical equipment. That evil THING had come in here and totally destroyed all of the equipment! Wires were everywhere, things were smashed and disconnected. Plugs were undone. The phone wires were cut. EVEN THE ELECTRIC MONKEY WAS BROKEN! Leboa picked up the electric monkey and her eyes started to water. From behind the duck tape came muttered sobbing and questions.]
"Mmmmmmmm! Mmm mm mmm mmmmmm mmmmmm?" Noooooo! Why is the monkey broken?
[Dib had leapt over to where the phone had been connected and moved some electrical things that had toppled over. Upon moving them, he discovered something not too pretty. Dib's eyes went wide as he froze in the process of moving the last of the electrical equipment away. With a shout of disgust, he leapt backwards, taking the electrical box with him as he scrambled away from his discovery. Azka's eyes went wide and her face became all twisted up in disgust. Zim's eye twitched as he cringed at the sight. Leboa, on the other hand was too busy crying over her broken monkey. Dib's action sent a few pieces of the equipment tumbling back in place because it was still attached to the piece he held in his hand. There, lying under the equipment was the chewed up remains of one of the crewmembers. Who that was just yet was somewhat hard to find out, for the face had been pretty much eaten off. Huge chunks of flesh were gone and gore was spread everywhere. Blood had dried on the floor and the equipment that had fallen on him. Dib let the piece in his hands drop to the ground as he spotted the drying blood. Shuddering, he turned away from the scene. Azka's stomach flipped a bit and she decided to go stand over by Leboa.]
"Man...Who IS that?"
"How should I know, Dib-worm? I never lowered myself to the level of getting to know the lowly crew members which I am not one of..."
"Oh shut it Zim...I saw you socializing with them several times. Does it have an ID on it?"
"I'm not going to look. You do it."
"I'm not touching that thing!"
"Neither am I!"
"Mmm'm mmmm?" Who's That?
[Leboa stopped her crying for a moment to look at the corpse. She blinked and then returned to crying loudly over the broken monkey. Azka was just too worn out and frustrated to do anything but stare at Leboa and hope that they'd eventually make it out of here alive. Dib shakes his head and turns back to work on the electrical equipment.]
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. He's dead. Now...If I could just re- connect these wires, we can call out again!"
"So do it, Dib-worm, and hurry!"
"Shut it Zim. I don't need you harping at me while I work!"
[Dib then sat himself down on the floor and began to dig through the electrical equipment, throwing out old wires and broken wires and examining others. He was frantically tossing handfuls of wires out, each of them seeming to have a built in target range so that they never hit anything but Zim. Zim was standing with his back turned from the corpse and Zim with his arms crossed, muttering and plotting. The first wire hit him and he jumped, looking around quickly. Two more wires hit him and he turned about to yell at Dib when a few more wires bounced off his head. Becoming angry, he opened his mouth to yell at him, and got a mouthful of wires instead. Spitting them out, a few more bounced off his head and Zim began batting them away angrily as more and more bounced off his head. Dib mumbled to himself about the wires as Zim, now twitchy-eyed once again, began to approach him from behind, arms stretched out as if to choke him, a vein in his head sticking out and pounding as more wires bounced off his head.
Azka blinked and looked up from watching the floor blankly, catching a glimpse of what Zim was trying to do, to growl at Zim. Just what she needed. If that evil THING didn't get them and tear them to pieces like that corpse, then they'd wind up killing each other! Azka narrowed her eyes until they were tiny slits of anger, picked up the nearest piece of electrical equipment and tossed it harshly at Zim's head. The heavy silver box flew through the air far enough to hit Zim in the head and knock him over. Zim yelled out in pain and fell over, box falling on his chest and pinning him to the ground where he held his head in pain and squirmed under it's weight. Dib paid no mind to this little yell and went on plucking wires and tossing them over his shoulder so that they fell on Zim's face once more. Azka leaned back against the wall and stared at the ground once more. Leboa had shut up and was now just whimpering and rocking the broken monkey in her arms, tears in her eyes again. Suddenly, there's a squeaking sound as the doorknob starts to turn. Azka, who normally would have heard if someone was coming up the hallway, turned her eyes towards the turning doorknob. She then walked as calmly as she could over to stand behind Zim and Dib. It that evil THING was out there and coming in, she'd rather have it eat Leboa before it got to her.
Azka hissed to the others who had silenced and froze in their places, attention being directed to the door once again.]
"Guys...quiet and stay in your places...Nobody move until we know who it is. If it's the evil...um...uh...jump out the window..."
[The doorknob turned ever so slowly like it always does to create tension in the movies. Leboa started shaking as her eyes started to bulge out of her head. The door swung aside slowly to reveal a dark shape, tall and thin. Leboa, unable to stand the pressure anymore, drops the mechanical monkey she cared so much about earlier and launches herself at the figure letting out an ear-shattering screech, duck tape having magically disappeared, that is almost inhuman in a way. The three in the room clamp their hands over their ears at the noise. Leboa tackles the figure and begins to poke it again and again in it's head. The figure cries out and they realize it's Jhonen Vasquez! And behind him are none other than Daft, MiniMoose, Filler Bunny, and Cameraman Bob! Azka, Dib, and Zim let out a sigh of relief. Dib throws his arms up in the air and cries 'FINALLY!' as Jhonen pushes Leboa off of him. Daft and Cameraman Bob rush to help Jhonen up. Leboa stares at them from her spot on the ground where she was recently pushed over. Jhonen stands up, grumbling at his luck, being tackled and poked to death by a demonic child and then getting stuck with most likely another Fan-Girl. Daft grins at everyone and bounces about the room happily to hug everyone. Azka waves shyly at Jhonen.]
"Azka! Dib! Zim! I'm soooo glad to see that you guys are ok! We were all so worried that the evil THING got to you guys before we could. Man, this has been the craziest thing to happen in all of Dementia's past history!"
"Daft! It's so good to see that you're alive! We've been searching for you hoping that you guys would know the way out and that we could go home and these guys have been nothing but evil to each other and I've had to stop Zim from killing Dib like a bazillion times already in fact I just got to throw something heavy at his head a while back so he couldn't choke Dib and...and...and..."
