Behind The Tube Glass
By alien freak And Xmimi89eR
story may contain gore/blood/violence/strong language
rating: T
ZaDr/ZaDf
So in this chapter, i'll try fixing my weird mistakes in the last chapter, i had to end since it was too long, but thought i'll put more arguments between the two here,
i hope this won't make you confused,
oh and i will start writing about what is happening on the massive and what happened with Zim on Meekrob,
who doesn't love good flashbacks?
I'm trying to keep Zim's stubborn personality but he's much smarter of course, so try putting things together,
That's all i have for now, hope you enjoy :D
English is my second language, my apologies if there are any mistakes.
disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim.
INCOMING TRANSMISSION...
UNKNOWN.
OPEN TRANSMISSION?
Y/N
...
999999
It took Dib a long while to convince the alien that he did not mean any damn harm to him,
"Stupid..." Zim said under his breath, if only he wasn't tired, that skinny human would have been dead where he stands.
"Don't move." Dib said as he cleaned the wounds, they weren't so deep, but he knew they hurt, he knew that because the irken kept hissing with every time he touches them.
He bandaged his wrist, knees, and his feet.
The alien kept calling him names like stupid, moron, idiot. Then his words were replaced by whimpers with every move Dib makes. The boy was used to be called names, so the whole thing wasn't that new.
He noted how cold the alien's skin was to the touch, he wondered if that was normal to them.
Zim was fighting the dizziness as it sneaked to his sight, making everything move out of place, the whole thing reminded him of his mission.
In his ship at that time, he was laying on his pilot chair, he was half-conscious, blood ran from his mouth.
He wished he got that attention in that time.
Maybe his antenna wouldn't have been broken and ugly looking now.
He liked the attention.
But was it okay for an irken to like such a thing?
He guessed not. But no one knew, they don't know, he was in a bad situation, maybe this time he'd let someone serve him good, some as weird as this human.
The medicine slightly burned his wounds, but in a good way, he could feel the small pieces of glass leave his skin as he sank down on his chair.
His eyelids were heavy, antennae relaxed down, he shifted his head, his cheeks were on the chair arm, he gazed at the human, who seemed to be busy with the task in hand,
He still didn't answer why he cared, Zim wanted the truth, not some truce lie.
He feared the truth somehow.
But for now, he'd let it be.
He'll enjoy this.
What a good slave.
Maybe he could take him as a pet, or maybe a medical assistant, he'd make a good slave.
But he knew the boy will refuse.
What a waste.
999999
A FEW YEARS AGO
IN SPACE.
THE MASSIVE.
"I can't believe how tall he got!"
"Do you think he'll get taller than us?"
"Maybe, but we can't let that happen!"
"What do you think we can do? The tallest likes him, he's the best in her eyes!"
"There is no way we would rule irk with him! No way!"The red-eyed irken punched the walls, his fellow irken looked at him,
"Did you hear what his mission was!? He was assigned to Meekrob!"
"It was Tenn's mission, but the tallest changed her mind, she said that he was the best for that mission."
"That's just not fair,"
"It is." A female irken showed from behind, she had ruby eyes,
"What are you doing here, Tenn?"
"I would like to ask you the same question, red."
Red gazed at his fellow irken, Purple gazed back.
"What mission did the tallest give you?" Purple asked,
Tenn looked at him with annoyance, "she still didn't find another planet," she played with her tongue in her mouth, she hated Zim so much for this.
"You didn't answer me," she gazed at Red with dark expressions, "what are you two doing here?" She walked towards them, getting the more closer.
"It's none of your business." Red folded his arms,
"Just leave us, Tenn" Purple walked closer to Red, but Tenn didn't seem to even hear him.
"Hm, Red? What were you piloting?" Her gaze darkened,
Red fought the urge to break her antenna, "i said it's none of your business!" He snapped,
"Is it something that has to do with Zim?" She stopped, she was face to face with Red, but slightly shorter,
"What do you want!?" He gazed hard at the nosy irken,
"So it is about him." She gave Red an unimpressed look, she put her hand on her hip, antennae high to show that she was not afraid.
Red didn't respond, he and Purple were piloting against him, but they had no real plan to go with, they weren't going to ruin their chance with a stupid plan.
