Note from Hecallsmehischild: I promised you guys a surprise, and here it is. GUEST CHAPTER WRITTEN ENTIRELY BY INVADER SIDEOS! This has been in the planning stages and works for months. This guy is one of the best established Invader Zim writers on fanfiction. I've been following his work for a long time, and there are few who can match. Check out his stuff!
Note from Invader Sideos: So it's been like, what? Five? Six years of me knowing HeCalls and I'm only just now writing a guest chapter for them? It just goes to show what kind of lasting power HeCalls has on not just the fandom of IZ, but on the people she befriends. She was one of the first people to ever comment and follow my work and somehow through six years of me flip flopping on hiatuses, not finishing work and all kinds of bad things, she's still been a friend to me. HeCalls is one of the best writers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I've been writing for six years and her work still manages to put mine to shame simply because she has such a wonderful way of making you care so deeply about it. Seriously. Her work is so enduring and wonderful to read because all her characters, whether they be from a show or an OC seem so… real. She writes from the heart and it shines through like a bright light. So here it is, far too late and far too little a gift to a person who deserves to have their work put on the shelves of Barns and Noble so everyone in the world can know how great a writer they are.
…..
Purple groaned slightly and put a hand to his forehead. Lately his head had been killing him and today seemed to be the worst of it. His PAK had been issuing him painkillers but nothing seemed to be working.
"So what is this 'Elyon' thing again?" Purple asked as he tried to ignore the throbbing ache in his temple. He was being briefed on the upcoming trial by Makiavell, one of his chief advisors of the High Council of Irkens.
The brown cloaked irken sighed slightly. "My Tallest, it is a word being spread by the Krissirks, from what we've gathered it means 'The Most High Being'." Makiavell waved a long fingered hand at one of the holograms before the Tallest.
They were walking down a long hallway in The Massive towards the 'Judging Room' where they would pass sentence on a poor unfortunate waiting on his fate.
"I… see… kinda." Purple rubbed the side of his head before shaking it. "I don't see."
"It's an insult my Tallest. To you." Makiavell pointed to Purple. "It is implying that this Ayam creature is Taller than you."
"What?!" Purple stopped in his tracks. "That's impossible! I'm the Tallest!"
"Exactly, my Tallest." Makiavell bowed a little before raising his hand towards the huge and ornate looking double doors that stood before them. "We recently captured a Speaker and now you must pass their sentence."
"A Speaker?" Purple paused, his hand on one of the double doors.
"They are the ones who spread the word of this 'Ayam' in a very literal sense, my Tallest." The irken bowed a little. "Sending him to his death will most certainly stop him speaking anymore of his lies."
Purple blinked in shock at this. Send someone to their death? Sure it wasn't something that was unusual but to do it himself seemed a little… worrisome. Usually Red was here by his side to give him confidence but lately he'd seen so little of him he felt like they weren't even friends any more. He would have to visit him after this, to make sure his oldest and closest friend wasn't silently going insane or worse… defective. Even Purple, who paid little attention to the rumbles of the masses knew that having such a scandal happen would make him look bad.
Purple wasn't completely stupid. He knew this was a bad time to be the leader of their empire… he just didn't know what he could do about it. Everything seemed so out of his hands.
He really wished Red was here.
Everyone had stood up and bowed as he had walked in. All except the accused.
Purple hated this. All eyes were on him, expecting him to be this great leader of the nation. All he really wanted to do was sit down somewhere in his underclothes and read a book or something. Purple liked reading books, though he tried not to tell anyone about it. He had always been a dreamer and books were his way of getting away from the world. To sit down somewhere nice and warm with his tablet and read away was his de-stress after a long hard day of ruling an Empire.
He slumped into his chair and waved a hand for everyone to sit down. His was an ornate and beautiful thing with hues of purple. Sitting right beside it was a twin, with hues of red. Today of course it was empty. The people of the court took their places. The accused stood with his hands and feet clamped together while the prosecutor stood with a smile on his face to match his sharp red suit and sharper red eyes.
Around Purple, in lower and less fancy chairs, sat the Council. Six of them in all, with Purple being the seventh. Collectively would decide the fate of the accused, though in reality they almost always voted in favor of whatever the Tallest said, as the Tallest was both chief judge and jury. Cameras floated through the room, as this was a public event after all.
The irken in the red suit started as soon as Purple waved a hand. "We stand here today to decide the new ruling of those practicing the illegal… rantings," Red suit rolled a hand, as if looking for the right insult to apply, "How does the accused plead?"
"Not guilty." The irken had bright green eyes and was somewhat tall, and slender.
"My Tallest as you can see the accused denies his involvement in this terrorist movement." The irken in red announced with the wave of a hand towards the accused.
"We are not a terrorist movement." The accused announced sharply. "We are the truth! The word of Ayam is truth!"
Purple wasn't paying attention. His head was killing him. He leaned forward slightly and closed his eyes. For a moment he felt like he was floating before he opened his eyes, the drama of the courtroom like TV static in the background.
What he saw caused a cold sweat to run across his skin.
Dark figures hovered, no, flickered above each and every person in the courtroom. He looked behind him in panic, but saw none above him… then he noticed there was no flickering shadow above the accused either.
Okay, this was impossible. No, it wasn't impossible, it was just a very bad migraine and it was starting to make him see things. Purple clenched his jaw as he watched the mouths of the irkens in the room move, though he didn't hear anything. That static sound seem to just hover over everything, but he could hear something through it.
A distant wind, or maybe a whisper, like hearing the weather from the other end of a very long tunnel.
"My Tallest?" Makiavell's voice suddenly cut to him. "Your opening question?"
