|PART FOUR|

[Daft's small group watched Daft solemnly as she spoke, a serious tone in her voice now. MiniMoose and Filler Bunny had magically appeared beside them once again. Daft tried to keep a straight face, though she wanted to scream and go rip the evil THING to pieces right then and there. Azka, Zim, and Dib seem shocked. Azka mumbles to herself every now and again, but keeps her attention directed to what Daft is saying. Leboa, strangely enough, is just standing there staring down the hall with a broken look on her face, sniffling, but not crying loudly. Daft continues on, revealing the origin of who and what the evil THING is exactly.]

"It all started a long, long time ago...back before Dementia was created. It was a time of boredom. A time of hanging around on the internet chatting with friends and wishing we all had something better to do. It was a time of insanity, as well as a time of insomnia and sugar highs. It was a time of PURE EVIL! But we were unaware of that evil presence, which was actually only a nescience then. You see, as you probably know, Dementia was spawned off of a crazy idea after watching a marathon of creepy old shows like 'Twilight Zone'* and 'Night Gallery'* and fed by insomnia and sugar. But there was another, unknown component in the making of Dementia. Well...it's still kinda unknown because we haven't figured out just what it was just yet and..."

"Daft...you were supposed to be telling us the origin of this 'evil THING' that's stalking us..."

"I'M GETTING THERE!"

[Zim rolled his eyes and Dib shook his head as Daft continued.]

"Now, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted by Dib...The old woman just so happened to be walking along one day next to the pig-shaped house which isn't even supposed to have anything to do with this story, and she just exploded! BOOM! Just like that...Leaving only her socks! But the mooing supersonic bee ATE THOSE SOCKS! Which wasn't a very nice thing to do...But you see, the explosion left everyone in a 15 mile radius stupider...which was really hard to do because they're all idiots anyway...but like I said, the cow jumped over the moon and the old lady exploded, leaving her socks behind which that evil bee ate! I mean...he just ate them! Gobbled them up without even trying to comprehend the meaning of his existence and the consequences of his sock-eating which would later lead him to be squashed with pancakes! But I mean, really...Who knew that buffalo didn't have wings?"

"....Is there a point to this story?"

"Yes. The point is that what ever you do...NEVER write a story with Corey....EVER!"

"COREY? WHERE?!"

[Leboa leapt out of her depressed mode, leaping up on Daft and tackling her, looking about happily screaming over and over again 'Where's Corey?' Daft frowned and pushed her off and stood up again.]

"Corey's not here Leboa...well, not here with us...."

"Awwww...."

[Leboa slumped her shoulders and returned to her position in the hall, staring down there longingly and sniffling like a sad little puppy wishing her master would come back and play with her. Daft dusted herself off and continued.]

"He IS in the building though. The evil THING....that's Corey. I don't know why I didn't realize it before! The door, the fire in the hall, the cameramen....Not until Leboa tackled him and he spoke to me did I finally realize who it was. You see...a long, long time ago, back when Dementia was still young, Corey and I were working together on a separate story of insanity. When we had completed that, I asked him if he wanted to be on my Halloween Special. You see, at the time, I didn't know what a bad choice that was. Corey has a taste for the cameramen. I guess they taste better than the rest of the crew or something. I dunno...I never ate anyone before...Anyway. On the special, he pretty much was always trying to chomp on the cameramen when we were trying to film it. As you know, he actually managed to set one on fire and eat him...but we got him before he could eat anyone else. Corey was a danger to my crew, so we locked him in a room marked foolishly 'Danger! Do NOT Enter!' which everyone knows is an invitation to OPEN the door..."

[Azka looked down sheepishly. It was one thing that she freaked out about the evil THING and ended up not helping much, but it was another to remember she was the one who opened the door in the first place. Daft caught Azka's look and smiled a bit.]

