The entire ship seemed to be nothing but an endless maze of dead ends and wrong turns. No matter which way I turned I always seemed to be running in the wrong direction. The halls were dimly lit and many were lined with animal cages, nightmares of creatures stretched their hands out toward me in pleading cries.
I had to ignore it though. It wasn't my problem. Dib was my problem. Finding Dib before he got himself killed was my problem.
My feet carried me faster than my mind could catch up. I was running on pure instinct and instinct wasn't getting me anywhere fast.
There were loud, clanging footfalls behind me but I didn't dare stop and turn around. Even if Dib was killed, there was no way I wasn't going to come out of this alive. It wasn't even a thought that was consciously on my mind.
The only thing I could think of was Dib.
There was no way he would be capable of defending himself if he was attacked by anything. Also…if the same beast that attacked him before struck again…there was no way to be sure he wouldn't breakdown completely.
The echoes of footfalls rang louder and louder in my ears but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. There was no way I would stop for something like this.
I could hear someone calling my name, but it was vague in the back of my mind. It was more of a soft whisper to me than a shout and it only suited as a distraction.
A hand clamped onto my shoulder and I gasped loudly as I was spun around. This was it…this was the end. It would be some guard ready to take me away and lock me in a chamber to wither and die. Who would Dib have to save him if I was gone?
Instead of a ray gun or a knife, I was met by Zim's finger. He shushed me harshly, a glare in his eyes.
" Do you want the entire ship to hear you?" He hissed, " Honestly, the incompetence I have to put up with around here!"
I smacked his hand away, annoyed that he had startled me as much as he had. He could have been anyone. How was I supposed to know it was just some stupid, harmless alien?
All was quiet between us for several moments. The silence wove its way around me, strangling me and frustrating me further. Zim stood his ground and stared me down.
It was the first time I had truly seen him competently and completely in command. This was clearly his territory and not mine. I didn't even know where I was, but he had been able to track me down and stun me. He could have killed me if he wanted to.
I was the first to break the silence.
" So…" I began uncertain, " What is this place?"
" It's an Irken prison barge." He answered sharply, " It delivers prisoners to the planet Dirt, where they are left to whither and die."
" And what are you doing here?" I asked carefully.
Zim didn't answer me for a long time. He stared off to the dark end of the hall, refusing to look my way. When he finally turned my way, he looked rather uncomfortable.
" I…I mean…" Zim's voice quivered as he turned away again, " My Tallests decided that this was best. They claim that I am a danger to all other Invaders.
" They said my reckless nature," He spat those words as though they were venom, " would only wind up only ruining all that they had created. They said that I was a menace and a mistake. So I…I…"
" You…what?" I said, wondering what his problem was.
" I WAS DECOMISSIONED!" He shouted at me, ignoring his own warning, " Are you happy now, Earthstink?"
I had been right. Zim had been fired. He'd been stripped of his title and everything he had by his rulers. I was amazed that he still held any respect for them at all.
" Now come with me. There's no time for any more of your silly Earth questions." He hushed us both.
Quickly he led me down hall after hall, not stopping for even a second. His every moment was precise and he seemed to know his way around like the back of his hand.
After a little while, it looked as though he was just getting us even more lost. Besides, he was locked up in that cage for a week. How could he possibly know where Dib was? How could he be so sure of himself?
I didn't even begin to trust Zim until he saved me from capture. He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me to the ceiling, letting my legs dangles toward the floor. His spider legs quickly latched on and just as I was about to kill him I saw an alien walk right where we had stood moments before waving a flashlight back and forth. My breath stopped short as the guard glanced around quick before walking away.
Zim gently lowered me to the floor, more concerned with keeping quiet and not getting caught than my safety. Wasting no time, he ran off and I tried to keep up as best as I could.
There was something different about Zim. I couldn't really put my finger on it either. Maybe it was in the way he held himself, or maybe it was the cold, scarred look in his eyes, but something had changed.
It was funny. I had never doubted myself once in my lifetime, but it seemed that this long stretch of hall was filled with regret and uncertainty. Danger and impending doom seemed almost definite at this point and it was too late to turn back. It was too late to run away to my GameSlave 2.
It was too late to do anything but follow Zim's lead.
Zim's boots clanked on the cold metal floor, icy sharp in my ears. He kept as far in the shadows as he could, and I followed.
I felt a shiver dance down my spine. Everything had become so unnerving and unbearable and nothing had even happened to me yet.
