Chapter 18
Cutting the Strings
The hallways of the Massive echoed with the screams. A few stray lasers whizzed through the air before Dib appeared around the corner with Gir hanging off the fringe of his black jacket. Closely following were three Irken guards aimed with laser guns.
The Earth boy ran for his life as the SIR with him cackled in enjoyment. This was but the newest state of affairs he and Gir got themselves into. Before this it was the room with the mini life support systems where Gir let loose a blood thirsty black thing at Dib. After just barely escaping that while hiding from one of the wandering guards, Gir began singing the tune from the Bloaty's Pizza Hog commercial, in the open, in front of the guard, while dancing. This soon led up to the present screaming and two extra Irkens.
"This is all your fault!" Dib shouted behind him at the SIR unit.
"Aaaaw, I luv you too!" Gir answered back.
A laser hit Dib's spike and caught fire. He franticly patted the top of his head to put it out.
Suddenly the ship trembled and tiled to one side, throwing Dib as well as the guards on the floor. The human came to his knees and looked around.
"What was that?" He voiced.
"What was that!" Red shouted.
He and Purple were surrounded by monitoring screens displaying the repair of the blown out hanger door. On the TVs the repairers ran around in a panic not knowing what was happening now.
"Computer! Run a damage check throughout the whole ship!" Red commanded. Seconds later an electronic voice answered by saying, "Minor damage sustained to outer left region. Power lost in areas A-1 through F-5."
"That's where the soda storage is! NOOO!" Purple sobbed.
"Open a video link to the outside now!" Red ordered. A new screen appeared in front of the Tallest. At first there wasn't anything but the outskirts of space. Red and Purple leaned in closer to the display.
"…Wait, what is that?" Purple pointed out a small 'spot'. It grew bigger and bigger as it got closer to the ship. Suddenly a beam of light shot from the spot and the Massive quaked once more.
"We're under attack!" Purple said.
"By WHO!" Red shouted. "Computer! Zoom in!"
The system obeyed and the view of the attacker was brought into light. The Tallest's eyes swelled in size.
"FIRE!"
Zim called out and Rogue obeyed. She had one hand holding onto Zim's while the other blasted at the Massive. At the same time her jet-pack moved them closer to the ship.
"Think we rattled them a bit? Rogue asked.
"One more for the fun of it." Zim said with a grin.
Rogue smiled and complied.
A third attack shook the ship and brought nearly everyone to their knees. All the guards and other Irkens were running in a panic; there were neither sign nor announcement of an incoming attack. The third assault had blacked out the whole left side of the Massive.
Just then Red's voice boomed throughout the vessel and everyone stopped dead to listen.
"Attention! Do not be alarm! All armed Irkens broad their ships and exit through the right region as fast as possible! Be on the look out for Irken Rogue! Shoot her down on sight! Do you all hear me! Don't let her on this ship!"
Dib and Gir found themselves alone again in a different area of the gigantic ship. This time they've made their way to the hangers. They stood at the entrance of the very hanger where Zim was taken before. Dib watched as a whole mess of Irkens ran around screaming even after the Tallest's message over the speakers.
"Did I just hear that guy say that Rogue was attacking the ship?" Dib asked himself. "Then what happened to Zim?"
The boy's answer came blasting through the half repaired hanger door. Metal and debris flew up in everyone's face. Rogue came in and hovered in the air looking around. The other Irkens freaked out and all headed for the only exit.
Dib and Gir were trampled by dozens of alien feet.
When the room was clear Rogue placed Zim down and went back over the newly made hole. It wasn't as big as the first one but none the less, she picked up a piece of scrape metal, placed it over the gap and used the heat from her gems as a welder to seal it shut.
Recovering from the feet Dib staggered up and looked at the returning Irkens. He immediately noticed Zim's bandage and the blood still staining through it. The human couldn't help but cringe at the sight of it.
"What happened to you?" He asked in a curious tone rather then a concerned one.
Zim's head shot up to that voice. "Dib! Why are YOU still-?" He fell to his knees and grabbed his side.
