I know it has been months. And I know that giving an excuse isn't gonna cut it, so I'm not gonna give you one. I'm not abandoning this story. I don't do that, unless I think it sucks. And this story don't suck. OH YEAH! Let's get back in the swing of things, shall we? I just hope you won't be disappointed.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Cheerios company.
Chapter 7
"There's a creepy pale boy with greasy hair at the front door!" Gir screeched from the living room. A few moments earlier someone had knocked at the door, and the little robot had happily rammed himself into the door multiple times before actually opening it. A tall teenage boy was behind the door, his eyes red with heavy bags under them. He had a crooked smile on his face as he looked inside Zim's base.
"Tell Dib to go away!" Zim yelled from the kitchen. He was sprawled out on the floor, still feeling a tiny bit sick. He had found that the kitchen floor was the coolest place in his entire base, and, seeing how he was extremely hot and sweaty, he had decided to rest there.
"But it aint Dib, master! Tis some different creepy boy thing!" Gir called back. He waved his arms in frantic circles.
"Excuse me, green dog," the teenage boy said, his voice cold and smooth, "but I'm in a hurry." Gir smiled crazily and nodded his head up and down. "I need to know who lives here."
"Ooooh..," Gir said, hugging himself. "Okay. MASTER, WHO LIVES HERE?!"
Zim clenched his fists angrily and growled. He sat up, pulled his wig and contacts out of his backpod, and clumsily put them on. He forced himself up and stomped out of the room, muttering.
"What do you want, evil teen thing?" Zim hissed at the teenager. The teenager looked Zim over, and his crooked smile grew larger.
"Would you happen to be Zim?" the teen asked. Zim narrowed his eyes and took a step back from the teen.
"Yess..," Zim quietly replied. The teenager's smile grew.
"Zim. You're Zim?" the teen said. He fought back a laugh. "You?!" The teen burst into a fit of laughter. Zim looked over at Gir, perplexed. Gir shrugged, then joined in the laughter. "To think that we were worried over something like you..."
"Wha...wait. Who are you anyway?!" Zim demanded, pouting and feeling flustered.
"Before I answer your question, answer mine," the teen answered. He cleared his throat. "Were you recently attacked by a ghost-like figure?"
Zim's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. He took two steps back. The teen smiled down at him and took a large stride toward him. His eyes began to glow a dull blue.
"You're a shad-Uck!" Zim cried. The teen had quickly pulled a dart from his pocket and jabbed it into Zim's neck. Zim moaned and took a wobbly step to his right, then collapsed onto the floor.
"Hee hee! Master fell down!" Gir cried with glee.
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"How could you let an Irken like that get the better of you?!" Ink shouted. "I mean, I know you're pathetic, but c'mon!"
"I'm not pathetic!" Vapor shouted back. He tried to struggle out of the machine, and once again was punished with an electric shock. "I just was...arrogant."
"Sure," Ink replied, and he shook his head. He had easily found the room Vapor was being held prisoner in. He only had to go down the elevator and find the correct door. It hadn't even been locked. "This Irken is an idiot, by the way. His security system didn't even go off when I went down the elevator shaft."
"Shuddap. I know this Irken is simple. It wasn't him who got me stuck in this...thing," Vapor said sadly, motioning to the machine he was trapped in with his eyes.
"Well, then," Ink said, "who did?"
"A different boy. He's not Irken, and he doesn't know much about us or our plans. You can probably find him if you scan the Irken's memory with your computer," Vapor said. "I understand why the Queen wants the Invader, but I'm sure she'd have fun with this other boy as well."
"Alright, then," Ink said, clapping his hands together. "I suppose my work here is at its end. I've only got one more minor thing left to do."
"And that is?" Vapor asked. Ink pulled out a large blaster and pushed the tip of it into Vapor's face.
"This."
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"Dad?!" Dib cried, confused. "What are you doing home?" Dib was sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of Cheerios. Gaz was sitting at the other side of the couch, grunting as she played her video game. They both were startled when their father stumbled in.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" the Prof. snapped back, pointing a gloved finger at Dib.
"It's 7:48," Dib replied. "The sun is even still up."
"Oh. Okay then," the Prof. said, satisfied. He walked over to the couch and sat in between his son and daughter. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
"So, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the lab?" Dib said, getting closer to his father. The Prof. shook his head sadly.
"A new lab assistant knocked over some chemicals, and the whole lab IMPLODED!" the Prof. said, sticking his hands in front of him and clenching his fingers as he spoke. "I, thankfully, had an anti-implode kit with me and escaped. I'll just have to work in the house's lab until my main lab un-implodes."
