Title: Art of Breaking
Author: DarkAngelHunter
Chapter Rating: Pg-13/R for violence and graphic images

Overall Story Rating: NC-17

Pairings/Characters: Zim/Dib
Chapter Word Count: ~2,209

Author's Note: Minor adjustments have been made I think. Tell me if you see any mistakes people.

Chapter Two: Waking Up

When Dib awoke, all he saw was black. He blinked, thinking he had been blinded. He tried to reach for his glasses but he could not move. Something was restricting his limbs and holding him in place. He could make out voices speaking Irken and he could smell the faint scent of laboratory equipment. The first voice he recognized was Zim, the second sounded similar to that of a female, but the voice was so scratchy and high pitched it was hard to tell. That was where Dib was glad he studied the Irken's language using parts from Tak's (the female Irk female who held a personal grudge against Zim and tried to take over Earth) ship. He had a lot of time on his hands when Zim left.

"I can't believe this Zim!" The female barked angrily. "Why keep such a filthy, disgusting creature? He should be in the containment cells rotting like all the rest of those pitiful excuses for creatures!"

Dib bristled at the woman's harsh words. Filthy? Yes, somewhat because he was probably still covered in blood, but really, did she need to point that out? He took baths regularly!

"He has to remain here, Terra," Zim tried to explain to the angered Irken. "He knows too much of our Irken technology and weakness. I cannot allow him to interact with other disgusting meat sacks, least we all end up dead."

True, Dib thought to himself. And Zim would be the first to die. I would dunk him in a massive pool of freezing water and watch as he melts like that witch in Wizard of Oz.

"All the more reasons to kill him now, Kichermo." Terra snapped bitterly. "He is a threat, and all threats must be taken care of. Isn't that what you said when we invaded this rotting filth pile?"

Ki-what now? That was a word that was new to Dib. Even as he searched his brain, he could not recall a word like that being in the langue of Irk. Maybe it was a slang term, if Irekn's even had slang. He made no attempt to question out loud, signaling his consciousness.

"When in the world did I become your Kichermo?" Zim snapped angrily, his voice rising with ill-content towards Terra.

Okay, so obviously the word pissed Zim off. So was it a good term or bad? Dib was now somewhat confused, however, he continued to listen quietly.

"This has been a tradition for millions of years Zim. I am the strongest female Invader and you are the strongest male Invader." Terra spoke delicately. Dib may have been blinded but he imagined the female was pressing herself against the other, trying to be soothing and seductive at the same time. "If you haven't forgotten, the laws are laws and it states that the strongest must produce and we are the strongest."

"I'd rather breed with a meat sack then get within an inch of you in bed. Once I am given title Tallest I am tearing that law out and feeding it to a human," Zim spat back coldly. "Now get out of my sight!"

Breed…yeah, now it all makes sense…

Terra snarled back, sounding like a wounded mongrel. "Fine, I'll leave you with your disgusting creature. I'll be back later to accompany you to The Gathering."

There was angry clicking of heels towards the far end of the room, sliding doors opening and closing then nothing. Dib held his breath as Zim muttered darkly under his breath before addressing him.

"Are you awake human?" Zim asked. His sensitive antennas had already picked up the change in Dib's breathing patterns and allowed him to listen into their conversation, knowing he had some knowledge of Irken language and understood most of it, if not all.

"Sort of," Dib mumbled. "Did you gorge my eyes out by any chance? I can't see."

"You're blind folded shit for brains."

"Well, did you cut off my arms and legs? I can't seem to move them."

"I immobilized you and strapped you to a table, any more questions?"

"Yeah, just one…are you fucking insane?"

Zim paused to think before a sadistic smirk spread across his lips. "I might as well be." He reached over the human, his claws stroking through Dib's hair as he continued in a tone that Dib could not identify as dark and sinister or soft and affectionate, maybe a combination of the two. "Though, insanity is just a label only to describe a way of acting that you seem to view me as right now. I could be insane or something much darker that you can't recognize." His hand gripped Dib's hair tightly, his claws digging painfully into his scalp. "However, I digress. I am insane at the moment and you are the object for which this so-called "insanity" will be inflicting damage on."

If Dib wasn't blinded right now he would have shot Zim a dirty look filled with hate. Zim let go of him and pulled away.

"GIR!" Zim barked. "GET IN HERE!"

A tiny grey and light blue robot came darting into the room, running around his master before coming to a complete stop in front of him. The robot saluted him, however, his tongue hanging out his mouth in a comical way. "Yussh Master?" it squealed in its high pitched, robotic voice.

"I need you to go get some Irken supplies from one of the military fleets," ordered Zim. He handed the robot a slip of paper. "Don't come back until you have everything, is that understood?"

"Aye, aye big eyes!" Gir screamed, running around in a circle before making his way to the exit. But being the idiot Gir was, he first slammed into the wall besides the sliding door before actually making his leave, singing a song about a train getting turned over by a wild moose.

"He's still an idiot? I would have thought you fixed him after accomplishing your goal of world domination," Dib sneered. "Don't tell me you actually have feelings?"

"I got used to his behavior; I find it a tension breaker so I didn't bother making any adjustments to his programming." Zim replied dryly. "Not that it's any of your concern; you should be more worried about yourself then Gir."