"Don't worry Azka. It's not your fault. That sign is just like telling a kid NOT to open his presents or peek at them BEFORE the designated time. Don't worry about it. It's really my fault for not locking the door. Wait a minuet...he could have just gotten out by himself...so it just was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So don't worry..."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Anyway. The only known effective weakness that Corey has is Leboa. Yes. She's annoying and evil and stuff, but that's why she's so effective. That, and she never dies..."

"Jeez, if Leboa was my only weakness, I would want to go on a killing rampage too..."

"Yeah..."

[Dib and Zim agreed with Azka's little statement. Daft nodded knowingly and continued.]

"This is why we have to use Leboa against Corey. But we also have to save her for a last resort or Corey will be strong enough to flee. He has amazing shadowy powers because of that cloak he's wearing. It fuels him and makes him even more...evil...Darn...I knew I shouldn't have locked him in the 'Everything Evil' section of the closet! Who knows what other evil item he could have with him to aid him! I guess our only hope is to go after him and fight him ourselves to weaken him enough so Leboa can get a good hold on him. Then we can dispose of that evil cape and make him return back to his normal evil cannibalistic self!"

"Yeah. Ok. I'm with you Daft. After all, all I did this whole time was complain and whine about all these disadvantages...and well...I'm sorry."

"It's fine Dib. I forgive you."

"Just how do you plan to go after this...'Corey'....with our measly little weapons?"

"Um...well Zim...actually, I was thinking that we'd go in there with a bunch of sticks or poles or brooms or something really heavy to throw on him and then we'd kinda...whap him a lot with things until he weakened and then we'd set Leboa on him!"

"That'll never work! You need a better strategy! I'll provide us with one myself, after all, I WAS trained to be a top Invader...Military Strategizing is nothing! Besides...I bet I could turn your measly little sticks and stones into GIANT LASERS OF DOOM! and...uh...radioactive...rocks...yeah...."

[Zim nodded as he spoke, confident in his power to make things stronger. Leboa sniffled louder and muttered something. Azka suddenly remembered something that she was going to ask Daft before the whole Corey-Battle.]

"Oh, and Daft? Dib told me that Leboa stands for something... But he won't tell me WHAT..."

"Oh...that? Lemme see here...L-E-B-O-A. Leboa. Stands for Little Evil Boomerang Of Annoyance. Quite fitting, is it not?"

"Yes. Yes it is..."

[Daft nods in agreement and Zim mutters under his breath.]

"...that's an understatement..."

[Daft then moves onto finishing her plan.]

"Like I said. We'll weaken him first...then stick Leboa on him. Everyone, grab something to do some damage with!"

[Daft grabs some sticks and a broom and a few heavy pieces of equipment, placing them in front of the group. Zim grabs a piece of equipment and requests some tools. He's planning on making it into a giant laser of doom! Dib grabs a pole, testing it out by swishing it through the air. Azka reaches for a weapon, but freezes as she spots the brooms. Her eye twitches a bit as she stares at the broom. Automatically, she flips out over the sight of the brooms. Daft steps back as Azka points at one and raves incoherently at it.]

"Evil!...brooms...witches...moof...blah...night and shadows...magical broom...sticks...moose...EVIL EVIL EVIL!"

[Grabbing the broom, she snaps it clean in two and suddenly stops her babbling and is completely calm again...but as for sane...well...that was another story. Holding up the two broom sticks, she smiles at them, gracing them with her friendship and beginning to speak to each of them like separate people. Daft blinks and Dib leans over to Zim to whisper in his ear. Zim nods and looks at her wide eyed. MiniMoose floats around behind us as Filler Bunny attempts to pick up a pole for himself.]

"Squeak!"

"You can say that again MiniMoose..."

"What?!"

[Azka blinks at the rest of them, frowning and holding the two broken broom stick pieces to closer to her.]

"I'm not crazy!...well...not officially crazy but still...STOP STARING AT US! KRIS AND JOE TAKE OFFENSE TO STARING! There...there. Don't worry...they won't stare at you anymore."

"Right...Ok...whatever.."

