It hadn't taken me very long to get myself thoroughly lost in the depths of the greasy spaceship. I tried hard to not to let it bother me. Eventually I'd find my way back, even if I had to walk through the entire ship five times over.
The halls looked as though they hadn't been cleaned in years (which now that I think about it…they probably hadn't). The walls held suspicious dark stains that greeted me no matter which way I turned.
One turn led me somewhere particularly interesting though. I was met by rowdy noise and excitement. There were hundreds of rusty prison cells, each filled over capacity and each with every convict trying to stick their heads out of the bars. I even saw smaller captives get squashed as bigger ones shoved their way through.
Some of them were Irkens like Zim. Some were of varied other species of various colors and sizes. There didn't seem to be any humans though.
Their cries of joy filled the air as each one saw me. They begged me and pleaded me and some cried out happily.
" Help us! Oh please, please SAVE US!"
" You're our only hope! Please save us, Mistress!"
" Where's Zim?" I asked them coolly.
The room went silent. Any cheeriness that had been in this room of horror show freaks had evaporated into thin air. I knew they knew though. These captives knew where Zim was.
" WHERE is he?" I asked again, anger surging through me as my hands formed fists.
Finally, one meek, lanky blue alien spoke up. His red eyes were wide with fear and his three fingered hands gripped the bars tightly.
" You…you want to see Zim?" He said, hushed and quick.
" Yeah, you got a problem with that?" I raised an eyebrow.
Whispers slowly filled the room as the aliens spoke in hurried tones.
" She wants to see Zim?"
" Is she insane? He's a menace!"
" Menace, menace, menace…"
" He's a danger to everyone around him!"
" Yeah, he'd kill us all if he could!"
I raised an eyebrow again. These were not things that usually described Zim. Usually words like arrogant, stupid, and moron did the job nicely. It made me wonder if Zim's reason for being in that place was valid…and it made me wonder just what that reason was.
" Well?" I asked, growing impatient.
All went silent again. The blue alien who had spoken earlier slowly stuck a thin and weak arm through the bars and pointed further up the hallway.
" That way…" he croaked, " He's that way…"
I didn't bother to thank them as I turned and headed for the door at the end of the hall. Soft whispers trailed behind me, swirling around throughout the room. They were whispers of truth and lies and things in between. Whispers were always that way, especially on Earth.
It was only proof that nothing changes, no matter where you go in the universe.
You could have heard a pin drop when I opened the door. There was no looking back as I entered and shut the door behind me. Maybe they wept for me. Maybe they talked about how stupid I was. I didn't really care though.
The room was dark. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. What I could see…was a pair of glowing red eyes, staring back at me.
…Zim…
I scrambled around for a light switch. I needed to see him. I need to see his stupid green skin and his stupid antennae and his stupid everything.
I needed to make sure he was okay…for Dib's sake.
With a soft click of a dusty switch, light slowly faded into the room. It was still very dim, but Zim writhed and squinted like it was the sun.
His uniform was torn and coated in dark liquid that I could only assume was Irken blood. Battered and bruised, he raised his head slowly toward me. It was an awkward movement, as he'd been chained tightly to the wall by his wrists and ankles. He was raised high, so that he wouldn't even have a floor to stand on, thus he hung limp and tired.
Still, he strained himself and desperately tried to hang straight as he spoke to me.
" You're…" He started, coughing a bit, " You're Dib-sister."
" I have a name you know." I said dangerously.
He ignored my comment. His eyes were wide in surprise. My guess was that he hadn't seen anyone in days.
" What are you doing here?" He asked, softly bewildered.
" I came here to save your sorry behind." I glared, " It's driving Dib crazy, which is getting really irritating."
Zim absentmindedly looked at the ceiling.
" I thought he was already crazy." He said.
" Yeah, but this time he's really crazy." I looked away, so he wouldn't see my concern, " The only talking he does is in insane rambles about the apocalypse or something like that. Something scared him really bad I think."
I glared up at him, " What did you do to him?"
" WHAT? I didn't do anything to that filthy human! I know not of this apocalypse he speaks of!" He shouted angrily.
" He started acting like this after he came back from YOUR base." I yelled back at him with a thundering fury, " This HAS to be your fault. There's no other explanation."
