Author's Notes: I had a break-up when I was writing this chapter. (LOL this was like over three years ago. I really need to learn to post stuff faster). If I had to guess why I wrote that, I would guess I wanted to see if emotions played a role in my writing style or something? Yeah, probably. Also these pre-written notes are kind of like a time-capsule for my mind.
Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Life happened again.
Purple's Return
Purple hadn't been in space very long when his communicator started going off. He checked the number; it was coming from Adviser Tad.
"What the heck does he want now?" Purple asked out loud. His antennae fell back in irritation as he pushed the receive button.
"My Tallest!" Zim's face appeared on the screen. "I've been trying to contact you for days! Then when I couldn't get through to the Massive, I came to Irk to ask the advisers where you might have gone. I had to do such TERRIBLE things to adviser Tad to make him surrender your number!"
"Zim..." Purple let out a sigh. "What are you doing on Irk? Shouldn't you be planning Earth's destruction?"
The short 'invader' laughed. "My Tallest, if I was actually serious about that planet it would have been destroyed a long time ago!"
Purple gave him a blank look. Uh huh. Right. "Well I'm kind of busy Zim."
"I thought it might be time," Zim continued to speak. "Is it time yet?"
"Time for what Zim?"
"For me to destroy the Control Brains," Zim responded with a sinister grin.
"What..?" Purple blinked.
"I very nearly destroyed them before my Tallest, when you and Tallest Red had me on trial. That was the key. Tallest Miyuki had me installed with a special program that can disrupt the data from the Control Brains, rendering them useless. It's what makes me amazing. Tallest Miyuki had me created for that purpose."
"Wait... what do you mean by that? Tallest Miyuki made you?"
"Yes, yes she did. Zim was made in the Vort labs prior to being placed in the smeet factory, back when I was just a piece of metal and some wiring. I only have two goals. One is to rescue the Tallest from destruction. The second is to destroy the Control Brains.
I didn't lie when I said Tallest Spork was still alive sir! Zim made sure both he and Tallest Miyuki made it out ok. The Control Brains had her marked for deactivation. The advisers knew this, and so did I. In order to rescue her, I knew I had to get myself transferred to the weapons research facility on Vort."
"So... you're saying that everything you did was a part of Tallest Miyuki's plan...?" Purple questioned him sceptically.
"And then the Empire marked Tallest Spork for deactivation!" Zim continued undeterred. "Can you believe it? He respected Tallest Miyuki and everything she stood for, that's why he wouldn't have lasted long... I even put myself through training just so I could keep watch on him. Tallest Miyuki made me promise to keep this a secret until it was time."
"If this is true, shouldn't Red and I have been marked for deactivation?" Purple questioned. It only made sense since they both had a part of Miyuki's DNA.
"No my Tallest! You two have acted just like the Empire wanted you to. As long as you continue to be a pawn for the Control Brains, you won't be marked for deactivation."
"I have to confess something Zim..." Purple began, sounding a bit hesitant. "I've started acting against the Empire..."
"Then Zim will destroy it!" Zim announced triumphantly, raising his fist in the air.
"No Zim... you can't."
"Yes Zim can! All you have to do is order another trial and I can..."
"Zim!" Purple snapped, and the small Irken quieted down. "Right now I have too much to deal with. Red went nuts and nearly killed me, I've been hanging out with rebels for the past few days, and I'm about to return to the Empire in order to start plotting the release of the rebel group's leader..." He rubbed his forehead. "I really don't think I need the added stress of you trying to do something impossible on top of everything else right now..."
Didn't he understand that the Control Brains wouldn't fall for the same thing twice?
Zim's eyes narrowed as he studied his Tallest for a moment. Finally the small Irken gave a nod. "Then I will return to Earth until it is time."
Finally... sometimes the defect was just too stubborn. "Yeah. You do that Zim."
"Be careful my Tallest. Your mother would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Is she really still alive...?"
"Oh yes. She's perusing her passion."
Purple leaned in a bit closer. Despite all rational telling him Zim was insane, she still hoped to hear some news that Miyuki was still alive. "Yes?"
"Her passion of being a space pirate!" Zim announced.
Purple nearly slammed his head against the controls. Now he knew Zim had to be lying. Tallest Miyuki would never become a space pirate EVER...
"Good luck my Tallest," Zim remarked, and he saluted before cutting the transmission.
The Tallest straightened up and shook his head. That was just Zim being Zim. There was no way anything he said could be true.
Now that he was no longer distracted by a certain annoying Irken, Purple felt confident in what needed to be done. He would rescue the captain and Divis. The other guy was stupid and didn't matter... but he supposed he could try to get him freed as well.
"Oh shloot..." Purple groaned as he brought a hand to his forehead. Zim knew his personal contact number…
Lard Nar stared up at the sky long after the ship had disappeared. He was stunned.
"Did you know?" One of the captain's boys demanded, drawing closer. They were all coming too close, but Lard Nar couldn't bring himself to react any differently. He couldn't look away from the sky... that is until he felt the eyes of everyone in the camp on him.
