(a/n: here you go, a new chapter. Please review, it really helps)
Act 8- Devil in the Dark
Marcus felt something nudge his arm lightly; causing him to shift a little but didn't wake.
Something nudged his arm again only a little harder; Marcus mumbled a curse but still didn't wake.
Suddenly he felt something hit him in the face so hard that he awoke.
Marcus bolted up right and rubbed his face "Ugh, wha-" he glanced around and saw Mini-moose floating there. Marcus frowned "What is it?" Mini-moose squeaked and bobbed a little.
Marcus frowned and glanced at his watch "It's been that long?" he noticed that it had been more then seven hours.
Marcus glanced out the window and saw that the sun had already set and the sky was a deep purple color. Marcus glanced to Mini-moose "what do you think happened?" Mini-moose squeaked.
Marcus nodded "That could be it, but I bet you ten bucks that his new pals decided to have Zim stay for a sleep over".
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Marcus jumped to his feet and opened the door quickly, reveling a frightened looking Jake.
"Jake?" said Marcus "Where's Zim and Finn?"
"I don't know man" said Jake "One minute Finn was checking out this weird looking device and Zim was trying to tell us something but he and Finn disappeared"
Mini-moose squeaked. Marcus nodded, looking impressed "Wow, you were right Mini-moose, remind me that I owe you that ten bucks later".
Jake eyed the small purple moose suspiciously "Who's that?"
"Mini-moose, he's been here the whole time" answered Marcus.
Jake had a suspicious look on his face but it quickly changed "Huh, makes sense".
Marcus stepped aside and allowed Jake in. Jake plopped down on the couch "Ok, now from the beginning, tell us what happened", said Marcus.
Jake took a deep breath and recounted how he, Finn and Zim went all over Ooo and helped at least a dozen people. Jake mentioned a bizarre underground lab filled with advanced machinery and Finn inspecting a familiar sounding device.
Marcus glanced at Mini-moose with wide eyes "You don't think he found it? Do you?" Mini-moose squeaked.
Marcus frowned "True, Zim never found it after that whole incident, Dib probably had it the whole time, but my question is why?" Mini-moose squeaked again and Marcus nodded thoughtfully "True, but we can't be certain"
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Jake, feeling completely lost.
Marcus faced Jake "Jake, tell me more about the device Finn was holding and tell me what Zim was trying to say, their lives may depend on it" Jake nodded and described everything in great detail.
Meanwhile, outside, Zeke and Captain Blake hid behind some trees.
Empress Gaz had noticed Jake as he slipped out of the laboratory and she had the two security officers tail him for the past hour.
Captain Blake activated his communicator and reported, "Got em"
"Good, hold position till further instructions" said Gaz, with that the communicator went dead.
Zim and Finn turned sharply around the corner and quickly hid in the shadows.
They waited in silence and darkness as a wave of monsters surge past their hiding place. Once the wave of monsters had passed, Zim and Finn emerged from their hiding place.
Zim sighed wiping away the sweat on his face "That was close"
"Just what are they?" asked Finn in between breaths. "The Halloweenies, they live here in the Nightmare Realm, they feast upon sweet delicious sugar!" said Zim, trembling slightly.
Zim glanced around in fear "If we do not escape soon, they will capture us and feast upon our delicious blood!" Finn's eyes widened in shock as a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning lit the darkness.
Finn asked, "How do you know all this?"
"I was trapped here before" answered Zim, his voice filled with hate "Thanks to that stupid human boy and his device!"
"Who?" asked Finn.
Zim shook his head "Nobody. But we need to leave now!" "Ok" said Finn.
The two left the alleyway and quickly sprinted down a backstreet.
As they ran, Zim noticed that they were passing some familiar structures. The library, the mental asylum, the park, Zim even saw his old street.
Zim skidded to a stop. Zim stared at the street he made his home. It may be a twisted, corrupted version of it but it still was his street. So many memories, so many good memories that he made over the past few years.
Zim wasn't really nostalgic or sentimental but for some reason he felt a little, sad. He sort of missed that neighborhood and sort of wished that the war didn't happen.
But all those feelings faded in an instant.
Zim motioned for Finn to follow and he took off running to his home, with Finn following closely behind. The two burst through the front door and Zim slammed the door shut and locked it. Zim breathed a sigh of relief "We should be safe…for now".
