A/N: I probably should've said this before, but Invader Zim doesn't belong to me. I would very much like to do so, so if you know Jhonen, give 'em a call for me.
ALSO. This is the chapter in which Zim and Vix FINALLY meet. Zim is WAY OOC. For some reason, I pictured him as this sauve, cool, charming type of guy.
I DON'T KNOW WHY.
...
Vix woke with a start the next morning. She glanced weakly at the clock. It was only 6: 39 A.M.
She decided that she was going to go pay the King a visit today. She climbed out of her bed and changed her uniform, tying her red cake around her neck tightly.
She was about to leave, disguise fully attached and all, when she decided she would wash her PAK legs.
Knives were so much less conspicuous anyway.
Still, Vix hesitated to part with all the blood coated onto her spiderlegs. But she overcame the temptation and removed her PAK in the huge empty room deep in her base.
She asked Computer to produce a wet rag, and hastily began scrubbing all the grime from the legs. When that didn't work, she tried burning it off. But still, nothing would get rid of all the blood. Finally, she produced the knife she had used to stab her mirror, and began scrapping all the blood away.
Metal clashed with metal, and a loud and painful shriek echoed through the room, much like fingernails on a chalkboard.
It took some time, but Vix finally got the blood all off. Satisfied, she went into Storage Room 3 and picked out a few knives that she loaded into her PAK.
Hey, who knew what kinds of crazy guards the King had around his house. She would have to get in somehow.
She walked out the door and ran on her newly cleaned PAK legs as fast as she could towards the coordinates that marked Zim's house. It took about an hour and forty minutes, but she got there.
Zim's house was huge. It was wedged in between two stumpy Earth houses, but they both were old and rotting. The house was a green color, the roof a purplish color, and the door was a pink color. There were six lawn gnomes and a handful of puffer fish and flamingos out front. There was wooden fencing surrounding the property, and the grass was the greenest on the block.
Two Elite soldiers were stationed out front, their insignias slashed through, hinting that they were defective. As Vix walked up to the front steps, one held out an arm.
"Halt!" she said. "State your name and business!"
"My name is Farr. I was wondering if I could talk to the King about something regarding the safety of the firewalls surrounding the source code of the search engine," Vix said. The soldiers exchanged glances, and Vix rattled off some more computing nonsense.
"Alright! We'll notify the King of your presence. Please, step inside," the other one, a male, said. He rubbed his temples and grimaced, swinging open the door for her.
Vix smiled viciously at both of them before nodding and walking inside. It was clear that this had once been a much smaller base, but was now at least three times as big.
Vix could see that the living room had been converted into sort of a waiting room. A few others besides herself sat on either the large couch or few chairs, twiddling their thumbs idly.
Vix took her seat in a plastic folding chair. When it was clear no one was going to come immediately, she began to go over what she would say and do in her head.
About twenty minutes later, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up, noticing she was the only on in the room.
"Mistress Farr, I presume?" a fat and short little Irken said. He had red eyes and his uniform was a little dirty.
"Yes?"
"I am Head Adviser to the King Skoodge. The King wishes to see you now. Please follow me," he said, and waddled away to the toilet in the kitchen.
Vix craned her neck as she watched him step into the toilet. "Well, come along now! We mustn't keep His Highness waiting." Skoodge held out a hand, and Vix stepped into the toilet beside him, ignoring the offer.
They descended somewhat slowly, and the elevator's walls were covered in Irken flags and "Long Live the King" signs. It was very strange, Vix thought, to go out of your way just to decorate your elevator.
Finally they disembarked, and Vix stepped into a very large chamber. There was nothing in it, save for a huge throne with a bored-looking Irken sitting sideways in it. The walls and floors were both concrete, and the bright red throne made the whole thing look like a joke.
Skoodge nudged her. "Bow before him!" he hissed. She hastily did so, dropping to her knees and laying her arms out in front of her.
"Your Highness!" Skoodge cried.
"Yes yes, what is it, Skoodge?" Zim said. Vix tilted her head up slightly to get a good look at him. He had stood up now, and was walking towards her with a flourish.
His ruby eyes gleaned against his skin, and his Invader's uniform had been somewhat modified, adding a red cape around the waist and a little crown atop his head. Vix quickly lowered her head as he stopped in front of her.
"This is Mistress Farr. She has come to discuss...something with you," Skoodge said. Vix couldn't help but stare at Zim's finely polished boots, and wondered what they would look like covered in his own blood.
"Rise, Farr. Skoodge, leave us," Zim said.
Vix could hear Skoodge scuttle away as she rose slowly, making sure not to make and sudden movements. A toothy grin spread across Zim's features as he looked at her. She stared at him blankly.
"Your Highness," she said, bowing her head quickly.
"Call me Zim. Sometimes 'Your Highness' just gets so boring," Zim said, as he turned and climbed into his throne again. "You had something to discuss with Zim?"
"Yes..." She hesitated. Would it be easier to ask for a job as a computer technician, or personal assassin? She pondered for a moment, and didn't even register Zim walking towards her until her whipped off her contacts.