"No fighting with the human right now, Zim!" Rogue said. She finished closing the hole and walked over to him. "The wound will reopen if you're reckless."
Zim forced himself to stand. "…I'll be fine! No stab through the side is gonna stop me!" He walked towards the hanger entrance passing by Dib. The human could tell he was in pain, a lot of it. This would have been his chance to take him down if a curtain cybrog wasn't watching.
Gir hopped to his feet seeing his master. "…Aww, Zim gots a boo-boo!" He cooed.
"Gir, I need you to go back to the Voot and wait for me to contact you." Zim said. He cringed for a moment. "We'll be leaving in a hurry so get it ready for an immediately take off."
"He didn't know where we were the whole time I was with him!" Dib voiced his option. Rogue shot the human a look for talking.
"Yes, my Lord!" Gir's eyes flashed red and he ran out of the hanger.
"Hey! Didn't you just hear me?" Dib said.
"Not really." Rogue said to him.
"My robot is built with a homing mechanism so he can find the ship on his own." Zim explained. "Good thing you didn't know about that, uh Dib?" He flashed him a sarcastic smirk.
"…I hate you." Dib replied.
"We're set on what we're doing, right Zim?" Rogue asked.
Zim nodded. "When you give the signal, Gir and I will-"
His sentence was interrupted when the huge monitoring screen from before came back down and displayed Red and Purple's faces.
"ROGUE! What are you doing!" Red shouted in an angry tone. "We told you to destroy Zim! You disobeyed twice now. What were you thinking attacking our ship!"
The female alien turned to the screen and aimed her gem up at it. "Shut up." She fired and busted the screen.
The Tallest stood in front of a blank monitor.
"…I don't know how it happened but Rogue has been broken from her override." Red said in a low angry voice. He looked down at his wrist. "I can't even get a signal anymore. She's acting all on her own now."
"All this and Zim is still alive! What is it gonna take!" Purple shouted.
A thought hit Red. "Those ships are still out there looking for her."
"I'll call them back." Purple said.
"No…not yet." Red said. "I've got an idea…"
Zim and Rogue ran down the halls of the Massive with Dib tagging behind. At the end of the passage two guards spotted them and readied their weapons. The cybrog fired her own weapons and disarmed the guards. They tried to run for it by Rogue brought them down and knocked both of them out.
Zim picked up on of the laser guns the Irkens had. With his PAK damaged he needed a little firepower for himself. Dib stole the idea and took the other gun for himself. He looked it over before it went off and scorched one of the walls.
"Hey! Don't touch one of those unless you know how to use it." Rogue remarked.
"We should be near the fuel room." Zim said. "The way to the Control Brain room was this way, right?"
"Yeah, just beyond this point then hang a right, but we'll be going left." Rogue answered.
"The fuel room?" Dib stated.
Just then the light on Rogue's PAK went off. Her looked at it but said nothing.
"It's them…" Zim said sternly. "They'll know we'll be in the fuel room."
"…Let them know." Rogue said. "I'm not afraid of them."
They continued down the corridor. A faint stench hit the air; a sign they were getting close. The halls grew bigger as they got closer. They finally reached the doorway to the fuel room. Rogue punched through it and tore it clean off its hinges.
The area was shaped like a sphere with a two huge cylinder shaped energy containers in the middle. Inside a bright red liquid glowed and bubbled through the thick windows around the metal. Vast tubes connected the liquid throughout the whole room and throughout the rest of the ship as well.
"…Woooah." Dib said looking up at the vastness of it.
"Alright! Get to it!" Zim said.
"Right." Rogue answered. She went up to the middle and to the right cylinder. She bend down and proceeded to raise her gem from its socket as the sound of pounding feet could be heard coming down the hall towards them.
"They're coming!" Dib said.
"Hurry Rogue!" Zim shouted.
The cybrog revealed a series of connections from under her gems and hooked them up to one of the boards of the fuel tanks. A hologram screen appeared and showed the temperature of the tanks. With a press of a button she began their plan.
