A.N.Thanks to Zantor7 (come on, you think I'd actully let Zim die? XP I'm not that horrible), Missy Lynne (Yay! You no hate me!), Rahh Gumba Foo (Dib ish awesome! Heh heh), Suicidal RuBBerDuckie (yes, it was mean. . . but funny. meh heh heh), and MasterFruitCake (wow, that must've been a terrible childhood! XD actually, my brothers did the same to me; I'll listen to basically any kind of music. But my fave's techno), because they are just awesome people who leave awesome reviews! Love you guys!
Chapter nine- The Prisoner's Paste
"You're not allowed in," Kacer says, looking to the ground. "Clox said so."
"Don't give him any crap," Gaz snaps. "He just wants to apologize."
She steps aside and lets her brother fully show himself.
Kacer and Dib just stare away from each other . Gaz observes the two of them for a few moments, then once she realizes neither are going to say anything, or even slap each other, she sighs in disgust, then pushes Kacer into the doorframe and makes her way into Zim's house. Leaving the two alone.
"What do you want?" Kacer whispers.
"You know. . . I was aiding the Meekrob to help hundreds of races," Dib replies, "not to hurt you."
"But you did."
"Well, what do you want me to do? I wasn't aiming to get Tak captured. . . I didn'teven know they would be involved in that war."
"I know. . . I wanted. . .well, I was just kinda upset. . .I wanted someone to take it out on. . ."
"Yeah. . . that's understandable. . ."
There's a slight pause, then Kacer looks up and says with a wry smile, "I guess this is what happens when you befriend a family from a hostile alien race. . ."
Dib smirks.
"Yeah," he says, "because that happens all the time. . ."
The two look to one another, and then they laugh.
"We aren't normal, are we?" Dib asks. Kacer shakes her head, still chuckling.
When the laughter subsides, she wipes a tear from her eye and says, "Sorry I slapped you."
"It's okay. . .well, no it's not. . .well. . .it was an impressive slap, but. . ."
"'I forgive you, Kacer'."
"Yeah, yeah, I forgive you."
They exchange smiles.
"You're my best friend, Dib."
"What about Tak?"
"I think she hates me."
"Haha, she hates everyone. .."
"GET OFF OF ME!" This came from Gaz, inside the house.
Dib and Kacer peer inside and find that Pin, Clox, Gir and Mimi have all tackled her onto the ground. They're all jumping on her, begging her to join them in karaoke.
She's finally able to shove them off, and she stands up quickly, straightens her dress, then stomps over to Dib.
"You don't need my help anymore, right?" she snaps. Dib shakes his head. "Good. I'm going home."
She stomps away and Kacer starts to laugh again.
"Guess she doesn't like kids," she says. She glances at Dib. "Come in. I don't think Clox'll protest anymore."
"Yes I will!" Clox shouts from the middle of the room.
"Oh, be quiet."
So Dib walks in.
"Karaoke, Dib," Pin says. She hands him a mic.
"Oh," he says awkwardly, "um, I can't sing." He hands the microphone back to her and she looks to the floor sadly. "But I heard you when I was outside. You're a really good singer."
"Really!" Pin asks excitedly. Dib nods, grinning. "I can dance too! Gir taught me how!"
She points to Gir, who is smiling proudly. He nods.
"I suuuure did!" he says.
"One day I'm gonna get you to sing with me, Dib," Pin says.
Without thinking much of it, Dib pats her on the head.
"Sure kid," he says, "keep thinking that."
"No offense Zim," Tak said, "but when I asked 'how was your day', I wasn't seriously looking for an exlanation. . ."
"But-!" Zim said. "I'm not even done telling you what that horrible Dib did to me in the cafeteria!"
"Zim, I have been sick all day. I have had nothing to do but throw up, cough and watch soap operas. You complaining about Dib does not make me feel better."
Zim scowled.
"Fine," he muttered. "Did Clox and Gir stay out of your way at all?"
"Yeah, Pin and Mimi locked them in the closet."
"They did feed them right?"
"Yup."
Tak pulled the blanket up to her neck.
