Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim…Cries There, I said it! HOWEVER! I do own Kira, The Irish Irken Invader and her SIR unit Sera. This is my first Invader Zim fic, inspired by Doomed Project of Doomy Doom and Such by FallenAngel1331, To Find Yourself by Maiyuko-chan, and The Irken Rebellion: The Beginning by Forkslovespoons. Now OBEY MY FIST AND READ ON FILTHY WORM BABIES!
At the end of the day, Zim walked outside to wait for Dib, only to meet up with Kira outside. His teeth were bared and it caused him to use every ounce of his strength to stop himself from attacking her.
"Well, well…look at you, shortie…looks like you grew a few centimeters," Kira told him menacingly in her Irish voice. Zim's eyes narrowed in anger.
"The Tallest won't be happy to hear that you're on MY planet…" Zim told her. Kira laughed at this.
"Your planet? That's rich…Zim, how can you not see it? The Tallest haven't answered you in months…you were sent on a 'secret mission' to nowhere. You're not an Irken, Zim…you've been banished!"
"Lies!" shouted Zim, his eyes widening in surprise. "That's never happened before in Irken history!" His voice was lined with doubt. But Kira pressed onward.
"That's why I was sent here…to conquer 'your planet' and to formally inform you of your banishment. And what pleasure I'm taking from your denial…" Kira said smirking. Zim clamped his hands where his ears should've been.
"You're lying! There's no way this can be true!" Zim told her, his voice now shaking.
"I'm telling the truth Zim, accept it," Kira whispered in a menacingly gentle voice, mocking him. "I'll leave you to ponder…farewell my short little friend." Zim stood there open mouthed before dropping to his knees and punching the pavement with a balled fist.
"It's not true, Zim…she's just trying to get under your skin…" he told himself, fighting back the sensation of bile seeping up his windpipe. "They would not…I couldn't be…an Irken banished? Unheard of…" At that moment, he felt himself be grabbed and he defensively turned around to find Dib, looking shocked and slightly worried.
"Zim, what happened? You look…terrible," he added, an eyebrow rising.
"Kira…she said…she was sent here by our leaders, the Almighty Tallest…" He couldn't finish his sentence and immediately shoved a fist in his mouth to stop himself from dry heaving.
"You're sick Zim…maybe you should just go home…" Dib remarked with an unaccustomed concern evident in his voice. Zim got up shakily and stood proudly, trying to retain his dignity.
"Perhaps you're right Dib…I think I may have one of those…viruses you Earthlings get…" he said, taking slow and steady breaths. He had completely forgotten about the plan he was constructing to get rid of Kira.
Zim was not in skool the next day, so Mrs. Bitters told Dib to bring Zim's homework to his house. Dib was cradling a stack of books under his arm as he headed towards Zim's house, mumbling something about aliens. He rang the doorbell and was greeted by a very distressed Gir.
"Big-head, Master is very sick!" he cried, attaching himself to Dib's head. Dib tore him off. "Help him! He very sick!" The robot was kicking in his grasp, trying to pull Dib's arm.
"He can't…as much as I hate to admit it, I can't devise a plan against Kira without him," Dib mumbled to himself. "Alright erm…Gir, right? Take me to Zim, quickly."
"Yay!" he cried, yanking Dib and turning his rocket boosters on. Dib shrieked as Gir dragged him down the toilet into the elevator. He stopped at a certain level and dragged him down the hallway, into a room where Zim was laying, now unconscious. The wig on his head was off and his antennae were hanging limp. Several burns were all over his body and an empty glass of water was next to him.
"Good grief, he tried to kill himself!" Dib told himself with astonishment. What could Kira have told him that was so horrible? Seemingly against his will, Dib turned to Gir.
"Go find my sister...you know, purple hair, kinda creepy looking?" Dib told Gir.
"Ooh...the pretty girl! Will she help Master?" he asked worriedly, his cheerful demeanor gone. Dib sighed and nodded. "Then I will find her!" he sprang into a salute, his eyes turning red as he flew back up the elevator. Meanwhile, Dib picked up Zim and carried his lifeless and smoking form to a lab table and carefully placed him there on top of a rubber pad that was left over from Zim's last experiment. Dib had flipped it over, just in case.
