Chapter 7: In the dark of the night-
Halloos? IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?
"Ugh…my head." He rubbed his aching head, certain that there must be bleeding. Great, he thought, I'm alone in the dark and I'm going to bleed to death and-eh? The dark? He opened and closed his eyes. At least he thought he was opening and closing them. Opened or closed what did it matter! There was no light. There was only nothing. He felt him curl into himself. He knew the vastness of space. He knew it only looked empty but there were things there. This…'darkness' is new. There is no hope of something being here. There is only the ever-waking nightmare of not knowingness.I have to get out of here! He flailed around scuttling small nameless objects, trying desperately to escape the emptiness that surrounded him. He carried on like this for a while before running straight into a…something.
He fell back. He lay there trying to control his panic. You were trained for this, he told himself, and you're an invader. You don't get scared. You don't feel at all. You are an invader. You are the great invader Zim. Zim rolled onto his sqiggley-spooch and listened. There was nothing but his soft pants echoing off around him.
Think Zim. Think, he told himself. Echoes mean that there are infinite amounts of empty space of course, he answered. But echoes must bounce off what for there to truly be an echo? So I must be…in a containment unit or even worse underground. Zim pushed off the unusual floor of where ever he was. Lets solve this puzzle. He pulled his night vision goggles out of his PAK. What he saw through them however made him immediately shift gear.
He was in an office. Dusty brown walls made of stone and dirt surrounded him on four sides. A fancy desk of shiny rock with a matching leather chair stood in front of a broken wooden chair in the center. A stone door made of stone lay hidden behind a curtain of what looked like steel chains. Turning he realized the office was more like a large walk in closet than an actual room. Zim rushed forward and pushed against it. The stone door stood still unwilling to move. Zim pounded and kicked brutally at it. The door still stood unwilling to move. Zim felt rage burn into his chest.
"You DARE try to make a fool out ofZIM, DOOR? HA! Prepare to meet your laser-y fate." He extracted his spider legs and fired lasers from the tips. "YEEEAAAAAAH!" A cloud of dust erupted covering the mighty invader head to thorax in dirt. He sputtered against the insolent dust. When the dust settled the door remained unscathed. Zim gave an angry growl before turning round. He then ran and kicked the door for good measure. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his toes he made hobbled over to on of the sidewalls. He could practically hear the laughter of his enemies laughing, taunting him with their insolent human noisemakers. I will not give them satisfaction, he thought darkly.
He tiptoed carefully over towards the desk and flung himself over into the chair. The leather made a satisfying crunch as he proceeded to fling up his legs onto the desk. If there are people watching they'll know that they won't make a smeet out of me. Ha lets see them try. he thought with a cocky smirk.A click emitted from the desk as the whirring of rusty gears clanked through the walls. Zim dove under the desk grabbing a stapler from one of the bottom drawers. As the grinding slowed it became increasingly harder to see through the goggles. Putting them away he notice the glow against the wall and on the floor outside his little hidie-hole. Leaning around to the edge of the desk making sure he was out of the light he peaked around the corner.
Mushrooms? From the sky? Glowing aqua mushrooms protruded from small holes in the night sky above him, filling the office with an unnatural glow. Stars, more numerous down below than above, grinned back down at him. Zim's mechanical spider legs shot into the soft bedrock floor lifting him up. The stars moved from the sudden rush of air sending them shimmering in their rows. As he rose higher, the fouler the smell of earth became. He slowly stretched his gloved hand batting at a delicate strand holding the tiny glowing dots. They swayed gently before coming back and sticking to his hand. Bored of this stupidness, he lowered himself down to the ground. Well that killed five minutes. There had to be a way to open the door.Zim looked around. He went back to inspect the stone door, brushing past the metal chains.
It was smooth and tinged grey probably through time. In the near center of the large door was a series of two rings encompassing a circle. In the middle in near empty space were two objects, the Earthinoids Sun and the Moon. Way to get creative with the names Earthiniods. He scoffed at there stupidity. The Sun and crescent Moon appeared to be on metal tracts…weird. His claws fingered with the first outer surprised to find it slid easily clockwise. Interesting, Zim put a finger to his chin, very interesting. He slid the first outer rim all the way, enjoying the slight creak of rusty gears as he did so. The Sun on the right slid to the center middle circle. Zim moved to the second inner ring quickly counter clockwise realizing the purpose of the moon. The waning crescent moon overlapped the Sun. Zim took a step back. It then slid into the door with a metallic screech. The solar eclipse emitted a small puff of steam and turned sideways. Suddenly the sound of locks springing from their slots echoed around him in the deep. Zim timidly leaned his hand against the door. The stone behemoth slid forward. With a smirk he dragon kicked the door open. The door fell forward cracking into large pieces as it collided with the slate floor. Zim jumped onto the fallen door with triumph.
"Victory!" Zim declared, " Victory for the mighty Zim!"
"Yes, you sure showed that door. Mm-hmm. Aren't you impregnable?" a voice echoed sarcastically from nowhere.
"Of course not I'm a male! WHO ARE YOU?" Zim screamed into the empty hallway. "Answer Zim. Show your face so I can squish it."
"Come here." The voice answered cryptically. The voice sounded young. He probably was another human runt stuck here. But it was better to be lost in the dark with someone than no one…better to have someone else to sacrifice than your own.
"Where?" Zim asked looking round. The tunnel looked naturally formed. Glowing green crystals and mushrooms sprang out of random places basking the grey rock with green overtones. The Irken soldier had two ways to turn, which left the question: left or right.
"Turn-"
"WHERE?"
"Are you going to-"?
"WHERE?"
"Silence you infernal infidel! Do you want an unexpected visit to hell or would you rather live to conquer this planet?" the disembodied voice rang out around him. Zim felt his heart skip beat. He knows…something knows."That's right I do know. And I don't care. I need you to shut up and listen. Turn right, then left, then open the door numbered666."
Zim didn't even wait to answer. He didn't care about who this thing thought it was or how powerful his voice had become. His secret was everything to him. His darkest nightmares would not come true-he would not allow them to come true. Right, left, he read off as he sprinted past corners, 658, 660, 662, 664. Zim skiddedto a stop.
"666." Zim whispered. A light blue door with brass letters looked down on him. He saw himself reflected in the yellow metal. He saw himself scowl. "I'm here."
"Now open the door." The Childs voice drawled out impatiently. Zim set to work on the puzzle on the door again. Hmm he sounds...strange. The thing behind the wall seemed to read his mind. "The words you're looking for are 'like he has an accent' and I do. I've actually been eager to meet you, Invader Zim. When my father told me another life form other than human was on the planet, I can't tell you how overjoyed I was. The world is a dangerous place to be alone in. But then again humans aren't very good company to keep. Though there are a few exceptions."
"You talk as though you are not a human being." Zim replied preparing to charge. Zim slammed the door open and walked into darkness. The door closed behind him. He whirled around trying to catch a glimpse of the thing that had entrapped him. Instead Zim found himself looking straight into the glowing red eyes.
"Well that's because…I'm not."