How I Conquered The Earth Chapter 21: The Camel's Back, an invader zim fanfic

A/N: Another short chapter for you. I couldn't sleep, so I hammered this baby out.

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"It may take a great deal to drive someone to their breaking point, but it doesn't take much to propel them past it."

- B. C. Schiele

Chapter 21

THE CAMEL'S BACK

Not long after Sora's conversation with Tallest Red, Zim and Byron had retired to their respective sleeping quarters. Sora went to sleep on the couch in the living room and, as previously revealed, Gaz slept with Zim. The base was filled with an ear-deafening silence that would be punctuated every so often by a misplaced beeping or the whirring and grinding of machinery deep within. But, all was not as it seemed. Byron was not asleep; he was very much awake and making the most of it.

"Vincent, how are the preparations coming?" He asked as he sat perched in a chair leaning over his desk.

"YES, SIR. THE SHIP WILL BE READY BY TOMORROW," Vincent said.

"Excellent," Byron said. "As soon as I'm sure Dib is no longer a threat, I'll be leaving and I want everything ready; no mistakes. If things are as dire for my Tak as I fear, then I may have already wasted far too much time."

Byron reached over and grabbed an odd shaped tool from a small box and continued to work on the strange device he had dissected on his desk. He'd been working fervently on it for the past two hours and talking with Vincent about his plans. He'd been constructing a ship, with Vincent's help, in secret and was planning to sneak off and get Tak. As they spoke, the ship was being supplied with enough fuel, food, and CD's to make the journey.

Once the two had completely exhausted the subject of Byron's plan, they began to talk about the only other thing people talk about when there's nothing left to talk about, movies.

"YOU MEAN IT WAS THAT BAD?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah," Byron remarked, "I was surprised too. War of the Worlds looked like it was going to be good. But it was a total fuck-up. I watched the thing hoping for some awesome heat-ray action and instead I got screwed."

"WHY?" Vincent asked.

"The damn thing vaporized people to dust. How boring is that? And the best part, it hardly touched their clothes," Byron said in disgust.

"MAYBE IT WAS BIOLOGICAL," he said.

"Bullshit," Byron interjected, "If that were true, it wouldn't have destroyed anything non-organic. It blew up cars and buildings and all types of things; except clothes and shoes."

"Oh."

"I laughed my ass off the entire film. It was nothing but eye-candy. There wasn't anything intelligent about it and it was full of mistakes. The only good acting was Morgan Freeman narrating the beginning and end!" He scoffed in disgust. "And Tom Cruise sucked like you wouldn't believe."

"THAT DOESN'T SURPRISE ME. HE HASN'T HAD A GOOD ROLE SINCE RISKY BUSINESS." Vincent simulated a laugh.

"I can't agree with you more there, Vincent. And Rebecca De Mornay was hot as hell!" Byron said. He paused for a minute or two and triumphantly shouted, "Success!" He held up the tiny little device in his claw and laughed.

"YOU FINISHED IT?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, it is completed. MY own cloaking device," he said to himself. Not being quite sure just how to use it, Byron put it in his pocket and activated it. There was a slight crackle of electricity and Byron's form grew blurry for a moment. Suddenly, there stood Byron as he once was; the pale skinned human boy. "Did it work?"

"OF COURSE IT DID!" Vincent exclaimed happily.

Meanwhile, Tak sat huddling next to Mimi in a cave on some God-forsaken planet out in the Vetranda system. She'd been there for so long. Her Pak had long since ceased providing her nourishment and she'd become frail and emaciated in her futile scrounging for food. Her Squeedly spooch was constantly in pain with emptiness and she'd almost completely given up the will to live. If it hadn't been for Mimi, she would have come to this moment a long time ago. She reached to her side and pulled out her Z-12 Plasma cartridge sidearm and armed it. "It was a grand run while it lasted, Mimi," she said and reached a weak claw out and touched Mimi one last time. With a single, dark tear escaping her eye, she placed the pistol in her mouth and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Tak stared down at the faulty piece of weaponry and almost started laughing. It was like when someone was about to hit you square in the face and then they suddenly stopped right before their fist connected with your jaw. Tak's body had been ready for the sensation of death and now she was left with a numb feeling as her heart pounded in her throat and her Squeedly spooch was throbbing.

She examined the firearm for a moment and discovered the safety mechanism was still engaged. "It's always something," she huffed and flipped the switch. Again, she placed the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.

