Doom Witch
By Julie Danskin
Author's Note: Okay, I know, I know. I'm a bad, nasty, terrible person who deserves to be eaten up by an evil white rabbit with big, nasty pointy teeth. "Grrrrr" it shall say and I shall cry a lot before going "AAAAAARGH!" and dying nastily. By rabbit. What a way to go. The reason of my nastiness, and my untimely yet deserved death? Not updating . . . (hangs head in shame) I'm sorry. But you still love me, right? There's not much to go, just another 8 chapters or so, so you only have to tolerate me. Endure my bitter non updatie-ness and then you can bite off my head and feed it to the nasty rabbit. Alright? Is it a deal??? WOO!
Okay, this is the BIIIIIIG CHAPTER that is THIS big! Okay! Enjoy its bigness!
Chapter 32: Blood Is A Lot Thicker Than Water
"I hope you'll forgive me, Jed," Zim whispered inaudibly, so not even the person he was addressing his apology to could hear him. Maybe it was better that way – less personal, less guilt, less emotion. Zim was having so many of the dreaded human emotions he loathed so greatly as he stared at his lover, the Irken who had come to Earth to destroy him but then ended up falling for him. Now, because of her weakness she had so blindly decided she hated him after seeing him kiss Gaz, when in fact in her head all that was blazing was a jealous love. A thirst for revenge, a thirst to make Zim hurt as much as she was hurting. She knew that wasn't possible, but if she couldn't have him, no one could.
On one side stood Zim, Fia, Zenin, GIR (who was sobbing hysterically at the emotional atmosphere and the prospect of having to eliminate his good friend MAX) and Gaz, who had managed to drag Dib along if only to watch. He refused to fight on Zim's side due to his proud hatred of his enemy – although he was admittedly disappointed at the lack of attention Zim had been giving him lately – but also had no wish to fight Jed, MAX and Tak, he had enough Irkens on his plate.
But although he didn't know it, he was going to have to join in sooner or later anyway.
On the other side of the quiet country road they had planned to fight on, where there would be no disturbance, no police, no annoying humans getting in the way, was Tak, Jed, MiMi and MAX. At least they thought no annoying humans would get in the way, but out on her daily stroll of the bumpkin territory was Dib's girlfriend Zita. But she was not the problem as yet.
"Are you ready, Jed?" Tak smiled to her sister, her eyes twinkling bright with anticipation and crazy hunger for blood.
"Let's just get it over with." Jed spat back at her, her eyes narrow and focused on Zim. You did not love him, she told herself, you are being juvenile. You can do this. You are an Irken Invader, an elite member of the Irk Military. You do not need him. He is a disgrace, and you should have killed him long ago when you had the chance. Now is the time to make up for your mistakes.
Now is the time for your redemption, and you shall step out of this victorious.
"GET ON WIVVIT!" GIR squealed joyfully from where he was, and Jed suddenly needed to restrain herself from laughing at Zim kicking the piece of tin rubbish in the head. "WOOOOOO! DOMESTIC ABUSE!" The robot turned to Zim and pointed a metal finger at him scornfully, "There's no excuse!"
Zim promptly screamed, "BE SILENT!" before returning to his serious gaze into Jed's eyes, which caught her unexpectedly. She flinched and moved her foot back as if to retreat but after a hesitation she placed it back on the ground again where it had been previously.
"You'll regret ever messing with me Zim," Tak was calling to him, "you and your little human friends."
"THEY'RE NOT MY FRIENDS!" Zim defensively denied, yelling across the twisty road, "They're my . . . TEMPORARY ALLIES!"
"Speak for yourself," Dib grunted from the sidelines, refusing to fight. What did he have to fight for? He wanted them to all destroy each other, and Gaz was sure to be able to look after herself. He didn't have any reason to fight, really. Yet.
Zim merely cast a nasty look in the spectator's direction. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. He knew deep down that the awkward silence he had received from his comrades (not that he needed any) meant that they wished for him to kill Jed, his lover. His enemy. He cast an eye at Jed, who met his with a scowl of many emotions: dread, anger and reluctance. The same things he felt, except that he envied Jed for being able to express them. His overwhelming pride prevented him from sharing his feelings with those around him, but he hoped that maybe Jed realised this was not something he particularly wanted to do; it was simply something he had to.
As an Invader he had sworn to make sacrifices to benefit the Irken military, and it would benefit all of Irk if Tak were eliminated. Jed, he knew, would have to go with her. And for that he hated himself dearly.
"Let's get this over with!" Gaz groaned, "I'm hungry!"
Zim was tempted to laugh. The last thing he wanted to do right then was eat. Not that he wanted any of the Earth scum's filth, anyway. He glanced Gaz's way, and their eyes locked for a second, before she looked away. On her face was a firm smirk, the lips he had recently kissed now spiteful and blood-thirsty. Thirsty for the blood of Jed. Zim only wanted one Irken dead, and that was Tak.
He would not leave the battleground until she lay twitched with her blood as black as a raven spilling out of her mouth, her squeedly-spooch strewn all over the road while he, Zim, stood over her, victorious. It was either her that died her today . . . or himself.
He knew which one he would prefer to die.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The fighting started shortly after this thought, because at the delicious idea of Tak lying on the ground as life seeped out of her he became more longing for that moment and for a while thought nothing of Jed or Gaz or the mission. Instead he let out an angry roar and launched himself at Tak.
Tak smiled nastily and side-stepped out of the way so Zim ran right past her. He swung himself around, his feet spread out on the ground so he got a decent stance to balance his small form. He glared up at Tak, his eyes narrowed and thirsty for her pain. That was one emotion Zim had that was more than evident.
Tak laughed at him. "If you allow yourself to be taken over by anger, Zim," she patronised, slurring her words as if she savoured each one. Zim did not blame her, she probably knew that they could well be her last. "Then you have no chance of succeeding . . . not that you ever had a chance, anyway. It will just make the "fight" much less more amusing."
Zim nodded, "You say that now, psycho howler monkey," he snarled, "but you under-estimate me, and that is your weakness."
Tak said nothing and straightened herself out.
