Chapter Three: The Duel
~ "…What are we doing here?" Rogue asked as Zim dragged her into the park down the road from the Skool.
"I use this path to get away from Dib, if I were Greg, I'd be going this way too…" Zim muttered, leaning against a tree.
"…And? What's the matter?" Rogue questioned, not knowing where this was going.
"Shhhh…here he comes…" Zim said as Greg crept down the path.
The new alien was short of breath and more than happy to get out of that crazy situation. "Crazy Dib…I mean, how could someone with such a large head be so STUPID?!?! " Greg muttered, constantly looking back over his shoulder. Suddenly, Zim stepped out, blocking Greg's path.
"This has gone far enough, Greg!" Zim yelled, Greg whipped around to face him, dropping his bag on the sidewalk; "I know you're here to STEAL Rogue from me, aren't you?"
" WHAT?! No! I'm just-" Greg started.
"AREN'T YOU?!?!?"
"I said no! Jeez Zim, you have to listen a bit more! I swear, I only came here to get away from the Tallest!"
"I want you to leave…" Zim hissed, "…I want you to leave Earth forever! Rogue is MINE, and NOTHING you can do is going to change that!" He yelled, pointing at the sky.
"Hey, I have every right to stay on this planet! You can't just tell me to leave because you love her. I have deeper feelings for her as well!" Greg said, beginning to look annoyed.
…*WHAM!!!*
Greg suddenly found himself on the ground, grabbing his squeedlyspooch. Zim stood there, his fist clenched tightly. Rogue was wide-eyed staring at Zim, she never expected him to actually hit Greg, but he did.
"You…are going to leave…or you are going to leave in pieces…" Zim said, his eyes narrowed at Greg. Greg stood slowly, regaining his balance.
"I'm…not going to fight, but I'm not leaving this planet either…" He said through gritted teeth.
Zim lunged at Greg, extending his spider legs at the last second. Greg moved to the left and just narrowly avoided being impaled. He started to run, but Zim spun around and lunged at him again. This time, one of Zim's spider legs struck Greg's Pak, and his disguise faded out.
At that second, out of nowhere, Dib dropped down from a tree branch with a camera, wildly taking pictures.
"With this, I'll be able to host my own TV show!" Dib shouted. Greg and Zim paused, Zim's spider legs retracting back into his Pak. Glancing at each other, then at Dib, then back at each other, they both slugged Dib at the same time. Greg then stepped on Dib's camera, breaking it into pieces.
"Now…where were we?" Zim asked, "Oh, yeah…" He shot his spider legs out again and began chasing Greg again. Greg was so busy looking behind him that he ran right into a drinking fountain. The pursuing Irken slowed down, an evil grin filling his face.
Rogue looked at Zim questionably, "He's not going to do…what I think… is he??"
Zim used one of his metal legs to lift Greg up the side of the fountain, while another one was pressed on the spout.
"I warned you Greg, don't say I didn't because I did! I WARNED YOOOUUU!!!!!! Now, you will experience the evils of WATER firsthand!!!" With that, Zim pressed on the button. The water sprayed out, soaking Greg. He stood there blinking for a second before it took effect. Greg suddenly began yelling in pain, scratching at his skin while rolling on the ground. Zim did his evil cackle again, watching Greg squirm. Greg stood shakily, obviously ticked off, with steam still rising from him.
"Alright…you asked for it…" Greg said in a low, shaking voice. He ran at Zim who was still laughing uncontrollably.
"…Eh?" Was all Zim could say before Greg tackled him. The two Irkens rolled around on the ground, Zim's hands clutching at Greg's neck, and Greg pinning his shoulders to the ground. Zim extended his metal legs, flinging Greg off, and then jumped into the tree line. Greg activated his own set of spider legs, and jumped after him.
