Chapter Three: Cataclysm
Warning: Craziness may occur, your brain could possibly e'splode (if it does, i wantz the bits o' brain)
It was so dark, so very dark. Kita thought it might last forever. The vile fumes of other people's bodies were making her nauseous. How long had she been here?
She heard something down the hall, a clinking of metal. She shrank back against the wall and prayed it wasn't him.
A stream of light flooded into the hall, illuminating the faces of the prisoners. Kita could see the scared face of a young girl in the cell opposite her. They met eyes, hoping for the best.
A soft hum entered the room full of whimpers and whispered prayers and crying. There was always someone crying here. She kept her head down until she caught sight of a hovering robe stop just in front of her cell. Her heart filled with panic and fear, it was too soon again for another visit.
The hem was purple though. Red never wore purple robes… Kita looked up into purple, glassy observing eyes. That didn't make any sense.
The man in front of her caught on to Kita's confusion. "Hi!" He said in a kind voice that definitely wasn't Red's. "I'm Tallest purple!" He introduced.
"Purple…" Kita murmured, "But what about Tallest Red?" She asked, very confused.
"We're both Tallest's, we're the same height," Purple told her, not bothered in the least that she hadn't known about him. "Oh yeah!" Purple said, like he just remembered something, "I'm here to bring you up."
"Up?"
"Uh huh," Purple said happily and absentmindedly, "You're gonna be the new Gaz!" Purple pulled a card out of his belt and flashed it to the monitor on the wall, lowering the force field that served as Kita's cell door. "Come on."
"Kita took Purple's outstretched hand and for the first time in Irk knows when, she stepped outside of her cell. She was shaky at first, but her pak reminded her of what to do. She watched, blurry eyed, as the morbid place she'd always known passed her by. It was quite a while before they reached an elevator.
The inside of the elevator was so neat and clean, Kita was nearly brown with dirt and disgusting in comparison to Purple.
She let her eyes gaze over the beauty of the elevator, the shiny metals. Then she caught sight of her reflection and blushed. She was completely naked and she hadn't even realized it. She'd been down there in that cell for so long she'd forgotten they took her clothes.
Purple got that look on his face like he remembered something again. He reached into his pak and gave Kita a length of rag. She held it around herself and still blushed. Irken custom was to only show skin when completely necessary, and Kita had so much skin showing. Purple seemed not to notice though, like he didn't really care at all.
"W-Who's Gaz?" Kita asked, her antennae falling forward across her face.
"She was an alien. She ate a lot. We liked her. She left. Now you're here," Purple summed up happily. Kita took this to heart, trying to remember to eat a lot, if that's what Gaz did. She couldn't be an alien, but she could try to act eccentric. "Oh, and she had purple hair. On her head," Purple added. Well, I have purple eyes, Kita thought, Maybe that helps.
…
There it went again. Zim sat straight up in the bed, antennae perked up, listening hard. Infernal child. It was definitely of Gaz's loins if it knew just when to scream it's head off to wake Zim up just as he fell asleep. Lately he hadn't even had the chance to have nightmares again, what with the lack of sleep. Gaz just had to move her room closer to theirs. She had used the excuse that she wanted them around just in case. In case of what, Zim had wondered. But he hadn't protested, and Dib was actually excited about it.
There was something about humans…they loved offspring. Once while Gaz was busy, Zim had caught Dib playing with it, and cooing at it…making faces at it. And it made faces back at him! This idea of babies and Dib together was sickening. But also…Dib just seemed so at peace with the kid. What had it been called…Miz?
Zim looked over at Dib sleeping sounding, he couldn't hear the child yelling. Of course, Dib didn't have Zim's hearing. Laying back down to gaze at Dib, he wondered if he even needed to sleep. Tak and the Dib needed to, yes. But did he? Apparently Gaz didn't sleep at all, or at least it seemed that way. She was always tending t the child, as humans often said, it was like a twenty-four hour job. But that was no surprise. Zim had been stopped in stores before by crazy mothers and ranted at for long periods of time by them while their children wreaked havoc. Speaking of small children, Gir wasn't upset at Gaz's divided attention at all. He was rather helpful, making Gaz take breaks from mothering sometimes.
