Author's Notes: Okay, we're nearing the end now. This super, painfully short chapter, and two more short ones, and we are DONE. I think this is the first time I've really finished a chapter story I started. I'm really glad I'm almost done because... well, I have a short attention span. I'm kinda over writing this. But I still have to color a couple drawings of Fer n' friends, too. That should be more fun.

Goldwolf mentioned that Fer was likeable, which I found funny, because I was aiming more for the angsty-teenager, self-involved sort of thing with him. I didn't want him to cause people to have too much sympathy for him, so I aimed to give him an attitude that sort of annoyed me. You know, the whole 'Down with the man!' 'I'm always right!' 'I'm the only one!' kinda thing. He sorta started to move a bit away from that, but not by much.

I also attempted to start off each chapter with 'Fer'. I'm not sure why. It actually was a challenge sometimes. This is the last chapter I'll be doing that. It would mess with the flow of the story otherwise.

And I should own Invader Zim 'cause I'm just so freaking cool.

Fer heard voices like someone was yelling at him through a cloud. A thick cloud that messed his hearing up. That would be one magical cloud...

His thoughts disjointed, he tried to move his arms to get himself more comfortable, to no avail. A thick, muscular Irken guard stood on either side, holding his wrists. He knew that in a few minutes, they would let go to tuck him into the handcuffs that were chained to the platform they were standing on. Public execution or not, you didn't want to annoy the highest rank of the Irken defense force by getting their uniforms dirty.

The Tallests hovered on platforms next to him, reading out his complete lists of offenses to the angry mob of workers, Irken and enslaved, and even a few cheering Invaders. Fer knew the Invaders would not have come to the execution of a common criminal unless invited. He knew they were invited for a reason: to help if he even dared think of escaping again.

Fer head their calls for his death without even really hearing them... He saw Jibs shouting and Remz making rude gestures... He saw Yter hissing... Per was nearer, and Fer could make out a few of the words, mostly egging the guards on to hurry up already... All these people Fer had worked with...

And then Fer met the wide, purple eyes, eyes that had secretly loomed over him in his farces of dreams. Liquid was slowly leaking out of them, reminding Fer of stars in the depths of space. He felt himself tugging, just slightly, as he was switched to the handcuffs on the platform, wanting to get closer to those eyes...

Peeling himself away from Stek, Fer easily found Nyon. While Stek had been silently moving closer to the platform, Nyon was in the back, but he was causing quite a ruckus; Fer could make out three robots trying to restrain him as he shouted protests no one noticed, and every few seconds Fer could hear his own name erupt from the hoarse, desperate vocals of his friend.

Fer smiled. It wasn't a happy or an encouraging or a depressing smile; it was just an action. Catching Nyon's eyes, his partner calmed down for a moment, stopping his struggling though the robot guards still clung to him. Fer lifted his hand as far as his restraints would allow, and looking at Nyon directly gave him a thumbs up.

Nyon seemed relieved, and returned it with a happy smile on his face. He must have thought that Fer had come up with an escape plan, though Fer had been thinking of no such things. Moving back, Fer looked at Stek who had known instantly there would be no such escape that Nyon hoped for and that Fer was not going to be smiling much longer. She looked to Fer as though she was trying to cope with his impending death on the very spot, before it even happened.

As Fer looked down upon her trembling form a wave of emotion swept over him, emotion that had been absent far too long. The will and desire and need to live suddenly broke into him and filled up to his very core. 'I can't let it end like this!'

Had it come a day sooner, he might have stood a chance; but now he could not even move his arms, and as he tried to move his head away a third guard on the platform pressed a button on his tazer staff, and a laser beam grew from the tip. Fer jerked at his chains furiously as the whisker fell swiftly down, making a clean sweep and cutting through his neck without a sound.