Rogue stood on the ground, shaking her head, "They're both acting like immature humans…it's sick…"
Zim and Greg weaved and dodged through the trees, nobody was 'winning'. They backed up slowly and ran into each other. Zim, startled, blasted a laser, which ripped through most of the branches. Greg figured this was not the best place to be fighting so he started moving away.
"Scared now, Greg? Running away because you know I am superior?! YES! Run away, run away for I am ZIIIM!!!" Zim yelled, giving chase once more.
Greg ran through the tree, a branch or two snapped below him. He stumbled, but kept moving. When he reached the end of the trees, he stopped, below was the park's pond. Zim abruptly knocked him off the tree, but managed to grab his antennae with two of his spider legs. Greg winced in pain, but he knew that certain doom was below.
"You see Greg? I'm better, I'm faster, smarter, and stronger than you. You were a FOOL for trying to oppose me. I was being nice earlier, but now, I'm going to make sure you never bother me or Rogue again!" Zim said evilly, holding Greg out a bit further over the water. "…Any last words, Greg?"
"Yeah…look out below!" Greg yelled, with that, he swiped out with one of his spider legs, snapping the branch that Zim was on. They both fell, Zim hitting most of the branches on the way down. Greg grabbed one with his spider legs and swung over land before the legs broke and he fell to the ground.
They landed in a crumpled pile at the base of the tree, but they were soon back on their feet.
That was enough. Rogue couldn't take watching from the sidelines anymore. Sighing deeply, she pointed her arm between Greg and Zim, who were still going at it. She really didn't want to do this, but they both wouldn't listen to her right now anyway. She fired. The ground between the two exploded, knocking them back.
"THAT was a warning shot…" Rogue said, "If you guys don't cut it out, you'll both be in a lot of pain for a real long time!" It was a bit of shock for both Irkens to see Rogue breaking them up all the sudden, but all the same, Greg and Zim both nodded and stopped trying to kill each other.
Rogue looked at Greg and said, "…Listen Greg…I know you like me. And I think you're a nice person, but I'm sorry, this has to stop. …I love Zim…"
Greg hung his head and had the full look of defeat on his face. Rogue continued, saying, "…And it's not just because he and I have been though so much so far…it goes deeper then that. Have you ever heard about link dreams?"
Greg shot his head up with large eyes. He knew what they were, and he thought they were a thing of the past with Irkens. It was a rare, and beauty situation for two Irkens, and a sign for the title of 'soul mates'. He glanced over at Zim who stood there, looking triumphant.
"…Zim and I have them…" Rogue finished, having a pit feeling in her gut, knowing this news is hurting Greg.
Greg looked at them as what he had heard sank in. He nodded, turned around, and grabbed his bag from the sidewalk. He began to walk off when he paused, turned around again, and walked back to Zim and Rogue. He reached into the bag, and pulled out two vials of the salt mixture, and handed one to each of them.
"You guys might want to measure these first. It's the right concentration, but…whatever…" He said as he walked away.
"Greg…" Rogue wasn't sure what to say. "…I'm sorry…" She started, but when she looked up, he was already gone.
~Greg didn't come to Skool the next day, or for the rest of the week. When he did come back the next week, he was different, he didn't talk at all and he didn't look at anybody. Whenever he saw Zim or Rogue, he just walked the other way. Dib kept threatening to expose him as an alien. Greg got really fed up around the fifth day, and on the way back home, Dib was walking down the street, when Greg brought back his fist and walloped Dib in the jaw. Dib grabbed his face, and got a hard punch in the stomach. He keeled over, and Greg stormed off, mumbling something in Irken, (You can just guess what he was saying)
That occurred right outside Zim's house, so the two other Irkens saw everything. Zim stared at his archenemy lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and moaning, and found humor in this situation. Rogue watched as Greg walked away. She turned to Zim and told him she had to do one more thing.
