Disclaimer: Nickelodeon, Invader Zim and all related titles, characters, and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. (yes, I copied that from my DVD box). I don't own this stuff. I'm just an obsessed fan. I only created SMNM-X (or X, as he is known earlier on), the SMNMs, and Zeffie for the purpose of this and other fanfictions). Thank you, Jhonen Vasquez and everyone else who helped make Zim a reality.
DREAMS OF DARK APOCALYPSE
By SMNM-X
Prologue
X darted between the shadows of the alley, his highly trained vision picking up even the smallest landmarks, of which the city had few. The planet of Irk was populated with many identical buildings, but X new every one from every other. He had to. It was life or death for him.
The huge Irken capital city had always been easy to maneuver without capture, but new security was being instated to keep crime at bay. The sprawling city stretched out across the planet for hundreds of miles, and information travelled slowly. And it was insanely rich, packed with cumulative wealth of the hundreds of planets enslaved to the Irken Empire. In short, it was a thief's paradise.
This particular thief stopped and scampered up a long energy pipe. HIs darkened, mud-splattered shirt flapped around him in the wind, his skin showing through the holes from many rips. His green eyes flashed when the sunlight found its way through the polluted atmosphere and lit up the shadows.
The pipe ound its way up the tall slum buildings, often forcing him to climb upside down to navigate some of the more claustrophobic squeezes between buildings, when it narrowed to tunnel into the houses. X could have used the military-issue spider-legs attached to his Pak, but then the tracking device implanted in all military Paks would be able to transmit his location again. The nullifier he had added wouldn't function with part of the Pak open.
Finally the pipe curved up to the roof of the final slum in the block. X leapt lightly onto the sloping, eroding rooftop and crouched down instantly. After many years of practice, he required no time to rest after the long climb, and instantly his eyes darted around for danger.
Slowly, cautiously, he stood up. He breathed deeply. The stench of the slum district was lessened up here. He had chosen this building specifically, as he could see for many miles across the city from this particular vantage point. He longed to go and live in the richer, less crowded districts a few miles off, but he needed to hideout here. Crime was so high in the slums that no one would notice another crook hiding in their building. The other parts of the city were just for work, under the cover of night.
Sighing deeply, X leapt off the roof, and landed, cat-like, on the ground eight stories below. He rose, turned around, and received, free of charge, a fist in the face from the Hobo guard waiting for him.
X blacked out.