Author Note of Doom: Sorry that some of my other stuff has been postponed for this, but I'm on a role with this story and loving it, and I don't want to lose my momentum.
***
Murderer Zim was sitting in the dark, tears of laughter still streaked down his face from the blooper reel, when a soft voice moaned behind him. He whirled around in his wheeled chair, taking Tak's scared hand in his. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.
"Like I got run over by a two-ton bus," Tak answered, her voice hoarse.
"Don't strain yourself. Do you need anything? Soda? Juice? Lemonade?"
She shook her head, her gauze wrapped antennae swinging back and forth like long pendulums. He pressed her hand to his face, feeling her soft skin touching his. "I'm sorry I made you want to kill yourself."
She ripped her hand out of his grip, sputtering angrily. "I didn't, you…"
"Then why were you out in that rain, Tak? Looking at this base I know you're smart enough to seek shelter if you had wanted it. No, you meant to end your life out there. Me being here was a fluke accident."
Her eyes wouldn't meet his. He folded his hands in his lap. "You know… I used… to get called freak all the time. Back in training, I mean. It was because I was so short. It hurt so much, all I could think about was how much I'd rather end up dead than live through one more hour of mental agony… and yet, the days went on, and I didn't die."
He leaned back in his chair, lost in his own past. "I didn't understand it. Why me? Why wasn't I hit by a Voot, eaten by a slaughtering rat, anything? I didn't want to live. I didn't think I deserved to live. I mean, more deserving Irkens than me were dying like flies all around me. It was, after all, a war…"
"So I decided to poison myself. Dying in the streets, a tall shadow suddenly fell over me. I awakened in Spork's medical ward, being looked over by Spork himself. My suicide note had mentioned how I hated being called shortie, that I was through with it."
"Then, Spork came and sat down on the end of my bed in all his royal glory." Murderer Zim fought back tears, biting down hard on his lip. "Everyone said he was a bastard, but… no Irken was ever kinder to me. He said 'I always got made fun of for being so tall and thin. They called me gangly, skeleton boy, stick man, all kinds of hurtful names. Now, I'm the almighty tallest and they clean my bathrooms. Would I have gotten to see this day if I'd killed myself? No."
Murderer Zim paused, a slight smile spreading across his face. "Then Spork said 'Let me teach you how to walk on those who would hold you back.' Assassin training wasn't easy. No one thought I would make it because I was so short. But I adored Spork and his faith in me so much that I couldn't… I couldn't let him down. I busted my butt working as hard as I could for him, and then one day… I rose to being his most trusted assassin, and I laughed at those who had stepped on me. I was finally above them."
His face turned from one of quiet reflection to hard anger. He pounded his left fist into his right palm. "Then that INVADER Zim bastard showed up in my universe and tore everything apart. He killed Spork, the one Irken who made me feel special, the one Irken who made my life worth living. I swore I wouldn't rest until I got revenge…"
He collapsed back in the chair. "But what good is revenge? It won't bring Spork back and I'll still… I'll still be all alone. So, I'm sorry I made you feel like a freak. I don't want to make anyone hurt like I hurt…"
In the silence that ensued, only the sound of crickets chirping could be heard. Murderer Zim had curled up in a ball, his head tucked between his legs. He was breathing hard, trying to hold back tears that wouldn't stop. His face was soaked with them. His ribs heaved as he gasped for air. Finally, Tak took the first initiative, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You're right… I can't give up until I have my revenge on Invader Zim." For the first time since he'd met her, she was actually smiling.
He brushed his fingers across her face. "You're almost as beautiful when you smile as when you're mad," he joked, laughing slightly.
Murderer Zim's eyes fluttered slightly in irritation. The sun had begun coming up and through the skylight, shining directly in his eyes. He grunted. "Computer, cover up that damn skylight." The computer responded silently, and a metal plate began sliding across the opening.
Good thing it was what humans called Saturday, for he was in no mood to drag his body to the Skool on that particular day. Too much had happened last night. He was almost wondering if he should send flowers to the kid whose arm he'd broken. He understood that humans did that for injured friends whom they wished to "get well fast."
Tak stirred quietly in her sleep, muttering something slightly. As softly as he could, to avoid waking her, he reached up and stroked her antennae comfortingly. Her head was laid against his bare chest, her arms wrapped around his waist. "Gods, I've only known you for less than a week, and how I adore you…" he whispered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "From the tips of your antennae to the wire on your head to the soles of your feet, I want to make you happy. It's not about getting revenge on Invader Zim for me anymore… It's about helping you get over your past."
He stared up at the ceiling. Him, worrying about someone else more than himself? A beautiful woman sleeping willingly at his side? Actually feeling content instead of empty? Maybe coming to this new dimension hadn't been such a bad thing for him.
Back at the Membrane household, Dib had finally returned home. The ugly beige wrist cast clashed with Dib's nearly all-black outfit. It wasn't that he particularly minded having a broken wrist in and of itself, but it certainly meant a delay in his alien-watching activities. That, and he wouldn't be able to do his alien role-play chats as quickly anymore.
He drew back his sheets, yawning in exhaustion. At the very least, he was grateful that the new Zim hadn't broken his glasses. Getting them replaced was a hassle, as only one particular brand of frames actually fit on his oversized head. Not that he would admit it was oversized, mind you.