Making her way to Greg's base, she avoided the security systems and slipped inside. Rogue quickly found the elevator in the fridge (at least it's better than a toilet or trash can) and took it down to the lower levels of Greg's base. When the elevator reached the bottom, Rogue crept into the shadows. Greg stood at a large table, with many melted bottles or beakers lying around. Suddenly, the alien grabbed one of the bottles and chucked it into the depths of the lab.
"Why is this happening?!" Greg shouted, grasping his head, "I can't think straight! Rogue…" Greg said, slightly calming down.
Rogue thought Greg had seen her, but he hadn't. He went on, "…why can't I stop thinking of you? It's been like this for years, I couldn't get you out of my head. But now, when I can actually stop thinking about you…I can't. You're always there, why is that? How could have I been so stupid! …Zim deserved you a lot more than I did. What did I do that was worth noticing? I guess I shouldn't have got my hopes up…Rogue…I'm sorry."
Greg looked sadly around the lab, a single tear ran down his cheek, but he brushed it away and walked into another room. Rogue bit her lip, and quickly went back to the elevator.
Outside, thunder rumbled across the sky as Rogue opened the door from Greg's base. Walking into the street, she felt the first raindrop sizzle at it went down the side of her face, then another and another, soon it was pouring, it was going to be a long three blocks home.
"Rogue! Wait!" Greg's voice rang out. Rogue spun around to see Greg running up to her. "Rogue, what are you doing out here in this weather? You'll kill yourself! At least take this…" Greg said, handing her an umbrella. She took the umbrella, and just stared at Greg. She could practically see the steam rising from him, but he didn't flinch. "Do you…want to come inside until this is over?" Greg asked.
Rogue slowly turned away, after from what she had heard a minute before, she just couldn't do that to him.
"…I understand." He said, walking back to his house, he looked sadly back at Rogue, and went inside.
~ After a few minutes, Rogue walked through the door of Zim's base, and was instantly greeted by a very worried Zim.
"Rogue, what were you thinking? Going out in this horrible earth weather! Are you okay? Where did you get that umbrella? Where were you anyway?" Zim asked, walking her over to the couch, checking to make sure she was okay.
"I'm… fine…" Rogue said, slipping off her rain-soaked boots.
"That still doesn't answer my question! Where were you?" He asked.
Rogue sighed, "You know Zim…sometimes things are best left unsaid."
~The next day, Ms. Bitters announced that Greg had 'moved' to a town somewhere in New York, and that a new student would be taking his place. The day then went on as it always had. Dib, without an easier target, went back to trying to foil Zim's plans for world domination. Ms. Bitters droned on about doom for hours on end, while the rest of the class drooled or slept. Rogue was in her own little world; she glanced over to the seat where Greg had sat. But Greg wasn't there anymore.
When Rogue reached home at the end of the day, Zim stood there waiting for her.
"Well, I'm glad that's over with, but that Greg let one last thing…here Rogue, it was taped to the door, it's for you," Zim handed her an envelope with her name on it. "Hopeful, this is the last we'll hear from him…" He then walked off.
Rogue carefully opened the letter, inside was a drawing. It was her and Zim, together. Happy. Just like it should be. In the corner was a small message.
"Dear Rogue,
I have figured this would be the best way to do this. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Please keep this picture. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Enjoy your life with Zim, he's one lucky Irken to have someone like you to care for him, and it goes for you too.
Best of luck, Greg"
Rogue walked to the window and looked up at the darkening sky. One star floated high in the sky, and suddenly, shot across the early night sky and disappeared.
THE END
*RogueStar*: To the readers, this fic is the last tie-in fic before the start of the true sequel to Project Rogue! However, I won't start that til the REVISED thing of PR is done. This, plus the other tie-ins, will all be part of the upcoming sequel.
I'd like to thank my cousin, TruthReconciliation for not only thinking of the main idea for this whole fic, but also letting me be the co-writing and stuff. ^^ I still think he's the real mind behind this one. The FC Greg is his, after all. Thanks, man! ^~
~ "…What are we doing here?" Rogue asked as Zim dragged her into the park down the road from the Skool.