Finn glanced around the dark living room "This place looks like your house"
Zim nodded "It is, or at least an alternate version of it" Finn just gave Zim a blank look.
Zim groaned and explained, "This world is a twisted mirror image of our world that contains spooky versions of people from our world"
Finn's eyes narrowed "If this place has scary versions of people of our world, are there monster versions of us?"
Zim frowned "I don't know, maybe" he shuddered "But I hope not".
Finn glanced around nervously "how do we get home?" "we need the dimensional scope that you were messing with" said Zim.
Finn nodded "Ok but where do we find it?"
Zim scratched his chin and pondered the question for a moment till one place came to mind "I know where it might be" said Zim, grimly.
Back in the city street where the two intruders had appeared, a small monster that looked like a cross between a potato and a squid slithered back to Doppelganger Bitters
"I have found them" hissed the monster, jabbing a tentacle towards a distant hill "They are at the green one's home"
Bitters' lips parted into a wicked smile "Excellent, signal the others to proceed and rend the flesh from their bones!" Bitters let out a howl of laughter but her laughter was cut short.
The monster felt a cold presence behind her.
Doppelganger Bitters turned and trembled at the sight of the being "M-Master w-what a pleasant surprise!" Bitters bowed her head low "What brings you here?" Standing there was a tall, slim woman with cold eyes that could send chills through even the most fearsome monster of the Nightmare Realm.
Gaz Membrane glared at the cowering monster "I hear that you have cornered two boys, is that true?"
Bitters nodded quickly "Yes master, the small green one from years ago and a boy in blue"
Gaz's mouth twitched a little "Good, for once you have actually done something right"
"Thank you master" said Bitters, sincerely.
Gaz gazed around at the nightmare world in disgust "Here I thought this place couldn't get any crappier"
Bitters smiled "Thank you master, we strive to please". The small squid monster raised a tentacle "What will you have us do master?"
Gaz looked down on the small monster and said "you will take them alive, preferably unharmed and I want you to bring them to me".
The two monsters bowed their heads saying, "Yes master!"
"Good" said Gaz "Now go!" the two monsters obeyed and they scurried away from the woman as quickly as they could.
Mini-moose floated above Marcus as he dug through the storage closet in one of Zim's labs.
After an hour of searching, Marcus withdrew a small red device from the closet "Is this it?" asked Marcus, holding it up so Mini-moose could see.
Mini-moose squeaked happily.
Marcus stared at the small device in his hands "Well this looks like the prototype he was working on but he forgot to finish it" Mini-moose squeaked and floated closer to the device "Well I think he built this thing so he could open another gateway and send Dib through to another world" said Marcus, shrugging "I guess he just got lazy and forgot about this thing"
Mini-moose squeaked and floated out of the room with Marcus following closely behind.
Marcus and Mini-moose returned to the house above where Jake waited in the living room.
Marcus showed the device to Jake "Is this what it looked like?"
Jake nodded "Yeah, except it was a different color and it was a little bigger".
Mini-moose squeaked and floated towards the front door "What'd he say?" asked Jake
"He said that if we're going to save Zim and Finn, we got to move" answered Marcus. Jake nodded; understanding and the three of them quickly went outside.
Zim and Finn sat on the couch.
Finally after an hour, they had fished planning their next move. Suddenly they heard some chattering coming from outside. Zim frowned and quickly went to the front window.
What he saw made him blanch.
Outside hundreds of monsters were approaching the house.
Zim glanced back at Finn "They're coming!"
"Ok, just like what we planned?" asked Finn.
Zim gritted his teeth but he nodded his head "Fine, just go now!" Finn nodded, he rushed into the kitchen and climbed out of the kitchen window.
Zim grumbled to no one "I hate this plan" he turned and faced the front door.
He heard the chattering of the monsters that mixed with footfalls and slithering. Zim stood in the living room, his feet rooted to the floor.
Something in the back of his mind screamed, "Run!" but he just couldn't move. Zim growled as two large plasma cannons emerged from his pak. The door exploded off its hinges and the monsters flooded in.
Zim unleashed a barrage of shots upon the invading monsters. Dozens fell within the first few seconds, followed by a dozen more. With each passing second, dozens of monsters were struck down by Zim's barrage. But no matter how many fell, more kept flooding in.