Zim huffed in annoyance.
" It's his own fault." He muttered, " He shouldn't have gotten involved."
I paused at that for a moment.
" Involved in what, exactly?" I asked harshly, not sure if I should press on.
" Your pathetic brother saw my…notice of leave…and decided that he was going to be a good guy and help me." Zim sneered, " As though he could."
Ah. So Zim had been fired.
I glanced around at our surroundings, deciding I would hate to be fired by his superiors if this would be my fate.
" When someone was sent to…assist in my departure…I needed to double check some things in my cupboard exit portal." He continued through his pointy teeth, " Your brother tried to cover for me."
Since there was no cupboard exit portal from what I could remember of the house, I assumed he meant something along the lines of " They came to take me away and I was terrified and hid in my cupboards". It would certainly explain why they were smashed. Of course, Zim's pride would never allow him to admit this.
" My Tallest had acquired some assistance from a rather brutal alienoid, who attacked the Dib-human to get him to reveal my whereabouts." Zim explained, " He also said some things, but I couldn't quite hear them. I watched the whole thing though."
" Weren't you were double-checking things?" I asked, amused that he'd carelessly slipped up.
He ignored my comment of course.
" Finally, the monstrous vistor slammed your brother into the wall and requested that I accompany him to his ship, conveniently parked overhead." Zim spoke bitterly, each word forced out harder than the next.
My eyes guided me around the room once more. It looked more like an animal pen than a prison cell. Straw lay over the ground and the only real sign that it was used for something other than filthy creatures was the metal barred door between us and the chains hanging him above. There was something that wouldn't leave me. There was one thought I had in my head.
" But…why would they put you in here if you were just being fired?" I asked, " I mean…wouldn't they just send you off? Why would they keep you around?"
" I was NOT FIRED!" Zim screamed, " I don't even know the MEANING of those horrible words! True invaders are not so…INCOMPETENT asto be recalled from duty! I AM AN INVADER! I AM!"
Each word seemed to pierce Zim harder and harder as he tried to convince himself of his lies. His eyes were wide in sad horror, as though he knew the truth but was bound tight to his denial. He struggled in his chains, hands balling into hard fists.
Unfortunately for him, I didn't feel like being a therapist today. I had spotted the keys hanging on the door long ago. I took them and worked quickly to find the key that would open the door to Zim's chamber. It wasn't long before I shoved open the door and stared long and hard at the alien before me.
" Look Zim." I said, " I don't particularly care if you're an invader or not. I just need to get you out of here, find Dib, and go home."
With that I set out to unlock his chains on tiptoe, somehow expecting some kind of thank you. What I wasn't expecting though, was for Zim to grab me. He did though; he spun me around and shook me, his chains clattering gracefully against the wall.
" WHY on IRK did you leave him ALONE HERE?" He shouted at me, worry painted on his face.
I had never seen Zim like this. From what I had seen of him, he'd never shown concern for another creature before. What did it matter if Dib was gone? Didn't that just make things easier for him?
The serious look on his face said otherwise. He gripped so tightly on my shoulders that it began to hurt after only seconds. I would have pulled away sooner if it hadn't been for his next words.
" You STUPID HUMAN!" He said loudly, " He's going to DIE now because of your foolishness."
Somehow, everything froze with that statement. That serious look was locked on Zim's face forever and I felt a shiver race down my spine.
That was right…I had been so careless. Anything could be out there waiting for Dib. He…he knew too! He didn't want to split up, that's right! Dib had known this would happen!
This was bad…Dib was in danger. Before I knew it, I was out of Zim's hands and running down the hallway again. I was deaf to the moans and cries of the prisoners as I zoomed past them all. Vague footfalls along with the echoing cries of prisoners followed closely behind me behind me as I rounded corners and only got myself even more lost.
It didn't matter though. Nothing mattered unless Dib was all right. He had to be.
He just…had to be…
(A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews everyone! Unfortunately, school starts for me on Monday. I'm going to try and keep the updates as regular as they have been, but don't be surprised if it becomes a whole week between some of the updates. School tends to eat my life like that…so please R&R and I will get the next chapter ASAP! : ) )