[Azka spoke in a flow of words, not pausing until she ran out of things she was going to say. Dib cut in.]
"Yeah! Zim's been trying to kill me Daft. That and you're not giving me a very fair fight!"
"But...I'm not controlling this..."
"I've only been trying to put the poor earth-scum out of his large-headed misery..."
"I DON'T HAVE A BIG HEAD! See?"
[Daft nodded, not really caring, and then turned to stare wide-eyed at the corpse on the floor. She gasped and knelt down beside the corpse to read the small blood-smeared ID tag hanging off it's tattered remains. She put her hand up to her mouth and dropped the ID standing up, tears in her eyes. She turned back to the rest and hung her head as she announced the sad news.]
"Guys...It's...it's...Back-up Cameraman Shmoof."
[Cameraman Bob lowered his head for his fallen comrade as Daft sniffled and grew angry at the evil THING that had wreaked so much havoc upon them already. Azka lowered her head in respected, elbowing Dib and Zim to do the same. Dib lowered his head but Zim refused to, so she grabbed it and pushed it down, holding it down until Daft raised her head, a look of determination in her eyes. Zim pulls away from Azka, holding his head which is bruised and tender and Azka snickers a bit, happy that she has caused pain to Zim without having him attack her back. She then remembers that Jhonen is in the room and remembers that she has to act 'normal' so he doesn't think that she's obsessed with him or his creations. That would be bad. And he'd be scared. So she straightened up and listened as Daft began to create a plan. They listened intently to what she was saying.]
"Ok, I don't know if you guys know, but this is two cameramen already dead. Cameraman Lefty and Cameraman Shmoof. This leaves Cameraman Ten and Cameraman Bob, who as you know, is with us now. Before we met up..."
"Daft...This crazy thing is going to eat us! I bet I'm going to be first, right? Right?"
"Quiet Dib...As I was saying...we'd have been too weak and unprepared to fight it, but..."
"We're still too weak and unprepared to fight it! You're crazy to think we can do it now!"
"Shut it Dib! Or we'll use YOU as bait....anyway, now that we have a pretty good-sized team, I think we can take it on. We have nine people and this room has a whole bunch of things which could be used as weapons, so we'd be armed when we went up against it."
"That's crazy! We can't even fight! None of us here are trained to take on anything like this. THIS WASN'T EVEN IN THE CONTRACT!"
"Dib...what have I said?"
"I can't keep silent when you're over here telling us that we can take this thing on when we really can't and..."
[Azka glared at Dib and thawpped him over the head to make him shut up. She nodded to Daft and Daft nodded back to her and continued.]
"Like I was saying...We CAN take this thing on. There's strength in numbers. But! I wasn't planning on just heading out and taking it on directly. I was planning on setting a trap to lure it over to us so we could ambush it! Then it would be caught off-guard and we'd have another advantage!"
[Azka waved her arm in the air, about ready to explode with a question, trying to be polite and wait her turn and NOT butt in, but she just couldn't help it and burst out with her question.]
"Daft! Daft! We were going to go through the window if it was the evil THING, but we didn't because we wanted to see who it was and it was you and now I was just wondering...What would have happened if we WOULD have went out the window?"
"Well...what would have happened was..."
"That's not important Daft! Stick to what we're going to do! We need to be prepared or we'll all be doomed!"
"Squeak!"
"Yes. but let me answer this question and..."
"WE'RE ALL SO VERY DOOMED!"
"But...guys...it's just a..."
[Dib broke down in a fit of yelling 'We're doomed! Doooomed! Doooomed!' over and over again as Zim glared at them all. Cameraman Bob was holding Jhonen here because he was attempting to leave the room and the madness. Daft, sidetracked now, went on with her plan.]
"Filler Bunny and I saw it over by the janitor's closet and..."
"See?! I told you that closet was evil! I TOLD YOU!!!"
[Azka paused, looking about the little circle of people. Zim stared at her and Filler Bunny blinked cutely and tipped his head sideways. Azka looked away embarrassed and inched away from the circle. Daft carried on with her plan and how they'd go and set up the trap, using Filler Bunny as bait and then ambush the evil THING when it tried to eat Filler Bunny. Azka, away from the group now, ignored the strange looks Zim was giving her and started to draw pictures on the floor with her finger, humming to herself. Leboa was back playing with the beaten up monkey and the others listened, Dib interrupting every now and then. Jhonen, once Cameraman Bob lets go of him to listen to Daft's plan, starts to slide out the door again silently. Azka looked up and shrugged. The pictures were keeping her entertained and that's all that mattered at that moment.]
"Ok, what I've noticed is that this THING likes Cameramen...so maybe we should use you, Cameraman Bob, to lure him in. Don't worry because we'll be right there to kick his butt before he can eat you. Besides, you'll be armed anyway...that reminds me. Everyone! Grab a weapon! It's time to take action!"
[Daft leaps up and grabs a long, metal pipe thing. The others follow her lead and find something they can swing or throw. Azka, looking up from the floor, stands up to follow what everyone else is doing, not wanting to make a fool of herself again. Daft suddenly remembers that there's one question that she forgot to answer and turns back to Azka.]
"Oh yeah, about the window thing..."
[Azka perks up and rushes over to Daft, pushing Dib and Zim out of her way making them grumble at her as she stands there, eyes wide and excited to finally get to hear what would have happened to them. Daft begins to explain when Dib comes over to them.]
"Well, if you would have gone through that window you would have..."
"Enough about the window already! We need to find a way to get out of here! I REALLY don't want to end up Evil's Dinner!"
[Dib cut in, waving his arms in the air and rolling his eyes. Daft, ticked off at the loss of her friends and show, glares at Dib.]
"Well, instead of having me tell you what would have happened...let's have an example of what would happen to you physically if you would have gone through the window..."
[Daft suddenly picks up Dib and tosses HIM out the window instead. The glass of the window breaks as Dib crashes through it, screaming at the top of his lungs. Pieces of glass fly all over and Cameraman Bob and Zim shield themselves from the flying glass. Daft seems satisfied, and Cameraman Bob begins freaking out because that'll alert the killer to their position. Daft thinks it's ok because she'll lure the evil to them and she also got to hurt Dib for no apparent reason! Which shut him up for a bit. Though that never really explains what would have happened to them if they would have gone through the window . But that didn't matter now. Azka returns the smirk and raises her thumbs up.]
