Chapter seven: Stability
Somewhere in between putting in autopilot and staring at the stars, Dib had fallen asleep in the pilot chair, slumped over the controls and drooling on his own arm that pillowed his head. It wasn't a good feeling to wake up to. Upon standing he realized there was a shooting pain in his foot that he forgot was there. But he could deal with that later, for now he wanted to figure out where they were and if Zim was okay. On the console was a small bundle of clothes and a note from Tak, but it was too rushed for Dib to read.
While dressing Dib glanced outside the window where there were buildings of all sizes and billboard ads in different alien languages, though Irken couldn't be seen. It only made Dib more curious as to where they were. So he went to find Tak in the next room, since she was the one to come up with the coordinates. But...Tak was no where to be seen. Neither was Zim... But there were smudges of green on the floor everywhere.
Suddenly Dib started thinking the worst, could an Irken withstand a shot to the chest like that? Chills filled his body as he thought of actually doing everything on his own. Getting Miz back, getting revenge on the Meekrob, most importantly: protecting Earth. Just before Dib could spaz out though, a heavy weight dropped on his back, almost knocking him to the floor.
"You have nice hair..." Someone whispered before claws ran through Dib's hair lethargically.
"Z...Zim...?" Dib stuttered, afraid of who that could be.
"The one and only," Zim cooed, his voice slightly muffled as he chewed on Dib's hair scythe, "Who elsh wuld I be...?"
"Oh I don't know...Meekrob?" Dib suggested weakly, just glad Zim was well enough to actually jump on him from behind. "Now...get off me."
"Hey! I give the orders around here!" Zim yelled erratically. "And if I was a Meekrob...I would just shoot you...point blank," Zim said quietly with a soft jab at Dib's back where Zim would supposedly shoot him.
"That's nice..." Dib mumbled, glancing around the small room. "Where's Tak?"
"Out," Zim replied shortly, not caring to go into detail.
Whether or not that was a sufficient answer, Dib took it anyway. He didn't really care what Tak did or if she came back, she was starting to just be a pain these days. "My name's Florida!" Gir screamed as he smashed into Dib's chest. "FLORIDA!" Tears flowed from Gir...somehow, and onto Dib's shirt. "Why is mah name Florida, Dib...why?" Gir cried.
Dib winced slightly from the impact to his chest, and tried to pry the little guy off of him. "Your name is Gir...not Florida..." Dib said sternly. Gir blinked, all signs of tears now gone.
"Ohhhhh Yeeeeaaaaahhh," Gir said as he giggled and flew away to hide in a storage compartment.
A strange shaking on his back had Dib's attention changing again. "What the hell...?" Suddenly a huge burst of laughing erupted from the alien on him. "Zim...what's going on?"
"Haha...I...heh..." More laughing. "I...told him...that..." Zim managed in between laughing. Dib sighed and wondered when the madness of today would end and some real work would happen.
"Seriously...get off me..." Dib sighed, trying to turn his head to see Zim and failing.
"You have a nice shirt..." Zim sighed, hugging onto Dib closer. "Can I haz...?"
"Can he haz...?" Gir echoed from wherever he was.
"Fine, if I give you my shirt will you get off?" Dib asked. He felt Zim nod against his back. The weight lifted and two booted legs stumbled to the ground, almost falling, but managing to stay upright. Dib sighed in relief and turned around catching sight of a very wasted looking Irken who was now smiling deviously at Dib.
"Shirt." Zim poked at Dib's chest until he figured a deals and deal and pulled off the shirt he had only just gotten. As Zim snuggled the shirt Dib noticed the bandages across the Irken's chest as well as the green stains seeping through them. He wondered where Zim's clothes went, he was only wearing his blood stained pants and boots.
"So...what do we do now..?" Dib asked. "They have Miz...whoever 'they' are..."
"I'unno..." Zim said, not paying much attention, too absorbed in trying to figure out how to put the shirt on now. "Tak went for supplies...and stuff."
"Oh..." Dib said. He shifted his weight, causing his foot to hurt again. "Ow..." He said dully, lifting his foot to see it.