"I'm tired," she said, "so go away."
"How dare you. I take the time to come in here and talk to you and you order me out!"
"Wow. Don't make it sound like it was such a burden. I bet all day long, all you could think about was how much you wanted to see me. . ."
She stuck out her tongue teasingly and Zim smirked.
"Oh yeah," he said, "because I have no other meaning in life."
"And don't you forget it."
"Yes, yes. . .where would I be without you?"
"Probably dead," Tak said. "Either way you're screwed."
"The Irken's MISSING!" Lard Nar shrieks. The recently rescued Shloonktapooxis follows close behind as his commander swings open the door to the controls room.
Lard Nar surveys the room, only to find his usual pilots knocked out and tied up in the corner. Tak, still in her Vortian disguise, has taken over. She looks to him.
"What the hell do you want?" she snaps, momentairily forgetting she's posing as Lard Nar's long-lost one-night stand. So she covers up by adding, "Um. . .sweetie. . . "
"Pleecy," he says frantically, "the Irken prisoner has escaped, you have to- wait, why are you piloting?"
"The others said they needed a break."
"You tied them up!" Lard Nar says in disbelief. And then he freezes. For a long moment, he's staring in shock, then he blinks and says slowly, "Wait. . .the girl from the explosive bubbles factory. . .her name wasn't Pleecy. . .it was Ploony..."
Tak tries her best to keep a straight face.
Oh crap, she thinks.
"You're the Irken, aren't you?" Lard Nar asks, coming out of his shock and straight into defiance.
Accepting defeat, Tak turns off her disguise. She smirks.
"You caught me," she says.
"I certainly did! It's just like an Irken to. . .to. . ."
"Disguise herself as the resistance commander's past love interest?"
"Exactly!. . .No, wait! No!. . .It's just like an Irken to try to overtake my ship!"
"Calm down. I'm not trying to 'overtake' anything," Tak says."I just need to get back to Meekrob; my husband's probably wondering where I am. I just thought coming in with your ship would make a nice entrance."
"No, it won't!" Lard Nar shouts. "Don't you understand! You're our prisoner! You don't get to pilot this wherever you want!"
"Well, it's kinda too late; we're already above Meekrob."
Suddenly in the distance, it sounds as though there's been an explosion. Shloonktapooxis flies over to the window, and his eyes widen in interest.
"Whoa!" he shouts. "The wall's exploding!"
"What wall?" Tak asks, joining him at the window. She gazes out, then gasps. "That's no wall, that's the Meekrob's dam. . ."
Below, the dam is breaking; a fluid is rushing out in huge amounts, violent waves. From bird's eye view, Tak can make out not only the Meekrob base, but the Irken base, miles away. The liquid is rushing toward like a tidal wave.
In her mind, Tak thinks Zim is still guarding the base; and in a quick instant, she remembers the words of Jilly, the Irken who had given them instructions for the watch tower.
Guards alert the base, she thinks quickly, but the guards are the ones who don't survive. . .
"Zim," she whispers.
"Excuse me?" Lard Nar asks. He, too, has reached the window, but Tak just pushes him aside and rushes back to the pilot's seat. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO PILOT, YOU'RE OUR-"
"Shut up!" Tak snaps. "I'm going to save Zim, and then you can have control of your bloody ship again! This won't take long. . ."
"You're not saving anyone. You're our prisoner, you're going back into your cell!"
Lard Nar seizes her arm, but then she grabs his and twists it back. He falls back into the wall, and holds his arm, wincing.
"What's wrong with you!" he demands, trying to maintain his balance.
"Is Zim your husband?" Shloonk asks Tak casually, ignoring Lard Nar's pain. When she nods, he continues, "And you need his help with Clox and Pin, right?"
Tak looks up from the controls.
"Yeah. . ." she says softly.
Then, before anymore conversation can be exchanged, the whole ship swerves and races toward Meekrob's surface. And then it crashes, right in front of the Irken base, right before the wave is about to hit. The ship is lodged into the ground, and it serves as a protecting shield for the base; the tidal wave crashes against and around the ship.