The blindfold was suddenly ripped off from his eyes making Dib squint at the brightness of the room. Everything was blurry but the Paranormal Investigator could make out the form of Zim, everything else, nothing. His glasses probably broke during the attack on the school…or were it when Zim knocked him out? He didn't remember.

"I can't believe this…" Dib spoke quietly. "When did this go wrong? Today was just about to let out for summer vacation…"

Zim was messing around with equipment on the table, his antenna twitching when Dib said something. "What's not to believe? I took over Earth like I said I would, kicked the Tallest into a Black Hole and soon I'll be taking their place as leader, I control the entire Irken planet and three others before making my way here. What's not to get?"

"Oh, that explains a lot," snapped Dib. He knocked his head against the metal table, enjoying the mind numbing pain it brought. He needed to distract his mind before he caused himself a headache. But as his thoughts drifted, something sprung in his mind that he nearly forgot. "Where's Gaz?"

"You mean your sister?" asked Zim, glancing over at him. "She put up one hell of a fight, but we overpowered her. She's in the cell with the rest."

Dib flared with anger. "If you fucking touch her Zim I swear I'll fucking kill you!" he shouted, his body thrashing about. "Do you fucking hear me Zim!"

Zim could not help the amused smirk on his face. "I hear you loud and clear, so shut up. She won't be harmed either as long as she behaves or keeps her nose down."

Dib's muscles relaxed, all the fire from him had died out from all the running, pain and headache he was trying to avoid and knowing his sister was still alive made him slightly at ease. Might as well try and make a decent conversation at least until he could think properly. It was better than making Zim angry and have him lash out for him saying something stupid.

"Am I just going to be staying in here?"

"Of course not," Zim said, dropping the items non to gently on the table with a clatter. "This will be your bed until I can find you a proper room in my kingdom."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Kingdom? I'm surprised you even know what that is-!"

Dib was cut off when Zim spun around to, impaling a thick, metal rod he was holding into his left arm, causing the human to scream and curse violently. Tears leaked down his face as Zim tore it back out in a non-to gentle fashion.

"Yes, I know what a kingdom is. I've been on Earth long enough to learn all the stupid terms you use to describe something," Zim spoke. Walking over to his large computer, the one similar to the one he had back at his old base, Zim inserted the metal rob with Dib's blood on it into the data gathering component of the rather complex machinery. "Don't mock my intelligence Dib-worm."

Dib gritted his teeth against the pain, trying hard to maintain his strong will he so gloriously put on when he woke up. "Just what the hell do you want from me?"

"Do you know how much I hate you?" Zim asked instead. His voice was low, yet held an edge of disgust and something else that Dib could not describe. The alien was leaning against the panel of the computer, his hands resting on the keypad without activating the controls, his weight being supported by it. He chuckles almost with a playful bitterness. "Of course you don't. Why in Irken did I think you would? Hate is such an easily tossed around word among your species, it's kind of sad. It's used to describe a feeling towards another person. Hate is the closest thing in your earth dictionary that comes remotely close to the description I have towards you."

Zim stood beside Dib, a rough edged knife in his gloved hand. Dib continued to glare as best he could at the alien as he continued his monologue.

"Ever since I meet you, I wanted you gone and out of my life. You ruined every one of my plans from the very beginning and had been the biggest pain in the ass in my way of taking over Earth. I really did have all the technology, the skills, the brain power to crush you and finally accomplish my dream. However, I grew accustomed to that game of cat and mouse we played although like everything else on this dirt rock I grew to hate you again and wanting you dead. But for every action there is a reaction. It would be no fun to kill you right away, the only one who opposed me. So during the years of my absence from Earth, I was thinking of ideas on how to end your miserable existence once I had taken over your filthy planet. But I couldn't really come up with much."

Dib felt the cold, sharp metal tip at his right hipbone, digging teasingly into his skin, yet not breaking the flesh beneath it.

"Then it suddenly came to me; why not keep you alive and make you suffer the humiliating defeat of Zim? It would be nice to have the only one with a brain on this pitiful world. Irken females are rather distasteful; the other Invaders are just as bad. So I decided to make the most out of this little invasion by humiliating you in the worst way imaginable then when I'm tired of playing, I can kill you and move on with my life."

The knife suddenly pierced through Dib's skin, slashing across the area in a smooth, perfectly slashed curve. Zim's hand moved gracefully across Dib's flesh with the knife, humming some tune as he did so. Dib screamed, that's all he could do as the blade penetrated his flesh deeper. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Blood slid out from his wounds onto the table and to the floor. Zim kept cutting, as if he was trying to carve out a chuck of Dib's skin. The slicing stopped at a point though, only to move to do the same again on a different part, however, staying in the same area.

Finally, the knife was pulled away.

Zim dropped the metal onto the floor, the clattering echoing in the silent room, save for Dib's harsh pants and stepped back to admire his work. His name was now permanently etched in Dib's membrane. He leaned forward, his snake-like tongue slipping out from between his lips to taste the crimson fluid of his enemy before pulling away and laughing harshly.

"It's time I show you what the true meaning of fear really is," Zim hissed before exiting the lab and leaving Dib to his pain.

To be Continued~