With the muttered 'ow' Zim stopped messing with the shirt and let it drop to the floor. "..Ewwwwwwww..." He hissed, taking Dib's foot in his un-gloved hands, the fresh blood sizzling slightly on his skin, but Zim didn't notice. "You're gross..." Zim commented, picking at the glass embedded in Dib.
"Ow...be careful..." Dib whined. Zim shushed him and ignored the little whiny noises Dib made after that, sometimes mocking the sounds.
"Got it!" Zim exclaimed, holding up a deeply red tinted piece of glass, small tendrils of smoke rose from his hands as he seemed to play with the sharp object.
"Shit, could you be any rougher?" Dib asked sarcastically, picking up some bandages he spotted earlier.
Immediately Zim stopped what he was doing to stare at Dib. "Yes. Yes, I can. Do you want me to have roughness...?" He asked, cocking his head slightly. Dib had been about to laugh, but a glance at Dib told him the alien was being completely serious.
"N-No...I don't," Dib said, equally serious. "Did something happen to your head? Did Tak hit you with something?"
"There's nothing wrong with my head!" Zim yelled, clutching his head, causing more red stains on his skin. Grabbing a nearby cloth and sighing, Dib grabbed Zim's hands gently.
"I know there's nothing wrong with your head, Zim. I meant did something happen while I was asleep?"Dib asked, trying to get all the blood off Zim as carefully as he could.
Taking the question seriously now, Zim looked up and twitched his antennae in thought. "Weeeelll. Tak went out for supliiiiessss. And Gir sang the dooooom soooong..."
"...Is that all?"Dib asked, holding Zim's head in his hands, looking at it.
"Ummmm. UhHuhhhh." Zim picked the shirt back up and snuggled it once more, leaving Dib to bandage his poor abused foot. When he was done and looked up at Zim from his spot on the floor to see him attempting to get the shirt on. The metal underfoot shifted slightly as Dib got up and helped Zim slide the shirt on properly. When all was said and done Zim looked like the happiest alien in the universe with a shirt that was a few sizes too big.
But of course, the illusion had to end as Zim frowned and stared at Dib. "Heeeeeeyyyy. I just remembered...Where's Inx? Ya know, the little girl...the little crazy one...?" Zim asked, poking Dib in the chest as he stared him down.
"Um...Zim, she's...gone," Dib said, not wanting to say the truth, the horrible truth.
It seemed he wasn't in a state to understand anything less than blunt, though. "Whatcha mean gone? Did she leave...? Where'd she go?" Dib took up Zim's hands in his and stared at them.
"She's dead. They killed her. Inx is dead," Dib said in a cold, hard tone. Now recognition kicked in.
"Oh...dead," Zim said hollowly, he fidgeted in Dib's grasp and looked away. "Yeah, well...it happens...a lot."
"But, Zim-" Dib started, not willing to accept the death of another friend.
"The Universe is at war," Zim said strongly, seeming so distant for a moment. "Not everyone will make it through this. It's wrong that a little girl like her should die...but I think the fate of the universe is more important...everything's falling apart at the seams, Dib. Everyone is fighting against each other now and we've got make sure that earth is safe...nothing else matters anymore...not you or me...just Earth..."
The hands Dib held were tensed with those words, easing up when he was finished. "...You're right. Earth is what's important...So, you're loyal to Earth now?" Zim looked away again, looking embarrassed.
"Well...Irk would probably blow me up if I came near...and Humans are too ignorant to notice me...or, they used to be. And the Meekrob can go suck it...I don't know whose side their on now..."
"Hm...I don't either," Dib admitted, "I think they're on Earth's side...or at least they were, now that Gaz isn't there...I don't know what they're doing. Let's hope they're still protecting Earth." Zim grimaced and made whiney noises.
"I hate Meekrob..." Zim mumbled.
"I know," Dib said, wondering how much longer Zim would be able to stay serious. "They want me dead, too. So do the Irkens...and the Humans...They all want you dead, too. I guess we're the secret protectors of Earth, huh?" Dib smiled at Zim and hoped to raise the mood.
"Uh-huh," Zim said, looking distracted. His hands had gone completely lax and he seemed to be looking far off in the distance.
"What? What is it...?" Dib asked, pulling Zim closer.