For the longest time it feels, the entire Resisty and Tak just freeze, listening in alerted fear to the violent rushing of the liquid. . . and then it sounds like a calming stream. . .then it sounds like raindrops. . .then it's completely silent. And everyone waits for a long, long moment. And then. . .
"It's water," Tak whispers, "I bet it's water." She turns to Lard Nar. "I need paste!"
"What?"
"I'm going out there; I need some paste."
"Why?"
"Does it matter? I just need it."
"Yes, it does matter!" Lard Nar snaps."And you're not going anywhere, but back to your cell-"
"To hell I am."
"Here Tak." Shloonktapooxis is floating behind her, balancing a bottle of paste on his head. Tak takes the paste, then looks to Shloonk, perplexed.
"Go save Zim, super mom," he says.
She smiles gratefully.
"Thanks Shloonk."
As Tak covers herself in paste, Lard Nar looks to Shloonktapooxis, dismayed.
"You traitor," he says.
"Sorry Lard Nar!" Shloonk replies. "But she has a family and all, ya know! She has ta save them!"
"Irkens don't have families."
"Shows how much you know," Tak snaps. She turns to Shloonk, "Thank you again," bows, then exits the ship.
No more waves are approaching. There are enormous, scattered puddles however, as far as the eye can see. Tak looks back; the Resisty's ship took a pretty bad beating on the surface. Behind it however, the Irken base is in perfect condition, besides the occasional dent here and there.
Although Tak is telling herself that the base must have Zim in there somewhere, she feels compelled to search away from it. She surveys the surface of Meekrob almost frantically. In the far, far distance, she can make out something. She doesn't know what it is, yet she finds herself running toward it as fast as she can.
In her head, all she's focused on is the sound of splashing, her running straight through the puddles to whatever's ahead of her. As she nears it, she realizes with faint anxiety that it's Zim. She trips and then falls on his body. He's not awake. He's unconcious. He won't open his eyes. . .
Tak slaps him, hard enough so it might wake him, but it doesn't work.
"You moron," she whispers, hugging his head against her chest. " You STUPID, moronic fool, just wake up! Wake up. . . you jackass. . . "
Before she can further speak, an odd, rumbling sound can be heard from above. Tak whips her head back and she can't believe what she's seeing.
Some short distance away, the Massive is landing. She stares, still clutching Zim's body, as the Tallest themselves exit the ship. They stand, careful to avoid any of the puddles, then absorb the whole scene with interest.
"Yikes," Tallest Red says, "what happened here?"
They glance around, then notice Tak and approach her.
"What happened?" Red asks again.
Purple peers below him, notices the body Tak's holding, then says, "Whoa! Is that Zim?"
"Is he dead?" Red asks hopefully.
Tak's eyes flash.
"No," she hisses , "he is not dead."
"So what is he then?"
"He's knocked out, he'll be fine, he'll be-"
"My Tallest!" Joon calls from the entrance of the Massive. He runs to his leaders then says, panting slightly, "The Meekrob's base has been destroyed!"
The Tallest's antennas perk up in surprise.
"How did that happen?" Purple asks.
"Well," Joon says, "we intercepted a message from the Meekrob to Earth; Apparently, a relatively small Irken snuck into their base, and destroyed the dam."
"Did you get any names?" Red inquires.
Joon smiles, so obviously adoring the irony of the situation, and says, "Zim."
There's a long silence. . . and then. . .
The Tallest groan in unison.
"No waaay," Red whines, "not Zim, of all people. . .how are we gonna tell everyone that he saved us. . .?"
"We don't have to tell anyone," Purple says quickly, "we can just pretend the Meekrob. . .uh, surrendered!"
"Yeah! It's not like anyone would believe us anyway. . .it's no secret he's a screw-up. . ."
"He," Tak whispers from below them, "is a hero."
"Tak!" Joon says. "I didn't notice you there!"