Zim began to sweat. Even though the plan was to stall them as Finn made a pass at the Dimensional scope, Zim was tempted to flee but he knew that if he were to return home, he had to hold his ground.
After a few more seconds had passed and several dozen more monsters slain, Zim had began to believe that he might survive.
But that though had vanished when suddenly there was a deafening boom and a quake that shook the house and everyone in it. Zim's eyes widened in fear as a large shadow appeared in the doorway. A large black and white stripped tentacle shot through the doorway, wrapped itself around Zim and yanked him out of the house, bringing him face to face with Doppelganger Bitters.
Doppelganger Bitters smirked, holding Zim up to her eye "Got ya!" Zim's heart thumped away in his chest like a hammer.
Zim expected the monster to begin tearing away his flesh and devour him what was left but he heard some of the monsters report that Finn was gone causing Bitters to freeze.
The monster scowled at Zim "Where is he?" Zim just shook his head.
The monster grunted, "You may not answer me, but lets just see if the master could loosen that tongue of yours" Zim frowned in confusion but suddenly Bitters broke out into a full sprint, her tentacle swinging Zim around like a ragdoll.
As Zim was being tossed around, he muttered that he was going to murder Finn for his ridiculous plan.
Suddenly Zim felt Bitters skid to a stop and he was dropped on the ground like a bad penny.
He picked himself off the ground; brushing dirt of his uniform "What's the big idea?" said Zim irritably, looking around at his surroundings.
Zim found himself standing in the street where he and Finn had appeared.
"Hello Zim" said a soft voice.
Zim's blood ran cold. He recognized that voice, but it couldn't be. It sounded older and more mature but it still was recognizable.
The Irken invader turned and he saw standing there, an adult Gaz Membrane
"you!" breathed Zim. Gaz nodded "Yes, me. It's been a while huh?"
"B-but how are you alive?" asked Zim
Gaz just shrugged "Found the secret to immortality years ago, not really a big deal" "How are you here?" asked Zim.
Gaz answered nonchalantly "Magic".
Gaz was taller and she looked to be in her late twenties. Her hair reached past her shoulders and was a mane of purple spikes. Zim noticed that she was wearing pieces of high tech battle armor beneath the dark purple cloak she wore.
Before Zim could ask another question, Gaz held up a hand cutting him off "Enough questions" Zim's mouth snapped shut.
Gaz nodded to Doppelganger Bitters "Leave us"
"Yes master" said Bitters.
Zim heard the loud thuds of the monster's feet then nothing.
Gaz turned back to Zim and said coolly "Now that we are alone, I believe it is time that we have a little talk" Zim gulped then said "Ok".
Marcus was looking in the scope, adjusting the dials on the sides while muttering "Nope, nope, nope".
Mini-moose had instructed Marcus to use the scope to search for the dimension that Finn and Zim could be trapped in.
Once Marcus had located the dimension, Mini-moose then enacts his plan at rescuing Zim. For almost twenty minutes, Marcus had searched through at least a hundred dimensions and so far had no luck.
Marcus sat up against a tree searching through the scope, Mini-moose floated above and Jake just sat beside him playing with the grass.
Marcus kept mumbling "Nope, nope, nope, no-Hey!"
"What?" asked Jake "Did you find them?"
Marcus shook his head "No but I found a dimension filled with junk food. It has a river of melted cheese and a forest made entirely of taquitos"
Mini-moose squeaked
"Yeah, it dose sound like paradise but for now, I'll just keep searching or else Gir might show up and send us there" said Marcus.
Marcus began mumbling off the different dimensions "Filled with Jelly, humans ruled by sea horses, a peaceful utopia, hyper intelligent super sandwiches, gender bent versions of us, Zombie Apocalypse-"
"what was that last one?" asked Jake.
Marcus frowned "Zombie Apocalypse?" "No, before that" said Jake
"Hyper intelligent super sandwiches?" said Marcus.
Mini-moose squeaked and nudged Marcus. Marcus nodded "right, focus" he turned his attention back to the scope and continued searching.
"-Lego city, Super heroes, ah here we are!" Mini-moose squeaked and Marcus nodded.
Marcus adjusted another set of dials and he said, "I see Finn" Mini-moose squeaked again and Marcus flipped a switch on the scope and he placed the scope on the ground, then Marcus, Jake and Mini-moose backed away.