"...Just a...bad feeling," Zim murmured.
Suddenly Gir jumped out of his hiding spot and threw a plastic knife at Dib, landing with a clatter to the ground. "You just got knifed!" Zim yelled, pointing at the knife then at the robot who'd committed the act. "That's forking terrible..." Zim mumbled, clinging to Dib's arm and pretending to cry dramatically.
"...What are you two on today?" Dib sighed, watching Zim.
"What, too spoon?" Gir asked, busting out laughing, falling to the floor. The laughter was contagious and soon Zim was clinging to Dib not out of drama but so as not to fall to the floor with the bouts of laughter.
"Really? For real...?" Dib asked, holding Zim up, "And here I thought the conversation was getting good..."
"F-Forking t-terrible..." Zim mumbled, laughing harder. Dib lamely 'ha ha'ed at the phrase, almost dropping the alien when his hand slide across the hidden pak under the big shirt. An idea suddenly came to mind, remembering random things Zim had blurted out before.
"Hey, Zim, focus for a second. Your pak, can it give you painkillers?" Dib asked, and when Zim nodded the whole ordeal suddenly made more sense. Sitting down and bringing Zim down with him, Dib figured he'd just have to handle it the best he could until Tak came back.
…
The entire ship was darkened by the aura of evil, a dark and dominating presence. There were no other people aboard the ship at the time. A four-beat bang could be heard echoing throughout the dark place, reverberating against the walls and smothering the silence. "Oh, where, oh, where did my little henchman go..." The British sounding alien called. A screech sounded down the damp hall, signaling to the Master where the little robot had gone now. It had sounded very far off, but he merely smiled and starting humming 'Singing In the Rain'.
The half-light from a dirt encrusted window illuminated the white on the man's black and white striped suit, making him look even taller than he was. He waltzed down the hall in ease, sure that the area was completely safe, though the computer had reported odd life forms on the scan. But he didn't care, nothing much bothered him. He was only here in this abandoned ship to find an able-bodied tool to do the tedious menial work that he was too lethargic to do.
"Sir?" A strange voice called from within the darkness. The Master paused, but kept humming contentedly, there wasn't a being in the universe that could stop him, so why should a strange voice cause him worry? A small boy with back hair appeared, looking at him dreamily, as if seeing through him, or not seeing anything at all. "I believe this is yours?" He said, like he wasn't sure of himself. The Master looked and saw a small metallic cylinder in the boys hands.
"Yup, that's my bot there," The Master confirmed, holding out his hand, "And it goes here, boy." The boy in question smiled eerily and held the cylinder closer to himself.
"Master? I'd like you to meet my Master," The boy said, staring right at the Time Lord, his eyes suddenly piercing with such clarity. The Master now noticed that the boy was dressed in a mere black hoodie and jeans...yet they were in outer space. Odd.
The Master stopped humming, but kept tapping his fingers on the metallic wall next to him in that four-beat tap. "Oh? And who is this bloke? And what race, too? Can never be too careful," The Master said with a grin.
"That should be of no importance, Time Lord," The boy said grimly, "You shall know when you meet."
"Alright...and why should I bother to meet this ponce who sends a boy to make appointments for him, then?" The Master asked, growing more serious. The boy grinned maliciously now, hugging the cylinder.
"Because I won't give this back if you don't," He threatened. The Master rolled his eyes.
He half-turned the other way, showing that he didn't care. "Fine then, those things are everywhere...Those Irken people make Sir Units everyday, I'll find another one."
"Not like this one...this particular one is unique...only one person can design a Sir like this, and she's...no longer available," The boy said, stepped further back, taking the Sir with him. Seeing no other way out, The Master sighed heavily, this boy was being such an annoyance.
"Care to tell me what makes this Sir so different from the others?" The Master asked.
"Have you heard of...music players...?" The boy asked.
That rang a little bell. "You mean, like, from Earth?" The Master said curiously.
"Yes," The boy confirmed, "This one has a loud speaker installed that plays music a high velocities." The mysterious four-beat tapping stopped and silence fell upon the ship.
"Where is this...master...of yours?" The Master asked, begrudgingly calling someone else by his beloved title 'master'.
