"What do I have to do…"
Tourniquet
(Day 3 till Dib's Arrival)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
StressedZim glared at Purple as he tried to gain communication with Dib. Zim bit his lip and scratched at the metal that sheltered his form. He hated this shell and wished to be out of it. Zim also missed his temperamental Gaz. She was cold and distant at times, but he knew she cared, just like she knew he cared about her. It was a silent understanding that they held with each other. He sometimes wondered how this came to be, but he didn't question it. Zim was happy with her, as happy as an Irken with no emotions could be. He groaned as he thought about the next cold night he had to spend alone, it was worse then the couch.
"Are you finished?" Zim snapped, he didn't want to rest in those creepy chambers another night.
"Almost," Purple snapped as he frowned.
Zim rolled his eyes and listened to the steady taps on the keyboard. He grew bored of it all. It had been two days since he left Gaz and his own shell. He wondered how she was doing. Zim knew that she could hold her own, but he still wondered. She would always be human and that left him knowing that she was fragile. His crimson gaze shifted to Purple when the Tallest made a cheer of triumph.
"I've established a link with Dib," Purple proudly informed with a smug grin.
"Finally," Zim groaned as Purple scowled.
'He's worse then Red,' Purple thought.
Zim blinked and watched as Klavier appeared on the screen. Zim raised an antenna in confusion. Klavier pointed to the screen and screamed. Zim screamed and then they both stopped and glared at each other. Klavier stuck his tongue out and Zim growled.
"You stupid Pakless…wait until I come back," Zim threatened as he tried to curl his two fingers into a fist.
"Pfff…you can't get me you psycho!" Klavier mocked as Zim's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you talking to?" Dib's voice drifted.
"Purple and the crazy Red guy," Klavier casually said as he motioned to the screen.
"WHAT!" Dib screamed.
Klavier yelped as he was pushed out of the way. The screen shook and Dib quickly appeared. Zim raised his other antenna as he grinned at Dib. Dib's face was red with anger and his brown eyes glared at Purple accusingly.
"Should have known you couldn't be trusted," Dib hissed as Purple raised an antenna in amusement.
"Dib-beast…I see your head is still large," Zim greeted.
Dib's eyes narrowed in confusion as he glared at the grinning Red. His brown eyes shifted to Purple and then back to Red. Zim smirked and began to hum.
"You said you wanted Gaz or Zim…I bring you Zim," Purple purred with a sly smile.
"I'm no fool," Dib warned.
"Could have fooled me…you were the one that put us on Mysterious Mysteries," Zim responded as Dib's eyes widened.
"Zim?" Dib questioned.
"I am ZIM!" Zim shouted as Purple rolled his eyes.
"But how…you're Red," Dib mumbled.
"Gaz took Red's PAK and I knocked Zim's PAK off…in the confusion I switched the two," Purple proudly explained.
"My sister's with that psycho!" Dib roared.
"Was Zim any better?" Klavier whispered as Dib's left eye began to twitch.
"Hey! I heard that!" Zim growled.
"No you didn't," Klavier softly said.
"You left Red with Gaz?" Dib gritted out.
"She'll be fine," Purple drawled with a wave of his hand.
"And you believe this idiot?" Dib snapped as he glared at Zim.
"No, but I can't do anything at the moment," Zim pointed out.
"Just give him the virus!" Tak growled as she pushed Dib out of the way.
"Virus?" Purple questioned as he rolled the word around his mind.
"What do I have to do?" Zim questioned.
"I'll send you the program," Dib responded with a smirk.
"Irkens aren't affected by viruses," Purple suddenly said.
"It's not that type of virus," Dib replied.
"It's a computer based virus," Tak continued.
"Really?" Purple questioned in curiosity.
"The control brains are all connected by the main one on Irk, if you infect one you infect all," Dib explained.
"How will this plan work?" Purple questioned.
"The control brains run on the same frequency…they share data and are constantly updating. If we can get close enough to download the virus then…"
"Then BAM! No more brains!" Klavier interrupted Tak as he waved his arms around.
"This won't affect the Irkens with PAKs?" Zim questioned.
"No…the PAKs are preprogrammed and aren't constantly updated like the control brains," Tak clarified.
"Send me the virus," Zim said as Dib nodded.
Sara sighed as she Skoodge walked through the halls. She glanced down at the short Irken and sighed again. He raised an antenna in question. She had been sighing all night and it seemed to have passed to the morning. Skoodge reached up and tugged at her skirt and Sara looked down at him. He watched as her eyebrow raised and travel underneath the veil she wore.
"What's the matter?" Skoodge questioned.
"Nothing," Sara softly said.
Skoodge's other antenna rose and he knew it was something. He dropped his hand and continued to walk with her. There was no reason to pry and piss her off. A soft whistling filled the air and they both looked around in confusion. Zim turned a corner and came into view. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was happily whistling with his eyes closed. He walked toward them, one eye slightly opened, and he chuckled. Sara turned around and watched as he continued to walk on.
"That was weird," Sara mumbled as Skoodge nodded.
"He's never that happy," Skoodge added.
"He seemed…psychotically happy."
Skoodge nodded in agreement and they turned the corner Zim had just come from. They traveled down the hall until Sara stopped at the medical bay. She pushed open the door and froze. Skoodge walked around her and he too stopped. They both stood there in shock at the sight they saw. Her face turned green and without a second thought, Skoodge ran in front of her and pushed her away from the door. The door slammed shut and blocked her from the view. Skoodge's PAK opened and he quickly triggered the bases alarms.