[Daft shakes her head and moves on, picking out a metal rod herself. Zim, working on his electrical piece, mutters as Dib watches him with doubt. Zim begins to tell them of his AMAZING STRATEGY for winning. The others listen, even though Daft still believes her 'fool proof' plan works better.]

"First...we'll put Leboa in the back of the line and....You," [Zim pointed at Dib.] "In the front."

"Hey...I don't wanna go in front!"

"Ok. Ok. Daft will go up front. She's actually WANTS to fight this thing anyway. Now...you, Azka and I will be in the middle. I think I should be closer to the front since I will have the amazing equipment to crush the evil with..."

"If you have such amazing equipment Zim, then why aren't you going first?"

"Shut it Dib-worm! I do not have to explain myself to you!"

"Guys...chill. I wouldn't let Zim go in front either. I want to be there first just in case..."

"See?"

"Quiet Zim.."

"Ok. Ok. Anyway. Corey has that evil cloak, right? Right. Well, if we're able to hold him down long enough to pull it off him, the rest of the battle won't be as tough! And Leboa will be able to come in sooner and we'll be able to return to our lives sooner as well. So here's the deal. We go to the Dementia Hall where it's filmed...the one with all the doors...and we call his bluff out there. He appears and then we attack. I'll attack first since I'll actually have a laser that will have a chance at beating him..."

"You don't have a laser yet Zim..."

"Shut up Dib. I WILL have a laser...just you wait and see. Now...as I was saying. We'll first start off attacking in random order. When I give the signal, we'll all attack at once and not let up until I give the other signal. Then we fall back and start the random attacks over again until the first signal is given and we continue on like that until he's weak and we can take him down and get rid of that cloak..."

"Zim...don't you think Corey would figure out sooner or later that we were attacking at a signal and then he'd figure out the signal and know when we were going to attack and dodge it?"

"No! Of course he won't! Corey couldn't possibly be as amazing as I, Zim! Besides...Corey hasn't had all my Irken Military Training! So therefore, I am the superior being and I win. Now shut up and stop interrupting me Dib- worm..."

"Hey...I was just thinking...Maybe, if we had gone through that window, we would have tumbled down a hidden trap door and into a dark labyrinth where we would wander around for days and days upon end until we finally run into a door marked 'Do Not Open: Mary-Sue Storage.' or 'Warning! Danger! Lack of creativity inside!' or maybe even 'Danger! Annoying Mary-Sues behind this door, DO NOT OPEN unless you'd like to die a horrible Mary-Sue related death!' Yep. That's probably where Jhonen keeps them when he's sick of bothering with them. That, or that's where all the other authors keep them when they get sick of them...hey Daft? Do you have a Mary-Sue storage- prison-closet-thing somewhere? I mean...how much do you have to pay to store your Mary-Sue character down there so it'll never get out? It's got to be a lot because there's a lot of Mary-Sues out there and they're so very dangerous...especially in a large group and..."

"Azka! QUIET!"

[Zim yelled, frowning at Azka. She frowned back and threatened him with Joe. Zim glared at her and continued.]

"Anyway...IF he does figure out what signals we're using...which I'm sure he won't...Then just attack at random and stuff and try to kill him as quickly as possible! Make sure to hit him a lot too...That hurts and is very effective."

"Zim?"

"Yes Daft?"

"That's basically my plan, only with a lot of little details."

"No. No it isn't...It's an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ONE! Completely mine too...yep. All my idea. Had nothing to do with you. Came from my mind, my mouth and..."

"Or maybe, if we had gone through that window we would have broken some sort of barrier and get tossed in some alternate dimension where Zim and Dib would wear little pink dresses and bows and sparkles and wonder just how they look and how their hair looks every five seconds that they're away from a mirror. Maybe there we'd walk on our hands and talk backwards and time would literally fly and.."

"Ok, Ok! Don't you think we should be going?"

"I'm not done perfecting my weapon, Dib-worm!"

"Weapon? That looks like a pile of mechanical junk!"

"Shut it! Or suffer the horrible consequences!"