Finn jumped over the wall of monsters and continued running.
Finn had infiltrated a monstrous looking school and had fought his way through more than a dozen monsters till he reached the room containing his target.
Finn swung his sword, hacking away at the oncoming monsters till he reached his target.
An old rusted device like the one that had brought himself and Zim to the nightmare world. He was getting closer and closer, but suddenly a flash of light blinded him and he found himself in front of Zim's house "Wha-?"
"Finn!" cried Jake as he ran over and hugged his buddy.
Marcus's eyebrows rose "Wow that worked" he glanced at Mini-moose "How did you know that would work?"
Mini-moose squeaked.
Jake frowned "What did he say?"
"Some advanced quantum physics jargon that I don't understand" answered Marcus
"Oh" said Jake. Mini-Moose squeaked, Marcus nodded "right, now Zim" Marcus went to the scope and adjusted another dial and flipped another switch.
In the Nightmare World, Gaz crossed her arms "So, what do you say?"
Zim sighed "Fine"
"good" said Gaz, smiling a little "I'm glad that you could see it my way".
Suddenly Zim's body began to glow. Gaz glanced at her watch "Huh, they're early"
"Huh?" said Zim
"Nothing" said Gaz "Just go home and don't forget about our arrangement". Zim only nodded and he vanished.
Zim found himself in front of his house with Finn, Jake, Marcus and Mini-moose.
Zim blinked and glanced around "What the? How did I get here?"
"Marcus and Mini-moose did it" explained Finn "They brought us back".
Zim looked at Marcus and Mini-moose "No biggie" said Marcus "No need to thank us or anything"
"Good job" said Zim.
Mini-moose squeaked and floated back to the house. Marcus sighed, "Well that was enough excitement for one day, I say we call it a night" he nodded to Finn and Jake "Goodnight" he turned and followed Mini-moose back to the house.
Zim said his goodbyes to Finn and Jake and quickly hurried after Marcus and Mini-moose.
From a distance, Captain Blake and Zeke watched as the group disperse.
Captain Blake's communicator crackled to life "Return to the lab, now" said the voice of Empress Gaz.
The two security officers obeyed and they departed from the woods and returned to the lab where the empress waited for them.
Captain Blake bowed his head and asked "Ma'am, what are your orders?"
"Nothing, for now" said Gaz
"Nothing?" asked Zeke
Gaz nodded.
Captain Blake asked "What now?"
"We return to Haven for the time being" said Gaz, she turned and made her way to the exit with her security officers in tow.
The three humans climbed out of the secondary hatch and into their transport vehicle. As the small, sleek hover car zoomed down the man-made tunnel back to civilization, Gaz spoke "I am tired and I need amusement"
Captain Blake glanced back at the Empress in the backseat with the rearview mirror "the usual ma'am?"
Gaz shook her head "No, I want something new, something that will not bore me" Captain Blake gulped nervously.
Gaz glanced out the window, watching the concrete tunnel wall blur into one long drab scene
"Have the Gamekeeper prep the arena" said Gaz, her lips spread into a smile "Tell him to make an entertaining match"
Captain Blake nodded "Yes, Ma'am" he switched on the vehicle's onboard radio and as he repeated the Empress's order, Gaz's personal communicator rumbled a little.
Gaz fished the small device out of her pocket and answered it "What is it?"
"Your eminence, we have good news" said a soft voice.
Gaz frowned and the voice on the other end told her the news.
Gaz smirked "Good, you have done well"
"Thank you your majesty, it is always an honor to serve" said the voice and the line went dead.
Captain Blake glanced in the mirror and noticed Gaz's smirk "Good news your majesty?"
"Yes" said Gaz "There is news that Agent Phantom has found my target and the item i seek" Captain Blake and Zeke looked at each other in surprise.
Zeke spoke up "Well that's good, congratulations are in order ma'am"
"Yes, well I knew that they would get them, like they always do" said Captain Blake
"Yes, my Swollen Eyeball Network is quite efficient isn't it?" mused Gaz.
Zeke piped up "A happy occasion like this calls for music" Captain Blake paled and he looked at the young officer in shock.
The captain expected the Empress to punish Zeke for speaking out of turn, but much to his surprise Gaz just nodded "Fine, go ahead"
Zeke smiled and he pulled out a disk from his jacket. He put the disk into the CD player.