Dib closed his curtain tight after duct-taping a piece of cardboard over the broken window. He'd have to swipe his dad's credit card again and order a replacement over the Internet. His dad had never noticed any of his exorbitant purchases before. Why should he start noticing now?
Falling into his bed and shutting his eyes, Dib slept soundly despite the sunlight streaming through his shattered window.
At Invader Zim's base, GIR pulled a jelly-smeared blanket over his Master. Invader Zim had fallen asleep at his computer again, drooling sticky Irken saliva all over the keys. GIR felt bad for Master. Master needed to get some rest, and not be so stressed out. Like GIR. GIR was never stressed out. Maybe Master needed to get "laid." GIR wasn't sure what that meant, but he heard it made one less stressed out.
After all, GIR had chocolate bubble gum, the happy little robot thought as he danced his way out of his sleeping Master's lab and back upstairs to watch the early morning run of the Sailor Scary Monkey cartoon.
Above Zim, a blue light began to form and glow. At first it was only the size of a baseball, then it swelled to the size of a basketball, and continued to grow. It grew and expanded, radiating an otherworldly blue light. White sparks flew out of the edges of it.
One spark hit Zim on the antennae, causing them to twitch violently. The little Invader sat upright, surprised. "Who did that?" he snarled. Just happening to look up, he saw the source of the problem. His eyes tripled in size.
He didn't have time to move before a large object fell straight out of the hole and onto his head, knocking him out of his chair, and crushing him between it and the floor.
"MY SPINE!" Zim cried, clawing at the floor in an attempt to get out from beneath whatever it was.
"My butt!" whined the strange object. "What did I land on? Oh, ZIM!" the feminine voice cried, and suddenly the weight was removed from him. Zim looked up to see what had crushed him, and promptly discovered that he had to look way, way up.
"Violet? I have to be dreaming…" Zim muttered.
"Nope, it's me! Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked, pouting playfully.
"Not in my dimension. What's going on?"
Her eyes became hard and serious, shining with lavender flame. "Murderer Zim's prolonged presence in your dimension is wrecking havoc on his dimension. I have been armed and ordered to retrieve him at once." She held up two lasers as if to demonstrate the urgent nature of her mission.
The Warning! Incoming message light lit up right as Violet was making her point. Before either Zim could peel himself off the floor or Violet could move, the main screen turned on. Violet, giggling, resisted the urge to make an All your Base reference.
"What is the meaning of calling us sixteen times in the middle of the night, Zim?" Tallest Purple asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Zim quickly stood up and saluted, standing as tall as he could next to Violet. "Yes, my tallests! I wanted to show you my new secret monitoring dev…"
"Who's the babe?" Tallest Red cut in, practically drooling on his hands at the sight of Violet. She blushed and giggled nervously.
"Not… not YOUR girlfriend, is she?" Purple stuttered.
"No! Zim needs no WOMAN!" Zim screeched, waving his gloved fist furiously in the air.
Violet bowed, letting her tantalizingly-long antennae brush the ground. It was no secret that Irken males found long antennae and thick eyelashes to be drool-inducing, and Violet was stacked in both areas. It didn't hurt that the blue and purple uniform she was wearing exposed most of her chest and legs, whereas the uniforms Red and Purple were used to seeing exposed the mid drift at the very most.
"Torture Master Violet at your service, my tallests."
"Torture master? There haven't been any torture masters since the early years of Spork's reign, have there?" Tallest Purple whispered to Tallest Red.
Violet opened her mouth to explain how she'd come from another dimension, but Tallest Red cut her off. "So… are you free for dinner tonight? I mean, you look really tall and everything…"
"No fair!" Purple hissed. "I was going to ask her!"
Violet laughed. "I don't think that would be a good idea, your tallests."
"Oh? And why not?" Red asked, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.
"With all due respect, your tallest… it wouldn't work out because I'm actually a man."
There was a long, VERY awkward silence. "O-kay then," Red stammered while Purple sat in the background, looking too stunned to move. "Zim, don't call us again unless you have a good reason." The screen then went blank, leaving Red and Purple to stand around like idiots in stunned silence before looking at one another and crying "EEEEEEEW!" in unison.
"Works like a charm to get rid of creepy guys," Violet muttered, sticking the lasers back in their holsters. "You will assist me in capturing Murderer Zim?"
"ZIM helps no one do anything!" Zim shouted. "The tallests were calling to see my new invention and you RUINED IT!" he screamed, his face turning colors.
Violet staggered backwards, alarmed by Zim's reaction. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"GET OUT OF MY BASE!" Zim shouted, throwing a beaker at her head. Violet managed to dodge it, diving for safe place behind a block of equipment.
"Don't you think you're taking this a little badly?" she asked, her voice alarmed. "I didn't mean to get in your way!"
"Out! Out! Out!" Zim cried, extending his spider legs and chasing the nimble girl up the stairs to the top floor of his base.
"But if I leave your base without a disguise, won't humans see me and blow your cover," she shouted, dodging flying pieces of glassware.
Zim froze in place, twitching in anger. "Curse you!" he shouted, pointing a gloved finger at her and retracting his mechanical spider legs. "Fine, fine, we'll get you a disguise. THEN you get out of my base, understand."
Violet smiled, stooped down, and ruffled Zim's antennae. "You're so cuuuute when you're mad," she cooed. Then, she ran as quickly as she could down the stairs, Zim in hot pursuit while shouting about how he was deadly and smart, not cute.