"Wow. That's awful," Dib said sympathetically.
"Unh," Gaz grunted, not really paying attention.
"A ho ho ho! Of course it is, son!" the Prof. laughed, rubbing Dib's head gingerly. Dib laughed nervously in response. Gaz watched the two and shrugged.
'Boy, Dad must have lost it again,' Dib thought, forcing a smile as the Prof. continued to massage his head.
The doorbell rang. Dib sighed in relief when the Prof. got up to answer it. He rubbed his sore head and tried to fix his hair. Meanwhile, the Prof. was murmuring to himself as he fumbled with the door's locks.
"A caller at this hour? How dare thee!" he said as he opened the door. He shoved a finger into the person's cheek. "Though art rude!"
"Uuuh...yeah. Can Dib come out to play?" the person asked. He swiped the Prof.'s finger away.
"Hmmm...I dunno. I've never seen you before," the Prof. said, looking him over.
"Who is it, Dad?" Dib asked, approaching his father.
"Son, do you know this menacing looking teenager?" the Prof. said, motioning toward the teen. Dib shook his head.
"No, Dad. I've never seen him before," Dib honestly replied.
The teen cleared his throat. "I have important information regarding the Irken, Zim," he said. Dib's eyes grew wide, and he grinned.
"I'm sorry, but-" the Prof. started, but Dib interrupted.
"Wait, Dad! I just remembered. I do know this guy, honest!" Dib said. He smiled innocently up at his father. The Prof. tapped his forehead for a moment, as if he was in deep thought.
"Okay then. You two have fun," the Prof. said cheerfully. He pushed his son out the door, then slammed it shut.
"So, you know about Zim, huh? How? What do you know?" Dib asked excitedly.
"I know that you're about to join him," the teen replied, grinning.
"Huh?" Dib said, and he felt a sharp pain in his neck. "Ooowahg..," he moaned, and he tripped over his own feet. The teen caught him before he hit the ground. He threw Dib over his shoulder and chuckled.
"The Queen shall enjoy her new toys," the teen said, his eyes glowing blue.
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8 days later
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"Uhn...ug..oh, ow," Dib mumbled as he came to. His neck was stinging with pain. He tried to rub it, but found that his hands were caught in something. He soon realized his feet were as well. He opened his eyes and blinked for a few moments until he adjusted to the light. Dib looked to the side to see where his hand was caught, and saw that it was in a large machine that connected to the wall. His other hand and his feet were in similar machines, and they were all connected through wires. Dib pulled away in an attempt to free himself, but it was useless.
"Don't bother struggling," someone said softly. Startled, Dib let out a quick shriek and looked to his right.
"Zim?" Dib asked, surprised. Zim was trapped in the same machinery as Dib. He looked tired and bruised, and he was panting. Dib cocked an eyebrow, confused. "What are you doing here? What happened? Where the heck are we?"
"Quiet!" Zim shouted. "I'm trying to think." It was clear that he was frustrated. Dib glared at him from the side. Zim returned a glare, but he couldn't hold it for long. He sighed heavily and let his head hang low.
"So Mr. High and Mighty Irken doesn't know where we are, huh? Tchh..," Dib spat, angry. "You're no help. I'll just get out of this thing myself and find out." He pulled away from the machines as hard as he could.
"Dib, stop!" Zim cried, panicking. "Don't you think I tried that already?!" Dib stopped struggling and looked over at Zim. He looked deeply distressed by something. "If you keep trying to break free, a guard will come...and...he'll force you to stop." Zim looked away.
"Hmph...well maybe you don't have much willpower, but I do," Dib snorted, and he started to struggle once more. Zim whined and began to plead with Dib to stop, but before Dib could shout back a response, the door to their left opened wide and a guard walked in.
"I thought I dealt with you already," the guard said, glaring at Zim. Zim kept his head low and winced, expecting a blow. Seeing this, the guard shook his head and chuckled to himself. He walked over to Dib and pulled a long rod out from his back pocket. He pushed a button on the rod, and the tip of it began to spark and glow.
Dib managed to avert his eyes from the guard's weapon long enough to discover that he was Irken. The guard had his entire body covered in layers of clothing and armor, so it was very hard to tell what species he was from. The only things that gave him away were his eyes and green skin.
"So your awake now, huh?" the guard spat a Dib. He put the tip of his weapon to Dib's chin, and Dib felt his skin begin to burn. "I hope you're a better prisoner than him." The guard gave Zim a dirty look "Don't struggle. Got it?" He forced his weapon harder into Dib chin. Dib cried out in pain, and the guard smiled.
"Leave us, now."
