Obligations
Tak awoke to the familiar pinging of a nearby vitals monitor. Groaning softly, she opened her eyes.
Feeling stiff and groggy, she recognized the room around her as Irken. It was recognizable as some sort of medical bay. Less advanced than the facility on the Massive, but still loaded with the proper recovery equipment. The platform she was placed upon was soft and congenial, and it was shaped like a flattened out crescent. It had been padded with multiple cushions to ensure comfort; a step above the level of care she'd received on the armada's ship.
Struggling to sit up, she soon found herself biting back the torturous pain that radiated from her wounds. Her muscles were still and unresponsive, and when she tried moving her arms, she felt an overwhelming dizziness swirl around in her head. Her pulse beat maddeningly in her efforts to ease her panic, but the massive pain only increased every time it throbbed against her skull.
Recoiling in agony, she gripped her stomach in an attempt to fight off the wave of nausea that overtook her. She brought her hand to her mouth not wanting to give in to the undesirable urge to gag.
I must have been drugged, she thought, knowing this had to be the work of some pain killers. They were starting to wear off and often left the user with some nasty side effects to deal with.
Refusing to be sick, she looked down at her body to see what damaged had been done. She noticed her left arm was connected to several nearby tubes. She recognized them as standard medical equipment leading to a set of vials providing essential liquids while she recovered. They were nothing that could potentially cause her harm, assuming they hadn't been tampered with. None the less, she stubbornly yanked the lines free, causing the nearby machine to emanate an obnoxious, steady flat-line alert.
"I see you're finally awake," a voice interrupted from behind.
Surprised, she jerked her head around to see Zim standing next to a monitor. Her eyes narrowed.
"You've been out for three days," he explained, his tone lucid and apathetic. "I kept you sedated while addressing your wounds."
She watched as he analyzed her vitals while simultaneously recording them into a database. "YOU?" she asked, not believing what she was seeing. "YOU of all people rescued me?"
His antennae twitched at the insult. "You would prefer I left you in the rain?"
Tak conversed with herself while desperately trying to make sense of the situation. "But this...this is-" She twisted around and twitched about trying to cope with the scenario. "I do not understand. I tried to kill you. Even you couldn't possibly be stupid enough to help someone who clearly wants you dead."
Eyes narrowing, Zim ignored the insult and turned back to the monitor. He hobbled over to where she was sitting, his leg looking as bad as she was hurt.
"Oh I am well aware of your intentions Tak," he answered bitterly. "And that is the EXACT reason I have hidden away all of your weapons AND your precious SIR unit until I know you are no longer a threat. Don't bother trying to call it back to you. It won't respond to any of your commands until I manually enter the reactivation code."
Tak glared at him in contempt. "And what if I just kill you and steal it from your PAKs memory drives?" she spat confidently.
Zim smirked. "Impossible. It requires MY bio signature and voice recognition to come back online. Killing me would only ensure it remained shut down permanently."
Tak stared back at him with a scowl. His smug attitude only served to irritate her further. "You really think I need MiMi's assistance to kill you?" she threatened, wanting to pounce from her resting place. "I am more than capable of handling you myself. If it hadn't been for that ghastly storm days ago, I would have destroyed YOU along with your pitiful excuse of a base."
She attempted to activate her spider legs to attack, but found them unresponsive. "Wha-What is this?!"
Zim continued smugly, "Oh, I should also mention. I tampered with your PAK and removed any deadly devices I deemed threatening to me or Gir. So don't expect to be able to recover quickly and assassinate me anytime soon. Your assisted functions are offline until I decide otherwise."
Tak felt her anger boil. She dug her claws into the fabric of the platform. "Mark my words Zim, I WILL cut you down like the pathetic excuse of an invader you are! Before I am done with you, you will be begging for it to end. You will regret everything you've done to me! Everything down to very last insult!"
Zim simply stared at her, unfazed by the threat. "Is that any way to thank someone who just saved your life?" he answered smugly.
Shaking with rage, Tak ignored the excruciating pain from her injuries and climbed down from the recovery bed. SHe approached him angrily.