Within a moment a series of instruments began playing an upbeat tempo and a man began singing "I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin'. I see bad times today. Don't go around tonight. Well, its bound to take your life, there's a bad moon on the rise..."
Zeke tapped his foot along with the beat.
Captain Blake drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, even Gaz hummed along with the song.
Gaz smiled a little. Things were going according to plan and within a matter of days, her last enemy shall be vanquished and her rule shall be solidified.
Gaz hummed along with the song as they approached the shining city ahead of them.
Tak collapsed in the chair in the back room. Her muscles ached and beads of sweat dripped down her face.
For the past few days she had worked at Sizz-Lorr's restaurant tirelessly and she was on the verge of going crazy.
She had spent hour after hour cleaning, taking orders, and dancing around in a humiliating costume filled with white-hot grease.
Tak didn't have time to be alone with her thoughts, to plan an escape.
The back room door opened and Sizz-Lorr glided into the room on his hover chair.
He noticed Tak sitting in the chair "Break's done, get back to work" he growled.
Tak let out a growl of anger "No, I will not".
Sizz-Lorr frowned "No?"
"No, I will not take another minute of this!" seethed Tak, rising from her chair.
The former general looked the large Irken in the eye and snarled, "I was a high ranking general, I fought in the wars, I had the ear of the Tallest! I will not be ordered around like a common drone by a fry lord!"
Sizz-Lorr sneered "So what? I was a proud warrior in the elite guard but I was reassigned as a fry lord and I didn't complain. No matter what you say, former general, you are still a drone!"
Tak let out a cry of frustration "I can't believe this! I was the greatest and most feared general in Irk, then Zim's return had ruined it all!"
Sizz-Lorr's eyes widened "Zim! He's alive?"
Tak scowled "Yes, haven't you heard? The so-called great, war hero has returned, apparently he's alive on earth"
Sizz-Lorr gripped the arm of his chair tightly, "That rotten little scum sucker!" growled the fry lord "because of him, I've been here for the past thousand Great Foodening's short on help, its even worse now that I lost the use of both my legs".
Tak blinked in surprise. Suddenly an idea came to her mind.
"You hate Zim?" asked Tak
Sizz-Lorr nodded "More than anything"
Tak nodded "Me too and you want to have revenge on him?"
Sizz-Lorr nodded "yeah, why?".
Tak grinned, "I think we can help each other out"
Sizz-Lorr understood what she was saying, he grinned as well "Yes, I think so".
Marcus marched into the living room with a pillow and blanket. He placed the pillow on one end and he plopped down on the couch, sighing, "This bites".
Zim had ordered Marcus to stay in the upper levels and guard the house.
Marcus couldn't disobey; he was programmed to obey every one of Zim's requests, even if it was a stupid one.
Marcus wrapped himself up in the blanket muttering a curse. Once Marcus was comfortable, he just sat alone in the dark with only the light of the moon spilling in through the windows.
Marcus sat on the couch for a moment, trying to keep boredom at bay.
Marcus began humming a few notes then sang softly "When there's nowhere else to run, is there room for one more son? One more son, if you can hold on, hold on"
He drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch, humming a few more notes and continued, "I want to shine on in the hearts of men, I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand. Another head aches, another heart breaks. I am so much older than I can take. And my affection, well it comes and goes. I need direction to perfection, no, no, no, no. Help me out. Yeah, you know you got to help me out yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner .You know you got to help me out-" he stopped suddenly.
He noticed that something had moved.
Marcus glanced around the dark, alert and ready to fight.
His cybernetic eye scanned for heat signatures but he saw nothing. Something in him told him to stay alert.
Marcus just shook his head and continued humming.
He reached for the TV remote that was hidden in-between the couch cushions.
Marcus clicked on the TV and the movie that Gir was watching earlier was still on.
Marcus just shrugged "Whatever" he hit the play button and just watched the spaghetti western, without realizing that he was being watched.
If Marcus had looked up for just a second, he would've seen floating on the ceiling silently was Marceline.
End of Chapter.
(a/n: well what do you think? The lyrics are from Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Bad Moon Rising' and The Killer's 'All the things i've done' so i don't own those lyrics. Please review, it really helps.)