What confused Zim most of all wasn't the child itself, or Gir's strangeness, it was Gaz. The look in her eyes when she held her kid. It made Zim wonder if Gaz had always been like that, deep inside. She never complained, so Zim didn't expect her to whine like others Zim had met. But he hadn't expected this either. She never seemed to mind the child's clinginess or its constant pulling on her hair and chest. In fact, she even seemed to like it. Humans were very strange.
Zim buried himself under covers and pillows and partially even Dib, and tried to ignore the child. Eventually it quieted down and gave him peace. There was no doubt though that when Zim finally fell asleep again the kid would probably begin to wail even louder than before.
…
It was all coming together. Yes, her master plan was finally working! Well, almost. She was still working on…details…. Slipping something into Gaz's drink to induce her labor had worked, but…it hadn't had the result she'd hoped for.
She hadn't been as murderous as Nikki thought. But no matter, there were always other plans, or ways to ruin their lives. She called Kaito in quickly to tell him about her new plan. He came in and lazily shut the door, looming over her with that frown of his. "Okay Kaito, you might have to help me with this one, but it's frikkin' brilliant, man, I swear-"
"Nikki," Kaito interrupted, "Would you care to tell me where my fellow androids are?"
Nikki stared up at Kaito innocently. "What? I haven't done anything," She lied, feigning a hurt expression.
But Kaito saw through her guise quickly. "Tell me, or I won't help you with anything," Kaito threatened. The harsh words made Nikki shrink back in her chair.
"Y-You wouldn't just leave me…" Nikki whispered.
"Maybe, maybe not. You're a psychic, you tell me," Kaito said, his dark expression never changing. "You're lucky the humans haven't noticed their absence yet. But trust me, they will. Then they'll scan the ship for them. And they'd see your bio-marker and discover you."
Nikki's eyes widened with worry. She ran her shaky hands through her red-tinted hair and squinted back at the monitors. The chair squeaked as she drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "They're…they're playing games in the lower deck…except Meiko…she has porno tapes and alcohol…" Nikki muttered.
"Good. Don't lie to me again, Nikki…or you'll regret it," Kaito warned. Nikki nodded and looked up at him vulnerably. "Now, tell me your plan," Kaito said with a sigh, making Nikki grin as she began to ramble out her plans.
…
There were fungal spores on the surface of the planet they were lodged at. And Nikki would sneak out, get some of them, and then sneak back in and put them under certain people's beds. Kaito would keep watch and make sure no one noticed. The only real problem would be Skoodge, but he usually holed himself away with something while everyone else slept anyway.
Nikki snickered as she collected the spores; she was so brilliant. No Irken mind could match hers. The spores weren't even as hard to collect as she thought they would be. She had her basket nearly full when a loud sound overhead threw her off balance.
Above her was a huge, white pod. It gleamed with light and made her wince. It didn't even stop as it passed her, it just kept sailing through the air. Soon it passed their ship and kept going. Nikki wondered what it was and hurried back to the ship so no one would see her. Surely they would be up to see this new craft.
…
Where was he? What had they done with him? They'd…banished him…. How dare they? Anger rose in here when she heard what they'd done, what they'd said to him. But she pushed it down and remained calm, made them think she enjoyed watching these things before her eyes. But secretly she wished them dead…so dead. These Tallests would pay for what they'd done. Kita watched with ire and hate brimming inside.
She'd been brushed, clothed, washed, fed and now she sat with them, as though she were one of them again. Strange how they could do that, rape someone senseless and then reenter them into the group without a care.
"Kita, isn't this so much fun?" Purple asked, watching her with a grin.
"Oh yes, darling, it is," Kita answered with a smile, purple's grin fell away.
"Gaz never smiled," Purple told her.
"And she never had fun," Red added, staring at her. Who was this Gaz? Kita would have to find out, watch tapes of her to see her mannerisms, she wouldn't lose this place because she smiled wrongly. No, she would use this position to get revenge.