But she pays him no mind, and continues, placing Zim gently on the ground beside her and standing up, "He's a hero, and whether you decide to address that fact or not, that's your own stupid descion. But he did save us, and yes, he's a screw-up, and I'm not saying he deserves a huge reward or anything, but he should at least be recognized, and it'd be an insult if he wasn't. And if you two are so stubborn and narrow-minded that you can't even take pride in one of your own kind, then-"
"Don't forget who you're talking to," Red says, although his tone isn't very authoritive. It's mild even. Kinda soft, and it seems almost like he and Purple are actually contemplating Tak's words.
"Apologies, my Tallest," she says sincerely, bowing her head in shame, "I meant no disrespect. . ."
"Tak. . .?"
Everyone looks down.
Zim is still on the fround, but his eyes are slowly begininning to open. Tak drops to her knees beside him.
"You're okay," he says in a hoarse whisper. He slowly lifts his upper body so he's sitting up. He coughs. "You escaped the Meekrobb. . .?"
"The. . .the Meekrob never captured me, Zim."
"Who did?"
"The Resisty. . ."
"The who?"
"It's not important," Tak says softly. She smiles. She's trying really hard not to cry.
"Look," Zim says. He holds out his fist. In it, is a grape Licky Stick. "I saved this for you."
"You. . .you idiot," she chokes. She's still smiling, only now some tears have begun to fall. "Y-you know I hate grape. . ."
Zim stares at her incredulously, his mouth gaping open, and then Tak throws her arms around his neck, sobbing.
"I-I can get you another flavor!" Zim says, utterly freaked out.
"You idiot!" Tak sobs, tightening her hold on him. "I thought you were gonna die!"
Zim relaxes and strokes the back of her head gently, then reaches to her antenna and touches it lightly. . .
Of course, he hasn't noticed that his leaders and Joon are observing them in fascination, and (for the Tallest anyway) in slight disturbance. It's only when Joon whispers, "Awww. . ." does it register to Zim that he's being watched.
He looks up in alarm, then taps Tak in the back, to signal her to let go of him. But she doesn't.
"U-um, greetings my Tallest," he says awkwardly, a deep blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"G-greetings Zim," says Purple, with a slight twitch.
"Hey Zim," Red says, "you are the one who broke the dam, right?"
Zim pauses, thinks a moment, then says, "Um, yeah, I think so. . ."
There's another pause, and then Red says, though he's turned away from Zim now, "We're running low on trainers. . .in Irk's military training facility. . .would you be interested in. . .you know. . .working there. . .?"
As he trails off, Zim's antennas shoot up in surprise.
"Does that mean my banishment's been lifted?" he asks.
Red grimaces, then says in a strained voice, ". . .yeeeah. . .your. . .reward. . .for, you know. . ." he grinds his teeth in disgust, "saving us. . ."
"Thank you my Tallest!" Zim exclaims, attempting to stand up in celebration, only Tak's still attached to him. She isn't sobbing anymore, and he pokes her. "Uh, Tak, you can get off of me now. . ."
She just lifts her head and looks at him, grinning. Then she pushes him to the ground and kisses him.
Joon continues to go about thinking, "Aw, how cute," and the Tallest are so weirded out at the sight of someone kissing Zim, that they find themselves with a bad case of the twitches. . .
End of chapter nine. . .
I wrote this flashback before the last chapter's, but now it just seems even more horrible that they'd lock Clox in the closet after the whole monster-sammich tramua. . . anyway. . . next chapter's the last. . . I'm kinda sad, kinda relieved. . . and anxious. I finished the rough draft to this story's sequel, and uh. . .it needs editing. . . badly. . . but I'll deal with that when I type it. Which will unfortunately be soon. . . Okay. . . next chapter. . .'Just another dot'. . . where you shall expect:
- some cheesy farewells (cheese is my specialty)
- stress chips!
- the end to this story! (sob, sob)
Random crap: Who remembers "A Chance for some Romancey"? (waves hand enthusiastically) I do, I do! Well, anyway, I'm starting a sequel to that. . .but here's the twist. . .it's a comic this time! No story! It should be on deviantart soon! I'm excited. Got two pages done so far! I'll post the links next chapter. . . the final chapter. . . (sniff)