"I approve!"
[Azka and Daft's attention is drawn to Cameraman Bob who is flipping out and bug-eyed over the whole thing. Azka raises her eyebrow and Daft blinks at him, not seeing how it could be such a bad thing. Suddenly, they heard a shuffling sound coming down the hallway slowly at first, but gaining speed as it headed towards Dib who was laying on the ground twitching and grumbling.]
"Quickly! Grab a weapon and let's go! It's time to take this thing down!"
[Daft commanded, raising her metal pipe. Azka began to panic and started to run around in circles screaming. She was too flustered to grab anything to even think straight. Something in her head screamed 'Save Dib! Save Dib! Be the hero! Save Dib!'. Azka knew she couldn't even if she tried and wasn't about to go out there, fling herself in front of Dib and try to save him in a big, dramatic way now. Paranoia was welling up inside her as the evil came closer and closer. Azka could barely stand still without screaming, so instead, kept on running in circles, despite Daft's command to grab a weapon. Zim grabbed something as Cameraman Bob pulled out a few round metal things to chuck at the evil thing. Dropping to the ground in a crouch, Daft moved to the window, placing her back up against the wall below the window, ready to leap up and out the window towards the evil. Dib shook his head and realized what was coming up the hallway. He let out a yell as the evil THING emerged from the shadows to tower above him.
The evil was tall and cloaked in a long black robe, black tendrils rolling out across the floor menacingly. His face was hidden, yet he was scary anyway. Blood was splattered across bits of his robe, proving that he had been the one to kill and eat the two, possibly three, Cameramen. Dib scrambled away from the robed figure as fast as he could, pushing the glass away from him, trying desperately to stand up and run. Little cuts appeared on Dib's hands as he pushed away the glass in attempts to scramble away from the evil that had started to come closer, leaning down, stretching out it's arms to grab him up. He heard an evil cackle as he continued to yell for help. Where was Daft and the others? Didn't they care about him? No. Of course not. This was going to be his last show ever. Stupid disadvantages! Why him though?! Dib picked up a piece of glass and threw it at the robed figure. The evil THING just batted it away and laughed at Dib's pitiful attempts to hurt it.]
"HELP! HELP DAFT! THIS THING'S GONNA EAT ME! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
[Just then as the evil THING swooped down low to slash at Dib, something screeched from the room and a figure leapt from the window towards the evil. There was a flash of light as the metal rod came down on the evil THING's back with a soft thud of metal meeting fleshy material. The evil THING was distracted and turned on Daft, ignoring Dib enough for him to stand up. The evil THING grabbed Daft's metal pole as she tried to swing it at him once again. Struggling against his strength, she fought to pull the rod from his hands and use it against him once more. The evil THING cackled again as he pulled the rod from her hands and threw it to the side, leaving her somewhat defenseless. Daft stepped back as the evil thing lunged towards her. Darkness filled Daft's eyes as it came straight at her. She raised her arms up to shield herself from it, as if that would stop it. Just as she thought it was all over, she heard a thunk as Zim flew through the window to knock the evil THING over. Daft blinked. Had Zim done that on purpose? Had he shown some human emotion and leapt through the window willfully? Zim rolled off of the evil THING, stood and ran back to where Dib was standing, grumbling and cursing something. Daft rethought that. No. He was probably thrown through the window as a weapon. But, no one knew but him and the person who could have thrown him. That, and they'd just have to find out later.
Daft too this opportunity to grab her metal rod once again and strike the evil with it. Dib and Zim had picked up pieces of glass and were using them as knives to chuck at the evil THING. It squirmed as the shards stuck in the folds of it's robe. Screeching, it shot up off the ground, over powering Daft once more. Azka's screams were heard from within as MiniMoose and Filler Bunny flew out the window to hit the evil THING. He turned and hissed, leaping through the window at Azka to tackle her. In the room, the evil THING then laughed evilly as Azka screamed below it's weight. Cameraman Bob rushed over with a large mechanical piece and bashed the evil THING over the head with it, distracting it from Azka. The evil THING rolled off and it's attention turned to Cameraman Bob. An evil hiss was heard as it leapt up, flying across Azka to tackle Cameraman Bob. Azka yelled, getting enough courage to stand up and whap the thing over the head with a metal pipe of her own. It hissed and looked at her. Her eyes went wide and she dropped the pipe, screamed, and fled the scene through the window just as Daft leapt through the window, hit the ground, and attacked the THING with the metal pipe once more. It growled and threw her off. Daft flew backwards and fell to the ground, rolling away, the metal pipe clanging against the wall to fall beside her again. She looked up in horror to see the evil THING holding Cameraman Bob by the throat, getting ready to eat him right before her eyes. Zim and Dib peered through the window, looked at each other, and hesitated, not sure if they really wanted to try to kill that thing after what it did to Daft.]
"NOOOOOO! CAMERAMAN BOB!"
[Evil laugher came her ears as the thing turned and faced her, Cameraman Bob still being held by the throat as it spoke to her. The words came to her ears, strange, yet familiar. She listened, brain picking out what it was saying.]
"j00 [4|\|07 |)3f347 |\/|3 |)4f7! 1 VV1LL 3|\|j0y 3471|\|g |30|3!"
[With that, the evil THING laughed maniacally as Daft cried out. Suddenly, Leboa perked up, sniffing the air and looking about wildly. She leapt up, screamed and launched herself at the evil THING happily, hanging onto him. The evil THING shrieked and beat at her with one hand as it ran around and around the room trying to get her off. Leboa squealed in delight and clung to his robes. The evil THING cursed Leboa in the strange tongue. He looked towards Daft and shook his fist.]
"j00 |-|4\/3 |\|07 VV0|\| y37, |)4f7!"
[With that, the lights flickered off for a brief moment and when they turned back on, the room was empty with the exception of Daft and Leboa. Dib and Zim peered into the window to watch them as Azka ran in circles screaming. Leboa sat on the floor blinking, wondering where he had gone. Daft cried out angrily. The evil THING had taken Cameraman Bob with it and they had lost the last known Cameraman. To top things off, Jhonen was no where to be found either. Daft pounded her fists on the ground cursing as Dib and Zim watched, too shocked to do anything. Azka calmed down now that the evil was gone and came to stand beside them and peer in at Daft.]