There was that creepy smile and annoying clarity in his eyes again as the boy grinned at the Master, obviously happy in his success at enticing the Master. "He's waiting for you in the upper levels of this ship..."
"He?" The Master echoed as he started to follow the boy. "That's disappointing..."
"Don't worry," The boy assured him, "We will provide however many females you desire."
At that The Master grinned evilly. "Well now, you got something right," He murmured just before beginning another round of 'Singing in The Rain'.
…
This plan had been made before She'd committed treason...before they'd gotten attached and accidentally prolonged the procedure. But the Control Brains finally righted their actions with the new subject, the better subject. This one was more suited to the upgrades...much more sustainable. Her organ systems were compatible with those of the upper species. This...Kita creature, was more than adequate for their intentions. She would be transformed...re-created.
Sure, there was resistance, but there rarely isn't. Especially with operations such as this, the changes are not easily made. But the Irken systems aligned with their own eased the burden...on both ends of the transaction. The fight in her wasn't completely taken away, after all, they were remodeling the subject, not killing it.
No, killing her wasn't the intention, nor was it to bring peace. Their work was put forth with the idea of creating the ultimate weapon, the one true destroyer of worlds. She would become the seer of all, the only one truly fit to lead a people such as the Irkens, the one being who could stand being around Tallest Red and Purple for very long without going completely insane.
The newly Christened Ki lightly stepped off from the transporter. All Irkens around gazed at her beauty and magnificence, bowing before her, calling her the true Queen of Irk. As they should, she thought. She'd gone through so much and now these new, more powerful creatures had given her all that she asked for. Now even the Tallests did not seem like such an obstacle. Of course, they knew she would think this upon reaching the Massive, but she no longer cared. Why give her power if they did not wish her to use it?
She grinned as Red and Purple both bowed before her amazing might, looking like fools in front of everyone. It made her so happy to finally have her revenge, she could do to Red whatever she liked and no one would say a word against it. She doubted that even Red would argue against it. But something nagged at the back of her mind...a little reminder. Her thoughts were so changed, but this one thought kept repeating... Odd, part of Gaz's brain cells had been transplanted into hers to assure maximum performance, but it seemed her cells had this flaw as well.
It wasn't merely a thought either...but a word...several words, really. The most prominent coming from her original parts, though...was the word Zim...it kept repeating...and she had no idea as to why.
…
"Good," The blue-haired demon hissed, "So he's coming?"
"Yes," Nikki said, standing at his side loyally. She could determine present events fairly well and knew for a fact that her brother and the target were headed straight for them now. "Indefinitely," she said, knowing this word pleased him. He grinned and turned his head towards different plans on the wall involving a completely separate target.
He hesitated before speaking, looking over the designs carefully. "Is the next target prime for phase two?" Kaito asked.
"Yes," The gypsy answered after a moment's thought. Phase two wasn't a big deal, and didn't have much priority. The mission didn't even have that many conditions, like flipping a light switch.
"Good..." Kaito mumbled, returning to his earlier work. Nikki just hoped she would get to flip the switch and not that position-stealing brother of hers. She still didn't know how he could get such good treatment, considering the menace he could be.
Upon hearing the door open, she thrust those thoughts from her mind. Time to shine and show her master what a good servant she could be when motivated.
…
The hallways and rooms deeper inside the ship were even darker and deadly looking than the outside. Every room seemed as if spikes and lasers would shoot out of nowhere, and it was all very exciting to a certain Time Lord called The Master.
"So your...Master," He cringed at the usage of the word, "...is at the center of the ship...?" He only asked because they kept walking but weren't going anywhere. Which was starting to grate on his nerves, the ship hadn't seemed quite so large from the outside.
"Oh yes...he's waiting for you," The boy said.
"Great..." The Master mumbled. The walls kept getting slightly darker with every turn they made, and with every turn they made, the more lost they seemed to get. "Are you sure you know where you're going, lad?"
"Yes, yes. More than anyone..." He whispered, The Master barely able to hear him at all.
The Master quirked an eyebrow. "Then where are we going?" He asked, getting suspicious.
"Here," The boy said, stopping where he was.
