The control room was quiet now. Dib had subsided into silence, and was gazing blankly out the window, his eyes glassy. He hand been bound to his chair at wrist and ankle with sizzling energy bonds, and he couldn't move very much. Zim didn't think he even really noticed the restrictions, or saw the dark red cloud of ships that they were approaching; he was simply staring off into space, face blank. It was slightly disappointing… okay, Zim had to admit, it was more than slightly disappointing. Zim had expected his final victory to elicit a bit more of a reaction. So where was the anguish? Where was the stream of insults? The human was plotting something, Zim was sure of it… he would never give up this easily otherwise.
He perched on the seat, kicking his feet back and forth, watching Dib. It was weird, seeing the human without his glasses and signature trench coat. He couldn't get over how young it made the human look, how defenseless Dib seemed without them. It made him look naked still, even with the Irken suit. It was too tight, that was why. Dib had always seemed to favor clothes that were bulky and baggy and black and slightly intimidating to his fellow humans. The trend had become even more noticeable in high school, where Dib's boots became even bigger and chunkier and his trench coats more elaborate with buckles and metal fixings. Zim, who knew defensive posturing when he saw it, had never pressed his enemy about it. Dib made a better, more challenging rival when he had some things for himself. Though there was no place for defiance here…
He wondered how long it would take for Dib to learn that.
They were close to docking now. Soon enough the human would be in Irken hands, no longer Zim's concern. And then Dib would be DISSECTED! Yes! And ZIIIM would get to watch! Maybe there would be some screaming then.
Heartened, Zim turned to the ship's controls, running checks that were redundant and unnecessary. One of the flagships that followed the Massive had taken control of their smaller craft and was guiding them to a docking ship about 500 miles away from the Massive itself. So many aliens were constantly buzzing in and out of the Armada to do business with the Tallest or deal with others on the Massive that there was no way it could hold every craft and quarters for all that needed them. As such, there were docking ships equipped with teleporters made exclusively for parking spacecraft and then shunting the guests quickly, and without much fuss, onto the Massive.
They headed into one of these now, a moderately-sized one painted a deep purple. Zim's ship was well-sized (he had converted it from the space station that he had built to orbit the earth), but this ship was larger by far. As they neared it the rounded violet side of it rolled towards them to reveal thick tubes that squirmed and lashed through the emptiness of space. They were headed for the ports installed in the belly of Zim's ship. There were no stars to look at now; all there was to look at was a curved violet wall and, inescapable, the black emblem of the Armada. From the corner of his eye Zim saw Dib tense; the human sat a little straighter, and when the alien glanced surreptitiously at him the boy's eyes were a bit more alert.
The ship jarred when the teleport tube slammed into it; Zim hopped off his seat at the motion, bristling with eagerness. With the push of a button he freed Dib from his bonds. "Up now, human!" he snapped. The boy was a touch slow getting up and Zim grabbed him by the forearm and dragged at him without thinking. Dib jerked his arm away once he was standing and Zim hissed at him sharply.
The elevator dropped them down to the level below, where GIR was scratching and weeping at the floor. Zim hesitated by him, debating the pros and cons of taking his SIR with him. The thought of GIR throwing a temper tantrum in front of the Tallest prompted him to walk on. Dib glanced over his shoulder at the robot but followed without protest, following Zim down and down until they reached the teleporters, near the front of the ship.
A moment later, two beams of crackling pink light shot to the Massive.
They materialized on a broad red deck, a small group of six guards to greet them. Zim shook off the brief sense of vertigo in seconds, and grinned proudly out at the crowd. It felt GOOD to be back! Good to be with others who looked like him. The sweetish scent of Irken skin almost overwhelmed Dib's strong must.
Dib, standing beside him, was having a little more trouble getting his bearings. He scrabbled to his feet, swaying, staring back and forth wildly. His eyes were dilated. He was breathing very quickly.
The guards made no noise, but moved to surround Irken and prisoner quickly. "Irken Invader Zim," one said, sounding bored. His purple eyes were flat and gazed straight ahead, not even glancing down to acknowledge the small Invader or his human. "We will escort you to your audience with the Tallest. Come."
"YES!" Zim, elated, pumped his fists in the air in a small victory dance. "The Tallest cannot wait to hear the amazing exploits of ZIIIIM! I knew it!"
He whirled to point at Dib, his black-gloved fist quivering in the air. "This one will come along! But watch him closely- despite his inferiority, he can be tricky!"
Two guards closed around the human. They were both slightly shorter than he was; one just barely made it to his chin, the other was approximately the height of his collarbones. Still, Zim didn't have any qualms about putting the human into their hands. They couldn't have made it this far in rank if they weren't competent.
The guards by Dib both took a hard grip on his arms and began marching him forward. The teleportation must have been hard on him; Dib didn't look good at all. He stumbled as they dragged on him. Zim grinned at the human hugely, before whirling to strut between two other guards.
They walked through the drab halls for a few minutes, making for a teleport room that reroute them to the Tallest's lounge. There was no conversation, the only noise the rapping of Irken boots and Dib's gasps.
When they were beamed to the receiving pad in the middle of the lounge, Dib looked even worse. He was pale and immediately sweaty, with huge bluish rings under his eyes. Zim didn't pay his poor condition any attention; all he had eyes for were the two immensely tall, skinny being swiveling to look at them.
Red and Purple didn't look any different. The two of them never seemed to change, and Zim wasn't surprised; before he had begun the flight back to Irken territory he had kept in regular contact with them. Irkens lived so long anyway that a mere seven years was far too short for significant change. The light still gleamed gently on the polish of their armor; both still towered above him, and above Dib as well.