"I use this path to get away from Dib, if I were Greg, I'd be going this way too…" Zim muttered, leaning against a tree.
"…And? What's the matter?" Rogue questioned, not knowing where this was going.
"Shhhh…here he comes…" Zim said as Greg crept down the path.
The new alien was short of breath and more than happy to get out of that crazy situation. "Crazy Dib…I mean, how could someone with such a large head be so STUPID?!?! " Greg muttered, constantly looking back over his shoulder. Suddenly, Zim stepped out, blocking Greg's path.
"This has gone far enough, Greg!" Zim yelled, Greg whipped around to face him, dropping his bag on the sidewalk; "I know you're here to STEAL Rogue from me, aren't you?"
" WHAT?! No! I'm just-" Greg started.
"AREN'T YOU?!?!?"
"I said no! Jeez Zim, you have to listen a bit more! I swear, I only came here to get away from the Tallest!"
"I want you to leave…" Zim hissed, "…I want you to leave Earth forever! Rogue is MINE, and NOTHING you can do is going to change that!" He yelled, pointing at the sky.
"Hey, I have every right to stay on this planet! You can't just tell me to leave because you love her. I have deeper feelings for her as well!" Greg said, beginning to look annoyed.
…*WHAM!!!*
Greg suddenly found himself on the ground, grabbing his squeedlyspooch. Zim stood there, his fist clenched tightly. Rogue was wide-eyed staring at Zim, she never expected him to actually hit Greg, but he did.
"You…are going to leave…or you are going to leave in pieces…" Zim said, his eyes narrowed at Greg. Greg stood slowly, regaining his balance.
"I'm…not going to fight, but I'm not leaving this planet either…" He said through gritted teeth.
Zim lunged at Greg, extending his spider legs at the last second. Greg moved to the left and just narrowly avoided being impaled. He started to run, but Zim spun around and lunged at him again. This time, one of Zim's spider legs struck Greg's Pak, and his disguise faded out.
At that second, out of nowhere, Dib dropped down from a tree branch with a camera, wildly taking pictures.
"With this, I'll be able to host my own TV show!" Dib shouted. Greg and Zim paused, Zim's spider legs retracting back into his Pak. Glancing at each other, then at Dib, then back at each other, they both slugged Dib at the same time. Greg then stepped on Dib's camera, breaking it into pieces.
"Now…where were we?" Zim asked, "Oh, yeah…" He shot his spider legs out again and began chasing Greg again. Greg was so busy looking behind him that he ran right into a drinking fountain. The pursuing Irken slowed down, an evil grin filling his face.
Rogue looked at Zim questionably, "He's not going to do…what I think… is he??"
Zim used one of his metal legs to lift Greg up the side of the fountain, while another one was pressed on the spout.
"I warned you Greg, don't say I didn't because I did! I WARNED YOOOUUU!!!!!! Now, you will experience the evils of WATER firsthand!!!" With that, Zim pressed on the button. The water sprayed out, soaking Greg. He stood there blinking for a second before it took effect. Greg suddenly began yelling in pain, scratching at his skin while rolling on the ground. Zim did his evil cackle again, watching Greg squirm. Greg stood shakily, obviously ticked off, with steam still rising from him.
"Alright…you asked for it…" Greg said in a low, shaking voice. He ran at Zim who was still laughing uncontrollably.
"…Eh?" Was all Zim could say before Greg tackled him. The two Irkens rolled around on the ground, Zim's hands clutching at Greg's neck, and Greg pinning his shoulders to the ground. Zim extended his metal legs, flinging Greg off, and then jumped into the tree line. Greg activated his own set of spider legs, and jumped after him.
