"Wow, this painkiller's amazing. I can barely feel a thing."
Faith was astounded. The young African American woman's mouth was positively agape as she looked at the sizzling, hissing, burning Irken sitting neatly in that chair on the stage, Feyr nonchalantly lying next to her, humming a bit, hands in his lap, head quietly bowed. The platoon of Irken guards, one by one, had laid down their weapons and were quietly waiting as the sunlight beamed down upon them all. For the people of Earth, it felt, in many ways, as if they were feeling the sunlight for the first time. Everything was warm and light and softness.
For the Irkens though, Faith and Professor Matthew Membrane knew...they KNEW it must have been agony. With the pollution cleared from the skies above, there was nothing to dull the effects of Earth's UV radiation. Yet these alien invaders were as content as could be.
And it was then that the truth hit the two scientists as they looked at each other, then at Feyr and Peech.
"You wanted this to happen." Faith murmured. "Trik was in on all this. That's why he killed himself."
"You allowed us to get this far. I should have realized eventually you'd learn we were looping the lab footage. When did you figure it out?"
"Second week in." Feyr intoned. "For what it's worth, that's VERY impressive. We Irkens tend to overlook too much. We miss the small details in the name of the bigger picture. That's a problem my race has. Along with being...disgustingly bigoted." He added with a frown.
"And lacking any sense of the value of free will." Peech added. "If I'm gonna die...I die free." She insisted, holding her head eye, orange eyes blazing like fire. "I don't want to be a part of a society like Irk anymore. I wanted to do things on my own terms. And Senior let me. This was the least I could do for him. And I can be happy knowing that the next gen of little Irkens are gonna grow up in a world where nobody will TELL them what they can't be. Where anything will be possible. And you guys will get your planet back."
She smiled a little at Faith. "I don't like making other people do things for me. And I hate bullies. Always felt people oughta do what they want. Everyone. Long as it wasn't your boot on their face."
"And we Consulars have hated Irken society for eons. When you are exposed to the cruelest, sickest, most foul, gluttonous, barbaric, hypocritical thoughts possible for years and years, then getting to experience the mindscapes of the "inferior" races like Vortians or Screw Heads or the Arcadians, it's like...it's like looking at someone hand-crafting a table and comparing that to a factory-produced model. You just think..."I thought this craft had been completely forgotten! Why doesn't EVERYONE make chairs like this"?" Feyr mused aloud with a little chuckle. "Those other races had such better lives. Better thoughts. Better spirits. I wanted that for the next generation. It's just a shame I won't be able to see it."
"You really are gonna do amazing things. Trik was right about you." Peech added with a little smile.
"And he left you guys one more present. It's in his office and on his personal computer at the lab. There's a folder marked "Bye". The password's "Swordfish". He thought it was funny." Feyr murmured, his eyes beginning to close. "I think I'll...take a nap...because I'm...so...sleepy..."
And with that, he flopped off his chair, finally fading from consciousness, Peech keeling over in HER chair, the humans assembled staring in shock at what they'd just heard as Faith slowly blinked, strange feelings welling in her before she finally decided...
"Let's go check that computer."
"I wanna do it properly."
Gaz nodded a bit, stepping away and watching as, one after the other, Dib began to dig and dig. The rain had, at long last, finally faded. Dib and Gaz had been left staring at the scene before them, at the waves and waves of dead. Many an Irken body was horribly burnt, razed, almost unrecognizable, yet Senior and the Massive's crew hadn't been so damaged. They, who'd seen it coming, almost looked like they could have been sleeping.
And then Zim had spoken.
"Well? You're going to let me out, aren't you?" Zim offered with a little smile up at Dib and Gaz. They stared at him, almost incredulously, scarcely able to believe he was really asking this. "Come on, Dib! It's me! Zim!" He insisted. "You know you'd never just abandon me her in a little plastic ball! And after all the horror you've just seen, well...surely you won't ADD to it? Of course you won't! You won't do it!"