This time when Zim charged, it was not just a one-sided assault, because he had angered Tak, and she launched herself at him just as he had done at her, and this time it was not Zim who was made a fool of.
The laughter arose from her enemy as she tripped over his foot and fell but she picked herself up full of rage and injustice. In her face was another one. This face was shocked, small and pretty, and it was right in Tak's way, standing between her and Zim. Tak narrowed her eyes and pushed her aside carelessly. The human stumbled backwards and fell over onto her backside, squeaking quietly as she landed.
Normally Zita would pick herself up proudly and scream nastily at anyone who dared to oppress her, but this girl she had once known as the strange- looking "Tak" girl was now unmasked as an alien, as was the weird green kid in her class called Zim.
"ZITA!" screamed Dib from the far end of the road. He was no longer a spectator as he was running forward at full speed trying to get to her. As he did so, Tak put two-and-two together, and figured that this human girl was Dib's lover. Seeing an opportunity to seek revenge on the human who had assisted in her original downfall, she whipped out her Irken gun and pointed it straight at the young female human's head, who let out a loud shriek.
"NO!" Dib yelled, approaching Tak, but stopped dead when she pulled the trigger without the blink of an eye, the slightest flinch. Dib swore and hurtled forward, tripping over Tak's foot as he did so. He landed face first in Zita's lap, but she never moved or yelped "DIB GET OFF ME!"
The Irken guns were not like human ones. If you shot someone in the head, they did not blow your brains out. It was a laser gun, it simply shut down the area it was aimed at. Zita had a small, smouldering mark on her forehead like a mole she would prefer to have removed, but she would never have another manicure. She would never giggle extortionately again, or stand up for herself when she was made fun of by her so-called friends for going out with a guy like Dib.
"Zita . . ." Dib murmured by her side, stroking the side of her cold face with the back of a crooked finger. He loved her, but he had only ever told her once. She had been surprised but surprisingly happy, and she had returned the sentiment. He would never be able to do that again. He would never be with her again.
In a blind burst of rage he leapt up, aiming for Tak, but she was no longer where she had previously been, snickering at Dib's misery and Zita's death. "I HATE YOU!" he screamed, not quite sure to whom though he was. He hated many things. He hated Tak, he hated himself, he hated Zita for leaving, his Dad for never appreciating him or giving advice on how to keep the high- maintenance Zita and Gaz for dragging him along to this thing, but most of all he hated Zim. He hated Zim because Dib had once wished for something like Zim to come along, so he could be recognised as the saviour of the world and at last be respected. But it would never be like that.
"Be careful what you wish for."
Well, Dib had learned his lesson. He had learned it all, and all he wanted to do now was kill. He could not stand back and watch the fight now. He looked around. He saw Zim and Tak going full on at each other and Jed was taking on Zenin and Fia, but away at the far side he saw Shoe and GIR attacking Jed's robot, MAX, and Gaz taking on Tak's, MiMi. They were just robots and deserved to be destructed. Besides, when those robots were taken care of, there would be plenty to take on those that mattered: Jed and Tak.
With a roar of mourning, anger and craziness, Dib plunged himself over to MiMi. Gaz looked up at him, surprised, then glanced over at Zita's body lying peacefully at the side of the road like a rabbit or hedgehog that had been caught innocently in a car's headlight. She regarded him and nodded. She stepped forwards and kicked the robot's head so it lost its balance slightly. Dib cried out and tapped it over onto its side, jumping on it continuously until it was crumpled and making strange, malfunctioning noises.
"I HATE YOU!" Dib screamed again, "I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"
"Dib . . ." Gaz whispered, "Dib . . . I took Dad's gun. It's not much compared to the Irkens', but it'll kill that tin piece of shit." She revealed something wrapped in a linen cloth, and handed it to her brother.
Dib took his foot of the robot, which tried to stand up again, but had no more than uttered a mechanical "MALFUNCTION" before Dib unwrapped the gun, loaded the barrel, clicked off the safety and blew its metal brains out. With a gasp caught in the back of his throat Dib lowered the gun to his side and collapsed to his knees.
Without a word of sympathy, or a declare for revenge, Gaz stepped forward and took the gun out of her brother's unresisting yet trembling hand, pulled back the safety lever, took aim and shot the other robot, MAX. The SIR Unit stopped in its tracks and fell to the ground, where GIR instantly burst into tears and Shoe tried to comfort him, but shot the robot again with his own laser gun just in case.
Two down, two to go. It was Zim, Dib, Gaz, GIR, Shoe, Zenin and Fia against the two Gemini sisters. The two twins stood back to back while their opposition made a circle around them.
"We're done for . . ." Tak mumbled so only her sister could hear, the first apprehensive word that Tak had uttered for a long time. So it was no less than surprising when it was Jed who took the optimistic view on things.
"Not yet," she murmured, "shoot one of them."
"I need to load," Tak told her. She didn't, in fact, but she wanted to see what her sister was up to.
Jed cursed. "Fine," she grumbled, as if it were over no more than who got to use a computer first in the average family home. Jed whipped out her gun and she felt all eyes on her. In her range there were four characters she could easily take out. They were GIR, Zenin, Dib and Zim. If it had been Gaz in her range then she would already be twitching on the ground, but the cowardly little human was probably behind her deliberately. She felt like handing the gun to Tak and telling her to shoot Gaz, but she knew that Zim would shoot both of them dead.
No, she would have to be subtle in her massacre. Just to shoot one person before they all shot her and Tak, but who to risk her life with to take another? GIR would be a waste of time, he could be fixed far too easily. She almost felt sorry for Dib, he had never wanted to fight in the first place . . . so she had the choice to destroy the character she loved, and face certain death to be shot in the back by Gaz, or kill Zenin and possibly be able to get out of it. But then . . . if Jed and Tak were to live then they would be hunted down by the Irken Armada for terminating the life of one of the Irken Royal Family.
Taking a deep breath, Jed felt the safety buttons under her fingers and switched them both off. In the same movement, she willed the small jet pack in her I.D. Pak to be released and rocket her into the air. She noticed Tak followed her example. They didn't stay in the air long because when she landed the characters against them were hungry for revenge, because on the ground lay Zenin, unmoving and senseless.