Stopping just behind him, The Master uttered a low, "Finally," In response. Then he took a look around, seeing just a plain hallway, nothing special about it. "Where is here, exactly...?" He asked.
"Exactly where we need to be..." The boy said, not turning around. Just before The Master was about to raise another question the boy spoke more. "We are now in a separate reality, which consists of this maze-like hallway system. If you run, you will never escape. The only way out is if we let you out. The only way we'd let you out is if you follow my masters commands. Understand?" The boy asked.
"..." The Master made no move to comply, nor to argue. The boy nodded and turned to face The Master.
The boy clutched the robot closer to his chest and seemed to stare straight through the Time Lord...no longer seeing him. "Goodbye, then..." And with that said, the boy started to walk away, leaving the Master standing idly by.
"So...this is the famous Time Lord...?" Someone said from behind. The Master whipped around to face a blue-haired stranger, who seemed to be analyzing The Master with a critical eye. "somehow...I expected far more."
"Who the bloody hell are you?" The Master snapped at him, not liking being underestimated.
"...Doesn't matter, what does, though...is that I have a bloody hell of a job for you," Kaito said, smirking at the glare he was receiving.
…
Inside the console of the ship, Nikki put all of her concentration into holding up the illusion world her master and the Time Lord were in. Beside her she could hear her brother starting up systems, pushing certain buttons. The damn little bug was stealing her position again, torturing the Irken was supposed to be her treat for being good, and now he was doing it. A frown donned her face as she kept the illusion going steady.
…
The small ship docked on the trade planet that had been so noisy for so long was finally quiet and calm. Inside said ship was a human with a sleeping Irken and Sir Unit on his lap, both taking up as much room as possible so that Dib had no way of getting up. To pass the time Dib stroked Zim's antennae, feeling the rough texture. At least Gir was asleep, too, the silence was much easier than the doom song.
As Zim shifted his arms circled around Dib's middle, settling with his head on Dib's side. "Nnn.." Zim started mumbling incoherently in his sleep, Dib eased up on rubbing the antennae and strained to make out what Zim was saying. "Mm...N-No..." Zim whined, curling tighter onto Dib.
Dib somewhat hugged Zim worriedly, rubbing a little to hopefully make the nightmare go away. The touch only had Zim whimpering more. Underneath the thin shirt, Dib could feel Zim's skin grow colder and start to sweat. Fear began to lace Dib's insides as he tried to figure out what was happening.
With a metallic grind, the front door opened and Tak appeared, carrying several boxes in her arms. She dropped them on the floor loudly and sighed in relief. All the noise woke Gir and caused him to start running around the room like a maniac. None of this woke Zim in the least. "Hey, Tak, something's wrong with Zim..." Dib said worridly, glancing up at her. Her antennae perked up in surprise and knelt down by them.
"I thought I bandaged him pretty good..." Tak mumbled.
"It's not that," Dib said, rubbing Zim's arms to make him warmer. "I don't know what it is." Tak watched Zim and touched his arm lightly, noting the coldness and the way Zim cringed away from her touch.
"Wierd," She murmured, "He was like this one time...I remember it was a while back. He got all cold and didn't want to be touched, like it hurt him or something..." Tak's words almost made Dib push Zim away, hearing that touching hurt him. But the alien was clinging so tightly to him, he didn't have too much choice in the matter.
A loud dinging interupted them and cause Tak to rush up and to a console nearby. "W-What is it?" Dib asked, worried they were being attacked again. But there was no response, Tak was staring at the console screen with a serious face.
"I have to go, Dib," She mumbled, "I brought you guys some stuff, and I want you to continue..."
"What? Where are you going?" Dib asked, almost getting up, but the dead wieght on his lap had him hesitating. For a long moment as Tak collected a bag from the door there was a deafening silence.
She looked away as she clicked her holographic disguise on. "I can't live like this...My lover is somewhere out there, and I have to get him. Surely you understand. But...You need to go on without me, without me and Skoodge. The Earth...no, the Universe, is possibly in your hands. You guys have to keep going. Forget Kaito, and go to the Talkinians, Zim should know where they are. They hate war, and thus they hate the Irkens and Meekrob, they'll help you guys."