"I sorry," Kita apologized, "Or…maybe I'm not. It doesn't seem like Gaz would be sorry…"
Purple smiled again. "She wouldn't, actually," He said happily. Kita almost smiled, to keep up to façade, but didn't. This Gaz person wouldn't smile just because Purple did. And both the Tallests seemed all the happier that she frowned rather than smiled at them.
…
"S-Shit!" Dib squeaked as the alarms blared down the hallways. Everyone woke up and rushed into the hall, except for Zim. Dib had to go back and kick Zim awake and practically drag him out of bed.
"What the fuck is going on?" Zim asked, not liking his sleep getting interrupted, yet again.
"I don't know, but you two better find out!" Gaz told them, holding a crying Miz. Zim glared at the smeet when Gaz wasn't looking. At least he wasn't the one to deal with the kid and Gaz was.
A crackling came from above, then Skoodge's voice, "Uh…Everyone to the bridge, now!" He said nervously. Obviously, something serious was going on.
"And have a nice day!" Tak added through the speaker. All three exchanged confused glances but went to the bridge, in no hurry. Soon, the alarm was shut down and Miz was quieted, to Zim's relief.
"When they reached the bridge, Skoodge was huddled beneath a desk, seeming completely scared. Tak was waltzing around the room with Mini-moose and Gir. "Tak! For the last time, we're not having a party! Stop listening to Gir!" Skoodge yelled.
"Then why are there lights? It's gotta be a party!" Tak squealed happily.
"Just believe me, Tak, it's not! Now hide!" Skoodge yelled.
"What in the hell is going on?" Gaz asked angrily.
Skoodge looked over, having just noticed everyone come in. "We're being invaded!" Skoodge told them.
"Invaded?" Zim asked, "We're being invaded?" The ship with three ex-invaders and two competent humans was being invaded?
"Yes, Zim," Skoodge answered gruffly, glancing at a screen on the wall. Zim went to it and looked it over.
"By who?" Zim asked, glancing at Skoodge.
"I-I can't tell…" Skoodge told him, shrinking under the desk further. All of a sudden they heard a loud banging on the door. Tak stopped dancing and watched the door with fearful eyes, maybe believing Skoodge now. Mini-moose flew away as Tak released him and flew under the desk with Skoodge.
Everyone turned to face the door as the banging started again. Just when it seemed like the banging would stop, the door flew open. And there stood Rin. "Rin!" Dib exclaimed, running to her. "Thank God, are you okay?" She seemed…blank. She didn't look at Dib when he talked to her, and she didn't seem to look anywhere.
"Rin?" Tak called, stepping closer to them, Gir clutched to her chest.
"Subjects have been flagged as dangerous. Destroy," Rin said, her voice void of emotion or tone. There was also a more metallic ring in her voice than normal.
"What are you talking about?" Dib asked, putting his arm on Rin's shoulder. She spun and slammed him to the floor with the arm he'd put on her shoulder.
"Dib!" Zim yelled, running over immediately. With lightning quick reflexes, Rin swung her arm into Zim's gut as he reached them, dropping him to the floor as well. She stepped over them both and headed for Tak, who screamed and held Gir tighter to her chest. Gaz didn't say a word as she backed slowly to the far wall, attempting to keep Miz quiet as she went.
Suddenly, Skoodge leaped out and tackled Rin, keeping her away from Tak, who fled to a corner. Gaz managed to reach the wall she was going towards and grabbed something from it. As Skoodge tried to wrestle with Rin, Gaz fiddled with the weapon she had. Finally, Rin sent Skoodge flying into a nearby table, which broke on impact.
As Rin moved closer to Tak once again, sparks of electricity hit Rin directly in the chest, temporarily shutting her down. Rin fell to the ground with a heavy metallic thump and everyone looked over at Gaz, who held Miz in one arm and a huge gun in the other. "Alright, now what the hell just happened?" Gaz asked, walking over to Rin. She passed the gun off to Tak, who didn't seem to know what to do with it. Gaz took a seat on a nearby bench and calmed Miz as Tak rushed over to Skoodge.
Dib and Zim helped each other up and looked at Rin. Dib crouched near her and looked at the emotionless, empty face. "I…I don't know…" Dib said, wondering what could have happened to her.