"You're a fool if you expect me to forgive you that easily!" she shouted, pointing a claw at him. "One act of generosity means nothing compared to the lifetime of torment and misery YOU'VE caused! Ever since that blackout on Devastis, my life has been a complete joke. Because of YOU, I've had to work twice as hard to impress the Tallest! Because of YOU, I was forced to scrape together spare parts and repair an abandoned ship to escape Dirt! If you hadn't been there that day I was taking that test, NONE of this would have happened!"
"You know it was all an accident," Zim shrugged matter-of-factually.
She jabbed the claw into his chest. "YOU RUINED MY LIFE! If it wasn't for you, I would be relishing in all the glory that comes with conquering a planet as an invader by now! All I ever wanted was to prove my worthiness to the Tallest, and YOU had to steal EVERYTHING away from me! YOU! A complete bumbling buffoon who almost annihilated our own planet and then couldn't take over a lesser one when given a second chance. That's why I am here Zim. To do the universe a colossal favor and rid it of YOU and your inconceivable stupidity!"
The words cut into him like a steak knife through butter. He remained silent while she finished her piece, knowing every word was the truth. He had been a joke; a complete laughing stock to the Empire and nothing more than an entertainment sideshow for their leaders. He had heard it straight from the Tallest himself. They never intended for him to conquer Earth. He had been sent there on the hopes that he would collide with an asteroid or other deadly space body along the way.
Tak proceeded to jab into him, and this time he didn't fight back. He knew her situation was different. She actually DID possess natural talent to be an invader and her plan to steal his mission and take over Earth was rather impressive, even if his stubborn pride refused to acknowledge it. Truth be told, he'd been rather jealous.
He began to look up at her as she continued to lash out at him. For her inconsiderable status, she was a rather remarkable Irken. If he had never interfered with her plan, she would have undoubtedly risen to the rank of invader and easily taken over Earth. Perhaps he had overlooked her talents. Maybe she could prove to be useful.
While his mind started to formulate an idea, the few inches she had over him made him seemed to lessen more and more as her strength gradually weakened. It seemed her injuries had finally caught up with her, and instead of lashing out one last time, she simply collapsed right in front of him.
He stared down at her unsure what to do. He should have been pleased with the outcome, but something in his mind was nagging him to help her. He quickly shoved it aside, recollecting his better judgement. It would be a fools errand to fall for such tactics. Tak didn't exactly come across as the helpless type. And even if he did try to help her, she would probably just rip his head off anyway.
He took a few steps back, convinced this was something she deserved. She was in a weakened state, and if something wasn't done quickly, it wouldn't be long before she fell unconscious. Her arms were trembling, and she could barely manage to hold her own weight while still attempting to crawl toward him. She began to cough violently, pausing only a few times before the uncontrollable spasms overtook her. He smiled at the gifted oppertunity.
"You know Tak," he began coyly, folding his arms behind his back knowing he had the upper hand. "Even IF everything that has happened was my fault, by the Irken code of conduct, saving your life has indebted you to me. If you are willing to call off the assassination and help me with my duties around the base, then I am willing to share access to my valuable medical resources."
Blood draining from her teeth, Tak spit at the offer. "I'll never stop hunting you Zim," she growled with hatred harboring under her breath. "I'd rather die than become your personal slave." She coughed hoarsely, spitting up some more blood. "If it's the last thing I do, I swear I WILL kill you."
Disappointed, Zim narrowed his eyes. "Very well." Fighting the nagging instinct to help her, he coldly turned to take his leave. He paused just a moment before exiting to leave her with one final thought.
"But you know Tak, like you, I too have dedicated my entire life to the Tallest only to have them cast me aside like a newborn Gigigzsmort. Even if you somehow manage to kill me, how do you know they won't do the same to you?"
Tak watched venomously as the cocky male exited the medical bay. Her body shaking with rage, she seethed lividly. How dare he compare my level of skill to his pathetic failures! How do his trials of stupidity compare with ANYTHING I've accomplished?!"
Holding onto the little bit of strength she had left, her body screamed at her to crawl back to the recovery bed.
He's wrong. The Tallest still believe in me! Unlike him, I actually have what it takes to be an invader! I'll prove it to everyone. I'll prove it to him!