Jed heard Fia scream her friend's name and Zim cry out in frustration. Shoe gasped and even Tak looked at her sister as she stood beside her in shock.
"Why didn't you kill him when you had the choice?" she choked disbelievingly, seeming more angry than grateful for getting them out of there. Jed shrugged defensively and glowered.
"What are you doing, standing beside me?" she snapped, "Get away and we'll have more of a chance if we're split up."
Tak opened her mouth to argue but she was admittedly right. Of course she was, Jed may be young but she was well trained. She simply hissed, "You fool, love has spoiled your senses," before sprinting to the other side of the road, where Zim ran to meet her in combat.
Jed tried to shake her sister's words out of her head but was glad she wasn't dead, not yet. Jed did not expect to walk away from this place alive or at least unharmed, there was too much hate for her and her Gemini.
She noticed Shoe, GIR and Dib all run for Tak to join Zim, but it was Fia and Gaz that (understandably) came to face the youngest Irken. Jed smiled grimly at them both.
"Your Majesty," she bowed sarcastically yet respectfully to Fia, truly repentant of killing an innocent, but she had no choice, she was an Invader and that was the way things went sometimes, but she did not expect Fia to understand that. She turned to Gaz, "scumbag."
"Don't you dare speak to her," Gaz snarled, jerking her head at Fia next to her who had black Irken tears streaming down her face. Jed couldn't help but wince. Gaz spoke to her with such spite, and Fia just looked so sad. A sad person cannot look angry or murderous, even if that's what they feel inside. Jed did not like not seeing what Fia felt inside because outside she only looked sad.
"You're going to die right now, Gaz," Jed snarled at her, "or at least one of us is. You, Lady Fia, I will ask to leave now, for I have no quarrel with . . ."
"You have no quarrel with me yet you killed an innocent old woman!" Fia shrieked indignantly, "I have quarrel with you, Invader, even if you do not with me."
Jed felt a part inside herself die at those words; probably her own self respect, she wasn't sure, she felt too many emotions just then. She would kill Gaz . . . and Fia, if she had to. And she felt it may come to that.
Just as they were all about to attack each other, Jed's trusty gun pointed out in front of her pointed at Gaz, who held her father's shiny black revolver and Fia held a small Irken dagger, Jed heard a familiar scream and froze.
She jerked her head around and sprinted in the direction of her sister's cry, and collapsed at the ground, not realising she had dropped the gun far away after she heard the scream. She looked at her sister's tilted head and wide eyes as death came over her. Dib stood over her with Shoe's gun in his hand, still pointed at the unoccupied space that Tak had previously been standing in.
"Tak!" Jed called, "Tak! TAK!"
Tak moved her head and inch, a small part of her clothing around her chest area frazzled. Jed let out a soft moan: Tak would not survive no matter how good the medicine Tak's Pak was feeding her, battling against the pain. There was a small gasp from her sister's cruel mouth which sounded distinctly like "Jed", but no more.
Jed let out an open sob as she felt another part of herself torn away from her. Losing one's self-respect is one thing: losing a twin is another, no matter how evil the other. "Tak . . ." Jed moaned, "Oh, Tallest . . ."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dib cast a sideways look at Zim, full of a feeling that he had avenged Zita and could mourn properly. He, and Shoe walked over to join Fia over the road, where Jed's abandoned gun lay.
Jed realised that her own life was in danger, but didn't really care anymore. Instinct made her remove her sister's gun from her lifeless hand and stand up shakily. Gaz appeared behind Zim and GIR at his feet gazed up at his master with a rare kind of silence from the goofy robot assistant.
Gaz glared into Jed's eyes from behind Zim's shoulder, letting her know that it was not the young Irken that had Zim's affection, but herself. Jed lowered her head and took a couple of steps backwards.
"Don't move," Zim said suddenly, which made Jed's head snap up, "it's better this way. It's better for all of us."
Jed nodded. "Go for it, then. Please."
Zim was shocked by the accidental innocence in Jed's voice. No doubt she wanted to sound ready and unafraid, but it was evident she was afraid, but still wanted to die at the same time. This made both Irkens confused, and Zim raised the gun to shoulder level, pointed directly at Jed's head.
Jed kept her eyes on Zim, but had flashbacks back to when she first met Zim . . .
"What is this?" Zim snapped, "Who are you?"
The Irken smiled wryly.
"My name is Invader -"
"Who are you?!"
"My name is Invader -"
"Who are you?!"
"My name is Invader Jed. I have been training on Devastis for the past three years, having drilled into my mind: To seek my revenge on you, Zim. Well, actually, my sister's revenge, I'm just performing her wrath via myself, who will then take up her plan to turn the Earth into a big box of snacks. A round box . . . of snacks."
When they first connected . . .
Jed removed the gun and Zim leapt to his feet, and the young Invader stood back. Zim stood slightly taller than her due to his artificial height, and Dib also stood up, mouth slightly open in disbelief.
"So . . . we're not going to die, then?" Dib asked, breathing very quickly, and Zim shook his head.
"Not today, Dib-Stink," he replied, and without another word, Dib rushed out of the door to the night streets. Zim and Jed regarded each other, and Zim put out his hand. Jed looked at it suspiciously.
"It's a tradition humans have," he explained, "To confirm DIRTY deals and treaties like this COMPROMISE OF DOOOOOM!"
Jed nodded, and took his hand without another word
Their first awkward moment . . .
"Anyone would think you were a doctor," she joked, still looking into his eyes. He didn't say anything in reply, and rolled the rest of her sleeve up, revealing her tattered green skin. Already it had started to heal itself. Zim started from her shoulder and held it there as the healing rays started mending her arm. Jed sighed, and he glanced at her quickly, then looked away again, "Look, Zim, you didn't . . . you could have let your robot finish. You didn't have to help me . . . "
He was looking at her now, the healing contraption moving down, down her arm, his hand leading the way down like he was stroking her arm. His touch made her shiver, or was that his eyes boring into her? He blinked, and she blinked, and they moved closer and closer, Zim tilted his head to the right and she tilted hers. Just when their mouths were almost touching, Zim came to his senses and pulled back, accidentally brushing against her arm, making Jed flinch.