Purple blinked at this before shaking his head, trying to ignore the dark flickers above the heads of his advisers. "Oh, erm, yeah, right, erm…" His mind went blank, mostly because of his pounding headache. "What's your name?"
There was an awkward silence in the room before the irken in red pointed to himself. "I am Valac, my Tallest."
"My name is Dantie." The accused irken announced, his head held high. "And I am a Krissirk."
"Please don't utter profanities in front of our Tallest." Valac announced with a frown. "And especially not on national TV."
"My belief, my faith is not a profanity!" Dantie called out loudly and struggled against his chains.
"See how he fights his captors! I put to you, my Tallest, if he were to be set free." Valac paused for a moment to smile at Purple, but Purple could see something different. The dark figure snaking around his head like black pollution suddenly moved and whispered something into Valac's antennae. "He would surely be attacking you now, or those you care about! Or worse, convincing others of his mad delusion and driving them to the same criminal acts!"
Purple could see them now. Strings of black smoke that seemed embedded into the back of the neck and the hands of every person in the room. Puppets. They were being used just like Puppets by these strange dark shadows. Purple could taste it on his tongue, that strange, brimstone like taste that seemed so gritty and terrifying for reasons beyond his understanding.
It made him feel sick to his stomach and he wanted to get up and get out of the room, to run from these terrible smoke-like beings. However he couldn't. Something was holding him to this spot, forcing him to pass judgment over this man.
And perhaps over himself.
He could already feel one, swirling around his head. It made his headache even worse and the bitter taste of ash in his mouth even more prominent. Yet he also felt dizzy, lazy, as something in him begged to give in and give way.
He could hear it whispering in his ear, promising peace and quiet from this harsh rule. Let them deal with everything. Don't let their lies of salvation and souls to get in the way of an easy life.
It sounded so nice...
"Tell us how you believe this... Ayam." As the lawyer spoke the name the shadows seemed to shudder, as if it was terrible for them to even hear it spoken. "Will save you?"
"He is everything that is good in this universe." Dantie spoke softly. "He is all things."
The dark spirit was already at the lawyer's antennae. "If that is true why does this mighty being not come and solve all our problems?" Valac barked back. "A deity who does nothing is no deity at all."
Dantie frowned at Valac. "He is not some kind of errand boy to do our bidding. We serve Him. The reality of Him is within us, but we have to make it work as we are a part of Him too!"
Valac smirked and looked to the judges, shrugging. "Did any of you get that? I think we need a translator unit for crazy in here."
The judges all laughed and Dantie only frowned. However, he seemed to notice that Purple was not laughing with them. Rather, the Tallest had a dazed, almost blank look to his eyes. "Purple?"
Purple blinked, jolting back into reality. "Wha- what is it?" His headache was so strong and the whispers now constant in his antennae.
"Tallest Purple, if you admit that there is one Taller than you, an Elyon, then you too can be saved! I promise!" Dantie called out to the Tallest, his eyes wide. "Please! Open your eyes! Even if you kill me my soul will go to be with Him! But you will forever be sentenced to oblivion in darkness!"
"And what kind of all loving being would do that?" Valac announced, stepping before Dantie with his arms held wide. "Why make things fallible and punish them for doing wrong?"
"Because we should know we're doing wrong and do right by Ayam's name!" Dantie shouted back, and again, Purple saw the whispering shadow creatures shudder at the name.
"Why doesn't he just force us to obey it?" Valac smirked back, smug in his own spiritual ignorance.
"Because we are not slaves and He does not want us to be so." Dantie's words seem to give him an almost golden shimmer. It was strange but the light drove back the demonic ash-shadows around him. "He wants us to acknowledge His light as the truth."
"The truth is that you are insane and a defective and you're spreading your lies to corrupt those around you." Valac announced loudly, stepping in front of Dantie, pointing a long sharp finger at him. "You deserve nothing more than death."
"And I welcome it." Dantie replied calmly. "As I will go with Him to the Homeplace."
Purple felt like a great weight was crushing down on him, the whispers now like hissing snakes in his antennae. He wanted this to be over, this horrible experience crushing him. But the whispering told him how to end it, all he had t do was give the believer death and he could have it all, he could have his piece, his little patch of lazy in a terrible universe.
Just give him death.
"The so called Krissirk has spoken then!" Valac announced loudly, turning to look at the judges. "I give the judgment to you, my Taller and Tallest. What is your verdict?"
One by one each judge voiced their opinion. Each proclaimed that public execution would be the way to go. Each of course, being puppeted and commanded by the ash-shadows that surrounded them, controlling their tongues with unseen black strings.
Purple could feel them. The sharp, painful needles of the strings scratching at the skin on his hands, itching to bury themselves deep into his body... to take away his own actions.
Just give him death.
"And what say you, my Tallest?" Valac called out. "What ultimate verdict do you cast?"
The ash was clouding his senses, the hissing now screaming in his throbbing head. Why was everything so painful? Why was this so hard? Why couldn't he just run away and hide and never have to face any of this again?
Just give him death.
"I... I..." The strings pushed through his skin and Purple almost yelped in pain. He couldn't hold back any more and he felt his heart give way to something cold and comforting... something that felt so very temporary but so sweet.
The screaming vanished and now all he could hear was a faint whispering in his own head. Surely that was his own voice?
"Death. Public execution." Purple announced with a new sureness. He didn't have to care about this anymore.
Dantie's head did not fall. Instead he looked up and he mouthed. "I'm sorry." Before the guards came and grabbed him by the arms, dragging him away.
Valac only grinned at he watched him before he turned and looked to his Tallest. "You made the right choice, my Tallest."
"Yeah." Purple stood up, his limbs moving in a robotic manner. "I know."
Strange... he could still taste the ash on his tongue...