"Let me make this straight to the point." She paused and looked at her claws, "i want to get rid of him."
Purple almost gasped, Tenn was one of the loyalist invaders, it was something shocking to hear from her.
"What?" Purple blinked and locked his gaze with Red, who was also shocked.
"Didn't expect that?" She smirked,
"What's the meaning of this?" Red asked as he stepped closer,
"I want to take revenge on him because he stole my mission, and you want him gone so the throne would be yours only." She said her facts and taped her foot on the metal floor.
"How could we trust you?" Purple asked,
"I'm the one that should be asking you this, you're much taller, and probably the next tallest, you have more power than i do," she explained, yes that meant she was also throwing herself in what could be a trap in the end, but that didn't matter, Zim being gone and her taking the mission back is all that matters now.
The two irken males shared looks, they hated Zim as much, their hatred was their blindness and they know it.
"What's your plan?" Red asked the female.
Tenn smirked, it was all that easy plan, and phase one is complete.
999999
"i am honored with such technology, my tallest," Irken Zim bowed in respect to his beloved tallest,
"I have faith in you, invader Zim, this mission is important, that's why i choose you instead of Tenn,"
Zim didn't like the whole taking someone else's mission, but that was his tallest orders, and he'll obey.
"I won't fail you," Zim assured his leader.
Tallest Miyuki smiled, "you shall not."
Zim bowed again before he made his way back to his room, he needed to get ready for his mission.
999999
PRESENT DAY.
PLANET EARTH.
Attention.
It was a weird thing.
But not weird in a bad way.
Dib sighed when He was finished, he tossed the box aside and gazed at the irken. Zim looked asleep, but the boy knew he wasn't,
"You okay? I guess you need to sleep," he was about to say charge instead of sleep, but that would be weird.
Zim forced his eyes to open and gazed at the boy from the corner of his eye, he didn't speak or move, and he couldn't.
Dib frowned, "you should sleep more if you want to work in your ship,"
Gir was staring at the two since Dib started, he was quiet, too quiet.
He then opened his mouth to let out high-pitched words, "whys master naked?!" He pointed at the irken chest.
Zim would have flinched if he wasn't too tired, his eyes were slightly wide, he drew his bandaged hands to his chest to cover it up, pink blush found its way to his face, he tried sitting up but failed, and gazed anywhere but at the human.
How could he not have noticed that before?
Dib watched the alien blush, it was pink rather than red, he held his chest tight as he now just realized he was shirtless.
"If you're done... get m- m- me back my uniform..." Zim murmured, his eyes closed, and hands couldn't hold any tighter, sleep is the only thing he wanted right now.
The human boy stared at him, the alien must have fallen asleep as his hands hang from the side of the chair and no longer hiding his naked chest, his breath was even, antennae stopped twitching.
Gir smiled at Dib, "aww, master is sleeping~"
The boy blinked at the robot, when his eyes are blue, he acts like a brainless child, it was funny, but annoying as well.
"Um- Gir...right?" Dib asked, he remember Zim's confusion by the name as he called him a SIR, not a GIR whatever that meant.
"Uh-huh!" He nodded, his small antenna moved back and forth, "who are you?"
"Eh... Dib," he shrugged,
"Dibbyyyy!" Gir rose his hands on the air, "You're Mary!" He screamed,
"Shhh!" Dib shut him off, "don't scream!" He whispered/yelled, "and no, it's Dib, not Mary,"
"Maryyy!" He screamed again, Dib gazed at the sleeping irken, he looked in a deep sleep, "keep it down, Gir, would you?"
"Oki-Doki!" He screamed his final words then went silent.
the boy sighed and looked at the sleeping irken, he decided to take the alien to the main room.
he held the alien in his arms as he made his way back to the room, Gir following them.
Dib placed the small irken in the chair and plugged the wires to his PAK, then sat at one of the table chairs, he started thinking, the alien did seem to have given up, but not actually sure, he was just down of the thought of being trapped in unknown planet forever, his chances were hopeless, his PAK doesn't work, his ship, and even his robot that is now some crazy machine.