"Sorry," he mumbled, his eyes on her arm again.
Their first kiss . . .
"I'm sorry I have to do this."
Jed nodded and closed her eyes, waiting for his hands to tighten around her neck while she suffocated and died, never knowing where her sister was, never seeing her again, never being decorated as an Invader, never seeing the end of Operation Impending Doom 2, never doing a lot of things she wanted to do in her life. She had lived over a hundred years, fifteen in Irken years and would never be proven stronger than Tak, whom she had rivaled and loved all her life.
When Zim said "I'm sorry I have to do this", she thought he meant kill her, but instead he moved closer despite the burning pain in his shoulder hurting him, and he moved his mouth towards hers, and they kissed, both of them moving into a world that they couldn't afford to be in, but both wanted to.
He took his hands from round her neck and pulled her up so they were sitting, her arms around his neck and his around her waist, and they were just kissing and kissing until the Computer began to sob with emotion and put them off.
Their moments of passion . . .
Zim walked right over to her, grabbed both her wrists in his hands and pushed her onto the bed. She struggled against him, calling out for MAX but he silenced her with his mouth on top of hers, crushing his lips into hers so she was helpless. She refused to kiss him back and head butted him. He staggered back, stunned, but still held onto her wrists. They were standing now, the back of Jed's legs against the soft bed.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" she spat, "After earlier, you DARE try to . . . "
"What was wrong with what happened earlier?" Zim retaliated, "I think I handled it pretty well, don't you think? Don't you? I could have handled it a lot worse, but as I am Zim, of course, that would never happen."
"You never change, do you?" Jed gasped, exasperated, her mouth open in slight disbelief, but then she never could really put much past Invader Zim. What his problem was that he didn't care as much as she did, and she loved him more than he loved her, which made her the one that would always chase after him forever, begging for love and attention. Zim shook his head.
"You made me change," he said softly, pushing his body up to hers and she tolerated him, only because she had completely and totally fallen for him, and wished with every fiber of her being that he was telling the truth, that he was the only one he cared about, and they could dominate the world together.
"Then why did you stop me from shooting Gaz and her brother?" she demanded, her common sense overtaking her passion for a second, and though she didn't know why she almost regretted saying it, and Zim looked at her for a moment, studying her, then nodded slowly, taking a step back, dropping her wrists reluctantly. Jed let her arms swing by her sides; she had no use for them just now.
"I don't know," he said truthfully, "I thought . . . I don't know what I thought, I didn't think you should. That's all."
Jed lowered her head, and saw Zim's shadow move forward towards her again, tilting her chin up to face him with a crooked gloved finger. He didn't have his disguise on anymore and they were both Irken again. "Oh Zim," she sighed, speaking softer than she had ever done before so only he could hear her, her mouth right where Zim's ears should be and knew he could hear, "what will we do when Tak comes?"
"That is a decision I, Zim, do not have to make, Jed!" Zim said, trying to control his voice volume but was getting all mighty and powerful again, "But it is a decision that you must make. On whose side will you fight, Jed? Mine or your sister's?"
"Don't ask me that," Jed made him promise, and Zim nodded, and now she let him lift her up and onto the bed and kiss her and hold her, and she wrapped herself around him and prayed it would last forever, even if it was the very last night they would spend in each other's arms.
That was when they had shared their last kiss, and it had never been enough.
Jed's last ever kiss.
There were so many things she had to say to Zim, so many things she wanted to apologise for, and she realised that she forgave him, but she could not say it while Gaz was there. She could not disrespect her dead sister by saying those things to someone she hated.
"Just do it, Zim," she pleaded, "prolong it and you'll only make it worse for everyone." She looked around. "Everyone here wants me dead, even myself. So you'll be doing me a favour. Just make it quick, alright?"
Zim regarded Jed seriously and knew there was no doubt in her eyes or her precarious voice. He switched the safeties off, tightened his hold on the trigger, took careful aim and . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Zim lowered the gun to his side. Gaz made an astonished noise from behind him but no one else made any noises or movements. Zim and Jed stood regarding each other for a long time. Jed suddenly gave him a slow, lingering smile which made Gaz think she knew she'd won.
"You may even want yourself dead, Jed," Zim said slowly, "but there is one person here who does not." Jed's eyes sprung to his in shock, and Gaz felt a trickle – no, more like a raging torrent of water – up her spine like jealousy taking hold of her like a magnet.
Jed saw he was serious, and not just sympathetic. But then she remembered Zim was either honest or sarcastic, at which he was shit at being. She hated to disrespect him.
"But you forget, my darling," she told him, not sarcastically, just ironically, "that I too have a gun."
And before Zim could fully understand her meaning, she had turned the gun in on herself, clicked off the safety and shoot herself in the stomach.
As she fell, there was nothing but Zim in her head, and when she hit the ground and opened her eyes for the last time, he was there. He was her only purpose. He was her dead end. He was her destiny. He was what she had lived for. He was what she was dying for right there and then. He was her all and end-all, but he was here.
He was here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Author's Note: Ohhh my God! I hate getting rid of Jed, I've come to quite like her despite her being an inputted character along with the best characters from J.V. Of course she doesn't match up to them but you know . . . I didn't really want to kill her but you lot are bloodthirsty maggots after original character's blood.
Thanks anyway for all your reviews for Jed's death and against, and I'm sorry this was such a serious chapter and how inexcusably long it took to be written and updated, but you know, you can't choose when you have writer's block, can you? No. Sorry!
But it is a long one, and probably the longest one that we'll have yet, but we'll see how it goes okay? Right, now . . . forgive me in my non- updatiness, but in the meantime check out my original stuffies on the fictionpress.com account. Username is Exegesis. Please? DANKE!
"Have heart, my dear, you're bound to be afraid, even if it's just for a few days, make it up for all this mess." – Run, Snow Patrol (probably the best album out so far this year, check them out they're from BELFAST!!!)