"What? You're going to 'zap' me with it?"

"No...more like fry you to a crisp...but zapping would work to get you to hold still..."

[Zim glared at Dib as he took a step away from him. Daft, who had been busy tying Filler Bunny onto the end of her stick as a 'Good Luck Charm', looked over at them and frowned.]

"I thought we were going to get along today guys..."

"Fine. I'm sorry. It's just that Zim's not being very nice and this is so frustrating and...Oh...I'm doing it again aren't it?"

"Yes."

"Sorry. I'll try to be better Daft. I'm just so used to..."

"Enough talking please Dib...you're going to talk yourself into a corner one of these days."

"Sorry...I just..."

"Shhhhh..."

"Ok, I was just.."

"Quiet..."

"Ok...I..."

"You're not being quiet..."

[Dib lowers his head and looks at his shoes, resisting the urge to talk again. Daft smiles and goes back to swinging her pole about, Filler Bunny still tied to the end of it. Azka is getting to know her broomsticks as MiniMoose hovers around, trying not to get hit by Daft's pole. Leboa suddenly perks up and runs over to Daft excitedly. What they're about to go do has just sunk into her brain.]

"Daft! We're going to go see Corey aren't we!?"

"Well...we'll see him yes...but we're going to go defeat him..."

"But...I get to see him, right?"

"Yes. But only if you co-operate with my plans. We are going to give you the signal to latch onto Corey and not let go. Not even if he tells you to. Ok? But you can't go to him until I say. Got it? Don't run out after him until I tell you to. If you do, we'll loose and then I'll have to forbid you from ever talking to him again."

[Leboa's eyes went wide at what Daft said. Daft threw in the end piece to get her to obey and it was apparently working on her little mind. Leboa nodded vigorously as Daft asked if she understood. Afterwards, Daft turned to the others, grasped the pole in one hand and put on a serious face to look at Azka, Dib, and Zim carefully. Her tone was serious.]

"Ok guys. I guess this is the part where I give my little pep talk. So here we go....

I'm not going to lie to you guys. This fight will be tough. People will get hurt. People will die. People might just get infected by the 'Superengineeredbycoreyl337deathvirus' and explode. It isn't going to be a pretty fight, nor will it be short. This fight will be long, hard, and most likely bloody. We'll fight hard and we won't give up until Corey is beaten and ready to say he's sorry! He'll be tricky, yes, and his l337 skills will be amazing. Besides, he's powered by that evil cloak now too, which will make him even stronger and eviler and....l337-er. If we stick to the plan and try our best and never give up, we'll eventually win. Or maybe we won't...but I'm pretty sure we will. As I like to say, 'Our toughest battles are fought even before we step onto the battlefield.' Fear is going to be a key factor in his attacks, and if you stop to fear him, you will perish. Don't let fear destroy you. Stay strong and we will succeed. This kind of reminds me of that one time when..."

"Can we just go get this over with Daft? Every time someone stops to give a pep talk, someone ends up dieing. If we're going to die, we'll die...you don't need to point it out. We can pretty much figure out it's dangerous."

"I know you can Dib, but still...It was really only a space filler..."

"What's Superengineeredbycoryl337deathvirus do exactly?"

"I could go into a bunch of details Azka, but that'd take even more time, and apparently Dib here, doesn't want to waste any more time...but...It's basically is a horrible virus that makes you eventually explode along with other evil things that make you all dead-like."

"Oh...Ok. Hey! Maybe if we would have went through that window we would have missed you and ended up running into Corey's secret lab and being exposed to the Superengineeredbycorey...um...virus of doom thing and then we'd all become deathly ill as it ate our organs and made us explode, causing our exploding organs to fly everywhere and knock out anyone who came close, including Corey! Hey yeah! Maybe Corey would be hit by one of our flying, exploding organs and die! Then we wouldn't have to worry about defeating him and..."

"Enough about the window Azka-Monkey! It's driving me batty!"