Dib feared the SIR unit may break something, the whole 'mary' name proved he was crazy.
speaking of Gir, the boy rose his head to look at it, he blinked when he saw Gir sitting on the table in front of him,
"why you sad?" the robot asked in high pitched tone, it actually looked worried at some point,
"I'm not the sad one, Zim is," he didn't feel the need to lie to the robot, he actually wouldn't mind telling it all his problems, it was just a robot after all, and Dib loved talking.
"aww, don't worry, he always like dis!" his worried expressions were replaced with a happy smile, his hands high in the air,
Dib wanted to say he was not worried, but that wouldn't change the robot's mind, he then thought of what the robot said, always like this? there was no way.
the boy didn't how to respond so he stayed quiet, his thoughts then went to the alien's clothes, Zim asked for them.
he stood up and walked to the exa-room, Gir still following, he heard his small metallic feet tap taping the hard floor behind him.
"it cooold!" The robot shivered, and rubbed his arms, Dib looked at him with a questioning look, how the hell can a robot feel cold?
But who cares? Everything has been so missed up lately, he wasn't that surprised.
Dib opened the drawer with his key and got the plastic bag out, then made his way back.
He put the plastic bag on the table and opened it, the gloves and shoes were somewhat wearable, but his upper uniform was covered in dried blood and snatched open in the middle, the boy imagined what had happened to the alien.
He tossed it aside, "it's unwearable," he said to himself, but knowing Gir was listening made him feel less like a weirdo,
"I don't think he'd like walking half-naked after realizing the whole thing, but i have nothing he can wear," he drew his fingers on the table,
"Hmmmmmm," Gir made thinking noises, "maybee you could..." he moved his head back and forth,
"You don't really know right?..." Dib frowned, this won't work.
"I had no idea!" He laughed as if he answered the hardest question in the world.
Dib gazed at him, yes, this would never work.
He looked at his watch, it was 6:12 PM, it was still early to go back home, yet he had nothing to do, but his head hurt, he wished he had his pills, they really would have helped now.
"I'm bored Mary! Play with me!" Gir held the boy's hand and tried dragging him, a SIR unit is strong, super strong, but Gir mood here was exactly like a young child, helpless.
"Stop..." Dib's voice was muffled as he rested his face between his arms on the table, "go do anything," when he said this, he did not mean ANYTHING,
"Aw, what should i dooo?" Gir frowned, giving the boy a sad look, Dib couldn't see him but sure he felt it.
"I dunno... fix the ship," that was stupid to ask a crazy robot to do,
"But i only take orders from mastah!" He told the boy, and frowned more, he shook the boy's arm again, making Dib gaze at him.
Dib stared, that was annoying, his head was killing him, and now a child-looking robot is demanding him to play...
Can he get used to that?
The computer hummed around, the room was cold, but not too cold, he was wearing his warm trench coat, what a good feeling that makes sleep crawl on your head.
His gaze traveled to the laptop beside him, he thought for a moment, "you want to- um, watch cartoons?" Did the robot even know what cartoons were?
"Yeaaah!" Gir screamed happily and clapped his tiny hands.
Dib leaned lazily to get his laptop and turned it on, he searched for some cartoons playlist, a long playlist.
He came across one that lasted for about ten hours and had twenty episodes in it.
It was a random cartoon he thought would suit Gir, he pressed the playlist and put the 'children lock' this way Gir won't be able to explore his laptop and will have to stick with what he gave him only.
"Here," he tossed the laptop slightly to face the small robot.
Gir stared at the screen for a second then screamed with joy and hugged the boy's arm, he then jumped back in front of the laptop to watch cartoons.
Dib looked at him, he had copies of his files in the main computer so he didn't have to worry about anything, kinda.
"Don't break it," Dib said as he shifted to a comfortable position and rested his head back on his arms, "and be quiet, please." His words were low as he closed his eyes,
"Okaaay," Gir said, this time slightly quieter than before, Dib was pleased by this.
His head became heavy as his sight blurred, he took his glasses and hang them from his shirt collar, he sighed, what a weird feeling.
Maybe the bullies weren't wrong when they said he was a weirdo.
A weirdo.
Such memories.
999999
SIX YEARS AGO.
PLANET EARTH.