"Once this starts, we'll have 15 minutes to get back to the Voot." Rogue said.
"That's what you think."
A flash of light stuck Rogue's arm and all of her connections were cut from the fuel tank. At the other side of the room were Red and Purple as well and a horde of guards backing them. One of the guards in front had fired at Rogue's arm.
"Planning on overheating the tanks, uh?" Red said.
Zim growled while Dib tried to figure out the laser he had. Rogue stood up and shot a glare to the Tallest. Her one arm was burned out thanks to that sudden attack. The gem on it had lost its interior glow. She uttered a curse under her breath.
"You were waiting for us, weren't you?" She said.
"That's right. And now there isn't anywhere for you to run." Purple said.
"Spare me." The female Irken said in a cynical tone. "We were in a situation like this before, remember? And this time your bug has been removed. You can't do a thing to me now."
"I think you better reconsider that, because at this moment the entire outside is crawling with armed vessels waiting for you to show your face!" Red said. "Even if you got back to your ship, you wouldn't get too far."
Zim grit his teeth, forcing himself not to charge right at the two tall ones. He'd be shot on the spot by one of the guards around them. Dib was trembling some but did his best not to show it.
"Give yourself up Rogue!" Red said. "This little game had gone long enough. And that goes for you too Zim."
"Never!" The Irken protested. "I'm not giving up yet!"
"You always didn't know when to stop, did you?" Purple said.
"Stop what?" Zim asked.
"You know…the stuff that you do…that brings pain to others!" Purple added.
"Yes! I am very good with pain bring." Zim boosted.
"Enough already!" Red shouted. The security Irkens pointed their guns at the three. "Drop your weapons and come with us quietly."
The thought of firing lasers at the Tallest's head was gradually growing more and more tempting for Zim. Weighting out the odds he ended up placing the gun on the floor near his feet. He turned his head to the Dib. "Drop it." He whispered to the human.
Dib didn't waste a second following that order. His fingers let loose the handle of the gun. The instant it hit the floor, the laser went off. The beam of hot light ricocheted off the ceiling, then the floor, back to the ceiling; everyone hit the ground and covered their heads.
The three fugitives ducked behind one of the two tubes and watched out for the wild beam. The Tallest and the guards backing them laid flat on the metal flooring. In the middle of the confusion another shot was fired and stunk one of the sentinel Irkens, throwing the alien backwards. Rogue's glowing gem appeared around their hiding place then disappeared again.
"Your orders, my Tallest!" One of the other Irkens shouted. The stray laser finally found a resting place at the edge of Red's long robe. It caught on fire but was quickly put out by the Irkens standing close to him.
"Don't fire! The room would just bounce back everything!" Red shouted.
Behind the shining cylinder the three played a deadly waiting game with the Irken leaders. Rogue was tinkering with the arm the guards had shot. The internal tech in her left arm was fried. The only thing she could do with it was move it but the all other functions were down in that one arm.
"Can you fix it?" Zim asked in a low voice.
She shook her head. "I couldn't repair this without some special tools, which I don't have…" She let loose a hard, stressed sigh. She glared up at Dib for a moment. "For once your interference proofed somewhat helpful. Don't touch any more guns."
Zim's body began to tense up under the pressure. "Can you still overheat the fuel with just one arm?"
Rogue hung her head. "…I doubt it. I'm now just running on half power with my arm out of commission. I wouldn't be able to gain enough power to overheat the tanks." She hid her face in her hands. "…I screwed up again."
"No, you didn't." Zim replied. Rogue rose her head up. "You still have one gem working, right? Use that!"
The words of the male Irken were forceful and maybe even selfish, but something about them caused Rogue to see something. Just like what Red and Purple said before, he didn't know when to give up. If there was just a hint of hope, just a miniature chance he'd do everything in his being to take it. That was enough to rekindle her vigor.
"…Get ready to run." She stated. Her right gem slowly gave off its crimson glow.
"Run? Where to?" Dib said.
"This didn't concern you, you do realize that." Zim said. "If you want to live then that's your problem."