By Julie Danskin
Author's Note: Okay, I know, I know. I'm a bad, nasty, terrible person who deserves to be eaten up by an evil white rabbit with big, nasty pointy teeth. "Grrrrr" it shall say and I shall cry a lot before going "AAAAAARGH!" and dying nastily. By rabbit. What a way to go. The reason of my nastiness, and my untimely yet deserved death? Not updating . . . (hangs head in shame) I'm sorry. But you still love me, right? There's not much to go, just another 8 chapters or so, so you only have to tolerate me. Endure my bitter non updatie-ness and then you can bite off my head and feed it to the nasty rabbit. Alright? Is it a deal??? WOO!
Okay, this is the BIIIIIIG CHAPTER that is THIS big! Okay! Enjoy its bigness!
Chapter 32: Blood Is A Lot Thicker Than Water
"I hope you'll forgive me, Jed," Zim whispered inaudibly, so not even the person he was addressing his apology to could hear him. Maybe it was better that way – less personal, less guilt, less emotion. Zim was having so many of the dreaded human emotions he loathed so greatly as he stared at his lover, the Irken who had come to Earth to destroy him but then ended up falling for him. Now, because of her weakness she had so blindly decided she hated him after seeing him kiss Gaz, when in fact in her head all that was blazing was a jealous love. A thirst for revenge, a thirst to make Zim hurt as much as she was hurting. She knew that wasn't possible, but if she couldn't have him, no one could.
On one side stood Zim, Fia, Zenin, GIR (who was sobbing hysterically at the emotional atmosphere and the prospect of having to eliminate his good friend MAX) and Gaz, who had managed to drag Dib along if only to watch. He refused to fight on Zim's side due to his proud hatred of his enemy – although he was admittedly disappointed at the lack of attention Zim had been giving him lately – but also had no wish to fight Jed, MAX and Tak, he had enough Irkens on his plate.
But although he didn't know it, he was going to have to join in sooner or later anyway.
On the other side of the quiet country road they had planned to fight on, where there would be no disturbance, no police, no annoying humans getting in the way, was Tak, Jed, MiMi and MAX. At least they thought no annoying humans would get in the way, but out on her daily stroll of the bumpkin territory was Dib's girlfriend Zita. But she was not the problem as yet.
"Are you ready, Jed?" Tak smiled to her sister, her eyes twinkling bright with anticipation and crazy hunger for blood.
"Let's just get it over with." Jed spat back at her, her eyes narrow and focused on Zim. You did not love him, she told herself, you are being juvenile. You can do this. You are an Irken Invader, an elite member of the Irk Military. You do not need him. He is a disgrace, and you should have killed him long ago when you had the chance. Now is the time to make up for your mistakes.
Now is the time for your redemption, and you shall step out of this victorious.
"GET ON WIVVIT!" GIR squealed joyfully from where he was, and Jed suddenly needed to restrain herself from laughing at Zim kicking the piece of tin rubbish in the head. "WOOOOOO! DOMESTIC ABUSE!" The robot turned to Zim and pointed a metal finger at him scornfully, "There's no excuse!"
Zim promptly screamed, "BE SILENT!" before returning to his serious gaze into Jed's eyes, which caught her unexpectedly. She flinched and moved her foot back as if to retreat but after a hesitation she placed it back on the ground again where it had been previously.
"You'll regret ever messing with me Zim," Tak was calling to him, "you and your little human friends."
"THEY'RE NOT MY FRIENDS!" Zim defensively denied, yelling across the twisty road, "They're my . . . TEMPORARY ALLIES!"
"Speak for yourself," Dib grunted from the sidelines, refusing to fight. What did he have to fight for? He wanted them to all destroy each other, and Gaz was sure to be able to look after herself. He didn't have any reason to fight, really. Yet.
Zim merely cast a nasty look in the spectator's direction. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. He knew deep down that the awkward silence he had received from his comrades (not that he needed any) meant that they wished for him to kill Jed, his lover. His enemy. He cast an eye at Jed, who met his with a scowl of many emotions: dread, anger and reluctance. The same things he felt, except that he envied Jed for being able to express them. His overwhelming pride prevented him from sharing his feelings with those around him, but he hoped that maybe Jed realised this was not something he particularly wanted to do; it was simply something he had to.
As an Invader he had sworn to make sacrifices to benefit the Irken military, and it would benefit all of Irk if Tak were eliminated. Jed, he knew, would have to go with her. And for that he hated himself dearly.
"Let's get this over with!" Gaz groaned, "I'm hungry!"
Zim was tempted to laugh. The last thing he wanted to do right then was eat. Not that he wanted any of the Earth scum's filth, anyway. He glanced Gaz's way, and their eyes locked for a second, before she looked away. On her face was a firm smirk, the lips he had recently kissed now spiteful and blood-thirsty. Thirsty for the blood of Jed. Zim only wanted one Irken dead, and that was Tak.
He would not leave the battleground until she lay twitched with her blood as black as a raven spilling out of her mouth, her squeedly-spooch strewn all over the road while he, Zim, stood over her, victorious. It was either her that died her today . . . or himself.
He knew which one he would prefer to die.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The fighting started shortly after this thought, because at the delicious idea of Tak lying on the ground as life seeped out of her he became more longing for that moment and for a while thought nothing of Jed or Gaz or the mission. Instead he let out an angry roar and launched himself at Tak.
Tak smiled nastily and side-stepped out of the way so Zim ran right past her. He swung himself around, his feet spread out on the ground so he got a decent stance to balance his small form. He glared up at Tak, his eyes narrowed and thirsty for her pain. That was one emotion Zim had that was more than evident.
Tak laughed at him. "If you allow yourself to be taken over by anger, Zim," she patronised, slurring her words as if she savoured each one. Zim did not blame her, she probably knew that they could well be her last. "Then you have no chance of succeeding . . . not that you ever had a chance, anyway. It will just make the "fight" much less more amusing."
Zim nodded, "You say that now, psycho howler monkey," he snarled, "but you under-estimate me, and that is your weakness."
Tak said nothing and straightened herself out.