"Hey, weirdo, what do we have here?"
"It's nothing, go away!"
"Haha! Aww, what if I didn't, you gonna cry?"
The fourteen-year-old Dib was in the middle of a fight with his bully,
The big boy shoved Dib to the ground and sat on him, his trench coat was tossed aside, his wrist was showing, long and deep scars buried themselves in there,
"So you cut, huh!?" He laughed loudly at him,
"I don't! It's not what you think!" Dib cried out, they weren't self-harm, he could swear on that.
"Do you think i'm blind!?" The boy held Dib much tighter as he prepared to bunch him,
"You're the one with glasses, weirdo!" One of the boys from behind called out, they all laughed,
Chunk, the big bully, rose his strong hand high in the air, he aimed at Dib's face,
Dib's eyes went wide as he knew what was going to happen, he closed his eyes fast.
Pain ran through his body as the bully bunched his face. His glasses broke on his face, the glass drew blood on his cheeks, he tried shoving the bully off of him, but he was weak, there was no way, he tried millions of times before.
The bully kept bunching, one after the other as he and his gang laughed hard, one of them joined the party and started kicking the boy.
Dib could no longer see as darkness invaded his sight, he no longer could protect his face with his hands as they fell beside him.
"We want him alive, remember?" One bully said as he looked at the blood on the boy's face,
Chunk spatted at Dib's face as he stood up, "whatever, we'll have fun next time,"
"Yeah, he's no fun when unconscious,"
"Let's go."
The gang and its leader left the woods, leaving the poor boy behind, sinking in his blood.
Nighttime came, and Dib finally gains the strength to open his eyes, he felt the glass on his face, his vision was a blur with broken glasses.
He sat up and tried his best not to scream from the pain.
Cold air ran through his naked arms, he looked around, but it was useless, he can't see anything.
Hot tears washed the blood from his face, he was afraid they may come back, he was also afraid that he won't come back.
He put a shaky hand on the grass and sat up.
Looking through the broken glasses, he could see from the left side as it didn't break that much. He moved his feet and stood up, fighting the painful urge to fall down.
He walked to his coat and slid it on, he wanted to use his shirt to dry the embarrassing tears, but it was too painful.
He took a deep breath to stop himself from shaking, it was useless.
Then he made his way back home.
99999
He opened the bathroom door to get the medical box.
It was already late so his sister was asleep. He stood on the bathroom small chair to take a better look at himself.
If he wasn't used to this, he would have screamed.
The boy started removing the glass pieces from around his eyes, it was hard since some of them were too small to be seen.
"Ow..." he felt more tears in his eyes but fought them, he wasn't in the mood to deal with tears now.
After he was done, he took a bath.
In the water, Dib looked at his wrist and chest, they were covered in scars and burns, they weren't self-harm, not at all.
Some of them were from the bullies, and the others were from his risky behaviors, he would go into the woods looking for werewolves and ends up falling, chased, or a crazy dog would bite him.
The water slightly turned red as the blood from his face and neck started to wash away.
Maybe his talk about zombies and vampires became less and less, the bullies never stopped, and they didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
He drowned himself to stop thinking.
In the water, everything was red and blurred, if he could stay just a little longer, he may lose his life, and nobody would give a damn about him.
No one will miss him.
But he eventually got his head out to breathe, he always thought that the bullies were not worth his life, but yet it was hard.
the boy got out of the bathroom, one towel on his hips and the other on his head, he changed into his pajama and jumped on his bed. he let out a loud sigh and hid his face with his hands.
'you're insane.'
"shut up,"
'can't take the truth, huh?'
"it's not the truth!"
'who said that?'
"i did!"
'you? but you're alone.'
"..."
'no one believes you, they think it's self-harm.'
"I don't care,"
'and they won't believe you even If they were true.'
"what do you mean?"
'nothing much, i mean... they won't change or stop, so why are you scared?'
"i have no idea what you're talking about,"
'hm. no one would know if you took one of the blades in the bathroom,'
"yeah, don't even think about it."
'you want to as much as i do, face it.'
"i didn't say that, shut up!"
'it won't hurt.'
"shut up!"
'no one cares.'
"shut up shut up!"