For the first time in my life I was really worried. I wasn't sure whether I was worried for myself of for Dib or for anything else really.
Sensing my distress, Zim paused. He didn't grace me with his face, but he did try to console me in his own twisted way.
" Pull yourself together Dib-sister." He said sharp and to the point, " You'll need to be on one toe in this place."
Despite his butchering of Earth terms, I understood what he meant. Acting frightened would have made me even more vulnerable than I already was. That point finally driven home, I calmed down. Besides, it probably wasn't any worse than any other danger Dib had gotten himself into. There probably wasn't anything to be afraid of.
" My name is Gaz." I glared, annoyed he had forgotten yet again.
Besides, it wasn't as though I was going to thank him.
Of course my comment was ignored. I was easily led down what seemed like miles and miles of pure hallway. I could have asked Zim if he knew at all where he was leading us, but I knew he wouldn't answer.
Just when I had begun to get used to the dim light of the halls, Zim grabbed me once more and pulled me into darkness. I squirmed, trying to break from his grip, but he just slipped a hand over my mouth to keep me from making any noise. It took me a few struggling moments before I realized we were in a cramped storage closet. Boxes and cupboards took up any extra space there may have been left for us. There couldn't have been more than a few feet of floor space for each of us. Through slits in the door I could see a pack of guards storm by. My mouth was released when Zim seemed certain they were gone.
" That was close," He said, letting me go, " We should probably stop and take some…precautions."
I didn't like the way he had said that. It meant that something was going to happen to me. My suspicious glance was hidden by dark shadow.
Zim reached behind his back and into the small metal shell on his back. I had never really noticed it before now, which was odd since he had his back to me most of the day. The shell had little red lights that glowed softly in the darkness.
When he brought his hands back into view, he was holding something strange. It looked like a pair of clear red suction cups with orange glue dripping off of the edges.
" Every Invader is issued replacement caps for their ocular implants," Zim explained, inching closer to me.
It finally dawned on me that he was going to try and stick those massive things in my eyes. I jumped back toward the door, but found that there was no safe place to run to.
" You know…I've never tried these on a human before." He said thoughtfully, as though he were trying to console me somehow.
Before I could even blink, he had them in my eyes. I shut them tightly, wincing at the pain. Whatever it was that Zim had placed in them hurt. I wanted to rub my eyes; they itched so badly. After a few moments, the pain subsided enough for me to open my eyes once more.
My world had been tinted red. It was as though someone had taken a vat of blood and poured it over my eyes, or maybe they had wrapped the room in red cellophane. I wondered vaguely if this was what Zim saw everyday. It would certainly explain any morbidness in him.
" Of course they're not as efficient as the complete model," Zim continued his explanation, " But in order to use those we'd have to pull your eyeballs from your head."
Suddenly I was glad he hadn't tried that method.
Zim cocked his head to the side, staring long and hard at me and my new eyes. Sighing, he shook his head.
" Nope." He said, " There's still something missing…but what?"
He stared me up and down, eyes locked in concentration. I raised an eyebrow, wondering just what he was up to. I was so busy thinking about it that I didn't see the probes coming until they were only an inch from my face. My eyes widened and I tried to scramble away once again.
Zim wouldn't allow it. He grabbed me by the chin and pulled my head down. His other hand carefully held me against the door. I could hear the electricity sparking from the probe, but I couldn't see what was going on. Whatever he was doing though, it didn't seem to hurt.
Finally he let me drop to the floor roughly. He smirked proudly with his hands on his hips and laughed.
" There! PERFECT!" He said.
I slowly stood up, trying to figure out what he had done to me. My knees shock a little, almost afraid to find out. I brought my hand up in front of my face. At least he hadn't made my skin green. Slowly, my hand traveled up my head to the top. I paused when I didn't touch my bangs.
No way. He wouldn't have dared.
My hands reached two unfamiliar stalks that seemed to grow out of my head. Upon further inspection, I realized Zim had used his probes to spin my hair into antennae shaped stalks.
I could feel my anger rising as Zim rambled on.
" Yes, you are the perfect Irken!" He said, inflating his ego even more, " Now remember, Irkens are ruthless! You can be ruthless, can't you?"
In a sudden bout of energy and rage my hands were on the collar of his shirt, lifting him into the air.
" You'll see just how ruthless I can be if my hair doesn't go back the way it's supposed to," I sneered, meeting him eye to eye.