Dib picked that ball off from the ground he'd dropped it onto as he descended down from the Tallest's palace. He looked Zim squarely in the eyes, Zim's smile beginning to fade a bit as a horrific, icy chill now sunk into his heart. He was beginning to really realize something. Perhaps Dib wasn't quite as noble as he had assumed for so long. And perhaps Dib had simply crossed a line that there wasn't any coming back from.
"...you...w-won't...do it?" Zim squeaked out.
"No. Not even for the likes of YOU." Dib finally decided, opening up the capsule and putting Zim on the ground. "...you know what, Zim?"
"What?" Zim asked with a little smug grin.
"...you're not fucking worth it."
And with that, and a final shake of his head, Dib walked off, towards the battlefield, to where Senior and the others now laid. Gaz, meanwhile, plucked Zim up. POINK! And put him in her palm. "Wh-where are we going?"
"Shut it." She snapped. "...I want to see what he wants."
And so, one after the other, Dib laid each in graves that he dug. Zim occasionally sounding like he wanted to say something...but Gaz gave him a foul, evil look with her mechanical eye, silencing him. Dib had panted and sweated, tearing off his jacket, feeling every single swing of the big rifle he was using TO dig was a gift to the beings he had both hated, feared, admired and loved all at once.
Senior had been the last to be laid down, Dib getting out of the grave he'd dug as he looked down at Senior, then at Gaz. "Should we say something?"
"Oh I'll say-" Zim began.
Dib gave him a very dark glower. Zim held his hands up. "It will be nice! Zim promises!"
Gaz nodded. "Okay. Let her rip."
Zim cleared his throat, and then spoke. "You were very tall. And your secret plan to decimate the Irken race was so diabolically clever and ingenious that Zim wishes HE had thought of it. It takes much to impress Zim. Were you not dead, you'd no doubt be very pleased to hear I think so highly of your scheming skills, Senior."
"That may be the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about another Irken." Dib remarked as Gaz nodded curtly, accepting this backhanded complimentary eulogy as Dib looked from Zim to her, his amber/golden eyes gazing at her, seeing the synthetic onyx eye she had, the red pupil, the faint rim of gold. "You wanna say anything?"
"I'm not good at...the feels. I'm just not. I guess I can say that...it sucks that you turned out to be better than I thought you were. If you were what I'd thought you were, I wouldn't feel like such shit right now." Gaz muttered. "But I guess I'm also glad I got to meet you all. Cuz you were pretty cool sometimes. For..." She smiled a little. "...for dorks that liked Christmas songs like "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" unironically."
Dib nodded at this, and he turned to look down at Senior, biting his lip. What could he say? What could he possibly say, knowing everything he now knew? He hestiated, rubbing the back of his neck, a faintly cold wind blowing through his black hair.
"I...I don't know what to say. I guess I'm surprised you ended up being better than I thought you were too. And yet...also worse. I don't know if I still like you after what you did. I get WHY you did it, but...I don't think I'll ever know if I really agree with it. But I guess I can live with it. And I won't look back in anger, because...at the end of the day, you cared. You cared, and you tried, and...and you made me laugh. You were funny, and weird, and...and you liked GREEN LANTERN and singing songs from musicals and you didn't have to be so nice to me. But...I'm glad you did. And I wish...I wish your culture hadn't been what it was, cuz...we probably would have been great friends. And I know you loved Earth. Almost as much as me, and..."
He could feel his eyes burning, and he covered his face, the shuddering, quaking sobs beginning to rise.
"I just...I'm just SORRY. I'm just so, so sorry all this happened. And wherever you are, I...I just hope you're happy."
With that, he wiped his nose upon his sleeve, Gaz gently raising a hand. She hesitated a bit, then patted his shoulder briefly before Dib began filling up the graves, Gaz looking back at the city, back at the Tallest's palace. Her singular onyx eye seemed to narrow slightly at it before she walked back over to it, laying Zim down. "Go on, Zim. I'm not gonna help you grow back to normal. You can figure that out for yourself. Go enjoy being the only Irken left on the planet."