Zim stood over her and watched her as well. "Someone, or something, must have messed with it, made it do this," Zim deduced, musing over it.
"Who would do that?" Skoodge asked, joining the conversation. He neared Rin as well, with Tak clinging to his arm, holding Gir tightly with her other arm. Gir seemed completely unaffected by any of this and hugged Tak back.
"And how?" Dib asked. He didn't think someone could just reprogram her, not like this.
"…Not sure," Zim said, crouching and looking at her closer up. "It's wiring is extremely complex…only someone with knowledge on its designs could reprogram it."
"Who would know the designs?" Skoodge asked, looking more at Tak than at Rin. Gaz looked like she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation, tending only to Miz.
"…Again, dunno," Zim said, looking agitated, "Anyone with proper training could learn it quickly." He glanced at Skoodge and then at Dib. "We need to figure this out…"
It seemed that Zim was really taking charge now, and Dib was proud of it. Finally, a situation where Zim's training came in handy. And Dib could see that training now, reflected in the way Zim was taking command and actually thinking things through.
A new alarm sounded and everyone looked up. Skoodge went to the console, followed by Tak. "It's…ugh…" Skoodge grumbled.
"What?" Zim demanded, stomping over to the monitor. Dib stood up and, not knowing how to help, sat by Gaz on the bench. She didn't even notice him sitting there, but Miz did, he stared at Dib. "Crap…I hate them…"
"They're fun!" Tak burst out, seeming not to be afraid now.
"Of course, you think they're fun," Zim murmured angrily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Skoodge asked, getting irritated, too.
Zim stared at Skoodge hatefully. "She made a whole ton of them attack me once…out of spite! Before I even pissed her off!"
"So?" Skoodge asked, stepping closer to Tak protectively.
"Who?" Gaz asked, speaking up again, breaking up the could-have-been fight.
"…Freaking space pirates…" Zim mumbled, crossing his arms and staring up at the ceiling. Tak cheered and Zim did his best to ignore her. "It's not even like they're dangerous…just really…really annoying."
"Whatever," Gaz said, a bit relieved. Miz squirmed in Gaz's arms and she stopped paying attention to everyone talking again.
Loud bursts down the hall got everyone's attention. "I don't think we're really…safe here," Skoodge pointed out. Tak latched onto his arm as she squealed.
"Hey, stupid," Gaz called, everyone looked at her and she smirked, successfully having gotten their attention and insulted all of them at the same time. "Make yourself useful, Tak," She said, handing off Miz to the skittish Irken. She let go of Skoodge and Gir, making Miz her priority. "Come on," Gaz barked, storming out of the room, Zim following directly behind her.
As they sped through the halls, the ship shuddered and shook. Dev noticed a strange coldness, like there was something dangerous nearby. "Stop!" Zim yelled, stopping at a door that was already wide open. Gaz glared at him with all her might, but stopped and waited silently. Slowly and quietly, Zim peeked into the room.
A small body came flying out of the room, trying to get away, but Zim caught it and held it still. "Let go of me!" She yelled, struggling against him.
"Who are you," Gaz questioned, "And why are you on my ship?" The girl stopped and glared up at Gaz before grinning wide.
"You know who I am, but if you don't, I don't know why you don't," The girl said confusingly.
"Don't be stupid, just answer the question," Zim grumbled, already tired of the girl's presence.
"I am Nikki of the Gypsies," She said proudly, and she seemed about to go on a huge monologue about gypsies before Gaz interrupted her.
"Oh yeah, I remember. Are you here for your…revenge or something?" Gaz asked, also getting bored.
"Yes! You all have-!"
"We aren't really accepting revenge right now…please hang up and…don't call again," Zim said, dumping the gypsy on the floor.
"B-But…" Nikki glanced around at Zim and Gaz, shocked. They both ignored her and went into the room they found her in. Tak and Skoodge followed, but Dib stayed behind.
"You really, honestly think you can do anything here?" Dib asked, watching her mope on the floor. Nikki shrugged sadly and traced patterns into the floor.