Even if I wasn't much of a prissy girly girl, I still liked my hair. I did NOT like having it forced into freakish spikes on my head however.
I dropped Zim to the ground hard and stepped away to keep myself from kicking the stuffing out of him. He sat up and rubbed his head.
" Ugh…an Irken if I ever saw one…" He groaned.
I had a feeling I looked about as Irken as a paper bag.
" Zim, this disguise isn't going to fool anyone." I sighed, " I'm still the wrong color and I still have ears and a nose. How am I going to explain that one, huh?"
" NONSENSE!" He shouted, " Now, over there is cupboard full of uniforms. Go pick out a package and get in costume. I am NOT dressing you, you filthy human."
" I wouldn't want you to." I spat back as I walked by.
Zim crossed his arms and turned away from me. Whether it was out of courtesy or whether it was that he didn't want to see my pathetic pale Earth body I didn't know. Either way I was grateful.
The uniform was a bit too loose on me and it smelled like mothballs. It must have been designed for a bigger or maybe an older Irken. My arms were swimming in the black gloves and the boots had to be tied on tightly or I would not be able to walk. My back was cold from the giant hole in the back of the uniform and the little shoulder triangles (which seemed quite useless for anything other than decoration) kept moving around and grew extremely frustrating.
I stepped back over to Zim, who feigned shock when I tapped his shoulder. He squinted in my direction.
" Oh it's just you." Zim said, " For a second I thought another Irken had found us!"
…Was he really that stupid? Judging by the look on his face, a wicked grin in my direction; he was just trying to mess with me. It wasn't a gesture I appreciated at that moment.
Switching roles I turned my back as he discarded his bloodied torn uniform in exchange for another. When he finally allowed me to turn around I noticed his uniform was too large as well. The shirt alone hung just over the tops of his boots. It didn't seem to bother Zim in the slightest however.
" Hm…now what could we use for a PAK?" He said distractedly, glancing around the room.
Zim moved away from me and began to rummage through box upon box until at last he pulled out one he like. It was oval in shape and it looked like the sort of box a fancy hat would be packaged in. I watched the probe poke it's way out of Zim's…PAK, did he call it? He held the box still while the probe burned markings into it, sparking blue electricity everywhere.
I felt my hand rise it's way up to my hair again and I wondered if the electricity was safe for it.
Finally, when Zim seemed satisfied with his creation, the probe was sucked back within Zim's PAK. He reached into another box and pulled out some grey duct tape and began furiously wrapping the box with it. When he was completely done, he held the box high above his head, a mark of victory.
Zim turned me around and before I could even try to escape he had begun to tape the box right onto my back, ignoring my new uniform entirely. When he finally shoved me away, I couldn't help but reach behind me to touch the newest piece of my costume.
" Ugh! What is with you humans and TOUCHING everything?" He grimaced, " Would you put your filthy hands in a vat of ACID if you had never seen it before?"
Unfortunately, I knew many people that would. Of course, I wasn't quite that moronic.
Despite his annoyance, he seemed satisfied with my disguise. I wasn't though. I knew my disguise was horrible and pitiful and that it would never work in a million years. I was just going to stand out more and it was even more likely that I would be caught.
During all of this, Zim's attitude had completely changed. He had gone from being cold and heartless to…well, the way he usually is. He had reverted to his normal stupid self and there was something in him that had been missing when he was hanging from those chains. It wasn't that bad actually. The atomosphere around us had been light and joking, inspite of our serious new circumstances.
At almost the drop of a pin though, Zim's eyes were iced and hard once again. The tense emotions returned and any evidence that he had ever smiled was gone.
" We should get going." He said harshly, " It's not good to stay in one spot for too long, especially not here."
Without looking back to see if I had followed, he carefully opened the door and peered out into the hall. He vaguely motioned me foreword, tense as ever, deciding that the coast was clear.
The change in his attitude annoyed me to no end. If he was going to treat me one way, then he needed to keep treating me that way and not change the rules in the middle of the game. Zim was a dirty lying cheater and there was nothing I could do but follow and hope that I wasn't being lead into a trap.
Zim turned out into the hall and shutting the door behind me I followed. He threw just one glance at me before taking off.
" There isn't much time," He said, unblinking and unfeeling, "We'll have to hurry."
Before I knew it, he was running off, and somehow…
Somehow, I found myself running right behind him.
(A/N: Thanks for all of the excellent reviews! This one's here a little later than I expected, with skool trying to take over my life and whatnot. So please R&R and I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. : ) )