Rogue stood on the ground, shaking her head, "They're both acting like immature humans…it's sick…"
Zim and Greg weaved and dodged through the trees, nobody was 'winning'. They backed up slowly and ran into each other. Zim, startled, blasted a laser, which ripped through most of the branches. Greg figured this was not the best place to be fighting so he started moving away.
"Scared now, Greg? Running away because you know I am superior?! YES! Run away, run away for I am ZIIIM!!!" Zim yelled, giving chase once more.
Greg ran through the tree, a branch or two snapped below him. He stumbled, but kept moving. When he reached the end of the trees, he stopped, below was the park's pond. Zim abruptly knocked him off the tree, but managed to grab his antennae with two of his spider legs. Greg winced in pain, but he knew that certain doom was below.
"You see Greg? I'm better, I'm faster, smarter, and stronger than you. You were a FOOL for trying to oppose me. I was being nice earlier, but now, I'm going to make sure you never bother me or Rogue again!" Zim said evilly, holding Greg out a bit further over the water. "…Any last words, Greg?"
"Yeah…look out below!" Greg yelled, with that, he swiped out with one of his spider legs, snapping the branch that Zim was on. They both fell, Zim hitting most of the branches on the way down. Greg grabbed one with his spider legs and swung over land before the legs broke and he fell to the ground.
They landed in a crumpled pile at the base of the tree, but they were soon back on their feet.
That was enough. Rogue couldn't take watching from the sidelines anymore. Sighing deeply, she pointed her arm between Greg and Zim, who were still going at it. She really didn't want to do this, but they both wouldn't listen to her right now anyway. She fired. The ground between the two exploded, knocking them back.
"THAT was a warning shot…" Rogue said, "If you guys don't cut it out, you'll both be in a lot of pain for a real long time!" It was a bit of shock for both Irkens to see Rogue breaking them up all the sudden, but all the same, Greg and Zim both nodded and stopped trying to kill each other.
Rogue looked at Greg and said, "…Listen Greg…I know you like me. And I think you're a nice person, but I'm sorry, this has to stop. …I love Zim…"
Greg hung his head and had the full look of defeat on his face. Rogue continued, saying, "…And it's not just because he and I have been though so much so far…it goes deeper then that. Have you ever heard about link dreams?"
Greg shot his head up with large eyes. He knew what they were, and he thought they were a thing of the past with Irkens. It was a rare, and beauty situation for two Irkens, and a sign for the title of 'soul mates'. He glanced over at Zim who stood there, looking triumphant.
"…Zim and I have them…" Rogue finished, having a pit feeling in her gut, knowing this news is hurting Greg.
Greg looked at them as what he had heard sank in. He nodded, turned around, and grabbed his bag from the sidewalk. He began to walk off when he paused, turned around again, and walked back to Zim and Rogue. He reached into the bag, and pulled out two vials of the salt mixture, and handed one to each of them.
"You guys might want to measure these first. It's the right concentration, but…whatever…" He said as he walked away.
"Greg…" Rogue wasn't sure what to say. "…I'm sorry…" She started, but when she looked up, he was already gone.
~Greg didn't come to Skool the next day, or for the rest of the week. When he did come back the next week, he was different, he didn't talk at all and he didn't look at anybody. Whenever he saw Zim or Rogue, he just walked the other way. Dib kept threatening to expose him as an alien. Greg got really fed up around the fifth day, and on the way back home, Dib was walking down the street, when Greg brought back his fist and walloped Dib in the jaw. Dib grabbed his face, and got a hard punch in the stomach. He keeled over, and Greg stormed off, mumbling something in Irken, (You can just guess what he was saying)
That occurred right outside Zim's house, so the two other Irkens saw everything. Zim stared at his archenemy lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and moaning, and found humor in this situation. Rogue watched as Greg walked away. She turned to Zim and told him she had to do one more thing.