"NO! YOU HAVEN'T WON! YOU'LL NEVER WIN! I WON'T LET YOU! YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN MY ONLY REMAINING CAMERAMAN, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU'VE WON! I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN! YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
[Azka looked at Dib and Zim and then back to Daft silently. Leboa began crying and Daft slowly rose up and turned towards the three at the window.]
"Guys...We're up against something even more terrifying than what we were expecting. I know who it is now and I know how to stop him. I will not let him win. But you guys, I need your help with this. We have to be strong and stop fighting with each other if we're going to do this. Ok? We need to work together to bring this guy to his knees before it's too late. We've lost all our cameramen now, and Jhonen is missing as well. We can't let this guy go on to destroy all that I've worked for. We can't let him win! We have to fight him! We have to beat him! If we work together, we'll be able to do this. If we fall apart, we're doomed. Are you guys with me or not? Will you help me smash this guy? Or would you rather bicker and fight and find a way out to leave him here to terrorize and destroy all that we have here?"
[Dib and Zim looked towards the ground as Azka nodded.]
"I'm with you. I'd hate to see this show be canceled anyway. Zim's show was canceled due to the evil ruling Nick and I don't want to see this one sharing the same fate because of some evil THING destroying it. Besides, I wouldn't be much of a person if I didn't at least attempt to help!"
"I agree...I'm sorry I was complaining, but I always thought that you were giving me a disadvantage because you didn't like me or something. But when you came out there to stop him, even if it was only because it was an opportunity to kill the evil once and for all, I realized that you cared about me more than I thought you did. You do care about me, Daft?"
"No Dib...I hate you...You complain too much and your head's HUGE!"
[Dib's eyes lowered and he looked at the ground. Zim laughed and Daft shook her head.]
"I kid Dib...Where would the show be without your little complaints? Not that they don't get very annoying and not that I don't want to kill you half the time, but still. You're pretty cool. As for you Zim..."
[Zim stopped laughing and looked up at Daft, not wanting to hear about what she thought of him, already half knowing what was going to come out his her mouth.]
"...You need to stop always trying to kill Dib. It's more than what's expected of him to deal with you ALWAYS out to get him. Save it for when he really does try to get YOU. And Azka, thanks for being such a great guest. This is a little more than what guests usually have to go through, but I think you handled it well. Considering that you could have broken down, curled up in a corner, and cried, forcing us to carry you or leave you, you did good."
"Thanks."
"Ok guys. Let's keep this happy feeling up and try to work together. I have a plan. One that is sure to work..."
[They nodded and Daft motioned for them to lean in and hear her plan. And so, with the death of Cameraman Bob, a new bond of friendship was born between Daft, Azka, Dib, and Zim. The evil THING was out there lurking the halls with fresh blood on its robes, ready to defy Daft and take her down once and for all, but that didn't scare them. They knew what they had to do, and together, they would bring the evil to its knees. The evil THING didn't stand a chance now that they had been united physically and united in their goals and feelings. Besides, Daft had a secret weapon now....]
[Azka's little group made it's way quietly up the hallways, stopping every once in a while to check for evil and to see if everyone was still there or not. She's separated Dib and Zim from each other with her body and Leboa has been pushed up front. Despite the dreary, life-threatening situation they're in, she seems overly happy and is humming and skipping along, duck tape still over her mouth. Dib is in front of Azka and mumbling to himself about something along the lines of disadvantages and not having a big head. Zim, on the other hand, is completely silent as he glares at the back of Azka's head, eye twitching every now and then. Azka is looking down at the ground, not paying any attention to anything what-so-ever. She seems to have lost it. All hope of them finding Daft is swirling around and around and down the drain as they walk along, not knowing what lies ahead for them in this hall of horrors. Azka mumbles under her breath everyone in a while, though nothing she's saying is making anyone fell any better.]
"I hope we find Daft. Even though we're all gonna die anyway."
"Hey! The backroom! They have to have a phone in here!"
[Zim grumbles and growls, wishing he still had his shiny metal bat. If he did, he'd bash them all over their heads and leave. Zim then begins to think to himself in a devious manner. His attention is diverted from glaring at Azka and Dib and to his little thoughts as a devious thought crosses his mind. He could easily use anyone of these guys as bait if they were to run into the evil THING perusing them giving him good time to escape. Yes. That was perfect! Zim began to chuckle to himself. Dib turns around to glare at Zim and raise his eyebrow. What could he be planning now? is the question on Dib's mind. What ever it is, it sure isn't good Dib decides.]
"Ok Zim...what are you doing now. What evil scheme are you cooking up? Huh? I'll have you know that whatever it is, I won't stand for it!"
"Scheme? Me? Never! I was merely....uh...laughing at how ironic this all is."
"Ironic? What's so ironic about this?!"
[Dib stops and turns around to stand in front of Zim and glare with his hands on his hips ready to argue. Azka, not watching where she's going, continues to talk to herself and walk, ending up running right into Dib.]
"I wish I had some crackers to throw at Zim's head. He's lookin' at me funny....I wonder why...OOF!"
[Azka runs straight into Dib, sending them both backwards a few steps as they try to regain their balance. Leboa has turned around and skipped over to them in time to be pushed over by Dib who's flailing his arms about to try and keep himself upright. Zim is watching amused as the three end up toppling over on Leboa. Leboa lays on the ground squirming and twitching under the combined weight of Dib and Azka. Dib rolls off Leboa and stands up to glare at Zim again. Azka is pulling herself and Leboa up as Zim's laughing at them, making Dib angry and the matter worse.]
"That's it Zim! That was not funny!"
"No...of course it wasn't funny. IT WAS HILARIOUS!"
"Shut up Zim!"
"Why should I listen to you, Earth Monkey?"
"Guys..."
"Because, Zim, I have a higher power on the show!"
"Right. If you have such a higher power over, me, Zim, Greatest Invader of all time, then why are you always at a disadvantage?"
"Guys?"
"Hey...that's right...But still! I'm co-host! All you are is a 'crew member'! So there Zim!"