Zim giggled a bit, and gave Gaz a little bow. "Always a pleasure, little Gaz!" He remarked with a chuckle, heading off for the blown-open doorway to the Tallest's palace. Changing his size could wait. First thing's first. The supply of ROYAL PUDDING CUPS that laid within.
Gaz, meanwhile, smugly smiled, glancing from the palace...to what laid sliiightly below it. Something she remembered Senior speaking about earlier. It brought quite the smirk to her face as she turned back to Dib, heading over to her brother. "Come on. Let's fix up one of the escape pods on the Massive's wreck. Get it working...and go home."
"Yeah." Dib softly muttered. "...dad's probably waiting."
...
...
...
... "You're probably wondering why I didn't tell you about what we wanted to do. No doubt you might have felt that it was a bit too harsh, or...perhaps...maybe you'd want to help us kill ourselves off." Trik's voice rang through his room as Faith watched alone in his office, Professor Membrane having swept his son and his daughter into his arms. They were walking together down the sidewalk, Membrane holding them tightly to him, as if he never, ever wanted to let go ever again. "Truth is, I sort of wanted to, but...well, we were worried the news would leak to less UNDERSTANDING Irkens if we did. Not on purpose. But it was better to be safe than sorry. I'm sure though it all worked out in the end."
Faith quietly tugged at her soft black hair, slightly pulling some locks down, chewing on her lip a bit as she stared at the screen, and Trik's blue, cheery eyes.
"When I was first activated, I was given access to all Irken knowledge. The knowledge filled me. It was neat. But...I wasn't able to do what I wanted. You see how I'm dressed now?" He gestured at himself in the video. "Scientists had to wear shirts under their labcoats. And they always had to be buttoned up. And always wearing goggles over their eyes. And with these ugly, foul, thick boots and gloves. We couldn't be individuals. We couldn't be ourselves. And all I could think is "...why not?" And it got worse."
He shook his head back and forth. "The more I analyzed the Tallest, the more I realized that every bad defect they claimed was wrong they in some way exemplified. In greed or gluttony or sloth. They were hypocrites, but nobody ever wanted to object. And hardly any good ideas or societies or cultures ever survive if you're not allowed to question things once in a while. Our culture was so static. But yours? You had so many cultures. And that was so fascianting to me. And you...you were so fascinating."
He warmly smiled back at Faith. "I had...well...faith, I guess you could say...that you could do wonderful work if you just were given the opportunity. Not a hand-out...just a hand. If you had a more equal starting line, you could be even BETTER than others your age in those fancy colleges you wanted to attend. I saw a lot of myself in you. You could do wonders if you just had the right tools, and someone who cared enough to give them to you. So...get out there. Do great things. And if you ever feel bad, I want to show you a little something that will always cheer you up."
With that, he reached into his labcoat pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and unfurling it, smiling cheesily as Faith read it, some tears springing to her eyes, a smile upon her lips.
"You Inspired Me".
Many, many years would pass. Professor Membrane would get his own personal hoverchair, floating about the large mansion that was now the Membrane home. The "Membrane Mansion" was almost something of a tourist destination, people eager to get a look at the home of the saviors of the human race. With the advancements left behind by Irken tech, and the remnants of what they'd done lingering, great wonders had been given to Earth. A bit of growth ray work and food shortages became a thing of the past. Big, gigantic meals could be easily served to starving children all around the world. The nanogene work Jayd had left behind in the laboratory was something Dib poured over for many months before, at last, he'd finally gotten perfect duplicates of what the medic had once used.
It had been an honor indeed to finish curing the last remnants of Earth diseases. There still wasn't much crime anymore, because being in prison now meant being shrunk. And since so many of the prison population had very much not LIKED being shrunken down and swallowed up and didn't want another repeat with beings that could, if they wanted, just digest them away...nobody really wanted to risk being caught.