"Listen." Rogue said. "I'll hold them off while you out of here. Once you're in the clear call on Gir to bring in the Voot."
"But all the ships outside…" Zim added.
"You have a good chance." She said. "The Auto Defense that was in my old ship was installed into ours. Just tell Gir to activate that when he closes in on those other ships."
Zim then asked, "What about you?"
Rogue didn't say anything right away. She contemplated that question for a minute. "…I'll be fine." She turned her whole body towards Zim. "I'll be right behind you, I promise."
A strange ease passed over Zim just then. He believed she would be ok but at the same time he didn't want to abandon her. She was injured; not badly but in the present condition of things her fighting potential was cut in half.
"…Don't you dare die on me."
With those words Zim got up and lunged towards the door out of the fuel room. A shot was fired at him but he dodged it. Dib soon followed as the room began to echo with laser fire. Dozens of beams bounced off the metal interior.
"Stop it you idiots!" Red shouted as he and Purple ducked out of the way of the crossfire.
Rogue dived out from behind her hiding place and began blasting away. Three consecutive fires knocked three guns out of three Irkens' hands. The speed of her shots was incredible. Seconds afterward two stray beams nailed her in the back. This surprise attack only dazed her for a second before she regain her senses.
"Fire on HER!" Red commanded.
The two rivals ran though the Massive. The sounds of the battle inside the fuel room slowly faded into the background behind them. Zim paused and looked behind him. Dib ran past him before he too stopped.
"What are you doing?" The human asked.
Zim took a minute to reflect on things. Here he was, running away from the Tallest, leaving Rogue to take them on herself. Somehow that just didn't sit well with him. Sure, she said she'd be fine. She was still strong enough hold her own. But the last time they parted ways for whatever reason…
Zim forced the thoughts out of his head and continued on his way. He passed by Dib without answering his earlier question. The human silently pondered to himself before giving up. He resumed following the alien.
The two rushed through the long halls and large doorways. It seemed that thanks to Rogue's presents there was no one around to watch over the passageways of the ship. There were still a few levels to go before Zim planned to contact Gir back at the Voot.
The fuel room roared with laser fire. Loose beams continued to threat the air as Rogue dodged and shot. There were only a few guards left and the Tallest continued to hide behind them. A few of the Irkens had run away in fear abandoning their orders and their leaders.
Rogue evaded another bout of lasers by dive rolling on the floor. While rolling she unleashed a bout of her own. Her attack brought down the last of the guards. Red and Purple were finally wide open.
The cybrog leaped up and aimed her gems at the Tallest. "Checkmate."
Red and Purple hovered with stunned looks on their faces. Even with just one laser functioning Rogue stood victorious.
"What's the matter? You look surprised." Rogue spoke with a grin. "Did you honestly think a group of Irken guards would save you? You two are getting more desperate."
"Don't shoot us!" Purple cried out.
"Shut up, you idiot!" Red snapped back. He looked back at Rogue. "…Have you stopped and thought about what this all will lead to, Rogue?"
The female Irken's expression didn't change.
"We could easily just let you go. Your right, we're no match for you, it's clear!" Red displayed his best smirk. "However, as soon as you go, everyone will hear about your retaliation to the Empire, and you'll become a wanted alien. Your face will be plastered on every planet under Irken rule! How does a life of running from every bounty hunter in the known universe sound to you?"
Rogue's face still refused to alter. Her gem continued to give off a soft but growing glow.
Red continued. "And not just that, we'll mark Zim as a danger as well. He did mean to bring harm to us. Under law, he's a wanted Irken now! And even with his dumb luck he wouldn't last long as an outlaw."
"Ye-yeah! That right!" Purple finally spoke up. "Both you and Zim will be the most wanted fugitives in space! We'll place a HUGE price on your heads!"
Rogue finally may her own remark. "…That's funny. Could that mean that you two are afraid of him now?"
The Tallest didn't answer that one. Red just shook his head and laughed. "That's not it! We just want him out of our sights for good! He's been a burden to us and everyone since the day he was born."