The guard seemed startled by the voice. He quickly backed away from Dib and faced the door. He saluted the person standing there and walked out.
"My Tallest Purple!" Zim cried joyfully. He sighed heavily with relief and smiled. "Thank goodness! There must have been a misunderstanding of some sort, but now that you're here it can be cleared up."
Purple hovered over to Zim and bent down low enough to be at his eye level. He took Zim's chin in his hand and turned his head slowly to the right, the left, and up. He seemed to be inspecting him. Purple let Zim's chin loose and took each of his arms in his hands. He squeezed them gently at first, then as hard as he could. Zim moaned softly, trying to hide his pain from his leader.
"You have no muscles at all. You're a weak one, aren't you?" Purple said, letting go of Zim's arms. He jabbed Zim in the chest a few times, then lightly touched his stomach. "Very weak indeed." Purple stood upright, satisfied. He hovered over to Dib and inspected him just as he had Zim.
"My Tallest?" Zim asked as he watched Dib being examined. "What's going on?" Purple didn't respond, but finished his work with Dib and hovered away from the two. He scratched his chin, thinking hard.
"Neither of you are strong. Both of you are very small and insignificant. And, judging by your eyes and expressions, neither of you are very brave," Purple said slowly. He turned around to face the two prisoners. "And yet...you two are the only problems I face when it comes to my plans."
Suddenly, the door opened wide and Red fell through it and on to the floor. He stayed there for a minute, then started giggling. Purple looked down at him with disgust, his cheek twitching uncontrollably.
"Oh, am I late for something?" Red asked cheerfully, getting up and wiping himself off. He smelled bad and looked half asleep. He clumsily hovered over to where Purple was, hiccuped, and laughed. "Man, these royal Irken people that we are controlling have it made. The kitchen guy, he's just so nice, and -hic- they got these drinks and pretzels -hic- and I love that kitchen guy...I really do."
Purple took Red by the neck and smacked him across the face a few times. Then he lightly tossed him to the ground and spat on him. Zim and Dib were deeply confused, especially Zim. He'd never seen the Tallest act this way, and had never thought that they would fight each other.
"Ignore him," Purple said angrily, pointing at Red. "He is an idiot. Just like a bratty child, tagging along behind the older kids, trying to act cool. Pathetic."
"I'm cool!" Red argued, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting.
"Shut it."
"Yes, my Queen."
"'My Queen'?!" Zim cried out in surprise. "You mean, you're-"
"Queen Shade? The ruler of the Shadoles? The most powerful being in this galaxy?" Purple said coldly, a smirk on his face. "Why my poor, confused Irken. I figured you had known that already. You're even more ignorant than Ink said you were."
Zim glared at Purple with hate. "How dare you take our leaders," he hissed. He tried to pull away from the machines.
"Don't struggle, Irken. I'll have that guard come in again and give you a harder beating than last time," Purple muttered, annoyed. "Or I can do other things to you. Those machines your stuck in don't just immobolize you. They are what kept you alive this past week."
"Week?!" Dib shouted. "We've been here that long?!"
"Ah, he speaks," Purple said with sarcasm, pointing at Dib. "Well, no, not a wekk exactly. It took Ink three days to get to the Massive and drop you off. So you've been stuck on this ship for only five days," he explained.
"So, we've been off Earth for 8 days?" Zim asked, a little shocked as well.
"The little Irken can add. Good for you," Purple laughed, and he clapped his hands.
"Don't call me little," Zim growled angrily, pulling away from the machines once more.
"Oh, right. As I was saying, those machines can do more than you know. The veins in your hands are actually connected to them right now, and that's how you're being fed. The machines can also move around a little, so if we wanted to break one of you limbs, we could do it. We could also electrocute you, or inject chemicals into your system. Would you like me to list everything that could be done to you, or are you just going to cooperate instead?" Purple asked. Zim didn't answer, but he did stop struggling. "There's a good boy," Purple said with a smile.
"Yo, Queenie, aren't we supposed to be flying some place important?" Red asked, pointing at the door. "I thought we were supposed to tell the flying people something."
Purple's eyes grew wide. "That's right! We have to let the pilots know where to go!" He looked down at Red and scratched his head. "I can't believe you remembered that." Red smiled stupidly up at Purple and gave him the thumbs up sign. "Eh...yeah. Good job, Screwball." He faced Zim and Dib. "I'll be back later. Some chemicals will be introduced to your systems any minute now, and you two will be taking a little nap while I'm gone." He looked back down at Red. "Let's get going." Purple pulled Red off the floor, and the two of them left.
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I had to end it there cause I just noticed how long it was. ^_^; Well, at least it got done. I hope you liked it.
-Crystal