"I can't put cold water on his burns, he's an Irken…it'll only make it worse!" Dib told himself, shaking his head in frustration. He wasn't sure what to do until he realized. "Those burns! Their still wet!" Just as he turned around to run to the elevator, Gir returned with Gaz, who's teeth were clenched.
"Dib, you've got explaining to do! Why did this robot just forcibly drag me here?" she growled, her eyes popping out at him.
"Zim…he almost killed himself. No time to explain, he needs help. Gir, go get me towels," he told the robot. Gir flew back upstairs to get some. Gaz raised an eyebrow at her brother.
"What's up with you? I thought you hated Zim…" Gaz remarked, her arms folded.
"I do…I mean…I did…he's helping me get rid of another alien of his kind…I need him to complete the mission…" Dib told his sister, waiting for Gir to return.
"I think it's more then that…" Gaz told Dib, smirking. Dib's eyes widened under his glasses and he cringed.
"Eww, Gaz, GROSS! He's an alien for crying out loud!" Dib protested.
"That's not even what I meant…but since you put it that way…" Gaz said, snorting in laughter. Dib glared at her and, thankfully, Gir had arrived with the towels. Before Dib could grab them, Gaz tore them from Gir's grasp. "I'll handle this…you go look around for something to give him energy…"
"Master always plugs himself into that!" Gir cried out randomly, pointing to a connector that was plugged into his computer.
"Plugs…himself?" Dib asked.
"Yeah, it goes in his back!" Gir replied, flying over to it.
"Of course…that thing on his back must be his life support…that's why he doesn't eat…" Dib told himself, walking over with Gir. "So…Gir, if we plug this into his back, he might wake up?"
"I dunno! But Master always seems a lot angrier after he uses it!" Gir shouted at Dib. He slowly wiped the spittle from his face and glasses.
"Yup, it gives him energy…" Dib remarked, grabbing it and walking back towards Gaz and Zim. The alien was still unconscious, and there were several towels places all over his body.
"From what I can tell, he didn't swallow any of the water…it looks like he tried, lost his nerve, and ended up spilling it…the shock and pain caused him to pass out," Gaz told Dib and Gir.
"How do you know he didn't swallow any?" Dib asked, an eyebrow raised. Gaz sighed in frustration.
"Because if he swallowed any, he wouldn't be breathing. The water would've burned straight through his skin and short-circuited that thing on his back," she remarked, pointing to it. She grabbed the plug out of Dib's hand, causing him to protest with a loud "Hey!". "Now, Gir, where does this get plugged in?" Gir squealed and hovered over to Zim, pointing to a red spot on his PAK. Gaz looked at it and forced it open, plugging the connector into the hole. The computer made a funny noise and immediately began charging Zim's PAK. "And now we wait…I got as much water as I could out…but he'll still feel a bit of pain," Gaz remarked in monotone. Slowly, Zim's eyes fluttered open, showing that he had also taken his contacts off. He found Gaz, Dib, and Gir hovering over him and cried out in rage.
"Dib? What in Irk are you DOING here?" he demanded before cringing in pain, his hand lurching to where a burn was, only to come in contact with a towel. Zim seemed stunned. "You…why didn't you just leave me be, filthy worm babies!" he snapped, his voice shaking.
"You're welcome…" Dib remarked under his breath. "Zim, if we didn't do something, you would've died."
"Exactly!" Zim retorted, his voice shaking with anger. Gaz glared at Zim.
"Look, burning to death won't solve anything…" she growled at him before falling silent. "Dib, I'm going home…be home before dinner, we're having Bloaty's tonight. Be home…or be dead." With that Gaz went upstairs with Gir. Zim was now glaring at Dib. There was an awkward silence before Dib spoke a single word…
"Why?" he asked Zim. The alien glared and balled his fists.
"It's no concern of yours!" Zim snapped at him.
"Look, Zim, I could've just let you die! I think you own it to me to tell me what's bothering you!" Dib burst out angrily. Clearly, they were never going to get along peacefully. Zim was about to retort, but fell silent.
"The Earthling is right…damn…" Zim cursed to himself. "Very well, Dib…but if I begin the story, prepare to sit through the entire tale. For it goes very far back in my so doomed life…"
"I've got until dinner, Zim. I'm still recovering from Gaz's last attack," Dib remarked. Zim nodded and took a deep breath.