Zim stepped forward and bowed his head, wiggling his antennae dutifully to each of them. "My Tallest!" he said. "It is GOOD to be back! My invasion, as you have heard, has been a success. The planet earth is conquered under the Irken flag, its population decimated. I have returned with the best of them to present to you, so that you may decide whether or not the race should be eliminated or would better serve the Empire as slaves. Your soldier has served you well! Now reward ZIIIM!" He clawed at the air suddenly, fingers grasping, and cackled. The guards all leaned away a bit and looked down at him strangely. Red, acquainted with his outbursts, sighed.
"Yeah sure whatever, great job Zim. However," the ruler frowned, pursing his mouth, "you're late. Hugely late. All the other Invaders have subjugated their planets already. Impending Doom 2 is over now."
"Nooo!" Zim howled. His eyes were huge. "You must not turn away your greatest, most loyal soldier! I have done an awesome service to the Empire! Do not turn it awaaaaay!"
Purple's teeth were grinding. Red could hear it. Zim should have heard it, and adjusted his behavior accordingly, but he stayed where he was, staring up at the rulers beseechingly.
Red flicked his co-ruler a quelling glance. He would handle this. "Okay, Zim," he said soothingly. "Present your capture to us. Go on."
Zim went from pathetic to evilly delighted instantly. "YES!" He bounded back to prod his captive forward. "This, this is the DIB! He was the only resistance that came from his pathetic dirtball, the only EFFECTIVE resistance, that is! In spite of his GARGANTUAN, SMELLY head, he was a worthy enemy of ZIIIIM! Don't be fooled by his stinking, skinny exterior. Under that he's actually rather intelligent!"
Popping up onto his spider legs, Zim skittered over to the human and forced him forward. "KNEEL to your new RULERS, stinky-earth-SLAVE!"
The human staggered forward, his body loose and uncoordinated. He fell to his knees at Zim's jabbing, caught himself with his hands, tried to get back up but was forced down again by the small Irken. This time he stayed there, his face at the hem of Red's robes. Red backed away a little, as discreetly as he could. What a sickly-looking creature. He didn't look threatening or intelligent of effective at all. Of course, Zim could probably be thwarted fairly easily by… cooking utensils, or something.
"Uh-huh, Zim, that's great," Red said. He didn't even try to sound interested. "Now why don't we just turn this… thing… over to some scientists, and then you can go and get a reward, huh."
"YES! Reward!" Zim grinned toothily, backing off to let his captive get up. The creature stumbled to its feet, ungracefully, and looked up at Red.
He found himself taken in by its face, the simple alien ugliness of it. The gashed orifices, the fleshy nose protrusion, and the eyes- big eyes, with white around color, and a big black spot. He smelled too, like he'd been rolling around in dookie without a bath for his whole life. Fascinated and repelled at once, Red drew back. It was a face that he recognized, from not so long ago. It had been smaller then, and rounder, but the essence was still there. He had seen this creature before… "Ugh," he remarked, reaching out one spindly green finger. "Ugly thing, aren't you?" He brushed the tip of his claw, ever so gently, over… the "Dib's" face. Just under his eye. The creature flinched back immediately.
"Don't touch me!"
He looked really ill, tipping back his face from Red's finger. The ruler growled to himself at the creature's insolence and opened his mouth, but Zim beat him to it. "DIB-STINK!" the tiny Irken howled, sounding incensed. "SLAVES should show more RESPECT! You are in the presence of your RULERS!"
He bounded forward, flipping up onto the paklegs again. He grabbed the back of the human's neck with one hand and forced his face forward, until it was just inches from Red's hand.
The tall Irken rolled his eyes. He could easily have taken care of the insubordination himself, but that was Zim for you, always too eager to impress his rulers. In any other Irken it wouldn't have been a flaw but somehow with him things always went wrong.
Of course, soon it would be a total non-issue. The thought brought a grin to his face. He brushed his hand against the human again; ugh, it's skin was too hot and too soft. Like touching a deathly-sick Irken. He traced the cheekbone, ruffled the tiny hairs that fringed his eye. It's lip curled as he did so. There were tiny beads of moisture on it's forehead.
He rolled his eyes. That was probably some instinctive sign of insolence, and thus something that called for punishment. It was kind of sad, how slaves never learned. Their lives would be so much easier if they would learn to be pleasant with their masters. Red drew back his hand very gently and struck the human across the face. It fell without making a noise, except when it's body thumped on the floor.
"Okay," he said casually. Zim was watching the human, his face gone blank for a moment, but he looked back at Red immediately when his leader spoke. "I think I'm done. Bring in the scientists, somebody."
One of the guards departed as the human began to pick himself back up. His face, when he turned back to Red, was ghastly. His whole body shook, in long tremors, a flesh earthquake. The Irkens watched him curiously.
Red scooted backwards quickly when the human fell forward, but not quite quickly enough to avoid being grabbed around his skinny waist. Dib was quite a bit of dead weight. He hung limp for a moment, then made a retching noise. Red smacked him away and looked down in disgust at the mess on his robes. "Okay, that's just nasty," he announced. Purple giggled.
Zim was on the human immediately, kicking him to face upwards and then hitting him repeatedly. The creature made no further resistance; he just curled up his arms to cover his face. Already unhealthy, he was. Red wondered how long he would last in the testing.
"I'm going to get new robes," he announced to Purple. "Why don't you take care of this for now?"
"Okay," Purple said complacently, watching with interest as Zim screamed at the human.
END OF CHAPTER NINE
Well, now I can claim to have done something productive this weekend. Poor Dib…
February 20, 2005.