"I am not as low as a 'Crew Member'! I SHOULD BE THE DIRECTOR! I SHOULD BE THE STAR! I AM ZIM!"
"Guys!"
"Yeah...Zim, the low-rate actor!"
"That's it Dib-worm! You'll pay for that insult!"
"GUYS!"
[Azka steps right into the middle of things and glares at them, silencing them both. Leboa is hopping around in the background happily, duck tape still over her mouth. Dib and Zim are silent, yet continue to glare.]
"Shut up and keep moving. I know were just going to die and all, but I really don't want to die with you two arguing over something stupid!"
[With that, Azka grabbed them and shoved them back in line and marched them down the hall. They had been walking for a few minuets when suddenly they ran into none other than...THE BACKROOM! Dib said the first thing that came to his overly large head of largeness.]
"Hey! The backroom! They have to have a phone in here!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. I remember that from the one episode where I had to call the ambulance when Gir set Crewman Joe on fire! That was when we were filming the 'Cupcake of Doom' episode..."
"Oh. Good to know that!"
"C'mon! It's our way of contacting the police and ending this nightmare!"
[Azka nodded and they entered the backroom to find one hell of a mess. As they were entering the backroom, Daft's group were coming down the hall, hesitantly. They stopped as they heard some shuffling and peered about the corner where they are right now. Daft pulls her head back and looks at her little group. Filler Bunny's still on her head, MiniMoose is now floating around Jhonen and Cameraman Bob.]
"What do you think it is?"
"Maybe it's the evil THING!"
"Squeak!"
"Good point MiniMoose. We won't know until we go find out."
"But...if we go find out and it turns out to be the evil THING, then we're doomed because none of us have any weapons besides that flashlight."
"Another good point Cameraman Bob. This thing would only be good for one or two hits and we'd have to be in close range where we could easily be captured and killed by it. Judging by what you guys have seen, I don't wanna come anywhere near that thing without a good weapon."
"Squeak!"
"So...what do we do?"
[They all grew silent as they searched for an answer. There was only one way to find out if it was safe and that was by going over to see what it was that was going down the hall. If it turned out to be the evil THING, then they'd have to flee and hope that the THING couldn't follow them. But if it was Azka and the others, then they'd be passing up their chance to see if everyone was ok by not going. It was a tough decision, but finally someone made a move. Jhonen sighed and walked around the corner and towards the backroom. Daft squeaked in fear and ran after him.]
"Wait! Jhonen! What are you doing! You're not armed!"
"I know, but we have to find out. Besides...we can always use Filler Bunny as bait while we escape."
"But...that's so cruel!"
"He'll be ok. He's been through worse."
"Good point...But Jhonen!"
"Shhhhh...."
[Jhonen was at the door when he turned around and hushed Daft. The others had crept up behind Daft in support. Jhonen's hand reached for the doorknob. This was it! They'd finally reveal who and what was beind the door! Whether it was good or bad, they had only to wait and see.]
"My gosh! Look at this place!"
[Dib's eyes were wide at all the ruined technical equipment. That evil THING had come in here and totally destroyed all of the equipment! Wires were everywhere, things were smashed and disconnected. Plugs were undone. The phone wires were cut. EVEN THE ELECTRIC MONKEY WAS BROKEN! Leboa picked up the electric monkey and her eyes started to water. From behind the duck tape came muttered sobbing and questions.]
"Mmmmmmmm! Mmm mm mmm mmmmmm mmmmmm?" Noooooo! Why is the monkey broken?
[Dib had leapt over to where the phone had been connected and moved some electrical things that had toppled over. Upon moving them, he discovered something not too pretty. Dib's eyes went wide as he froze in the process of moving the last of the electrical equipment away. With a shout of disgust, he leapt backwards, taking the electrical box with him as he scrambled away from his discovery. Azka's eyes went wide and her face became all twisted up in disgust. Zim's eye twitched as he cringed at the sight. Leboa, on the other hand was too busy crying over her broken monkey. Dib's action sent a few pieces of the equipment tumbling back in place because it was still attached to the piece he held in his hand. There, lying under the equipment was the chewed up remains of one of the crewmembers. Who that was just yet was somewhat hard to find out, for the face had been pretty much eaten off. Huge chunks of flesh were gone and gore was spread everywhere. Blood had dried on the floor and the equipment that had fallen on him. Dib let the piece in his hands drop to the ground as he spotted the drying blood. Shuddering, he turned away from the scene. Azka's stomach flipped a bit and she decided to go stand over by Leboa.]
"Man...Who IS that?"
"How should I know, Dib-worm? I never lowered myself to the level of getting to know the lowly crew members which I am not one of..."
"Oh shut it Zim...I saw you socializing with them several times. Does it have an ID on it?"
"I'm not going to look. You do it."
"I'm not touching that thing!"
"Neither am I!"
"Mmm'm mmmm?" Who's That?
[Leboa stopped her crying for a moment to look at the corpse. She blinked and then returned to crying loudly over the broken monkey. Azka was just too worn out and frustrated to do anything but stare at Leboa and hope that they'd eventually make it out of here alive. Dib shakes his head and turns back to work on the electrical equipment.]
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. He's dead. Now...If I could just re- connect these wires, we can call out again!"
"So do it, Dib-worm, and hurry!"
"Shut it Zim. I don't need you harping at me while I work!"
[Dib then sat himself down on the floor and began to dig through the electrical equipment, throwing out old wires and broken wires and examining others. He was frantically tossing handfuls of wires out, each of them seeming to have a built in target range so that they never hit anything but Zim. Zim was standing with his back turned from the corpse and Zim with his arms crossed, muttering and plotting. The first wire hit him and he jumped, looking around quickly. Two more wires hit him and he turned about to yell at Dib when a few more wires bounced off his head. Becoming angry, he opened his mouth to yell at him, and got a mouthful of wires instead. Spitting them out, a few more bounced off his head and Zim began batting them away angrily as more and more bounced off his head. Dib mumbled to himself about the wires as Zim, now twitchy-eyed once again, began to approach him from behind, arms stretched out as if to choke him, a vein in his head sticking out and pounding as more wires bounced off his head.