With great effort, she pressed forward, attempting to drag herself back to the medical platform, but when she finally reached it, her strength was completely drained. She attempted to pull herself up, but made it only a few inches before her muscles entirely gave out.
A few more miserable days later, the weather finally cleared up, and the sky, which was once cluttered with dark, cloudy overcast, finally dissipated to a sunny, clear crystal blue. The slush that resulted from the heavy downpour during the storm was replaced with a fresh light blanket of snow. And the blustering winds had lulled to a steady, relaxing breeze. The suburban neighborhood was once again a safe, calm winter wonderland.
Taking advantage of the stable weather, Zim eventually found himself tinkering away in his front yard. Thanks to Tak's electronical device, his broken lawn gnomes were beyond automated repair and required a touch of manual labor to correct the damage they'd suffered. He winced as he put in the extra effort to tighten the final loose bolt. Despite it being nearly a week, his wounds still hadn't completely healed, and any minor strain on his muscles still caused him a decent amount of pain. It was more than he could say for Tak, however. As expected, the female Irken continued to turn down his offer and stubbornly refused any medical treatment whatsoever. As a result, her recovery had slow and unpleasant while his head been rapid and effortless.
While he worked, he found his mind drifting back to when he rescued her in the rain. He still wasn't entirely sure why he had done it. Surely things would have been easier if he had just abandoned her to whither away in the middle of the water-logged asphalt. He was partly angry at himself for succumbing to such weak-mindedness, but the other half of him almost felt guilty for even considering leaving her behind. Her sorrowful expression had deeply tainted his mind, and despite her ungrateful, bloodthirsty threats, he still felt as though his choice had been the correct one.
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the front door burst open to reveal Gir screaming with a half-empty jar of honey. Moments later, Tak followed close behind. She was covered from head to toe in the sticky, golden substance and judging from the murderous intent on her humanly disguised face, she was absolutely furious with the little robot.
"Just wait until I get my hands on you, you good-for-nothing rubbish heap of an abomination!" She chased him around in circles swiping to capture him in her claws.
Her attempts were futile. Gir ran in terror and dashed over to the large tree where Zim usually tied him up and Tak chased him around the base of the trunk until she found her strength gradually fading from her. Breathing heavily, she stopped a moment to catch her breath, but Gir took the opportunity to scamper off and hide behind his master.
Zim looked down at his frightened minion trembling behind his legs. "Gir! What did I say about running out here without your disguise! And put away that jar of honey! You'll get it all over the yard and attract those filthy cat creatures or something!"
"But I've got to feed my bees." Gir opened the top of his head and dumped the remaining honey on an active bee hive. The terror from seconds ago seemed to be completely forgotten.
Frowning, Zim snatched the jar away. "No! Inside. Now!"
"Awwww." Gir reluctantly obeyed his master and sulked back into the house to do as he was told.
Zim waited until he was out of sight before tossing away the empty jar. "Great. Now instead of spending the afternoon debugging my security systems, I have to clean up this mess." Upon hearing Tak's boots lightly crunch the snow behind him, he spun around.
"Despicable little menace," she grumbled, attempting to wipe away the excess honey. "Just wait until I get my hands on that walking rubbish bin! I'll rip out it's components and use them as target practice."
Zim's expression furrowed. "Hey! Gir is MY SIR unit, and any ripping off parts is to be done by me and me only!"
Tak huffed. "Fitting a pathetic invader would have an equally pathetic SIR unit," she added, crossing her arms. "Honestly Zim, it's just another sad reminder of how the Tallest set you up for failure."
Zim's demeanor switched to anger. "You dare question MY leadership skills!?"
"Leadership skills?" she added sarcastically. "You aren't even a real invader! Why even bother keeping that junk heap around?"
"For your information Tak," he spat her name like it was poison. "Gir HAS been upgraded. Eh...in the past. It just so happens that his current settings are the most optimal for his MIGHTY robot function!"
"So what you mean is, you prefer him to be even more idiotic than you." Tak stared at him unconvinced.
Triggered by the insult, Zim threw his kwag-wrench to the ground. "Insolent fool! You wouldn't even be standing here if it wasn't for MY amazing genius dragging you back to the base. I saved your pathetic life!"