Again, nothing happened.

In frustration, Tak held the cursed devise above her head and threw it, with all her strength, across the cave. With a loud crash, it shattered against a wall and Tak was, again, left to sit in silence and stew in her own anguish.

Then unexpectedly, as many miracles are, the communication device emerged from Tak's Pak and there appeared, like an angel to a dying soul, Byron. Her heart swelled and she smiled at the site. Trying to muster up as much strength and dignity, fearing him seeing her in such a state, Tak said, "Hi, By."

Byron's smile quickly faded as he took in the creature that was once a resonating beacon of strength and power. A little part of Byron died inside. He wept inside.

"Oh, Tak," he said, with a slight choke in the back of his throat, through his trembling lips. He felt the grip of nausea in his gut and he struggled to keep from openly sobbing.

"I don't know what to say, By. I'm sorry it's come to this. I'm not going to last much longer," she said.

"Don't talk like that!" Byron said with a sharp intake of breath. "Don't say that! You're not going to die. I won't…"

"Please," she interrupted, "I need to tell you something, By. I may never get this chance again. I want you to know how wonderful I think you are. And how much I love you," she said and began to break down. She buried her face in her claws and began to cry. "I love you SO much, By and I'll never get to see you again. I wanna' hold you and you tell me how much you…" she couldn't continue. She was too far-gone in her misery to do anything but sob.

"I love you too, Tak. Please listen to me. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming tonight! Right now. Fuck Zim, Gaz, Sora; all of them. They don't matter anymore. MY plan doesn't matter anymore. All of it's worthless without you! You just hold on, now. I'll be there as soon as I can. You're strong, you can make it. Remember how tough you are? How much ass you've kicked? Please, Tak. I love you too much to loose you. You have no idea what I've done just to get where I am! How hard I've worked to make this life for us," he cried frantically trying to instill some kind of hope in her before she was completely lost. "I'm coming now."

"Oh, By," she said, "I'll wait for you. I'd wait for you forever."

"Good. I love you so much," he said again.

"I love you too. I'll bee seeing you around," She said and the transmission cut off.

"Yes you will," Byron whispered to himself. The camel's back had finally broken. And a mental dam, hidden deep within Byron's mind, finally exploded forth. His head snapped up, he shook off his despair and bellowed at Vincent, "Get the ship ready, NOW! Fuck everything but the food and the medical supplies! I'm leaving now!"

"YES, SIR," Vincent said. "SHE'LL BE FUELED AND READY IN FIVE MINUTES, SIR!"

"Sora, wake up! Wake up now!" Byron said frantically shaking Sora. She was asleep on the couch. Her body was wrapped like a crepe in the blankets and her head hung off the edge of the cushion. "Wake the fuck up!" He yelled.

"Ten more minutes!" She huffed.

"Fuck this!" He moaned and threw her out in the floor.

"What's happening? Is the Armada here already?" She asked as she quickly came screaming out of her tranquil sleep.

Byron pounced on her and fastened his claw over her mouth. "SHHH! No, now be quiet and listen to me very carefully. This is an emergency, damn it! I need you to do me a favor," he said to her with his claws now clasped firmly together in front of him as he stood up.

She blinked and said, "Yeah, what's the emergency?"

"That don't concern you right now, damn it! I just need your help me, please," he begged.

"Okay," she sighed, "what is it?"

"I need you to distract Zim for the next two months," he said hurriedly. He restlessly squirmed in his place as he talked. "Please."

"How come?"

"I have to go take care of something very dear to me! Please don't screw with me right now," he said as his voice began to break again. "I need to go, now!"

"I see. All right then, but what about Zim, he hates me? He'll never trust anything I say."

"Ask him about taking an oath. He'll buy it and you'll be best fucking buddies until you die!" He said in annoyance and stormed out of the room. A few minutes later, a loud rumble could be heard coming from outside as a ship went screaming out of the back yard and tore through the sky.

Sora climbed back onto the couch and tried to go back to sleep. 'Boy, he sure was in a hurry,' she thought to herself.

A/N: Did I make you cry out in inreconsoliable anguish and utter despair? I hope not, because then you couldn't review! lol PLease, tell me what you think, or I might die. sob! Just kidding. I'd also like to warn you, that since Byron's basically going to be spending most of the next month on a long, arduous, and boring ass journey, the storing will probably center more around Sora. I hope you all still enjoy it just as much. Thanks. -The Author