This time when Zim charged, it was not just a one-sided assault, because he had angered Tak, and she launched herself at him just as he had done at her, and this time it was not Zim who was made a fool of.
The laughter arose from her enemy as she tripped over his foot and fell but she picked herself up full of rage and injustice. In her face was another one. This face was shocked, small and pretty, and it was right in Tak's way, standing between her and Zim. Tak narrowed her eyes and pushed her aside carelessly. The human stumbled backwards and fell over onto her backside, squeaking quietly as she landed.
Normally Zita would pick herself up proudly and scream nastily at anyone who dared to oppress her, but this girl she had once known as the strange- looking "Tak" girl was now unmasked as an alien, as was the weird green kid in her class called Zim.
"ZITA!" screamed Dib from the far end of the road. He was no longer a spectator as he was running forward at full speed trying to get to her. As he did so, Tak put two-and-two together, and figured that this human girl was Dib's lover. Seeing an opportunity to seek revenge on the human who had assisted in her original downfall, she whipped out her Irken gun and pointed it straight at the young female human's head, who let out a loud shriek.
"NO!" Dib yelled, approaching Tak, but stopped dead when she pulled the trigger without the blink of an eye, the slightest flinch. Dib swore and hurtled forward, tripping over Tak's foot as he did so. He landed face first in Zita's lap, but she never moved or yelped "DIB GET OFF ME!"
The Irken guns were not like human ones. If you shot someone in the head, they did not blow your brains out. It was a laser gun, it simply shut down the area it was aimed at. Zita had a small, smouldering mark on her forehead like a mole she would prefer to have removed, but she would never have another manicure. She would never giggle extortionately again, or stand up for herself when she was made fun of by her so-called friends for going out with a guy like Dib.
"Zita . . ." Dib murmured by her side, stroking the side of her cold face with the back of a crooked finger. He loved her, but he had only ever told her once. She had been surprised but surprisingly happy, and she had returned the sentiment. He would never be able to do that again. He would never be with her again.
In a blind burst of rage he leapt up, aiming for Tak, but she was no longer where she had previously been, snickering at Dib's misery and Zita's death. "I HATE YOU!" he screamed, not quite sure to whom though he was. He hated many things. He hated Tak, he hated himself, he hated Zita for leaving, his Dad for never appreciating him or giving advice on how to keep the high- maintenance Zita and Gaz for dragging him along to this thing, but most of all he hated Zim. He hated Zim because Dib had once wished for something like Zim to come along, so he could be recognised as the saviour of the world and at last be respected. But it would never be like that.
"Be careful what you wish for."
Well, Dib had learned his lesson. He had learned it all, and all he wanted to do now was kill. He could not stand back and watch the fight now. He looked around. He saw Zim and Tak going full on at each other and Jed was taking on Zenin and Fia, but away at the far side he saw Shoe and GIR attacking Jed's robot, MAX, and Gaz taking on Tak's, MiMi. They were just robots and deserved to be destructed. Besides, when those robots were taken care of, there would be plenty to take on those that mattered: Jed and Tak.
With a roar of mourning, anger and craziness, Dib plunged himself over to MiMi. Gaz looked up at him, surprised, then glanced over at Zita's body lying peacefully at the side of the road like a rabbit or hedgehog that had been caught innocently in a car's headlight. She regarded him and nodded. She stepped forwards and kicked the robot's head so it lost its balance slightly. Dib cried out and tapped it over onto its side, jumping on it continuously until it was crumpled and making strange, malfunctioning noises.
"I HATE YOU!" Dib screamed again, "I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"
"Dib . . ." Gaz whispered, "Dib . . . I took Dad's gun. It's not much compared to the Irkens', but it'll kill that tin piece of shit." She revealed something wrapped in a linen cloth, and handed it to her brother.
Dib took his foot of the robot, which tried to stand up again, but had no more than uttered a mechanical "MALFUNCTION" before Dib unwrapped the gun, loaded the barrel, clicked off the safety and blew its metal brains out. With a gasp caught in the back of his throat Dib lowered the gun to his side and collapsed to his knees.
Without a word of sympathy, or a declare for revenge, Gaz stepped forward and took the gun out of her brother's unresisting yet trembling hand, pulled back the safety lever, took aim and shot the other robot, MAX. The SIR Unit stopped in its tracks and fell to the ground, where GIR instantly burst into tears and Shoe tried to comfort him, but shot the robot again with his own laser gun just in case.
Two down, two to go. It was Zim, Dib, Gaz, GIR, Shoe, Zenin and Fia against the two Gemini sisters. The two twins stood back to back while their opposition made a circle around them.
"We're done for . . ." Tak mumbled so only her sister could hear, the first apprehensive word that Tak had uttered for a long time. So it was no less than surprising when it was Jed who took the optimistic view on things.
"Not yet," she murmured, "shoot one of them."
"I need to load," Tak told her. She didn't, in fact, but she wanted to see what her sister was up to.
Jed cursed. "Fine," she grumbled, as if it were over no more than who got to use a computer first in the average family home. Jed whipped out her gun and she felt all eyes on her. In her range there were four characters she could easily take out. They were GIR, Zenin, Dib and Zim. If it had been Gaz in her range then she would already be twitching on the ground, but the cowardly little human was probably behind her deliberately. She felt like handing the gun to Tak and telling her to shoot Gaz, but she knew that Zim would shoot both of them dead.
No, she would have to be subtle in her massacre. Just to shoot one person before they all shot her and Tak, but who to risk her life with to take another? GIR would be a waste of time, he could be fixed far too easily. She almost felt sorry for Dib, he had never wanted to fight in the first place . . . so she had the choice to destroy the character she loved, and face certain death to be shot in the back by Gaz, or kill Zenin and possibly be able to get out of it. But then . . . if Jed and Tak were to live then they would be hunted down by the Irken Armada for terminating the life of one of the Irken Royal Family.
Taking a deep breath, Jed felt the safety buttons under her fingers and switched them both off. In the same movement, she willed the small jet pack in her I.D. Pak to be released and rocket her into the air. She noticed Tak followed her example. They didn't stay in the air long because when she landed the characters against them were hungry for revenge, because on the ground lay Zenin, unmoving and senseless.