Disgusted, Tak rolled her eyes. "Oh please. The fact that you barely managed to escape in the first place is nothing short of a miracle. And if it wasn't for this planet's horrible weather systems, I would be standing over YOUR dead corpse right now notifying the Tallest of my eminent success."
Zim shot forward a pointed claw. He was about to spout something in return, but then was abruptly cut off when a giant snowball forcefully collided against his head.
"Ha! Take that Zim!" Dib shouted, revealing himself from behind the nearby fence. He was holding the snowball cannon that the Irken had carelessly left behind. "Man this thing is incredible! I could win some serious snowball fights with this."
Recovering from the sudden impact, Zim pushed himself up from the ground and spat out the extra snow collected in his mouth.
Tak bent over to mock him. "That's a good look for you" she sneered, kicking a bit of loose snow into his face.
Recognizing the voice of the familiar Irken, Dib lowered the cannon. "Tak? You're alive? What are you doing here? And...why are you covered in honey?"
"Zim's idiotic SIR unit thought it would be a brilliant idea to use me as a feeding post for his colony of bee creatures," the female Irken explained sourly. "As for my purpose here, you have nothing to fear from me Dib. I am only here to extract my revenge."
"Revenge?" Dib raised an eyebrow, noticing how she was looking down at Zim. "Well okay, as long as you're not here to take over Earth. Cuz if you were, you'd have to get through me! Earth sole defender and loyal guardian!"
Tak stared at the boy sardonically. "I'll try to keep that in mind," she muttered, casting her eyes off to the side. If her intentions were to truly conquer the world, she knew he would be helpless to stop her.
Ignoring the comment, Dib turned his attention back to his rival. "Hey Zim! Get up space jerk! We're supposed to be at my dad's lab in less than an hour!"
Zim shot his head up from the snow. "Shut your noise hole filthy human! I know what day it is!" Picking himself up, he adjusted his contacts and wig and angrily took a few angry steps toward the front door. He poked his head inside and shouted. "Gir!"
The crazed minion ever so slightly popped his head out from behind the door. "Yes?"
Zim glanced down at his SIR unit. "I have some business to attend to with the Dib-human. I am assigning you to keep an eye on Tak while I'm gone."
Gir gasped and his face lit up with excitement. "Can we do the chicken dance!?"
"I don't care what you do Gir. Just don't let her leave the base or touch anything. Understand?"
Gir's lights glowed red in salute. "Yes sir!"
From behind, Tak stopped Zim a defying look. "You're really going to rely on that pathetic excuse of a SIR unit to hold ME prisoner? You've got to be joking."
Zim turned to face her. ""I assure you I am very serious. Now, until my return, I expect you to remain here and touch nothing. And don't expect to find any of my medical supplies lying around. Using my ingenious brains, I have specifically hidden them in a place where you'll never find them."
Tak stepped forward, her face forming into a frown. "You may think you have won Zim, but this doesn't change anything." She stood to meet him within inches on the doorstep. "All your efforts, all of these precautions you've been taking. You are only tricking yourself into a false sense of security. My injuries will not hold me back forever, and when I do have an opportunity to strike, I will make sure you regret keeping me alive."
Zim's eyes narrowed. "We will see Tak. We will see." Shoving past her, he marched up to the sidewalk where Dib was standing. "Come on meat smell, let's go."
Dib cocked his head in confusion. "Wait, you're coming with me?"
"I assume you have transportation arranged yes?"
"Well yeah, but I-"
"Excellent! We leave now then!"
As if on cue, a black limousine rolled up in front of them and stopped a few inches from the sidewalk. A man dressed in a black and white tuxedo stepped out to greet them. "You two the contest winners?" he asked, his tone dull and uniform.
"Yeah, that's us," answered Dib.
"Step inside please."
The two rivals sat in awkward silence, facing one another in the long, but rather tastefully decorated limo. Dib wanted nothing more than to bring up the topic of Tak, but was sure Zim would refuse. Why had she come back to Earth? And why she was so focused on Zim? She had said she wanted to extract revenge on him. But for what?
Zim, wanting nothing to do with a conversation, seemed to be putting in an excessive effort to avoid direct eye contact. It wasn't long before Dib finally decided to finally break the ice.