"I know!" She burst suddenly, an insane grin coming to her face, her eyes lighting up. "All I need is some rope, some glue, a robot bee, an anvil, a giant hammer…" She went on muttering.
"That sounds pretty stupid, first of all. And should you really be saying this to me? You know, the enemy or whatever?" Dib asked, watching the supposedly amazing thoughts pass through Nikki's face. She frowned a second but smiled again, like she forgot what made her unhappy in the first place.
"It's okay, you wouldn't tell," She said happily.
"I'm pretty sure I would," Dib said lazily, wondering what this kid's deal was.
"Nu-uh, cause you're a puppy! And puppies don't betray their masters!" Nikki whispered, reached her fingers out towards Dib menacingly, looking like a puppet master without any strings…or puppets…or sanity.
"Uh-huh, sure…" Dib mumbled, slowly backing away into the little room. Thankfully, Nikki didn't notice him moving.
Everyone was staring at some sort of monitor, and Dib saw why when he got closer. It was one of the androids, the one with dark blue hair. He was on the video-screen, but something seemed off about him, he was frowning. "I'll only say this one more time…Hand him over or you'll all die."
"We'll never give him to you, Kaito," Zim said, fire in his eyes, "It's dumb of you to even ask." Zim flipped him off and turned away from the screen.
"I expected as much from you, Zim, but what about you, Gaz? He is of your own flesh, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind giving up a burden or two," Kaito said to her. She glared at him and didn't waver one bit. Dib could only assume they were talking about Miz, but he didn't know why.
"Of course, not. Maybe in the past, but now you're mistaken," Gaz said, her glare holding more power than usual, if it were possible.
"Bad robot…" Tak mumbled, rocking Miz gently. Skoodge and Dib remained silent and just watched.
"Fine. You leave me no alternative," Kaito said gravely, "I've reprogrammed all the androids on board to attack you. Also…I believe you have visitors."
"…You're not an android, then," Zim guessed, staring at Kaito.
For the first time during the whole conversation, Kaito smiled, but it was more like an evil leer. "No, I'm not," He answered, not revealing what he really was as the transmission ended.
As the screen went blank, Gaz cursed and slammed her first on the control panel, Zim glared at her for hitting the machine but didn't say anything. "Who was he talking about?" Dib asked, trying to keep up with everything.
Zim and Gaz both turned, just noticing he was in the room for the first time. "What? No one," Zim replied quickly. Gaz glared at him and headed out the door.
"He meant you, Dib. He wanted you…for the prophecy," Gaz muttered on her way past Dib. Now Zim glared at both of them, but Dib ignored him.
"So," Dib said, with more volume, "Now that we know Kaito is controlling the androids…what do we do?" Zim shrugged and followed Gaz out.
Now Gaz decided to take charge. "First of all, we need to find these 'intruders'," She announced, walking fast.
"Not if we find you first," A metallic voice said from above. Dib looked up and saw a parrot on the ceiling. A…robotic parrot.
"Crap," Zim moaned, "Not the parrot…"
"Why?" Dib asked, glancing at the parrot again. Something evil glinted in it's eyes just before it started shrieking bloody freaking murder. "Oh…"
Gaz pulled on Dib's arm to hurry him. "Come on, we need to be fast…"
"What are we doing now?" Tak asked, somehow managing to keep up.
"Getting off of this ship…with the fucked up androids and annoying pirate guys, I'm sure this place will be a hellhole soon," Gaz said, leading them to the loading bay.
"Not while I'm here!" A strange man said, coming from around the corner. The man looked like an android, but a full metal one where the bolts and screws were visible.
One blast from Tak's gun put him down for the count. Dib wondered how Tak was managing the gun and Miz at the same time. "We don't have time for this shit," Gaz grumbled. After a few more tense minutes, they came to the loading bay to see the perfectly sized vessel for escaping.
As the neared it, Dib wondered where Nikki was and if she would get off the ship all right. He felt sort of sorry for her, she reminded him of Gir. Without warning the entire place began to flood with Meekrob, all of whom planned to capture them. "Tak, get in the vessel, now!" Gaz yelled, started to panic. Not for Tak's sake, but the child in Tak's care.
