Alas, I believe the chapter you were dying for in action was the last chapter and it now continues in this one! Note that sometime in the middle of the chapter, we might run into another character, and it will be someone you were hoping to catch up to at some point or another. Enjoy!
Rain poured heavily from the heavens, as dark ominous clouds hovered above the now almost demolished street, where Zora's and the Membrane's household resides.
Dib and Gaz stood behind Zim, doing their best not to fall unconscious due to the severe beatings they received from fighting the demon dog, Cerberus. Zim, however, was fully healed thanks to Zora, but his pride was the only thing that was left with some damage.
He stood his ground, his electric bo staff in hand and his PAK's metallic claws at the ready.
'This is it. The final challenge that I, Zim, must face in order to claim back what's rightfully mine.', he thought with determination, sparing a quick glance over to Zora before returning back to his foe.
Ryuu stood with his own weapon of choice, a black and red bladed sword that stood out to be about four feet long. The red on the blade, however, bothered Zim quite a bit.
"That red color on your blade... what is it exactly? I highly doubt it's paint." Zim raised a brow, hoping to receive a reply.
Ryuu scoffed, lifting his blade in front of him for Zim to see. "You're right. My blade is actually made from the spine of an infrit and was then soaked with human blood."
Zim stared at the weapon in disgust, finding the information hard to swallow.
"You must be one sick guy to wield a weapon like that with no remorse of the souls whose blood was painted on that blade." Dib managed to cough out, unable to stay focused any longer. In a mere second, Dib passed out next to Gaz, who was too weak to kick him in the gut.
"Dammit, Dib... you just had... to give up now...", with what little strength she had left, she took out the sharpie marker that she still kept in her pocket.
"Gaz, this is no time to draw on Dib-stink's face!", shouted Zim, baffled by Gaz's 'repulsive' action.
She grimaced at Zim, taking the top off the marker. To his surprise, it wasn't the tip of the marker that he saw, but in it's place, was a needle.
"This is for that ass-wipe that called me a pathetic excuse for a friend!" With her good arm, she swung and threw the needle, hitting Ryuu right on the leg.
"Argh!", the male goth cried in pain, pulling the needle out.
Zim was left in shock. "What was that? I thought it was that marker you used on Dib-stink!"
Gaz chuckled weakly, "It was going to be for Dib, but at the last minute, I figured something like this would happen, so I created a poison, using a smidget of my stupid brother's holy water."
Zim was impressed. "So what does it do? Gaz-human?" Gaz was almost ready to topple over, but used the last bit of her energy to tell Zim one final notice.
"It will go through his bloodstream, slowing down the process of his red and white blood cells from rushing to any wounded area. Therefore, if you attack him, his body will take twice as long to heal and three times the damage that the wound would normally give, giving you the upper hand. It will take approximately ten minutes for the poison to take effect, so I suggest... you... start... stalling..."
Gaz finally passed out from exhaustion, lying next to Dib on the wet cement. Zim turned to face Ryuu, noticing that his face grew slightly more pale than before.
"Enough of this nonsense! Zim! Prepare to die!" Without warning, Ryuu charged with all his might towards Zim, ready to give a blow with his sword.
Zim cursed under his breath, dodging just in time before the blade hit him. He retaliated by swinging his staff towards the goths' side.
Ryuu counteracted his attack, slicing off a strand of Zim's hair. As Zim back flipped in the air, he noticed that that strand started to fizz and sizzle.
"I forgot to mention one more thing...", Ryuu spat with an insane smile on his countenance, "If my blade does cut you, it will slowly burn your flesh and it will soon begin to fester and putrefy."
Zim's eyes widened, now a little shaken by the sudden warning. 'Dammit, looks like it will take more than just dodging and bashing to bring this guy down.' He gritted his teeth, looking over at Zora, who was wriggling about due to the binds that are keeping her from escaping.
'Just give me more time, Zora.', Zim thought with intact determination, not removing his constant gaze on the enemy before him.
Gir rolled out from the nearby bushes, scurrying over to where Zora lay, hopeless and trapped. Zora was about to give up all hope, until she heard a small grunt right behind her. She rolled her head over to see Gir struggling with the knot on the binds.
"Gir? Thank goodness it's you! You must be careful that that jerk doesn't see you." She motioned her head towards Ryuu's direction, giving Gir the hint.
Gir nodded, "Don't worry, pretty lady! I just need to cut this knot ball thingy." From his head, Gir pulled out a pair of shears, and they were pretty sharp. Zora's eyes widened. "Gir! Be careful with those!"