Making her way to Greg's base, she avoided the security systems and slipped inside. Rogue quickly found the elevator in the fridge (at least it's better than a toilet or trash can) and took it down to the lower levels of Greg's base. When the elevator reached the bottom, Rogue crept into the shadows. Greg stood at a large table, with many melted bottles or beakers lying around. Suddenly, the alien grabbed one of the bottles and chucked it into the depths of the lab.
"Why is this happening?!" Greg shouted, grasping his head, "I can't think straight! Rogue…" Greg said, slightly calming down.
Rogue thought Greg had seen her, but he hadn't. He went on, "…why can't I stop thinking of you? It's been like this for years, I couldn't get you out of my head. But now, when I can actually stop thinking about you…I can't. You're always there, why is that? How could have I been so stupid! …Zim deserved you a lot more than I did. What did I do that was worth noticing? I guess I shouldn't have got my hopes up…Rogue…I'm sorry."
Greg looked sadly around the lab, a single tear ran down his cheek, but he brushed it away and walked into another room. Rogue bit her lip, and quickly went back to the elevator.
Outside, thunder rumbled across the sky as Rogue opened the door from Greg's base. Walking into the street, she felt the first raindrop sizzle at it went down the side of her face, then another and another, soon it was pouring, it was going to be a long three blocks home.
"Rogue! Wait!" Greg's voice rang out. Rogue spun around to see Greg running up to her. "Rogue, what are you doing out here in this weather? You'll kill yourself! At least take this…" Greg said, handing her an umbrella. She took the umbrella, and just stared at Greg. She could practically see the steam rising from him, but he didn't flinch. "Do you…want to come inside until this is over?" Greg asked.
Rogue slowly turned away, after from what she had heard a minute before, she just couldn't do that to him.
"…I understand." He said, walking back to his house, he looked sadly back at Rogue, and went inside.
~ After a few minutes, Rogue walked through the door of Zim's base, and was instantly greeted by a very worried Zim.
"Rogue, what were you thinking? Going out in this horrible earth weather! Are you okay? Where did you get that umbrella? Where were you anyway?" Zim asked, walking her over to the couch, checking to make sure she was okay.
"I'm… fine…" Rogue said, slipping off her rain-soaked boots.
"That still doesn't answer my question! Where were you?" He asked.
Rogue sighed, "You know Zim…sometimes things are best left unsaid."
~The next day, Ms. Bitters announced that Greg had 'moved' to a town somewhere in New York, and that a new student would be taking his place. The day then went on as it always had. Dib, without an easier target, went back to trying to foil Zim's plans for world domination. Ms. Bitters droned on about doom for hours on end, while the rest of the class drooled or slept. Rogue was in her own little world; she glanced over to the seat where Greg had sat. But Greg wasn't there anymore.
When Rogue reached home at the end of the day, Zim stood there waiting for her.
"Well, I'm glad that's over with, but that Greg let one last thing…here Rogue, it was taped to the door, it's for you," Zim handed her an envelope with her name on it. "Hopeful, this is the last we'll hear from him…" He then walked off.
Rogue carefully opened the letter, inside was a drawing. It was her and Zim, together. Happy. Just like it should be. In the corner was a small message.
"Dear Rogue,
I have figured this would be the best way to do this. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Please keep this picture. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Enjoy your life with Zim, he's one lucky Irken to have someone like you to care for him, and it goes for you too.
Best of luck, Greg"
Rogue walked to the window and looked up at the darkening sky. One star floated high in the sky, and suddenly, shot across the early night sky and disappeared.
THE END
*RogueStar*: To the readers, this fic is the last tie-in fic before the start of the true sequel to Project Rogue! However, I won't start that til the REVISED thing of PR is done. This, plus the other tie-ins, will all be part of the upcoming sequel.
I'd like to thank my cousin, TruthReconciliation for not only thinking of the main idea for this whole fic, but also letting me be the co-writing and stuff. ^^ I still think he's the real mind behind this one. The FC Greg is his, after all. Thanks, man! ^~