"But if someone you know suddenly becomes a threat then it's natural to be in fear of them from here on out." Rogue said. "Then you would do everything in your power to protect yourself, like hide behind others."
"What are you trying to say?" Red said.
Rogue raised her other arm up and flashed her two claws. "You now have two Irkens to worry about and that has upped your anxiety, am I right?"
The Tallest still had nothing to say there.
"Besides…" She lowered her arms and placed them to her side. "…Who said I was going to leave this ship alive?"
Zim and Dib had arrived at the front of the Massive; the main hanger bay. Again, there weren't any guards to worry about, but the display window in front of them clearly showed the squad of ships waiting to attack.
"Ok!" Zim's PAK opened and a tiny metal sphere come hovering out in front of him. A hologram of Gir appeared from out of the ball.
"Hiii!" Gir welcomed his master over the transmission.
"Gir! Bring the cruiser over to the front!" Zim commanded, and then added, "When you see the group of ships, activate the Auto Defense program!"
"Yay! Ok!" Gir waved goodbye before the screen disappeared and the hologram ball returned to Zim's PAK.
Outside the Massive the squadron of Irken vessels waited for their target. Within a few minutes a lone Voot appeared around the side of the huge command ship. Inside the little SIR grin as he pressed the round glowing button on the panel that read, 'Auto Defense'.
The Voot cruiser hummed as the computer announced, "Auto Defense Activated". The ship took control of itself and blasted towards the front. Right away the pilots caught sight of the new ship.
Seeing that it wasn't one of their own, the first few ships fired at will. The beams were canceled out by the sudden launch of the Voot's energy defense shield; an extra left behind by Rogue's older ship. Next was the ship's auto artillery on the front. A built-in targeting system singled out each enemy ship and fired. Three blasts, three vessels shot down. Inside the cockpit Gir watched through the front window like it was all a movie.
Just inside the Massive Zim and Dib were getting a good view of the battle outside. The human couldn't help but stare through the glass as the explosions and lasers were like an extreme display of fireworks.
"Perfect!" Zim shouted. "Once that threat is out of the way, we've off this ship!" He paused for a moment and looked behind him. He wondered what was keeping Rogue…
The fuel room was quiet before Red spoke up saying, "What do you mean by that, Rogue?"
"Are you finally giving up?" Purple asked hopefully.
The sound of the battle outside reached them. The Tallest jerked around confused at first by the noise.
"What was that?" Purple said.
"That would be your ships being attacked by Zim." Rogue blurted out.
Red immediately grew hot with anger. "WHAT! How can one ship take on a dozen fighter crafts!"
A creepy smile appeared on Rogue's face. "It's a secret."
"You answer me, you little cheat!" Red shouted. He hovered right over to her, shot his hand downward and grabbed Rogue by the rim of her uniform. The Irken cybrog wasn't the slightly intimidated by this. She just continued to smile.
"Wipe that grin off your face!" Red said. His face was so close to Rogue she could smell his breath. She took this opportunity and spit right into the Tallest's face. He dropped her to tend to his facade.
"You just earn yourself a death wish, Rogue." Red hissed.
She got back up on her own two feet and calmly dusted her clothes off. "…That's just fine. Didn't I say I wasn't planning on leaving here alive?"
"Then you better come quietly." Red declared.
Without saying a word, Rogue slowly raised her arms beside herself. "Let's get this over with then."
Red and Purple both grin as they moved in closer.
"…Gotcha." They both worded.
"…No, got you."
Rogue's gems flashed and lifted from their oval settings. Dozens of thin wires flew out and stuck themselves on the walls and fuel tubes in the room. Seconds later the pods on her PAK opened and even more wires materialized and came into contact with the walls and tubes.
"What are you doing!" Red said.
The wiring began to embed into the tough metal interior. Suddenly surges of energy released from Rogue's body and merged into anything a wire was touching.
The Tallest's faces lost all of its color. "What are you doing!" They both screamed.