Azka blinked and looked up from watching the floor blankly, catching a glimpse of what Zim was trying to do, to growl at Zim. Just what she needed. If that evil THING didn't get them and tear them to pieces like that corpse, then they'd wind up killing each other! Azka narrowed her eyes until they were tiny slits of anger, picked up the nearest piece of electrical equipment and tossed it harshly at Zim's head. The heavy silver box flew through the air far enough to hit Zim in the head and knock him over. Zim yelled out in pain and fell over, box falling on his chest and pinning him to the ground where he held his head in pain and squirmed under it's weight. Dib paid no mind to this little yell and went on plucking wires and tossing them over his shoulder so that they fell on Zim's face once more. Azka leaned back against the wall and stared at the ground once more. Leboa had shut up and was now just whimpering and rocking the broken monkey in her arms, tears in her eyes again. Suddenly, there's a squeaking sound as the doorknob starts to turn. Azka, who normally would have heard if someone was coming up the hallway, turned her eyes towards the turning doorknob. She then walked as calmly as she could over to stand behind Zim and Dib. It that evil THING was out there and coming in, she'd rather have it eat Leboa before it got to her.
Azka hissed to the others who had silenced and froze in their places, attention being directed to the door once again.]
"Guys...quiet and stay in your places...Nobody move until we know who it is. If it's the evil...um...uh...jump out the window..."
[The doorknob turned ever so slowly like it always does to create tension in the movies. Leboa started shaking as her eyes started to bulge out of her head. The door swung aside slowly to reveal a dark shape, tall and thin. Leboa, unable to stand the pressure anymore, drops the mechanical monkey she cared so much about earlier and launches herself at the figure letting out an ear-shattering screech, duck tape having magically disappeared, that is almost inhuman in a way. The three in the room clamp their hands over their ears at the noise. Leboa tackles the figure and begins to poke it again and again in it's head. The figure cries out and they realize it's Jhonen Vasquez! And behind him are none other than Daft, MiniMoose, Filler Bunny, and Cameraman Bob! Azka, Dib, and Zim let out a sigh of relief. Dib throws his arms up in the air and cries 'FINALLY!' as Jhonen pushes Leboa off of him. Daft and Cameraman Bob rush to help Jhonen up. Leboa stares at them from her spot on the ground where she was recently pushed over. Jhonen stands up, grumbling at his luck, being tackled and poked to death by a demonic child and then getting stuck with most likely another Fan-Girl. Daft grins at everyone and bounces about the room happily to hug everyone. Azka waves shyly at Jhonen.]
"Azka! Dib! Zim! I'm soooo glad to see that you guys are ok! We were all so worried that the evil THING got to you guys before we could. Man, this has been the craziest thing to happen in all of Dementia's past history!"
"Daft! It's so good to see that you're alive! We've been searching for you hoping that you guys would know the way out and that we could go home and these guys have been nothing but evil to each other and I've had to stop Zim from killing Dib like a bazillion times already in fact I just got to throw something heavy at his head a while back so he couldn't choke Dib and...and...and..."
[Azka spoke in a flow of words, not pausing until she ran out of things she was going to say. Dib cut in.]
"Yeah! Zim's been trying to kill me Daft. That and you're not giving me a very fair fight!"
"But...I'm not controlling this..."
"I've only been trying to put the poor earth-scum out of his large-headed misery..."
"I DON'T HAVE A BIG HEAD! See?"
[Daft nodded, not really caring, and then turned to stare wide-eyed at the corpse on the floor. She gasped and knelt down beside the corpse to read the small blood-smeared ID tag hanging off it's tattered remains. She put her hand up to her mouth and dropped the ID standing up, tears in her eyes. She turned back to the rest and hung her head as she announced the sad news.]
"Guys...It's...it's...Back-up Cameraman Shmoof."
[Cameraman Bob lowered his head for his fallen comrade as Daft sniffled and grew angry at the evil THING that had wreaked so much havoc upon them already. Azka lowered her head in respected, elbowing Dib and Zim to do the same. Dib lowered his head but Zim refused to, so she grabbed it and pushed it down, holding it down until Daft raised her head, a look of determination in her eyes. Zim pulls away from Azka, holding his head which is bruised and tender and Azka snickers a bit, happy that she has caused pain to Zim without having him attack her back. She then remembers that Jhonen is in the room and remembers that she has to act 'normal' so he doesn't think that she's obsessed with him or his creations. That would be bad. And he'd be scared. So she straightened up and listened as Daft began to create a plan. They listened intently to what she was saying.]
"Ok, I don't know if you guys know, but this is two cameramen already dead. Cameraman Lefty and Cameraman Shmoof. This leaves Cameraman Ten and Cameraman Bob, who as you know, is with us now. Before we met up..."
"Daft...This crazy thing is going to eat us! I bet I'm going to be first, right? Right?"
"Quiet Dib...As I was saying...we'd have been too weak and unprepared to fight it, but..."
"We're still too weak and unprepared to fight it! You're crazy to think we can do it now!"
"Shut it Dib! Or we'll use YOU as bait....anyway, now that we have a pretty good-sized team, I think we can take it on. We have nine people and this room has a whole bunch of things which could be used as weapons, so we'd be armed when we went up against it."
"That's crazy! We can't even fight! None of us here are trained to take on anything like this. THIS WASN'T EVEN IN THE CONTRACT!"
"Dib...what have I said?"
"I can't keep silent when you're over here telling us that we can take this thing on when we really can't and..."
[Azka glared at Dib and thawpped him over the head to make him shut up. She nodded to Daft and Daft nodded back to her and continued.]
"Like I was saying...We CAN take this thing on. There's strength in numbers. But! I wasn't planning on just heading out and taking it on directly. I was planning on setting a trap to lure it over to us so we could ambush it! Then it would be caught off-guard and we'd have another advantage!"
[Azka waved her arm in the air, about ready to explode with a question, trying to be polite and wait her turn and NOT butt in, but she just couldn't help it and burst out with her question.]
"Daft! Daft! We were going to go through the window if it was the evil THING, but we didn't because we wanted to see who it was and it was you and now I was just wondering...What would have happened if we WOULD have went out the window?"
"Well...what would have happened was..."
"That's not important Daft! Stick to what we're going to do! We need to be prepared or we'll all be doomed!"