"But...It's just that I want to know what would have happened if we would have gone out that window! I mean, we could have gone out the window and be kidnapped by a ton of cheese-wielding bugs! Or maybe we'd fall down the rabbit hole and end up in some messed up Dementia version of Wonderland! Oh! What if we were to go through that window and bang up our heads really badly so we forgot who we were and started acting like characters from Lord of the Rings..."

"Really Azka...That's enough..."

"Hey Dib! Who do you think you'd act like? Oh! Maybe you'd be Frodo!"

"Um...no..."

"Hey, yeah Azka...Dib WOULD look cute like Frodo...hey! What about Zim as..."

"NO! ENOUGH DAFT! ENOUGH! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR WHO YOU THINK I'D LOOK CUTE AS IN LORD OF THE STUPID EARTH-MONKEY RING! I DO NOT CARE! "

"Ok...fine...besides...we have to go defeat Corey I guess...Alright everyone! Let's go!"

[With that, they began their journey down the hall. Daft walked in the front of the line, holding the metal rod by her side, a serious, determined look on her face. Next came Zim, holding a large mechanical piece of junk he called a 'laser' After him was Azka, grasping Kris and Joe tightly and looking around silently. Behind her was Dib who was looking about the darkness, holding his little contraption made from a broom and a few rubber bands. It was supposed to double as a rock launcher and a stick. Leboa brought up the rear, hands clamped over her mouth, bubbling with excitement and going over her part. The halls were long, silent, and dark, seeming to slowly bend inwards to crush the little group. MiniMoose suddenly appeared beside Daft, having floated all the way up the hall silently to float about by her shoulder. Daft turned her head as MiniMoose squeaked softly.]

"Squeak..."

"What?"

"Squeak..."

"Oh. No. Don't worry. I'm sure we know what we're doing. If we have enough adrenaline in us all we'll be able to beat him."

"Squeak."

"Hope, MiniMoose. Keep up your hope."

"Squeak."

"We're almost there. Don't worry. We'll make it."

[MiniMoose looked at Daft and Daft nodded as reassurance. Zim grumbled under his breath about something as Dib started to become a bit fidgety. Azka looked around, catching the fear of the others, adding onto her own fear. She wanted to turn around and leave, but knew that she couldn't do that now. She had to prove herself worthy enough to battle. Besides, she had to be strong for Kris and Joe. If they caught her fear, they would be worthless and then they would die horrible deaths and she didn't need any more heartbreak. Kris and Joe were her friends now. The hall suddenly came to an end, opening up into a large open space filled with filming equipment. Behind the equipment stood the familiar set, the hallway stretching far into the distance, doors holding the horrors of the unknown lining the halls on both sides. Oddly, there were lights on here. The place, though lit, was still dim and shadows still covered a large portion of the area, making it easy for someone to hide in, unnoticed until you got right up to them. Daft stopped at the entrance to the set and turned to face the others.]

"Ok guys...this is it. Remember what we discussed. Don't fear him, for it only feeds his power. Leboa, wait here until you hear the signal. Don't let him know you're here! Got it?"

[Leboa nodded and shrunk down into the shadows, disappearing completely.]

"Good. Now, let's go get this over with. Good luck everyone. If we don't make it out alive, I'd just like to say this. It's been a pleasure working with you guys and I enjoyed it a lot...."

[The group nodded silently in agreement and a moment of silence followed.]

"Well...it's now or never. Good Luck. Let's go."

[With that, Daft turned about, grasped the pole tightly and headed towards the lit up set bravely. It was too late to turn back now, so the others followed her, weaving in and out of shadows and equipment towards the set. This was it. They were headed toward the final confrontation. The outcome of this would mean either the death of Dementia, or the defeat of Corey. Which would it be? They could only wait and see.]
|A/N: Well...it's almost over. Hang in there. This will all be resolved in the next chapter. Thank you Azka and Corey for bearing with me while I tried to finish THIS chapter. Hopefully next chapter won't be so hard to complete. Don't explode! ~Daft|