Her face hung to the floor before it slowly rose up and glared back at the taller ones. They were set back at what they saw. The cybrog's gaze was somewhat dull and robotic looking. She opened her mouth and spoke to them in a tone that reminded them of a Control Brain; partly organic and partly mechanical.
"I have fully tapped into the Massive's hard frame. I am now one with this ship."
The last group of enemy ships had fallen victim to the 'phantom' Voot. Gir cheered then called his Master.
Zim's PAK popped out the hologram ball from before and showed Gir's mug on the screen.
"Da baddies are all gone!" The little SIR announced.
Zim was hesitance at first to Gir's good news. Rogue had still to show up. He looked back once again before giving his robot his next order. "Now, Gir, ram the ship into the hanger door!"
"Okidoki!" Gir replied.
Seconds afterwards the hanger door had a new opening with the Voot's front end sticking into the Massive. The glass bubble opened up and Gir waved to Zim and Dib.
The human boy didn't have to be told twice. He ran ahead of Zim and jumped into the ship. But Zim didn't even move from his spot. He was willing to give Rogue a few more moments.
High above them on one of the walls a security cam moved and landed its sight right on Zim…
Rogue's eyes were everywhere. Her eyes were the cams all throughout the Massive and right then and now she could see Zim still waiting for him in the hanger bay. Her mind, her thoughts were one with the ships. She needed him off the ship and now.
"Zim! What are you waiting for?"
The Irken nearly jumped out of his boots at the sudden sound of Rogue's voice. It seemed to echo all around him. He looked around but there was no sign of her.
"…Rogue!"
"Get off the ship!" Her voice called out.
Zim finally figured it out. Her voice was coming from the speakers in the room. "Where are you! We're ready to go!"
"…You go without me! Do it now!" She answered.
Zim got irritated. "NO! I command you to get over here and leave with me! You can't get off without our ship!"
A short yet unsettling moment passed by.
"…Zim…just go. You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes." Rogue said.
"Why? Where are you?" He stopped and then asked, "Were you captured? I'll come and get you!"
"JUST GO, YOU IDIOT!"
Rogue's hard words finally got through Zim. Without asking anymore he went into his ship and closed the bubble shield. He started the engines and wedged himself out of the hold made by Gir. The Voot blasted away from the Massive with its pilot left with a hanging question.
Zim turned the ship around and looked back at his leader's vessel. He believed that Rogue had something planned but he just didn't have a clue what.
Gir walked up to him and looked out the window. "I thought Rogue was coming with us." His innocent comment just added a touch of worry in Zim.
'Where is she?' He thought to himself.
'You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes…'
Those words were disquieting to Zim.
With her message sent and Zim safely off the Massive, Rogue slowly inhaled a sigh of relief. Her words could not be heard by the Tallest. Everything that she had just said to Zim was by thought alone.
Red and Purple pushed back the wires that stood in their way between them and the Irken before them.
"What do you mean your 'one with the ship'!" Red shouted. "Do play games with us! There's no way that's possible!"
"Then what is she doing there?" Purple added.
Rogue looked right up at the Tallest and slanted her eyes in a rather cold manner. "I've been mocked, hated, feared, lied to, and for what I ask you."
An unexpected rumbling shook the ship. The tremor was then followed by a computer voiced announcement.
'WARNING! WARNING! The automatic self-destruct system has been activated. Destruction of Massive in T-minus three minutes. Please evacuate immediately.'
Red lights went off all over the ship, including in the room the Tallest and Rogue were in.
"The self-destruct system?" Purple freaked.
Red glared at Rogue, still connected into the Massive. His face once again lost all color. "…Did you-?
The female cybrog just grinned. "It looks like I went and violated another commandment rule; you two are the only ones that should be able to call on that method, right?"
"We're got to get outta here!" Purple shrieked. He flew ahead of Red and scrambled through Rogue's wirings. He got to the door and hovered down the hallway screaming his lungs out.
"You coward!" Red shouted back. "Rogue! Cancel that commandment right now!"
"Don't you know? It doesn't have a cancel command." She answered. Red's eyes widened. "…The system is telling me that you have only two minutes left till destruction. What will it be, my Tallest?"