Jed heard Fia scream her friend's name and Zim cry out in frustration. Shoe gasped and even Tak looked at her sister as she stood beside her in shock.
"Why didn't you kill him when you had the choice?" she choked disbelievingly, seeming more angry than grateful for getting them out of there. Jed shrugged defensively and glowered.
"What are you doing, standing beside me?" she snapped, "Get away and we'll have more of a chance if we're split up."
Tak opened her mouth to argue but she was admittedly right. Of course she was, Jed may be young but she was well trained. She simply hissed, "You fool, love has spoiled your senses," before sprinting to the other side of the road, where Zim ran to meet her in combat.
Jed tried to shake her sister's words out of her head but was glad she wasn't dead, not yet. Jed did not expect to walk away from this place alive or at least unharmed, there was too much hate for her and her Gemini.
She noticed Shoe, GIR and Dib all run for Tak to join Zim, but it was Fia and Gaz that (understandably) came to face the youngest Irken. Jed smiled grimly at them both.
"Your Majesty," she bowed sarcastically yet respectfully to Fia, truly repentant of killing an innocent, but she had no choice, she was an Invader and that was the way things went sometimes, but she did not expect Fia to understand that. She turned to Gaz, "scumbag."
"Don't you dare speak to her," Gaz snarled, jerking her head at Fia next to her who had black Irken tears streaming down her face. Jed couldn't help but wince. Gaz spoke to her with such spite, and Fia just looked so sad. A sad person cannot look angry or murderous, even if that's what they feel inside. Jed did not like not seeing what Fia felt inside because outside she only looked sad.
"You're going to die right now, Gaz," Jed snarled at her, "or at least one of us is. You, Lady Fia, I will ask to leave now, for I have no quarrel with . . ."
"You have no quarrel with me yet you killed an innocent old woman!" Fia shrieked indignantly, "I have quarrel with you, Invader, even if you do not with me."
Jed felt a part inside herself die at those words; probably her own self respect, she wasn't sure, she felt too many emotions just then. She would kill Gaz . . . and Fia, if she had to. And she felt it may come to that.
Just as they were all about to attack each other, Jed's trusty gun pointed out in front of her pointed at Gaz, who held her father's shiny black revolver and Fia held a small Irken dagger, Jed heard a familiar scream and froze.
She jerked her head around and sprinted in the direction of her sister's cry, and collapsed at the ground, not realising she had dropped the gun far away after she heard the scream. She looked at her sister's tilted head and wide eyes as death came over her. Dib stood over her with Shoe's gun in his hand, still pointed at the unoccupied space that Tak had previously been standing in.
"Tak!" Jed called, "Tak! TAK!"
Tak moved her head and inch, a small part of her clothing around her chest area frazzled. Jed let out a soft moan: Tak would not survive no matter how good the medicine Tak's Pak was feeding her, battling against the pain. There was a small gasp from her sister's cruel mouth which sounded distinctly like "Jed", but no more.
Jed let out an open sob as she felt another part of herself torn away from her. Losing one's self-respect is one thing: losing a twin is another, no matter how evil the other. "Tak . . ." Jed moaned, "Oh, Tallest . . ."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dib cast a sideways look at Zim, full of a feeling that he had avenged Zita and could mourn properly. He, and Shoe walked over to join Fia over the road, where Jed's abandoned gun lay.
Jed realised that her own life was in danger, but didn't really care anymore. Instinct made her remove her sister's gun from her lifeless hand and stand up shakily. Gaz appeared behind Zim and GIR at his feet gazed up at his master with a rare kind of silence from the goofy robot assistant.
Gaz glared into Jed's eyes from behind Zim's shoulder, letting her know that it was not the young Irken that had Zim's affection, but herself. Jed lowered her head and took a couple of steps backwards.
"Don't move," Zim said suddenly, which made Jed's head snap up, "it's better this way. It's better for all of us."
Jed nodded. "Go for it, then. Please."
Zim was shocked by the accidental innocence in Jed's voice. No doubt she wanted to sound ready and unafraid, but it was evident she was afraid, but still wanted to die at the same time. This made both Irkens confused, and Zim raised the gun to shoulder level, pointed directly at Jed's head.
Jed kept her eyes on Zim, but had flashbacks back to when she first met Zim . . .
"What is this?" Zim snapped, "Who are you?"
The Irken smiled wryly.
"My name is Invader -"
"Who are you?!"
"My name is Invader -"
"Who are you?!"
"My name is Invader Jed. I have been training on Devastis for the past three years, having drilled into my mind: To seek my revenge on you, Zim. Well, actually, my sister's revenge, I'm just performing her wrath via myself, who will then take up her plan to turn the Earth into a big box of snacks. A round box . . . of snacks."
When they first connected . . .
Jed removed the gun and Zim leapt to his feet, and the young Invader stood back. Zim stood slightly taller than her due to his artificial height, and Dib also stood up, mouth slightly open in disbelief.
"So . . . we're not going to die, then?" Dib asked, breathing very quickly, and Zim shook his head.
"Not today, Dib-Stink," he replied, and without another word, Dib rushed out of the door to the night streets. Zim and Jed regarded each other, and Zim put out his hand. Jed looked at it suspiciously.
"It's a tradition humans have," he explained, "To confirm DIRTY deals and treaties like this COMPROMISE OF DOOOOOM!"
Jed nodded, and took his hand without another word
Their first awkward moment . . .
"Anyone would think you were a doctor," she joked, still looking into his eyes. He didn't say anything in reply, and rolled the rest of her sleeve up, revealing her tattered green skin. Already it had started to heal itself. Zim started from her shoulder and held it there as the healing rays started mending her arm. Jed sighed, and he glanced at her quickly, then looked away again, "Look, Zim, you didn't . . . you could have let your robot finish. You didn't have to help me . . . "
He was looking at her now, the healing contraption moving down, down her arm, his hand leading the way down like he was stroking her arm. His touch made her shiver, or was that his eyes boring into her? He blinked, and she blinked, and they moved closer and closer, Zim tilted his head to the right and she tilted hers. Just when their mouths were almost touching, Zim came to his senses and pulled back, accidentally brushing against her arm, making Jed flinch.