"Squeak!"
"Yes. but let me answer this question and..."
"WE'RE ALL SO VERY DOOMED!"
"But...guys...it's just a..."
[Dib broke down in a fit of yelling 'We're doomed! Doooomed! Doooomed!' over and over again as Zim glared at them all. Cameraman Bob was holding Jhonen here because he was attempting to leave the room and the madness. Daft, sidetracked now, went on with her plan.]
"Filler Bunny and I saw it over by the janitor's closet and..."
"See?! I told you that closet was evil! I TOLD YOU!!!"
[Azka paused, looking about the little circle of people. Zim stared at her and Filler Bunny blinked cutely and tipped his head sideways. Azka looked away embarrassed and inched away from the circle. Daft carried on with her plan and how they'd go and set up the trap, using Filler Bunny as bait and then ambush the evil THING when it tried to eat Filler Bunny. Azka, away from the group now, ignored the strange looks Zim was giving her and started to draw pictures on the floor with her finger, humming to herself. Leboa was back playing with the beaten up monkey and the others listened, Dib interrupting every now and then. Jhonen, once Cameraman Bob lets go of him to listen to Daft's plan, starts to slide out the door again silently. Azka looked up and shrugged. The pictures were keeping her entertained and that's all that mattered at that moment.]
"Ok, what I've noticed is that this THING likes Cameramen...so maybe we should use you, Cameraman Bob, to lure him in. Don't worry because we'll be right there to kick his butt before he can eat you. Besides, you'll be armed anyway...that reminds me. Everyone! Grab a weapon! It's time to take action!"
[Daft leaps up and grabs a long, metal pipe thing. The others follow her lead and find something they can swing or throw. Azka, looking up from the floor, stands up to follow what everyone else is doing, not wanting to make a fool of herself again. Daft suddenly remembers that there's one question that she forgot to answer and turns back to Azka.]
"Oh yeah, about the window thing..."
[Azka perks up and rushes over to Daft, pushing Dib and Zim out of her way making them grumble at her as she stands there, eyes wide and excited to finally get to hear what would have happened to them. Daft begins to explain when Dib comes over to them.]
"Well, if you would have gone through that window you would have..."
"Enough about the window already! We need to find a way to get out of here! I REALLY don't want to end up Evil's Dinner!"
[Dib cut in, waving his arms in the air and rolling his eyes. Daft, ticked off at the loss of her friends and show, glares at Dib.]
"Well, instead of having me tell you what would have happened...let's have an example of what would happen to you physically if you would have gone through the window..."
[Daft suddenly picks up Dib and tosses HIM out the window instead. The glass of the window breaks as Dib crashes through it, screaming at the top of his lungs. Pieces of glass fly all over and Cameraman Bob and Zim shield themselves from the flying glass. Daft seems satisfied, and Cameraman Bob begins freaking out because that'll alert the killer to their position. Daft thinks it's ok because she'll lure the evil to them and she also got to hurt Dib for no apparent reason! Which shut him up for a bit. Though that never really explains what would have happened to them if they would have gone through the window . But that didn't matter now. Azka returns the smirk and raises her thumbs up.]
"I approve!"
[Azka and Daft's attention is drawn to Cameraman Bob who is flipping out and bug-eyed over the whole thing. Azka raises her eyebrow and Daft blinks at him, not seeing how it could be such a bad thing. Suddenly, they heard a shuffling sound coming down the hallway slowly at first, but gaining speed as it headed towards Dib who was laying on the ground twitching and grumbling.]
"Quickly! Grab a weapon and let's go! It's time to take this thing down!"
[Daft commanded, raising her metal pipe. Azka began to panic and started to run around in circles screaming. She was too flustered to grab anything to even think straight. Something in her head screamed 'Save Dib! Save Dib! Be the hero! Save Dib!'. Azka knew she couldn't even if she tried and wasn't about to go out there, fling herself in front of Dib and try to save him in a big, dramatic way now. Paranoia was welling up inside her as the evil came closer and closer. Azka could barely stand still without screaming, so instead, kept on running in circles, despite Daft's command to grab a weapon. Zim grabbed something as Cameraman Bob pulled out a few round metal things to chuck at the evil thing. Dropping to the ground in a crouch, Daft moved to the window, placing her back up against the wall below the window, ready to leap up and out the window towards the evil. Dib shook his head and realized what was coming up the hallway. He let out a yell as the evil THING emerged from the shadows to tower above him.
The evil was tall and cloaked in a long black robe, black tendrils rolling out across the floor menacingly. His face was hidden, yet he was scary anyway. Blood was splattered across bits of his robe, proving that he had been the one to kill and eat the two, possibly three, Cameramen. Dib scrambled away from the robed figure as fast as he could, pushing the glass away from him, trying desperately to stand up and run. Little cuts appeared on Dib's hands as he pushed away the glass in attempts to scramble away from the evil that had started to come closer, leaning down, stretching out it's arms to grab him up. He heard an evil cackle as he continued to yell for help. Where was Daft and the others? Didn't they care about him? No. Of course not. This was going to be his last show ever. Stupid disadvantages! Why him though?! Dib picked up a piece of glass and threw it at the robed figure. The evil THING just batted it away and laughed at Dib's pitiful attempts to hurt it.]
"HELP! HELP DAFT! THIS THING'S GONNA EAT ME! HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
[Just then as the evil THING swooped down low to slash at Dib, something screeched from the room and a figure leapt from the window towards the evil. There was a flash of light as the metal rod came down on the evil THING's back with a soft thud of metal meeting fleshy material. The evil THING was distracted and turned on Daft, ignoring Dib enough for him to stand up. The evil THING grabbed Daft's metal pole as she tried to swing it at him once again. Struggling against his strength, she fought to pull the rod from his hands and use it against him once more. The evil THING cackled again as he pulled the rod from her hands and threw it to the side, leaving her somewhat defenseless. Daft stepped back as the evil thing lunged towards her. Darkness filled Daft's eyes as it came straight at her. She raised her arms up to shield herself from it, as if that would stop it. Just as she thought it was all over, she heard a thunk as Zim flew through the window to knock the evil THING over. Daft blinked. Had Zim done that on purpose? Had he shown some human emotion and leapt through the window willfully? Zim rolled off of the evil THING, stood and ran back to where Dib was standing, grumbling and cursing something. Daft rethought that. No. He was probably thrown through the window as a weapon. But, no one knew but him and the person who could have thrown him. That, and they'd just have to find out later.