She gasped and put her hands to her face. "Your Highness!" She tried terribly hard to keep from whacking him in the face.
Zim let the contacts fall to the floor. "I have spent many years on this filthy planet, and in the first few years as an Invader, I wore contacts every single day. It takes no effort for Zim to recognize real from fake," he said, sitting in his throne once more.
He snapped his fingers, and two Elite soldiers jumped out of the shadows, grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back. Both of their insignias were slashed through, just like the guards outside. Vix heard one take a breath.
"Now tell Zim," he cooed. "Just who are you?" He leaned foreword in his seat, as if he was watching a very exciting movie.
"Sir! Permission to speak!" one of the Elite said, saluting him with his free hand. Something about his voice was familiar.
"Permission granted," Zim said, waving his hand.
"I...I know you..." Vix whispered. "I know you. But from where?"
The Elite soldier gave her a look, a mix of disgust and anger. Suddenly, he grabbed the antennae extensions and ripped them from her head. Zim merely grunted, but the other Elite, a female, gasped loudly.
As soon as his claws brushed the back of her neck, she let out a cry of anger and whipped out her PAK legs, killing the other Elite instantly, the legs sliding into the rib cage effortlessly.
"YOU!" Vix screamed as she recognized him. He was the Elite leader, the one with the red eyes. The one who had given her the scars.
The one whom she had vowed to kill.
But before she could move, something slammed into her thigh. There was no pain, but she couldn't move. Her spiderlegs retracted instantly, tipping her onto her side. All she could see was the Elite leader's startled look, and Zim as he blew the smoke off of the barrel of a stun gun.
"Very useful, these things," he said before tucking it into his PAK. He stood, cape billowing around him, and cooly walked over to Vix, who remained helpless and frozen.
"You know, Zim could very well execute you for murdering one of my personal guards, but this has tuned out to be quite interesting indeed," he said, bending down and speaking quietly. "So I will spare you."
"Besides," he purred, stroking her head, "Zim can tell you are very skillful in your trade." He nodded at her loops, pulling one lightly and grinning. Vix could feel the anger boiling inside her, along with something else she couldn't place.
"Alright!" Zim said suddenly, standing up. The Elite member snapped to attention. "You have exactly two minutes to convince Zim why she should be executed, for that is what you wish, no?"
"Sir, yes sir!" The red-eyed leader shouted, saluting.
"Very well," Zim said, snapping his fingers once more. A single Elite member, obviously shaken by the sudden murder of her coworker, stepped out from the shadows.
"You! Bring Farr-"
"Vix, Your Highness. Her name is Vix, or Vixen," the leader said. Zim glared at him.
"Did I ask you? No," he growled, moving towards his seat. "Bring Vix to my side, then fetch someone to clean up this mess," Zim said, sitting up straight in his throne.
The Elite member bowed, and cautiously dragged Vix to Zim's side. He clapped once, and the house's Computer created a small chair beside him. The Elite set her gently into the chair before bowing once more and practically sprinting out of the room.
"Now then," Zim said, clasping his hands together. "If you cannot convince Zim, I am sure my new little pet would love to rearrange your organs. You have two minutes, starting now."
Vix was a little annoyed at his constant cooing over her, and how he called her pet made her shudder. But still, she couldn't help but like Zim, King of the Defects.
The Elite leader hesitated for a moment, gathering his wits before speaking. "Your Highness, my name is Dien, and Vixen there is a serial killer who terrorized all of Home Planet. She has killed seventy-two, no, seventy-three Irkens, counting my friend here on the floor," Dien said.
"Seventy-five!" Vix said, her speaking ability coming back.
"Ooh, looks like your time is running out, Dien. She will soon be able to move, and you know what that means." Zim grinned and drew a finger across his throat.
Dien faltered for a moment. "She's insane, Your Majesty! How do you know she won't turn on you? She's crazy! She's killed so many innocents," he cried. Vix could now feel the muscles in her torso working, and she twisted from side to side.
"And? Your point being what?" Zim said, lightly petting Vix's cheek. She hated it, but purred contently anyway, trying to get Zim on her side, though she knew she had already one.
And Dien knew it too. "With all due respect, she's a crazy Irken murderer! She'll kill you! She'll kill everyone!"
Vix lifted up on leg and then the other, shaking it to gain feeling. She grinned wickedly.
"Good point..." Zim said, startling Vix. How could he change his mind so quickly? She panicked even further as Zim pulled out his stun gun.
Dien breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm glad-" Dien was stopped short as Zim fired the stub gun at him, paralyzing him.
Vix looked at him. He grinned devilishly. "Sic 'em," he said. Vix smiled and pecked him on the cheek,
something she never would have done had her life not been in his claws. The King beamed. Though he was paralyzed, Dien's pupils dilated in fear as Vix calmly walked over.
She pushed him over, resting her boot on his chest. Reaching her arm behind her, she pulled out the dullest, longest blade she had.
"I'm going to make you suffer," she whispered, twirling the knife in her hand. "You're gonna feel my pain. All of it. Prepare to die!"
...
A/N: Yep. That was that.
NOW, ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!