"When I was but a young smeet, what you're kind calls 'child', I was enrolled in the Irken Invader's Academy for Irken Invaders. One of my classmates…was Kira. She was always a show off…and one of the most popular irkens in the Academy." Zim told Dib.
"Most popular girl, or Irken?" Dib remarked. Zim sighed.
"Irkens do not really have genders…we're all the same. Yes, there are distinct differences between 'male' and 'female' irkens, but we are all the same on the…well… inside," Zim remarked, somewhat awkwardly. "Anyway, as I was saying, Kira was constantly showing off, always proving that she was better then everyone else…that accent of hers made her different, and everyone was so fascinated by it…it sickens me to think about it." Zim clenched his teeth and fists before continuing. "What's worse is that she marked me as her enemy for whatever reason. My reputation and childhood was destroyed because of her! Stupid natural-born troq! She just had to be different and destroy Zim's life!" Dib, who was silent until now, shook his head in shock.
"What do you mean, natural born?" Dib asked curiously.
"It's against Irken law to be born naturally…all smeets are born artificially in test tubes. Something obviously made Kira…special…because the Tallest allowed her to live," Zim spat, saying the word "special" with every ounce of his strength.
"I see why you hate her…but it wasn't a reason to kill yourself over," Dib remarked. Zim bared his teeth and grabbed Dib's collar in one swift motion.
"You don't get it, you stupid piece of filth! Because of her, I've been banished from my planet!" Zim was fighting back tears now. "I'm not an Invader, I'm not human! There's no place for me in this galaxy!" Zim dropped Dib and hugged his knees, grabbing his antennae and tugging on them. The human's jaw dropped.
"Banished? You mean…you're not an Irken anymore? You're not going to take over Earth?" Dib asked in astonishment.
"Don't rub it in, filthy Dib…" Zim sputtered. "But, I no longer have any place to go! Now do you see why you should not have interfered? Are you happy now, Dib? Are you?" The alien shrieked madly at Dib. He was in utter shock and could find nothing to say. If Zim wasn't going to take over Earth anymore…and he couldn't leave, what was he going to do? Surely he wouldn't keep going to skool…he didn't need to know anything about humans anymore.
"Zim…what if you got rid of Kira? You'd be able to simply live here," Dib suggested, biting his lip. Zim looked up from his knees, his rose eyes even redder then usual from crying.
"I thank you for the offer, Dib, but your planet has no appeal to me…even if it did, Kira was one of the top graduates at the academy…I don't stand a chance.." Zim remarked dejectedly.
"Where did you graduate?" Dib asked curiously.
"Fifth…" Zim remarked, still hugging his knees.
"Fifth!" Dib asked with astonishment. "You defiantly stand a chance! How have you not conquered Earth by now?" Zim glared at Dib angrily.
"Look, Dib, you're not helping at the moment, and, to answer your stupid question, it's because you need more then smarts to conquer a planet…you need the ability to fight and blend in. When I saw Kira in skool today, I realized I do not rank high in either of those categories," Zim told Dib. Gir flew back into the room and straight over to the computer. Zim didn't care as he started pushing buttons until the connector that was plugged into his PAK gave him a painful shock. "GIR!" he snapped angrily, unplugging himself. "Go upstairs and watch TV!"
"OK MASTER!" Gir shouted, zooming back up the elevator. Dib raised an eyebrow.
"That robot of yours is…disturbing," Dib remarked, still staring at the elevator.
"Yes…no doubt the Tallest gave him to me as a joke as well...he has too many glitches to simply be over looked," Zim remarked, burying his head into his knees. Dib awkwardly patted the alien on his shoulder, causing Zim to recoil and smack his hand away. "Don't think this means I like you, Dib! Far from it!" The distraught Irken was now standing on the table. Dib glared at him.
"I'm leaving…before my sister can find a reason to be even angrier…and don't try anything stupid Zim…your house is still wired," Dib remarked, flashing a smirk, causing Zim to snarl in rage.
"Filthy Earthling, why can't you leave me alone!" Zim asked angrily, shaking a fist in Dib's direction.
"Good night, Zim," Dib remarked with a smirk, disappearing into the elevator.