One Meekrob got too close and almost attacked Skoodge, who started to wrestle the Meekrob's weapon away from him. Gaz attempted to get one of their weapons, not having any on her. Zim joined Gaz in her fight as Dib made sure Tak and Miz were okay.
"Having fun?" A loud, booming voice asked. Everyone looked to see Kaito standing on top of some sort of Meekrob vehicle. "I thought you might be."
"Go back to hell!" Gaz yelled out of anger and desperation, struggling against the Meekrob next to her.
"I'd love to," Kaito answered, grinning, "But I'm afraid I have some work to finish first. I want you all to know that I am now your Master! And you will address me as such! And you mentioned I wasn't an android, and I'm not. I'm happy to announce I'm a Time-Lord, one of the last, in fact." Kaito laughed as Skoodge got knocked on his butt.
"I plan to hand you all over to the Meekrob," Kaito told them, gleefully, "And they'll pay me well for this." He gleamed at the Meekrob around him, as if threatening to harm them if the deal fell through.
"What's this got to do with the pirates?" Skoodge asked, not seeing where everything connected.
"Nothing, actually. Random coincidence, don't you just love when things don't make sense like that?" Kaito asked.
Gaz finally got the weapon away from the Meekrob and shot him with his own gun. "Dib, stay in the ship! Don't let Miz get hurt!" Gaz ordered. Dib ducked back in the vessel as Gaz began shooting more people. One of the Meekrob soldiers shot white stuff out at Skoodge that hardened and binded him, leaving him useless on the ground.
"There's nothing you can do," Kaito jested from above. As he said so, Gaz was attacked and covered in hardening white gunk.
"Zim. Ship! Escape!" Gaz ordered as well as she could.
"Got it!" He yelled, running back up to the ship. He got inside and started up the engines. Dib wondered why he was starting to leave when Gaz wasn't on the ship. He picked up Gaz's gun and went to the still-open door.
Outside the front shield, Zim could see Kaito grinning at them, even though they were getting away. Just then, it occurred to him that he left the door open. "Dib, keep away from the door and windows! They'll probably try shooting at us!" But just after he said that, he heard a loud shot sound and Tak screaming, then a thud on the floor.
Zim kept them going out of the ship and set an automatic course for some planet he chose at random, then ran back to where Dib was. The floor was a bloody mess…so was Dib.
Stupid, stupid for leaving the door open. For expecting Dib to just sit back while they took his sister hostage. Tak was on top of him, trying to stop the bleeding, pleading with Dib not to die. But all Zim could do was stand there and wonder why Dib was the one to get hurt. It should have been Zim or Tak, they could take it much better. So…why him.
Miz's cries brought him out of his trance. The kid was sitting on the bench nearby, staring at the scene with confusing. It probably wondered where Gaz was. It's mother. Zim went to it and picked it up. A kid…Gaz left them in the small vessel with a kid and an injured human. How shitty was that?
So Zim sat on the bench with Miz, not touching him, and watched Tak. She seemed to be reverting to her old self slightly, the one that knew how to take charge and get a job done, anyway. She knew so much more about healing and human anatomy than Zim did, so he didn't even bother to let his emotions in right now, he couldn't afford to get all psycho and get in Tak's way.
…
Distractions…so many distractions. No wonder they said being Tallest was a cushy job, there were so many luscious things available, it was hard to focus. Kita tried to keep her goal in mind, but it was hard with all the sweets and pillows and servants. They really treated her well now, though she wondered why.
But…she kept reminders of her goal, such as the servants…their faces. Neither Tallest ever noticed, but all the servants had a look of utter misery and despair. Every time she looked at them, she remembered why she was there and what she planned to do. She was getting closer and closer, earning their trust this way. Her big, final plan…to kill the Tallest…
…
…
…
…
Kita said it, folks, distractions. Spring is a bad time for fanfics, so much going on. I graduate high school in two weeks (is scared .) I think I sense summer around the corner :D I'll be giving this a lot more attention now that my finals are over.
I hope you guys liked this chapter, cause I loved writing it!
Much more of Kita in the next chapter, and lots of Dib and Zim stuff 3 See ya guys later