Daft too this opportunity to grab her metal rod once again and strike the evil with it. Dib and Zim had picked up pieces of glass and were using them as knives to chuck at the evil THING. It squirmed as the shards stuck in the folds of it's robe. Screeching, it shot up off the ground, over powering Daft once more. Azka's screams were heard from within as MiniMoose and Filler Bunny flew out the window to hit the evil THING. He turned and hissed, leaping through the window at Azka to tackle her. In the room, the evil THING then laughed evilly as Azka screamed below it's weight. Cameraman Bob rushed over with a large mechanical piece and bashed the evil THING over the head with it, distracting it from Azka. The evil THING rolled off and it's attention turned to Cameraman Bob. An evil hiss was heard as it leapt up, flying across Azka to tackle Cameraman Bob. Azka yelled, getting enough courage to stand up and whap the thing over the head with a metal pipe of her own. It hissed and looked at her. Her eyes went wide and she dropped the pipe, screamed, and fled the scene through the window just as Daft leapt through the window, hit the ground, and attacked the THING with the metal pipe once more. It growled and threw her off. Daft flew backwards and fell to the ground, rolling away, the metal pipe clanging against the wall to fall beside her again. She looked up in horror to see the evil THING holding Cameraman Bob by the throat, getting ready to eat him right before her eyes. Zim and Dib peered through the window, looked at each other, and hesitated, not sure if they really wanted to try to kill that thing after what it did to Daft.]
"NOOOOOO! CAMERAMAN BOB!"
[Evil laugher came her ears as the thing turned and faced her, Cameraman Bob still being held by the throat as it spoke to her. The words came to her ears, strange, yet familiar. She listened, brain picking out what it was saying.]
"j00 [4|\|07 |)3f347 |\/|3 |)4f7! 1 VV1LL 3|\|j0y 3471|\|g |30|3!"
[With that, the evil THING laughed maniacally as Daft cried out. Suddenly, Leboa perked up, sniffing the air and looking about wildly. She leapt up, screamed and launched herself at the evil THING happily, hanging onto him. The evil THING shrieked and beat at her with one hand as it ran around and around the room trying to get her off. Leboa squealed in delight and clung to his robes. The evil THING cursed Leboa in the strange tongue. He looked towards Daft and shook his fist.]
"j00 |-|4\/3 |\|07 VV0|\| y37, |)4f7!"
[With that, the lights flickered off for a brief moment and when they turned back on, the room was empty with the exception of Daft and Leboa. Dib and Zim peered into the window to watch them as Azka ran in circles screaming. Leboa sat on the floor blinking, wondering where he had gone. Daft cried out angrily. The evil THING had taken Cameraman Bob with it and they had lost the last known Cameraman. To top things off, Jhonen was no where to be found either. Daft pounded her fists on the ground cursing as Dib and Zim watched, too shocked to do anything. Azka calmed down now that the evil was gone and came to stand beside them and peer in at Daft.]
"NO! YOU HAVEN'T WON! YOU'LL NEVER WIN! I WON'T LET YOU! YOU MAY HAVE TAKEN MY ONLY REMAINING CAMERAMAN, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU'VE WON! I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN! YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
[Azka looked at Dib and Zim and then back to Daft silently. Leboa began crying and Daft slowly rose up and turned towards the three at the window.]
"Guys...We're up against something even more terrifying than what we were expecting. I know who it is now and I know how to stop him. I will not let him win. But you guys, I need your help with this. We have to be strong and stop fighting with each other if we're going to do this. Ok? We need to work together to bring this guy to his knees before it's too late. We've lost all our cameramen now, and Jhonen is missing as well. We can't let this guy go on to destroy all that I've worked for. We can't let him win! We have to fight him! We have to beat him! If we work together, we'll be able to do this. If we fall apart, we're doomed. Are you guys with me or not? Will you help me smash this guy? Or would you rather bicker and fight and find a way out to leave him here to terrorize and destroy all that we have here?"
[Dib and Zim looked towards the ground as Azka nodded.]
"I'm with you. I'd hate to see this show be canceled anyway. Zim's show was canceled due to the evil ruling Nick and I don't want to see this one sharing the same fate because of some evil THING destroying it. Besides, I wouldn't be much of a person if I didn't at least attempt to help!"
"I agree...I'm sorry I was complaining, but I always thought that you were giving me a disadvantage because you didn't like me or something. But when you came out there to stop him, even if it was only because it was an opportunity to kill the evil once and for all, I realized that you cared about me more than I thought you did. You do care about me, Daft?"
"No Dib...I hate you...You complain too much and your head's HUGE!"
[Dib's eyes lowered and he looked at the ground. Zim laughed and Daft shook her head.]
"I kid Dib...Where would the show be without your little complaints? Not that they don't get very annoying and not that I don't want to kill you half the time, but still. You're pretty cool. As for you Zim..."
[Zim stopped laughing and looked up at Daft, not wanting to hear about what she thought of him, already half knowing what was going to come out his her mouth.]
"...You need to stop always trying to kill Dib. It's more than what's expected of him to deal with you ALWAYS out to get him. Save it for when he really does try to get YOU. And Azka, thanks for being such a great guest. This is a little more than what guests usually have to go through, but I think you handled it well. Considering that you could have broken down, curled up in a corner, and cried, forcing us to carry you or leave you, you did good."
"Thanks."
"Ok guys. Let's keep this happy feeling up and try to work together. I have a plan. One that is sure to work..."
[They nodded and Daft motioned for them to lean in and hear her plan. And so, with the death of Cameraman Bob, a new bond of friendship was born between Daft, Azka, Dib, and Zim. The evil THING was out there lurking the halls with fresh blood on its robes, ready to defy Daft and take her down once and for all, but that didn't scare them. They knew what they had to do, and together, they would bring the evil to its knees. The evil THING didn't stand a chance now that they had been united physically and united in their goals and feelings. Besides, Daft had a secret weapon now....]