"So...Tak's back for revenge huh? That's pretty interesting." He pattered his hands awkwardly against the car seat. "I mean, I thought we defeated her after that whole Deelishis Weenie incident last year, but I guess we were wrong, right?"
Zim cast his eyes away from the boy and shifted his focus to the moving scenery outside. Dib waited for him to open up with some information, but the Irken stubbornly remained silent.
"So...what's she doing back at your base?" he asked, hoping to get some sort of an answer. "You two have some sort of plan to take over Earth?
Zim simply stared at him, his body mimicking a defensive posture. "She is trying to kill me," he answered bluntly.
Dib stared at him surprised. "And you're letting her stay in your base?! Geez Zim, I knew you were stupid, but come on! Aren't you worried at ALL about her tricking Gir and reprogramming your computer or something?"
"A bit."
"And you're just going to let it happen!?"
"No one can defeat the mighty Zim!" He shifted his posture before sitting in the seat more comfortably. "Besides, I'm sure she will soon discover my loyal companion can be more of a handful than anticipated. I have no worry of her destroying my base."
Dib brought a hand to his chin. "Yeah, except this is Tak were talking about. And from what I remember, she was FAR more capable than you at taking over the world. And if she's trying to kill you, she will probably find a way to do so."
Zim scowled at the passive-aggressive insult. "Not likely Dib-stink. She has already tried to ambush me once in my base and I stopped her by disabling her PAK and SIR unit. She's more weak now than a newborn Smorgy about to be eaten by the dreaded Verkron."
Ignoring the obscure reference, Dib leaned forward to process what he was hearing. "So she wants to take over Earth by getting revenge on you?" He brought his hand back up to his chin. "Interesting. I wonder what her plans are this time."
"There is no plan," answered Zim. "She's made it perfectly clear she's only after revenge and nothing else. She has no desire in taking over your miserable little world."
"But that doesn't make any sense," added Dib, searching for more answers. "Why would she go out of her way just to target you? Unless..."
Zim gave him a funny look.
Dib sat back up. "Unless you two have a history don't you!?"
"Eh? What are you talking about meat-stink?"
The boy stood up and pointed a finger at the Irken. "You know what I mean Zim! The last time she was here, she was clearly angry at you about something. At school, she picked on you every chance she got, and that was all BEFORE she tried stealing your mission away from you."
Zim turned his head away.
"So what is it Zim?" Dib questioned eagerly. "Why does Tak want revenge on you so bad? Huh? Huh?"
Zim tried to ignore him, but the boy annoyingly migrated into his field of view whichever way he turned.
"She couldn't have come back just because she hates you. There's got to be a better reason. Could it be that she really was your girlfriend after all? Did you two have some kind of falling out and that's why she pretended to date you and steal your mission away from you? How does that work for your species anyway? Do your people even have girlfriends?
"Get your gargantuan head out of my face!"
Dib pulled away, but still maintained a healthy distance. "Not until I get some answers Zim! I want to know what's going on."
After a few moments of stubborn grumbling, the Irken finally caved. "Fine." He paused a moment to calm himself down. "Fifty years ago I MAY have caused a power outage on the same planet she was doing her elite status training on. She ended up missing her opportunity to take the exam and was placed on a janitorial squad for the next seventy years. She escaped and came to Earth to take over my mission. But because I defeated her, she now blames ME for ruining her life and wants revenge."
Dib soaked in the information like a sponge. "Seventy years?" He processed the statement curiously. "Just how long is your species' lifespan?"
Before he could get an answer, the limo abruptly came to a stop. He was propelled forward, landing face-first into the cheap, velvet carpeting. He picked himself up and the driver came around to the side and opened up the passenger door.
"We're here."
Author's note: I know, I know. Not a lot going on in this chapter. I originally intended for it to be a bit longer, but the next part would have been just too much to add and I didn't want to drag things out. I really enjoyed writing the moments with Gir. And a big thanks to those of you who regularly post reviews. It always fun to read what other fans think of the story. I also wanted to mention a special shout out to the particular Guest reviewer following this story. I apologize for not being able to respond to you directly, but thank you very much for all your kind words! And yes, I intended to spell delicious wrong. I'm not entirely sure how the show spells it, but I think I got pretty close. Till next time!