"Your out of you mind! We should have killed you when we had the chance! You're nothing but a crazed weapon with a brain!" Red shouted.
Rogue was quiet for a moment. The ship suddenly trembled again, marking the nearing of the Massive's utter annihilation. She glared at Red without blinking. It brought a chilling feeling throughout the Tallest's spine.
"Your shallow words have no effect on me anymore. I can see right though you now, and its nothing to be afraid of. You just hide behind the image of a 'powerful' and 'almighty' leader. You are the one that's nothing. Tear off the outer layer and you get a weakling that has no idea what to do when all the cards are on the table."
The smell of fire reached the room and all around the vessel as the Massive's lesser components begun final breakdown. Any Irkens that were wandering around on the ships had left on smaller escape crafts, one of them being Purple not worrying about his other ruling partner.
The fuel room started to rupture and crack around the external walls and tubing.
"You know…your standing in the soon to be ground zero." Rogue spoke to Red. "T-minus one minute."
Finally the Tallest fought though the forest of wires and got to the door. Before he exited he turned to Rogue and shouted, "Your sacrifice will be for nothing Rogue! The only thing your doing for us is a favor! Stay here and get blown up!" He left.
The room around her began to fall apart. Outside the outer exterior of the ship was spitting. Her wires still embedded into the walls, pulsing like a heart. That pulse quickened like a heart attack and its effect reflected off Rogue. Beads off sweat formed on her head; her breathing was getting heavy.
"…huff huff……At last…this will cut my ties to them…"
Her vision grew to a blur. The computer gave her the final warning; thirty seconds.
"….I…am no longer…their puppet…and this…isn't. the. end!"
Just a half mile away the Voot was still facing the huge ship. In the blink of an eye the vision of all three passengers were greeted by a swift flash of light followed by an immense explosion that rocked the Voot like a quake. The scene lasted only a few brief seconds before it was all quiet again. The space where the once mighty Massive stood was now occupied by nothing but dust and twisted metal.
No words were uttered soon after the sight, just broad eyes staring out into the black space where the ship was. Not even a clueless comment from Gir. It seemed that even the little SIR unit understood the event that just took place. His round blue eyes looked up at Zim.
The Irken's mouth was slightly opened, just hanging from the hinge of his jaw. His knees suddenly gave out and he fell to the floor. The human standing next to him turned his head to his rival and noticed the blank and shocked look on Zim's face.
"…Did she…did Rogue get out of that?" Dib voiced. For the first time during this whole thing he sounded somewhat concerned.
Zim's head faced the cold metal floor. He was on his hands and knees. The last mental picture of Rogue flashed by him like an old memory then faded away. Then the words she shouted at him came back. "You don't want to be on this ship in the next few minutes."
He slammed his fist on the floor, hard. He continued to hit the flooring till his hand trembled in pain. His entire body followed afterward, he could barely keep himself up.
"…She lied again…" He said in a low tone. "…She LIED to me again!"
Both fist hit the metal this time. That's when Dib and Gir saw it. A tear; it fell from Zim's face and pooled in front of him. That pool slowly grew bigger as even more tears escaped from his eyes. The human was speechless. He's never witnessed his enemy in this kind of state before.
"I told her not to die on me!" Zim shouted. "She said she'd be fine…she'd right behind me…" The Irken finally broke down. Even with his rival standing right beside him he took hold of humiliate and broke out in a stream of tears.
"…Master…" Gir walked up and kneeled down to Zim's level. His blue eyes were wet as well.
The air was stiff with the shock of the situation. But the silence was suddenly broken by the crackle of the Voot's control panel.
crackle"Zim!"crackle
Zim's body jerked and shot his head up to the voice. There was no doubt in his mind; he knew who that was.
"…Rogue?"
He jumped up to the controls and replied to the transmission. "Rogue! Rogue, is this you!"
"Zim!" crackle "..Get ready to catch me!"
