By animeninjaNIPPON
The cell was dark and dank. Dib managed to survive by sucking the water out of a nearby leaky pipe, but the neon-blue, laser-like handcuffs prohibited him from doing much else. He sat there dazedly until shaken out of his stance by the clicking of high-heeled boots against cement. The cell door slid open with a clank, then the boot clicking got louder.
"All right, Dib, are you ready to talk?" came Tak's voice.
"Uh…you never asked me anything before," Dib replied, standing up to the best of his ability. "By the way, where's Zim?"
"Oh, I took care of him a long time ago," she said with an evil chuckle.
Dib fell back to the ground. "No…"
"I'm going to leave you here." With that, she walked away.
"What did you do with Zim?" he yelled after her.
"Oh, he's alive…but he's suffering more than you!" She exited the cell laughing.
Once the alien's sounds of sadistic joy died down, Dib let his mind settle on the here and now, as it were. Nothing good has come of this alternate future, he thought. It was kind of ironic, though – he had finally defeated his worst enemy, only to let a rival Irken take over the Earth. And Zim showed up anyway. Guess I can't fight fate – Zim and I were destined to meet. That's when Dib realized something:
"Tak left the door open!"
Throwing caution to the wind, he bolted out of the open cell door and through the automatic door. He was temporarily blinded as he stepped into the light, but he caught sight of a laser demagnetizer and used it to remove his handcuffs. He ran down the corridor towards the emergency exit, silently wondering why Tak had an emergency exit in her base. Suddenly, he stopped three feet short of the door.
A dilemma arose in his mind. He knew where the ship was from where he stood, and he no longer needed Zim's assistance, but all the same…he felt he had to go back to save Zim.
What was he thinking? He was almost free! Well, it was an Irken spaceship – he might need Zim's help piloting it. With that in mind, he turned on his heel and bounded through the first door to the right.
All that was in there were a crowbar, thirty boxes of Deelishus Weenies, and some exposed electrical wires. "Hmm…"
Meanwhile, Zim was chained to a wall underground, severely battered and semi-hypnotized. The electromagnetic barrier around his abdomen prevented him from using his PAK, which probably explained why he was so sedated. He lifted his head only slightly when he heard the echo of boots hitting concrete. A spiky-haired silhouette rushed at him, and suddenly the barrier flickered out and died.
"I didn't know aliens used electrical outlets," came Dib's voice. When Zim finally saw him clearly, he was holding a two-pronged plug and munching on a hot dog. He finished his food and dropped the plug, then picked up the crowbar that lay at his feet. With one foot on the wall for balance, he slipped the hooked end of the crowbar under one of Zim's metal cuffs and pried it open with all his strength. He fell backwards to the floor with a thud.
"What are you DOING, stinkbeast?" Zim snapped as he undid the remainder of his bondage.
"What do you think, space freak?" Dib fired back. "I came back to rescue you. Would it kill you to show a little gratitude?"
Zim rubbed at his wrists. "I could have gotten out myself."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because YOU did!"
"That made no sense."
"Neither does – "
"My head?" Dib interrupted.
Zim narrowed his eyes. "How did you KNOW what I was going to SAY?"
"Call it a hunch." Dib grabbed Zim by the arm. "Now let's get out of here before Tak sees us!"
End of part fifteen