"Sorry," he mumbled, his eyes on her arm again.
Their first kiss . . .
"I'm sorry I have to do this."
Jed nodded and closed her eyes, waiting for his hands to tighten around her neck while she suffocated and died, never knowing where her sister was, never seeing her again, never being decorated as an Invader, never seeing the end of Operation Impending Doom 2, never doing a lot of things she wanted to do in her life. She had lived over a hundred years, fifteen in Irken years and would never be proven stronger than Tak, whom she had rivaled and loved all her life.
When Zim said "I'm sorry I have to do this", she thought he meant kill her, but instead he moved closer despite the burning pain in his shoulder hurting him, and he moved his mouth towards hers, and they kissed, both of them moving into a world that they couldn't afford to be in, but both wanted to.
He took his hands from round her neck and pulled her up so they were sitting, her arms around his neck and his around her waist, and they were just kissing and kissing until the Computer began to sob with emotion and put them off.
Their moments of passion . . .
Zim walked right over to her, grabbed both her wrists in his hands and pushed her onto the bed. She struggled against him, calling out for MAX but he silenced her with his mouth on top of hers, crushing his lips into hers so she was helpless. She refused to kiss him back and head butted him. He staggered back, stunned, but still held onto her wrists. They were standing now, the back of Jed's legs against the soft bed.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" she spat, "After earlier, you DARE try to . . . "
"What was wrong with what happened earlier?" Zim retaliated, "I think I handled it pretty well, don't you think? Don't you? I could have handled it a lot worse, but as I am Zim, of course, that would never happen."
"You never change, do you?" Jed gasped, exasperated, her mouth open in slight disbelief, but then she never could really put much past Invader Zim. What his problem was that he didn't care as much as she did, and she loved him more than he loved her, which made her the one that would always chase after him forever, begging for love and attention. Zim shook his head.
"You made me change," he said softly, pushing his body up to hers and she tolerated him, only because she had completely and totally fallen for him, and wished with every fiber of her being that he was telling the truth, that he was the only one he cared about, and they could dominate the world together.
"Then why did you stop me from shooting Gaz and her brother?" she demanded, her common sense overtaking her passion for a second, and though she didn't know why she almost regretted saying it, and Zim looked at her for a moment, studying her, then nodded slowly, taking a step back, dropping her wrists reluctantly. Jed let her arms swing by her sides; she had no use for them just now.
"I don't know," he said truthfully, "I thought . . . I don't know what I thought, I didn't think you should. That's all."
Jed lowered her head, and saw Zim's shadow move forward towards her again, tilting her chin up to face him with a crooked gloved finger. He didn't have his disguise on anymore and they were both Irken again. "Oh Zim," she sighed, speaking softer than she had ever done before so only he could hear her, her mouth right where Zim's ears should be and knew he could hear, "what will we do when Tak comes?"
"That is a decision I, Zim, do not have to make, Jed!" Zim said, trying to control his voice volume but was getting all mighty and powerful again, "But it is a decision that you must make. On whose side will you fight, Jed? Mine or your sister's?"
"Don't ask me that," Jed made him promise, and Zim nodded, and now she let him lift her up and onto the bed and kiss her and hold her, and she wrapped herself around him and prayed it would last forever, even if it was the very last night they would spend in each other's arms.
That was when they had shared their last kiss, and it had never been enough.
Jed's last ever kiss.
There were so many things she had to say to Zim, so many things she wanted to apologise for, and she realised that she forgave him, but she could not say it while Gaz was there. She could not disrespect her dead sister by saying those things to someone she hated.
"Just do it, Zim," she pleaded, "prolong it and you'll only make it worse for everyone." She looked around. "Everyone here wants me dead, even myself. So you'll be doing me a favour. Just make it quick, alright?"
Zim regarded Jed seriously and knew there was no doubt in her eyes or her precarious voice. He switched the safeties off, tightened his hold on the trigger, took careful aim and . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Zim lowered the gun to his side. Gaz made an astonished noise from behind him but no one else made any noises or movements. Zim and Jed stood regarding each other for a long time. Jed suddenly gave him a slow, lingering smile which made Gaz think she knew she'd won.
"You may even want yourself dead, Jed," Zim said slowly, "but there is one person here who does not." Jed's eyes sprung to his in shock, and Gaz felt a trickle – no, more like a raging torrent of water – up her spine like jealousy taking hold of her like a magnet.
Jed saw he was serious, and not just sympathetic. But then she remembered Zim was either honest or sarcastic, at which he was shit at being. She hated to disrespect him.
"But you forget, my darling," she told him, not sarcastically, just ironically, "that I too have a gun."
And before Zim could fully understand her meaning, she had turned the gun in on herself, clicked off the safety and shoot herself in the stomach.
As she fell, there was nothing but Zim in her head, and when she hit the ground and opened her eyes for the last time, he was there. He was her only purpose. He was her dead end. He was her destiny. He was what she had lived for. He was what she was dying for right there and then. He was her all and end-all, but he was here.
He was here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Author's Note: Ohhh my God! I hate getting rid of Jed, I've come to quite like her despite her being an inputted character along with the best characters from J.V. Of course she doesn't match up to them but you know . . . I didn't really want to kill her but you lot are bloodthirsty maggots after original character's blood.
Thanks anyway for all your reviews for Jed's death and against, and I'm sorry this was such a serious chapter and how inexcusably long it took to be written and updated, but you know, you can't choose when you have writer's block, can you? No. Sorry!
But it is a long one, and probably the longest one that we'll have yet, but we'll see how it goes okay? Right, now . . . forgive me in my non- updatiness, but in the meantime check out my original stuffies on the fictionpress.com account. Username is Exegesis. Please? DANKE!
"Have heart, my dear, you're bound to be afraid, even if it's just for a few days, make it up for all this mess." – Run, Snow Patrol (probably the best album out so far this year, check them out they're from BELFAST!!!)