Gaz scowled as she weaved her way through the soldiers. They were training and she was joining in the class to pass time. Her amber eyes narrowed as a fist flew towards her. She quickly tilted her head to the side and backed away. The guy smirked at her and she scowled again.
'Apologies make you weak,' Gaz mocked in her mind.
She growled and took the chance to do a roundhouse kick. The inside of her foot caught the soldier in the side of the face. She gritted her teeth and pulled him to the ground. A soft dripping sound made her look down at the man on the floor. The corner of his mouth was slightly coated in crimson. Her eyes thinned even more.
'Crimson…bastard,' Gaz thought.
The man pushed himself and gave her bloody smile. She weakly grinned back and held out her hand. He took it and she helped him up. A soft chuckle left her lips and she shook her hand.
"Aye, think your stressed," he replied.
"Just a little, Tommy," Gaz replied.
"Nothing like kicking me out to relieve stress eh?" Tommy questioned with a soft grin.
"You perfect punching bag," Gaz joked as he chuckled again.
"That aye do," he agreed.
Gaz dropped back down into a defensive stance and his black eyebrows rose. She watched his brown eyes harden, but the silly grin didn't leave his face. He attacked her first and she smirked. Tommy was the only guy on the base that didn't hold a grudge against Zim. The boy was only fourteen and she wondered if his age was the reason why. Gaz stepped back and knew his age wasn't why. Irkens had killed his parents, but he wasn't resentful. He didn't say much to Zim, but he did talk to her. Tommy was the boy with brown eyes, black hair, and pale skin. She wished he didn't have to ever fight, he had an aura of innocence that remind her of herself when she was younger.
Gaz jerked back when she felt pressure in her stomach. Her eyes moved down and she noticed that Tommy had gotten a hit. He had held back and she made eye contact. A look of concern was pasted on his features.
"Are you okay?" Tommy softly asked in true concern.
"Distracted," Gaz mumbled as she quickly began to think.
"I never get a hit," Tommy stated as a serious look over came his features.
"I'm just distracted—"
Blue lights began to flash and Gaz watched everyone tensed. Blue meant that something was inside the buildings. Gaz quickly turned back to Tommy.
"Seal the areas where there's women and children!" Gaz snapped as he nodded.
Gaz took off running through the mass of flesh and pulled out her communicator.
"Talk to me Skoodge," Gaz quickly said.
"Come to the medical bay," Skoodge seriously said.
Gaz nodded and then spoke, "I'm coming."
Gaz turned the corner and her eyes widened. An arm wrapped around her waist and she was quickly pulled to a chest.
"Where are you off too?" Zim questioned.
"Let me go…there's an intruder," Gaz growled as she struggled in his grip.
"What's done is done…but don't tell me what to do," Zim playfully warned.
Gaz turned to face him and caught sight of crimson eyes. Something in his eyes made her shiver. She elbowed him the Squeedly Spooch and went to run off. His thin hand wrapped around her wrist and she turned to glare at him.
"I'm coming with you…nothing is allowed to hurt you," Zim darkly assured her as her eyebrows furrowed.
"Are you okay?" Gaz questioned.
"Perfectly fine," Zim assured her with a grin.
Gaz and him began to jog down the halls and she frowned. Something didn't seem right about him.
"I accept you're apology," Zim suddenly said causing her to falter in step.
"What?" Gaz questioned in shock.
"You apologized and I accept it…I could never treat my pet wrong for long," Zim assured her.
"We'll talk about this later," Gaz assured as she caught sight of Skoodge next to Sara.
Sara was leaning against the wall holding her hand over her eyes. Gaz noticed that Skoodge seemed to tense at the sight of Zim.
"What's happened?" Gaz asked.
"Look inside and tell me what's not wrong," Skoodge grumbled.
Zim reached down and took Gaz's hand. She raised an eyebrow at this but placed her hand on the door. Gaz pushed and the door groaned as it opened.
"Holy shit," Gaz whispered in sick awe.
Zim snickered as they stepped inside.
"What monster did this?" Gaz questioned as Zim shrugged.
Gaz grimaced as she set her foot down. Blood coated the floor squished as she took another careful step. The room was coated in crimson. Her amber eyes looked over to the table where it seemed most of the mess was at. Gaz gazed upon the table and felt her stomach flipping. There was a difference between murder on TV and murder in real life. Gaz broke away from Zim and walked around the table. She noticed that there were two metal holes in the table. Her eyebrow rose in thought.
"Are you sure this is Mark?" Gaz questioned.
"Yeah, his blood matches with the other samples," Skoodge replied.
Gaz looked back to the carcass on the table and sighed. He had been turned inside out and no longer had skin. Most of his skin had somehow been stuck to the walls like wallpaper. She could make out the ivory stain of his bones mixed in with his innards and meat. He looked like ground beef.
"I'm not eating beef for a while," Gaz mumbled.
"What was that?" Zim questioned with a smirk.
Gaz could only sigh and shake her head; something was definitely going on.
Author's Note:
So many people are happy with Mark's death, you should meet the guy I based him off of.
Sideos, I didn't even think to make Red eat Mark(scratches head) It's good to see a true maniac...it livens up the reviews
And if anyone wants to do fanart, go ahead...just tell me where you post it
Please review and I'll add Gir in again