'you're insane-'
"i said-"
'i'm only in your head, weirdo.'
"SHUT UP!"
...
silence...
"shut up, Dib, I'm trying to sleep!" Gaz screamed from her room.
Dib shifted in his bed, "maybe i am insane..." he murmured as he fought more tears, but he couldn't as they fell from his eyes at his pillow, he buried his face in his sheets.
even he knew he was insane.
it was hard to hide the truth.
"my poor insane son." his father's words echoed in his head as he drift off.
he was insane.
and there was no way he could prove against it.
unless...
"unless what...?"
'unless you become your father.'
"no way..."
'then die'
"..."
'you'll either get killed by the bullies...'
"..."
'or you'll do it yourself.'
"i..."
'save yourself Dib, save us.'
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save us
save me.
999999
Dib opened his eyes slowly and gazed at the blurry figures before him.
He leaned away from the table slightly and rapped his eyes, he placed his glasses back on then gazed around the room,
He remembered something about giving the insane robot his computer, but where was he? Did he just dream about the whole thing?
A noise caught his attention, from the chair where the irken was sleeping at. He saw legs on one side and antennae from the other one, they moved slightly with every sound that was made.
The irken was awake.
Without making any noise, Dib got up and walked to the chair, he held his breath.
There, he saw the alien laying across the chair, his robot was beside him,
In his lap was the boy's laptop, the same cartoon was playing.
He blinked at the sight, then heard the alien speak:
"Why would they hug? Like... ALL the time?" He asked,
"Because they're FRIENDS!" His small robot said,
"That's... Stupid."
"Wanna watch another part??" Gir leaned to press the next button.
"Yeah." Zim said as he played with the bandages on his hands.
Dib couldn't hold his laugh.
The irken flinched, antennae rose high, the laptop almost fell from his lap.
"Dib!?" He yelled, watching the boy's laughter, he frowned, an angry face formed on him.
"Stop l- l- laughing at me! What's so funny??!" He demanded, gazing hard at the boy.
"I didn't know you like children cartoon," he got himself under control, a smile still on his face.
"Nonsense! I don't like them." He folded his arms, "i was just watching with Gir till you wake up." He nodded his agreement.
"Why didn't you just wake me then?" He also folded his arms, the smile became a smirk.
Zim didn't know how to respond, he looked around for any excuses.
"Eh, ahh, because..." he could see the human smirk grow bigger.
"Did you sleep?" Dib asked when he knew the irken didn't have an answer.
This caught the alien's attention, "yeah i did, i'm charged enough."
Zim paused for a second,
"Did you get m- m- my uniform?" He asked the human then shifted slightly to rest his forearm on his chest.
"Well-... your clothes are damaged, badly." He gazed where the clothes were.
Zim rose an invisible eyebrow, "just give them to me."
The boy looked at him, there was no way the irken was going to be able to wear such a thing, but he eventually walked to get them.
Zim looked at his uniform in hand, the whole thing was burned from the back, dried blood sank on the red uniform making it look purple, scratches and holes filled the upper part. Some green burned skin tattooed the upper and side.
The whole thing was ruined.
He threw it away, it landed somewhere on the floor, the mad irken folded his arms. He muffled something about how he hated the meekrob.
Dib would have suggested a gown from the lab closets, but he knew this would only make the alien hate him and think he intends to cut him open, just like his father tried to do...
Yet they had nothing.
"Whatever." Zim hissed, his mood turned. Little did the human know that irkens liked covering themselves, so being like this and ALSO unable to walk made him look and feel pathetic.
He closed the laptop, Gir frowned and let out a sad 'awwww' before he jumped away from the chair.
"We have work Gir..." he said without motivation, his eyes were narrowed and tired, he didn't have that much hope of fixing the long lost ship, there was just no way he could.
He have to face it.
Zim shifted to sit at the edge, he looked at the ground as he spoke, "let's go."
Silence as Dib stared.
Something was off, he kinda knew what.
"You ok?" He finally asked and studied the alien's face,
Zim closed his eyes slowly he kept them closed for a second then lifted his head as he opened them again, he gazed at the human, his expressions were blank.
"Why wouldn't i be?" He asked, one antenna tried to rose in a questioning pose but they kept tiredly laying on his head, they could since the PAK hums slowly.