Gir lightly petted her head. "Don't worry. I cut big head's hair with these!"
'I think he's referring to Dib...', she thought to herself, seeing that he was the only one with a large enough head.
"Okay, Gir. Do what you gotta do." She closed her eyes shut as Gir started the process of cutting her free from the binds.
Meanwhile, somewhere not far from where the battle was taking place, two women were talking at a local bar.
The first woman was tall, with raven hair and aqua eyes, busty, and had a scar across her left cheek.
"I'm telling ya, your jugs may be bigger than mine, but certainly not when you were a scrawny shrimp!" She coughed a laugh at her friend, who was the second woman sitting behind the bar table in front of her.
The second woman had long, curly red hair and fair tan skin. She wore a dress that someone like Madonna would wear at some gala, with scarlet boots to match. She was extremely curvy and much more busty that the female bartender. Her eyes were a brilliant midnight yellow.
"Well, that's true. I was pretty skinny back then when I was a teenager, but hey, puberty changed all of my chemistry somehow!"
"Yep, I guess that goes to show ya, you can't be too certain how you will turn out to be!"
Both women giggled, until a loud explosion came from where Zim was fighting. They looked up, a little shaken from it.
"Hey, Zel, isn't that from your house?" the raven haired asked, looking over at her friend?
Zelda got up, a worried expression on her face showing brighter than daylight.
"I'll be back another time, Donna. I need to go check something.", she gasped out before sprinting away.
"Don't worry, hun! Just go find out if your darlin' is okay! Say 'hi' to her for me!", Donna cried out after her. 'I hope everything is alright back at home. Poor Zel... more concerned about her daughter ever since he was going after her.'
Donna got back to cleaning one more glass before shutting down for the night.
A while before the explosion:
Zim was soaking wet, thankfully immune to the rain water that piddled down on them harshly. Gir was about done cutting the binds off of Zora, as she watched in horror, as Ryuu, badly battered and bruised as he was, finally managed to hit Zim across the chest with his sword.
The blade successfully cut through Zim's outfit and skin, with blood gashing out and his flesh burning.
Zim hissed in pain, holding on to his chest. Ryuu took this as an opportunity and blasted Zim with some magic of his own.
The force was so powerful, that Zim's contacts and wig fell off.
Zora's eyes widen as Zim was fully revealed. "ZIM! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?", she cried out hoarsely, trying to wriggle out of her manacles. Gir was almost done cutting her loose, when suddenly, he was sent flying, the shears landing on the grass. Gir landed on top of Dib, who was still unconscious.
"Gir!", Zora cried. Ryuu scoffed at the puny disguised dog. He walked back over to Zim, who was now laying on his back, with his weapon out of his reach.
"So, you really are a freak! You're an alien, a worthless, despicable, ugly, green alien." He stomped on Zim's chest with one foot, grinding against his open wound.
Zim howled and hissed in pain, his ruby red eyes glowing with rage. "No... you're the worthless one!", he spat. Ryuu growled, raising his sword.
"I think that's enough talk. Time for you to rest in pieces!" Zim closed his eyes tightly, preparing for the worst.
Suddenly, Zim felt the weight on his chest being lifted. He slowly lifted one eye open, seeing Zora... attacking Ryuu!
"Zora! What are you doing? Why are you defending this- thing!" Ryuu was stunned, already a sickening pale white due to the poison Gaz injected into him.
"Zim is very dear to me! I won't let you kill him!" Her wardrobe was completely different. She wore a witch's hat that has a face sewn on it, with beads dangling on its' crooked and pointy end. A skull, similar to that of the one on Ryuu's belt, was strapped around on the hat. She wore a purple leather top and a leather mini skirt. The top had a collar connected to it, going around her neck. A pink sash hung from the right side of her skirt, and she wore white knee high boots, similar to Ryuu's.
She wielded a moon like scepter, and pointed it in a threatening manner at Ryuu's neck.
Ryuu bashed his sword against her scepter, jumping a good distance away from her. "You want to die too? Well then, be my guest!"
He rushed at her with full speed, ready to slice her apart.
Zim could only watch in horror himself, as his precious Zora was about to get killed. "ZORAAA!"
Zora, however, raised a shield over Zim and her other unconscious friends, protecting them from what's about to happen.
She raised her scepter, just seconds before Ryuu's final assault. "To you from me! With lots of loathe!" As the weapons clashed, a giant explosion erupted.
Zim's world quickly turned black as he passed out, his surroundings now unknown to him and the outcome uncertain.