Besides, with the interstellar economy now open to Earth, this meant brand new markets, brand new places to visit! Brand new jobs and customers who were VERY eager to get hold of Earthen things. And quite a few humans had wanted to get hold of Vortian things. Humans seemed to really like the Vortian race, they were far more personable and likable than the Irkens had been. Gaz insisted that this was because Vortians were more pettable.
This was true. Vort skin was verrrry soft, their skin actually a type of hair, teeny, tiny hair, that faintly felt like kitten's hair if you touched it. And if you scratched them juuust right at the perfect spot by their horns, it made them almost purr. It was not only a musical noise, but a FRIENDLY noise. Dib had learned this spending a lot of time with Lard Nar, working out trade deals.
And May...May and her kids had shown up.
Dib had understood why she didn't tell him where the Irken colonies were. NOBODY knew. And he doubted he'd ever see any Irkens ever again. But May had said they were happy...and Skoodge was doing well. That he and many another Irken who had juuuust the right stuff to be good mentors had their work cut out for them and that perhaps, in a few centuries or so, Irkens might be ready to come back into the galactic community. Skoodge had even asked May to give Dib something...
A little, tiny icy globe of Earth, a tiny little Dib sitting on it, with the inscription "Thinking of You" on it.
This made Dib smile.
Gretchen and he were settling down in the living room, Dib finishing telling up his children about the days when the Irken race had first arrived as Gretchen rested her head upon his shoulder, chuckling a bit as his kids looked from the tv screen to him. The floating television screen was showing the anime version of his dramatic tale he'd told to the United Nations council upon his return to Earth a few days after. EVERYONE had wanted to know all the details, and the story was so good, it'd gotten multiple adaptations.
"Did they really have gigantic mechs? C'mon, really? No WAY they turned into that!" His son Matty said, shaking his head back and forth, having his dad's black hair, but slicked back more, without the little scythe and, instead, that bit of hair flopped down over his forehead, the only part of his hair that WASN'T brushed back. He had nice freckles, and an even nicer smile. Though his sister Lena had a pretty broad one too.
"Oh, they had them." Dib chuckled. "Trust me, they had them. They're taking SOME liberties with how they looked." No way in Hell would he ever tell his kids what the ships had transformed into. Heck, he wasn't gonna tell his daughter Lena or his other daughter Mayberry they had vaginas! Not until they were teenagers!
"Whatever happened to Zim, though?" his eldest son asked. His eldest...whom he had named Nick, who had his mother's slightly frazzled hair and his father's need for glasses. "The anime just sorta...leaves him on Irk? Was that it?"
Dib began to laugh.
...
...
...
..Skoodge, meanwhile, was looking out over the valley at Colony Alpha, as the wind softly blew through his antannae. He was lying underneath his "thinking tree", which overlooked the valley atop an enormous hill, the pink skies of the planet stretching wide as yellow clouds ambled by overhead, slightly passing beneath a blue sun. Skoodge looked at the many huts and homemade buildings, crafted from natural resources of the planet, a smile on his features as he beheld the wide amount of sugar cane that was being so well tended to, the huge, rolling fields stretching out almost for miles. The smell was wafting up from the valley, and butterflies were making their migration down over the fields like they always did.
Normally he'd go down to show off the many species of butterflies to his cooking class on their field trip to the sugar cane fields. But not today. Today was a holiday, a special day, a day of remembrance of those who came before. Every Irken child was taught of the good and the bad that had led them to where they were, and today was the day they reflected on it all. But above all, it was, for Skoodge...mail day. Mail from May...dearest May.
...mail from Dib.
"Autumn in New England." He whispered, looking at the golden leaf Dib had sent him, personally made by dipping a leaf in liquid gold and cooling it off. He turned the leaf over in his hands, softly smiling, as he remembered long nights carving ice sculptures in the basement of Zim's house. He remembered giving Tenn big, secret smiles. He remembered Dib's unique, sweet taste, and the bellies full of adorable little humans. He remembered Senior's warm hand on his shoulder, and that big, tender smile, and above all...