The human knew if he said something positive the alien would shrug it off. But could he even leave him like this?
"You're still not able to walk right...?" He said this and leaned to take the alien's hands as he tried lifting his on his legs.
Zim looked at his legs for a second, he didn't even bother to test them to see if he could, he was about to answer the human when he felt his hands being touched, his head snapped to gaze at the boy.
The hold was soft but tight enough so the irken won't snatch his hands back.
"If you want to walk, then you'll have to practice."
Zim gave him a shocked face, yet tiredness was drawn on his eyes, he shook his head slowly, "there's no point, i can't feel them."
The alien didn't take his hands back as he gazed at his legs, he moved them slightly, he hissed as they refused to move with his control.
Dib was having slight motivation even after the words were spoken, "give it a try." He snatched the irken from the chair, he yelped and tried to balance himself.
His numb legs moved like noodles as he fell on the boy, hissed in anger, "what's the meaning of this!?"
Dib rose an eyebrow, he looked at the alien legs as he barely stood, it might be nothing much, but just yesterday, the irken couldn't even hold himself, "you improved." He pointed with his eyes at the alien's legs.
Zim gazed hard at him, then his antennae slightly rose, he looked at his legs, he was sure if the human moved away he would fall, but he was standing!
He moved his legs to try and walk. The human followed his movements backward.
Zim would take a step forward as he gazed hard at his legs, and Dib would take a step back, still holding tight to the other's hands.
They walked slowly, Zim focused on his pace, he stubbornly tried his best to move his legs. Something stopped them, Zim let out a hiss and looked behind, it was the power wire, he forgot it still attached to him.
The human seemed to know the problem, he got closer so Zim could hold into him as he sneaked his hand behind. He pressed the two buttons and the wire sneaked back to its place.
Dib shifted back to his position and held the irken hand again, he blinked surprised at the weird and blank stare the alien gave him, his face was hard to read, Dib stared with wide eyes. He felt like they were looking through him, at his soul, like if he could read him like an open book, the lab's lights were reflected on his eyes, he could see space, a universe, something yet to be discovered.
Zim pushed forward as he tried walking again, small determination sneaked to him, he wanted to gain the ability to walk as soon as possible.
The boy blinked and tried following the pace, he looked at the irken shaky legs,
"Maybe you should work on your PAK before your ship," he suggested and looked back at the alien who never moved his gaze off of him.
"Hm." That all he said as if he didn't hear the human talk at all, his pace started getting faster, it wasn't that fast, but for someone who can't move; it felt like running.
"Slow down," Dib told him as he almost tripped from the sudden speed,
Zim blinked and stopped altogether, he gazed at his legs, then tried freeing himself from the tight grip,
The human had a slight idea what the irken might want to do, "I don't think that's a good idea..." he said and loosened his hand but didn't let go.
Zim drew one hand away as he tried to stand, his legs hurt and shaky,
When he stood still for a second, he took his other hand away.
Dib stayed close, his hands on the air as he expected the alien to fall,
Zim stood there for a moment, he didn't dare to move as he made sure he was even able to stand, he shifted his leg and tried taking a step forward.
His legs collapsed in an unhealthy way, his body leaned down almost falling, but got himself.
He hissed from the slight pain in his muscles, but kept trying to walk.
Dib gazed at him, he looked like a girl who wore high heels for the first time, or someone trying to walk on a thin wire.
The boy took small steps back with every shaky step forward the irken takes,
A foot before the other, arms shaking as they tried balancing the alien.
He walked about five times forward then his leg fails him and he fell in the human's arms.
Dib caught him in time, he leaned to pick him up again on his legs, he expected the irken to frown or yell but instead, he got a determined look,
"Again." Zim said and stood, he held the boy's hands, and walked.
The human boy blinked as he didn't expect this, a small smile came to his face. He obeyed and started dragging the irken forward.
END OF CHAPTER NINE!
Alien freak: i dunno why the hell this took too long to make, my hands just refused to work ya know. Ah well, im trying to make the whole thing cute cuz why not! *laughter, anyhow, hope you enjoyed this chapter!!
This was alien freak signing off.