"Catch yo-?" Zim looked up and saw someone flying towards them. It was Rogue, battered, bruised, but alive! The Irken opened the bubble door and she flew right in, knocking right into Zim. They were thrown backwards landing into on of the backseats.
Rogue slowly looked up at Zim with a burned and cut up face. She gave a little grin. "Hey."
Zim was happy to see her and shocked all at the same time. "I can't believe it! How did you get out of that? I thought for sure you were-" He stopped when he noticed her hands.
From her elbows down there was nothing but loose wires and flying sparks. The holders for her gems were still there as wells as the gems themselves, but they were just the interior, skeleton of her hands.
"Your hands…" Zim uttered.
Even Dib was taken back by this and risked by asking, "What happened?"
Rogue rolled off Zim and planted herself back to him. It was clear she was busted up good.
"…I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it out of there in one piece. When I hacked in and activated the ship's self-destruct system the stress on the ship ultimately affected me as well right up to the point of the explosion. I didn't have too much time to think so I took a major risk."
"During the last ten seconds I aborted myself from the system's mainframe by tearing all my connections away from the circuits. That alone was painful. Right afterwards with my only working arm I fired up my personal shield which only gave me about half the protection I could've had if my other arm wasn't out of order."
"When the moment came the sneer strain on my bionics caused my hands to break away. I guess I was lucky though because my shield didn't give out till I was in safe distance of the blast. I was able to make a short distance transmission to you and the Voot right afterward."
Rogue stopped and gazed up at Zim. She saw the moisture in his eyes. "…Were you crying?"
Zim twitched at her simple question. Instead of answering right off he looked over at Gir and Dib. The SIR just smiled and the human gave a look that said, 'I saw it, he did.'
"Why would I be crying?" The Irken stated. "I knew you would be ok."
"No you didn't, you were crying and thought Rogue went boom." Gir spoke up.
"He's right you know." Dib added.
"SHUT UP!" Zim snapped.
Rogue began laughing. Zim swung his head over and looked at her funny. "What!" He said.
"You are such a bad liar, Zim." Rogue said. "I opened a connection just before I send my transmission so I got to ease drop. You were crying so don't even try to hide it."
The Irken's green face turned a beet red. The sound of snickering came from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and glared at his robot and his Earthling rival.
"Zim…" Rogue said. He looked back to her. "The Massive may be gone but I think the Tallest were able to get off before the explosion. They may start looking for you now cause of this you know."
"What about you?" Zim asked. Rogue didn't understand the nature of his question. He continued, "They must think you're dead now, right?"
"I would think so." Rogue said. She looked down at her damaged hands. "…I took a stupid risk back there but it paid off. But even if they believe I'm gone for good, they'll come after you…" After a moment of thought her eyes perked.
"What?" Zim said noticing the look on her face.
"I think I know how to fix that problem." She smiled. "But for now, what say we just go home?"
Zim stole a moment before answering Rogue's request. He was looking into her eyes again, like he was before while they were on the Massive. He saw a softer glow then before. It was like something heavy had been lifted off the Irken's shoulders. She had just cut all her ties from the Tallest; she was in a sense free from their grip.
"Yeah, let's get back to our base." Zim finally answered as he moved up to the Voot's controls.
"Our?" Rogue said.
Zim stopped and stood still. "…Well, you'll need somewhere to hide out so the Tallest won't find out about you, right?" He tried to sound rather professional but it didn't come out like that.
After a few seconds of silence she smiled and said, "Thank you."
Gir hopped up next to the cybrog and wrapped his tiny arms around her. "Yay! You're gonna live with us?"
"It sounds like it, doesn't it?" She said. She then looked up at the only unwelcome guest throughout the whole event. "As for you, you better start watching your back, Dib. Your little 'save the Earth' strategies are gonna have to be pretty darn good from this point on." She tapped the side of her head and added, "What Zim lacks, I've got, understand?"
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Dib said.
"What do you mean I lack!" Zim shouted back.
"A quick response time for one…" Rogue whispered and snickered.
The Voot shot throughout space heading back to Zim, and Rogue's home base back on planet Earth.
TBC…