He remembered Earth. He hoped Earth was doing well. And more importantly...doing some real GOOD. He was glad Senior had picked him to help mold the next generation into something good. And sometimes, briefly, he thought he could feel Senior and Darth and everyone's hand on his shoulder again, and for a brief moment, he'd sometimes turn around and they'd be there, a smile on their face, as if they'd never left.
And in a way, he knew they hadn't. Because he saw them in the faces of the new Irkens born free. Free to choose a better path. And he hoped they'd choose well.
Yet as he thought of Earth, and of Dib, he too, like Dib...also thought of Zim.
...what WAS Zim up to?
...
...
...
..."Ahhhh." Zim smiled in delight, rubbing over his big, fat, engorged belly. Being so small wasn't SO bad. An entire pudding cup was enough to stuff him up. And he now laid upon the private kitchen table within the Tallest's palace, the cupboard having been busted open from the damage done during the awful battle not too far away. Some pieces of ceiling had fallen to the floor, sure...and the floor was cracked, and the walls had chunks missing from it and, yes, true, the door had fallen off its steely hinges...
But Zim didn't care. He was stuffed full of pudding, and he had an entire palace to enjoy all to himself. Zim. The last Irken of Irk. It had such a nice ring to it. He let out a happy, proud BRAAAP of a belch, grinning his zipper-toothed grin. He'd go take a nap and digest all this pudding, relaxing in the fancy suite. Maybe get into the toffees and the-
"Well. Well. Well."
Zim felt a shard of ice dig into him as he slowly looked over at a busted open section of the wall, suddenly realizing something. The sugar mines of Irk. They were right below the capital.
...below the palace.
...Gaz hadn't been lying when she'd said he'd been the last ON Irk. But WITHIN Irk, there were still two certain Irkens who'd had to work out of sight and out of mind to avoid being executed by homophobic, infuriated control brains. Red and Purple were THWACK-ing their pickaxes into their palms, their eyes burning darkly and balefully as evil smiles danced on their faces.
"While you were stuffing your face, we took a peek outside once we reached the surface. Ms. Gazlene Membrane was VERY KIND to us."
"Told us everyone else was gone. All killed off. Except for you, who was pigging out on pudding in the kitchen."
"And she said we'd probably have about, oh...four minutes to grab some pickaxes before you'd finished with the pudding cup. Well, she was right. Right down to the second."
"...that JERK." Zim squeaked out as he felt sweat beads breaking out on his face as he nervously began to take a step back on the kitchen table. "Y-Y'know, th-there's...plenty of pudding for all of us..."
"I'm thinking we roast you slowly on a spit and eat you for dinner. Maybe with whatever wine we can find left over in the ruins of our palace?" Red remarked to Purple.
"And then we can have some nice, tender emotional sex, talk about our feelings, and then go shirt shopping." Purple added cheerily with a devilish grin as he twirled his pickaxe. "I'm sure SOME of the stores survived all those ships crashing into the capital."
"I'm so happy we got married." Red remarked. "Dibs on his ass cheeks. He always had a VERY nice ass. Just remember to make sure you aim for his LEGS when you swing that thing."
"Oh, really? I've a nice ass?" Zim commented with a grin. "Wow, thanks, I always knew-HEY, WAIT A MINUTE-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! HAVE MERCY! HAVE MERCYYYY!"
"STAND STILL, YOU LITTLE SQUIRT!"
"How can something so FAT move so fast!"
"AAA! WHY MUST THIS BEEEEEE?!"
Author's Note:
Well! This story's been a hell of a lot of fun to write. I went on quite the ride. But it's not quite over yet. I'm gonna use the next chapter after this "true" ending to explore some ways the story COULD have gone, some alternate possibilities. Leave a note on what you'd be interested in seeing, and it just might end up in the "Extras" chapter! And by all means, don't be afraid to leave a review.