"But...You can't just go," Dib said, easing Zim away and standing up, "There's no way you can save Skoodge by yourself, you need backup..." The glare he recieved told him exactly how Tak felt about 'backup'.
"I don't think a damaged Human and defective Irken would serve much use on the battlefield," Tak mumbled, glancing back to the door.
"I'm not going to let you do this, Tak," Dib said darkly, reaching out to take her arm. But before he even came close Tak swung around and sent him flying to the wall. Glaring up the best he could as he rubbed his bruised chest, Dib watched the Irken soldier take her leave.
With a grunt, Dib got up and searched the console for a clue as to where Tak went, but just saw a blank screen, she'd cleared it before leaving. So he did the only thing he could do in such a situation, kicked Gir in the head and went back to Zim. Gir was hopelessly confused for a moment before pretending to be a squirrel again.
...
Darkness...why was the dark so...dark? Soon though there was a voice, too, a lulling one. Kita...that's whose voice this was. 'Sleep, smeet, sleep...' Reassurance, comforting and deep, and warm. Yeah, such a warmth that went all the way through his 'spooch. It was so nice to be surrounding by these walls of warm and sweetness, sugary and delicious. A slight tingle radiated down his spine, edging out through his body and spreading along his limbs. The amazing warmth started to escalate, toasting him inside and out.
And then the pain began.
Deep within the core, it was like a switch flipped, and the warmth was suddenly too warm. Hot firey pain, a kind of pain that didn't, couldn't, subside. It came in waves and made him wish he were already dead. Wish he'd been killed in training, wish that the Dib had dissected him long ago. A long-forgotten memory similar to this moment arose, but was soon pushed away. The pain was too great to bother with something as difficult as remembering anything.
Sharp pain rubbed along his arms, dragging that intense heat and scratching his skin apart. He wished those damn arms of his would just burn off and quit hurting. Every breath raked in and out, tearing at his insides and leaving him ragged. Why couldn't this sensation just stop...? Why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve this. Pain spurred at his arm once again for a fleeting moment before leaving just as quickly. In the slight peace of absense of the sharper pain, he noticed there were voices. Far away and distorted beyond recognition, but they were still there. Oh, how much he wanted to call out to them, beg that the pain end.
Again, pain licked at his arms, but now his sides as well. Hundreds of needles poked at his skin and entered, piercing his muscles and tendons and sliced straight through the bone. He wanted to cry out, but his throat had already been burned beyond recognition and could barely put up with the strain of mere breathing. An intense feeling of utter pain flared across his chest and spread along his arms.
Vainly, he tried to make his pak take care of the pain and acess the problem, but the pak was unresponsive. It seemed the virus or whatever it was had affected that, too. The sensation covering his skin reminded him of being dumped in water tanks during training. Irk, that had hurt...of course, this hurt much worse... And it was making his pak act strangely as well. The usual signals and sounds he got from it were changing, lowering. Something was interferring with the frequency...the flow of energy from the pak couldn't be felt. Though, that could be due to the massive amount of pain coursing through his body...but what if it wasn't?
Oddly, the pain started to ebb ever so slightly. The tips of his fingertips and toes were steadily cooling, growing colder and colder until they were completely numbed. The feeling of numbness was slowly spreading down his arms and legs, cooling him down. He wondered if this was the pak finally responding to his comands. Though, painkillers from his pak usually started from the center of his body, where the pak was. As the icey numb got closer and closer to his chest, fear built up and he suspected the worst. Chills went up his spine and his throat was finally given sweet relief. He couldn't feel any part of his body and soon the chills started to penatrate his mind, too.
Just as the world left him completely, he wondered whether this cold numbness was good or bad. Probably bad, but that fact didn't bother him just then.
...
I'm sorry! Don't kill me! Yeah, not much else to say. I'm typing this in my sister's room, Staying the night in here because I aparently have the ability to ward off ghosts. It's very late, and my sister's keyboard is wierd, plus if I keep typing too loud...well, let's say this fic wouldn't get finished. Goodnight.
Please review! It's good for the economy! (that's a filthy lie, but review anway :3 )