He closed his mouth after a little while and pulled his gaze away.
"Leave him alone," one of the members said, coming in between Lard Nar and his accuser. "Can't you see he's upset?"
All of the faces melded together. Lard Nar held his head. He felt dizzy.
"Everyone was tricked," the same person spoke. "Let's just try to calm down... we still have to rescue our captain."
"And Divis..." Lard Nar muttered. "We have to get him back..."
Everyone looked at each other solemnly until finally someone spoke out. "Sorry, but the captain comes first."
As night fell, the members of the crew began getting ready for bed. They couldn't do anything today. Everyone was tired and high-strung from the battle.
Lard Nar lay down next to the twins and curled himself inside his sleeping bag. He wished Purple would have told him what he was planning, but the Tallest left without saying anything at all. For some reason, he doubted Purple would actually have either Divis or the captain tortured. The other guy was most likely a lost cause though... Purple never did like him.
"Don't worry," Naku, or Nuka, spoke. "We'll get our captain back..."
"Can I come with you?" Lard Nar asked quietly, knowing full well that none of these people had any reason to trust him.
There was a long pause.
"I don't think so Toffer..." it was the answer he'd been expecting. "You're too inexperienced... and your friend turned out to be the Tallest. No one really trusts you."
"You too...?" Lard Nar asked. "You don't trust me either?"
"Good night Toffer," the twin said, rolling over. He didn't need to answer the question. Lard Nar knew the distrust was there. At least they were giving him the benefit of the doubt, but how long would their patience with him last?
If this had been any other planet he would have been imprisoned or maybe even killed for "aiding" the Tallest.
Purple felt like he'd been stopped by every Irken patrol-man between Heroia and the Massive. He groaned when the Spittle Runner nearby signalled him to stop. This time he didn't. He blew past the Spittle Runner which didn't have the same amount of thrust as his vessel did. In a few seconds, he had lost sight of the Irken ship.
He was nearly at the Massive anyway. There was no point in playing by the rules now...
He made contact with the technicians and had them lower the landing ramp and open the hatch to the docking bay. When they realized it was their Tallest speaking to them, they hurriedly did as they were told. Purple landed his ship and nearly crushed some of the drones standing around waiting to refuel the ships in the Armada.
When he stepped out, his followers gathered around to welcome him back.
"Greetings my Tallest!"
"Did you have a good trip my Tallest?"
"Would you like me to fetch you a new hover belt my Tallest?"
Purple held up his hand to silence them. "I need to know if there were any prisoners captured during my absence."
"Yes sir," one of the drones replied, saluting his Tallest in respect. "Three rebels were caught not long ago. Two are being held in the dungeons while their leader is being kept in the torture chamber."
"Has there been any torture?" Purple asked, narrowing his eyes at the drone.
"No sir... We were told to wait for you to return before any torture was carried out my Tallest..."
"I don't mean to interrupt, but former Tallest Red requested to speak with you my Tallest," one of the guards said. There was another guard standing next to him.
Red... he was still down in the holding unit... The Massive only had a few holding cells, but prisoners from outside the Empire wouldn't be placed in the same cell as a Tallest. It wouldn't be allowed.
He wasn't worried about Red's safety at all. His fellow Tallest had already proven that he could handle himself just fine... but Purple couldn't fight the urge he felt to at least go check on Divis.
"Alright," Purple sighed. "I'll just put on some different armour before I go visit him."
Both guards followed him to his room. He changed quickly into some lavender coloured armour, so Red wouldn't suspect anything. When he was finished, he stepped out into the hall.
The guard and his associate saluted before turning around and walking through the hallway. Purple followed them slowly. He was trying to form a plan to not only rescue the captain, but Divis as well. If he was caught, not only would they die, he would be removed as Tallest and eventually killed as well.. and who knows what kind of Tallest would replace him.
His thoughts spun in circles. He couldn't really decide how he should do things, but he knew he had to do something.
"We're here sir," the guard spoke while his associate placed himself next to the doors in order to guard their entrance. Purple blinked. He couldn't remember how he got here... oh well.
The guard entered first while he trailed a bit behind, looking at a few empty cells. Then he spotted Divis and what's his name sitting crouched on the ground. They were beaten and bloody in the centre of the energy field; another fine example of Irken brutality.
Then he saw Red. His DNA brother was standing solemnly with his hands behind his back and his head bowed in what appeared to be quiet contemplation.
"Red?"
A ruby eye cracked open when Purple spoke.
"Purple..." Red's voice was quieter than it usually was.
"You wanted to talk to me?"
"Not really..." Red spoke as he stared intently at Purple.
"Then what do you want?"
Red sighed. "I wanted to see you... Is that a problem?"
Purple managed a smile. "No... I understand. We haven't been apart for this long before."
For a moment it looked like Red was actually remorseful. "I made a very stupid mistake…" the crimson-eyed Tallest admitted.
