Once again, this chapter might be very depressing….just a warning…
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Invader Zim or any of the songs…I am not claiming that I do.
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Chapter 3: Face to face with the enemy.
Ember tossed and turned in her sleep. Her eyes shot open; she looked around the room and sighed. It was another nightmare, but this one was…different.
It seemed as if her nightmares were becoming more and more violent. They were also becoming more evil and demonic like.
She hesitated before getting out of bed. She stared at the outline of the door before slowly taking a step towards it.
'What about Zim? Will he still be mad…Will he still be there?' Ember thought. She wouldn't blame him if he was or if he just kicked her out.
The door slid open and she walked out into the bright light.
She saw Gir on the couch and got a feeling of Des-a-vu.
"Hey, uh…Gir, where's Zim?"
"In the labs…I think."
"Is he…still mad?"
But before Gir could answer her, the sounds of Zim being brought up to the kitchen were heard. He walked quickly to the living room, he seemed frantic.
Ember stood where she was; she looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with Zim. She was starting to slip back into her old habits of being shy and uncertain of herself.
Zim looked at her for a second, unsure of what to say. He was about to say something when he remembered why he was so worried.
He quickly grabbed Gir and Ember by the arms; he was careful to not grab Ember's injured arm. He pulled them to the elevator in the hallway and told the computer to take them up to the Voot Cruiser Bay.
As soon as the door slid open to reveal the Voot Cruiser, Zim ran right for it.
Ember pulled away half way there. "Zim, what are you doing?" She asked, confused.
"There's no time!" Zim still had his grip on Gir; who was trying to turn on his radio.
Zim ran over to the Voot Cruiser and popped open the windshield. He got in and was immediately followed by Gir, but Ember hesitated.
"Ember come on! I have to leave now!"
Ember was about to say something, but she just sighed and got in.
The windshield closed and Zim stared the Voot Cruiser. Ember wanted to ask what was going on, but she stayed quiet.
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As they flew through the sky, Ember could tell that Zim was taking a major risk. It was early morning, about 8:30 am. 'This must be some big emergency if Zim is driving in daylight…' Ember thought.
Gir had fallen asleep, leaving his radio in his lap and turned off.
Ember didn't care; she wasn't really in the mood to hear a song anyway.
"Oh uh…I found these yesterday…wondered if you might want them back." Zim said as he took out a pair of headphones out of his PAK.
Ember took them. "Thanks…But how did you find them? I thought they were gone for good."
"They were under a bush near the swing set. I only found them because I nearly tripped…"
Ember didn't respond. She put the headphones in her lap and looked down. They had already passed the Earth's atmosphere a long time ago, and the Massive was coming into view.
Zim wanted to say something to cheer Ember up, but he had to concentrate. The other Invaders were also arriving.
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They managed to get through the teleporter and parked in the same room where Ember had previously.
Zim got out; he decided to leave Gir. There was no point in trying to wake up the little robot.
Ember also got out; she held her headphones in her hand.
Zim lead the way to the door; they walked past the Trial room and into one that was even bigger.
((Think of the room that was in the first episode…where all the Invaders got their assignments))
Ember followed; she kept her eyes on the ground.
"…Zim, are you sure I'm even allowed to be here?"
"What? Oh…not really. But the Tallests already know you…so they should be fine with it."
As soon as they entered the room, all eyes fell on Ember. The looks she was given weren't really nasty ones, more like curious looks.
Zim watched out for Ember; he didn't want her to be taken for a threat and then thrown out the airlock or something…
The Tallests were standing on a small stage, talking with each other.
Zim grabbed Ember by the hand as he led her around the huge crowd; he then went to the side of the stage and walked up a staircase. They joined the other Invaders who were standing behind the Tallests.
The Tallests didn't seem to care, but the other Invaders eyed Zim with a look of displeasure.
Finally, Tallest Red looked away from Tallest Purple and looked at Zim.
"So nice of you to finally join us Zim…" Red said with a hint of anger on his voice.
Purple was going to say something, but Invader Tenn beat him.
"My Tallests! I thought this was a meeting for Irkens. Not the enemy!" She looked at Ember.
"Embers not bothering anyone and besides, she's not really an enemy." Purple said, glancing at Ember.
Ember smiled; at least she was safe…for now.
Suddenly, a loud, shrill alarm went off; lights flashed to signal a security breach. Most of the Irkens that weren't on stage started to panic.
The Invaders looked ready to fight, and the Tallests just kept their eyes glued to the double doors across the way.
Ember didn't know what was going on; she looked at Zim, but he was too fixed on looking at the door to notice she was looking at him.
Those same double doors slammed open. They revealed several beings, all ranging in size and race.
The leader waited as his army attacked the crowded Irkens.
The Irkens fought back, but they were forced to make a path that lead up to the Tallests on stage.
"Zim…who is that?" Ember whispered. She stayed close to him.
"The Leader of the Resisty, Lard Nar…" Zim answered. He kept his voice down.
Lard Nar floated in; he sat on a chair that carried him. It was the same one he had on the original Resisty ship, only this one didn't connect to the ship.
The Invaders looked ready to attack, but a silent order to stand their ground from Tallest Red stopped them. They obeyed.
The room was silent. Lard Nar made his way to the Tallests without getting on the stage. He floated up so he would be eye to eye with them.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Lard Nar asked in an eerie whisper. "My drones have completely disabled your weapons and your defenses. There is no way you can protect yourselves, so you might as well just tell us." His voice was still a whisper.
"Never." Red and Purple said in unison.
Lard Nar was about to say something back, but his eyes fell on Ember. He saw how she stayed close to Zim, frightened. He also saw how Zim tried to get between Ember and himself. And the only reason for that would have been that she was either a close friend or something wanted by the Tallests.
Either way, she was something precious to Zim and/or the Irken race.
"You! Come here…" Lard Nar pointed at Ember.
Ember looked at Zim, unsure of what to do. She took a step away from him and walked towards Lard Nar.
Zim could only watch as his only friend stood only mere inches away from the enemy.
"What are you?" Lard Nar asked. His voice remained cold; it was even colder that Red's.
"I'm…I'm a human." Ember looked down.
Lard Nar stared at her for a while. It was clear that she was certainly not on the Resisty's side.
He grabbed her by the injured arm.
Ember looked up at Lard Nar; she tried to conceal the fear in her eyes.
He pulled her off the stage and dragged her as he turned around and bolted away.
Zim looked shocked. He watched helplessly as Ember was pulled away.
The Tallests just stood there. They both looked down. Red glanced at Zim, making sure that he wouldn't disobey his order.
Of course, Zim didn't obey. He jumped off the stage and ran to catch up to Lard Nar.
He almost made it, but someone from Lard Nar's army slammed him into a wall. He slid down; hearing the footsteps of the other's walking past him.
They all crowded around. There were about 25 of Lard Nar's army. One of them pressed a button on Lard Nar's chair, and they were quickly teleported back to their own ship.
Zim could hear Ember's loud, frightened screams as she disappeared.
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This chapter would have been completed and posted last week. If it wasn't for my so called "friend" hacking into my account and deleting half the chapter. I should probably start saving these chapters, instead of deleting them off Microsoft as soon as I have them saved on my account…
And being sick certainly didn't help…
So I hope you enjoyed this chapter…a lot of the details will be explained in the next chapter, (I'm in a huge rush right now, so some of the minor details will have to wait)
Also, the only reason why this chapter didn't have a song in it is because I couldn't find a song that was good enough, or could fit the mood. But I'll make up for it next chapter.