"Yes you did... several of them."
"Do you have to rub it in?"
"Always."
Both of them became silent. There were a lot of things Purple wished he could tell Red, but he couldn't trust him. Not to mention there were two prisoners listening in on the conversation, and the guard was watching them from a very short distance away. Purple couldn't be completely honest under these circumstances.
Purple cleared his throat. "So um.. Zim called me from Irk."
Red's antennae fell back and he scowled. "What was he doing on Irk?"
"I'm not entirely sure... but I think Adviser Tad might need some therapy."
"Did Zim leave?"
"Yeah, he's gone back to invading Earth."
Red smirked. "He's never going to be able to conquer that planet."
"No kidding," Purple responded, chuckling. "He's hopeless."
They were identical. Should he tell Red what he was about to do…? They were DNA brothers. What was that saying he heard once before? Blood was thicker than something or whatever…
The prisoners couldn't do anything, and the guard probably couldn't hear…
He lowered his gaze and sucked in a breath. "Red I…"
"Purple," Red's voice was forceful and stern. "Do. Not. Tell. Me. Anything."
What was he saying…? Purple's antennae fell back. "What do you…?"
"If you want to live, do not tell me what you're planning," Red warned him.
They were no longer working together. The bitterness of this realization struck Purple as he lifted his gaze, and he studied Red's expression, wondering if his DNA brother had a similar revelation.
"I'm not going to drop the charges," Purple remarked crossing his arms.
"Alright. Come back and chat soon," Red responded waving him away with a knowing smile.
His DNA brother smirked back. Of course Red was plotting on escaping. Who wouldn't? Once he was in Irk's prisons, there would be no escape. He'd have to serve twenty seven years behind iron bars and energy fields.
Maybe Purple would help him escape. Red wasn't the Tallest right now. After he'd served out his sentence, Red's right to lead Irk would come back under review, but for now he was just a prisoner. He'd gotten off lightly because of his status. If anyone else had attempted to kill Purple, they would have been deactivated on the spot.
"Good bye then," Purple spoke, turning to leave.
The two Heroian prisoners stared at him as he passed by. They'd overheard their conversation. They knew one of the Tallests was imprisoned...
"W-We won't say anything..." Divis mumbled dropping his gaze. One of the Tallest was imprisoned, but only the Empire knew about it. If it started to leak out to the free planets, the morale of the rebels would surely increase.
The guard scowled and came in between the 'vermin' and his Tallest. "How dare you address the Tallest filth!"
"Enough guard," Purple said, and the guard immediately backed off. The Tallest looked down at Divis. The Heroian looked small and weak inside that cell. He was also clearly frightened. Purple could see the young Heroian was trying to hide his trembling hands behind his back.
"You're pretty bold with those masks on aren't you?"
Divis' eyes widened in fear, and he remained staring at the floor, not daring to raise his eyes.
"Guard, have their masks removed and their families found. Do the same to their captain. Send soldiers to that planet and whatever. Use force if you have to."
"M-Me sir?" the guard stammered pointing at himself. He was just a regular guard. He didn't have the authority to order Irken soldiers around.
"Yes you. Does it look like I care enough to do it myself? I have more important things to do."
"Yes sir..." the guard responded, saluting his Tallest. "Right away sir."
"Please don't..." Divis spoke. He stood up and came as close to the energy field as he could. "Our families have nothing to do with this..."
"Stop talking!" the other Heroian, who's name Purple decided to forget, snapped. "You're only making our situation worse!"
Purple laughed. "You really think he could make your situation any worse than it already is? That's funny. Maybe I'll keep you as an entertainment slave."
He continued out into the hallway where the other guard was waiting.
"Go help the other guard," Purple told him.
The Irken looked confused by the command, but he wasn't about to disobey his Tallest. He hurried into the dungeon to see what the other guard needed him for.
"My Tallest!" One of the technicians called as he came running down the hallway. He must have come all the way from the control room. "F-Forgive me sir..." he panted. "But... there has been more trouble... on planet Meekrob... Tenn just called..."
Purple nodded. "Alright. I'll call her back."
"Thank you sir..."
After calling Invader Tenn and hearing her report, listening to Invader Deb's report about the newly conquered planet, having Adviser Tad call him in order to have Zim arrested, which he refused under the pretence that he wanted to see the adviser's face when he did refuse, and listening to the detailed summery of Red's sentencing and the reason the former Tallests's sentence was only twenty seven years rather than termination, Purple felt ready to call it a day. His head hurt. He wanted to sleep.
But he still needed to see the captain.
Now that he thought about it, holding someone in the torture chamber rather than the holding cells was strange. It could be that his followers lied about not torturing the prisoners in his absence.
Author's Notes: Zim is talking about his 'Pak' which he addressed as himself. He sometimes sees himself as his Pak for whatever reason. Only Zim does this in this story. The other Irkens prefer to see themselves on a somewhat more biological level. It kind of explained the third person thing somewhat I guess. Sure.