88888888

Long time no see! Busy with A-School, Navy, Christmas plans, blahblah! I hope you all are doing fantastic by the way! Wish I knew what else to say, slowly trying to get back into the funk of doing this story, and more ranting!

Let me start! :D

88888888

He's Mine

...

(Planet Vort, Within The City Of Naruan)

...

"They're rebelling within their own society, Mistress Para."

A single eyebrow tugged upwards.

"Indeed?"

The brown Vortian lifted up two hands within the air in a defensive gesture, grimancing at the expression. She was only doing her job to report what was happening on Irk, it wasn't like she was making up some insane story! She didn't need to! The Irkens were insane on their own account! The emerald eyes of the Vortian queen narrowed, hand twirling the dagger with dried dark purple blood marked all over the blade. The final Irken, that filthy Larb, had his life taken by this blade. The blade of Count Lon'Gi, the first Vortian that had taken upon himself to kill the king who had ruled them with an iron fist. A blade that had been very fitting to kill that Irken with. Well, almost. Lon'Gi had tried to take over their planet himself, but had failed miserably and had lost his head. Everyone had said that he had almost seemed mindless when he had been placed down on her knees to his execution. How could she know though? That was way, way before her time in this world. Lon'Gi didn't even matter. It wasn't about him. It was about eliminating those who had done wrong to her people.

"The Irkens are rebelling within their own society?"

"Yes, Mistress, they are. The Advisor of the Tallest was the one to start the rebellion. Shot a guard in the face. It was pretty cool."

"What does temperature have to do with anything?"

The Vortian reporting the situation ignored her question with an eye roll.

"Yeah, Advisor Gig is the one who started everything. Shot a guard and everyone form all around just followed her lead. Irk is all a huge mess. Barley any power left, no new smeets are being hatched, no traces of Tallest Purple have been found, and all of their history files and blueprints are gone. Irkens all over the planet are killing off guards and are trying to gain control over their planet from Tallest Red. It's complete chaos. So many of them are dying. It's... It's wonderful."

The other Vortians in the chamber cheered and laughed, but the Mistress did neither action. She was too baffled to do such a thing. The Advisor of a Tallest had been the one to start the rebellion? And what was she rebelling against? Her Tallest? That made no sense, she was of higher power, probably one of the five top most powerful Irkens out of their entire race. And for an Irken to start something like this... It didn't happen. It was nearly impossible. It was impossible. To do such a thing would be defective. There was no way thousands of Irkens just became defective after a single night. To disobey a Tallest a sin. To not surrender under the Empire not a thought. Through her years of being stuck with Irkens she knew not one who had fought against the Tallest nor the Empire. She knew insane defects, most famous Zim, but not destroy the Empire insane. Well, not meaning too anyway. Zim really didn't mean to destroy his planet, he was just dumb. Why had they all suddenly just gotten together after a single movement?

Why had her people followed behind her footsteps after her first action against the Irkens?

Had... No... Could they have felt the same feeling she had felt that day? That raw, hungry emotion of no longer being controlled? Like the chains had been pulled off her wrists and she was her own person once more? Like an Irken could feel something like that. Like they knew what it was like to be controlled and used for someone else's purpose!

"Ah haha! I love seeing what our cameras are picking up! Their screams and tears are delicious! Let's see how

Tallest Red is gonna handle this situation!"

Yet... Maybe they did. Maybe.

"And why have I been informed of this situation?"

The guard tilted her head towards her Mistress, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"You kidding me? This is the chance to hit Irk where it hurts, my Mistress! They are in complete chaos! Weapons at an all time low, weak from lack of power charge along with not eating much, and they have no way to even build weapons without their blueprints! This is the chance to get them! Oh! And from what I heard from Irk's Commander when he was transferring a message over to the Massive, that ship is heading to Irk right now! We can get the planet and their dumb ship! What do you say?!"

"Gather all of the ships and as many weapons as you can. I don't care if all of them are bigger than the ship, figure out how to strap the equipment onto the hood of ships. I heard we have a Megadoomer and some Voot Cruisers on this planet, use them to hide the fact that we're invading. We'll send those ships off first before the real invasion comes. If Irk can receive transmissions, send them one. Warn them that we're coming. I want the dread to set in before we get there. I want them to hold in that pitiful emotion of fear when they realize that there is nothing they can do to stop us. It is common curtsey, after all. And Hik'uh-"

"Yes, my Mistress?"

"The Advisor. Warn the others to capture her, I want her alive. I want to see the face of the Irken that had dared to start such a rebellion against their own Empire. The Vortians may do as they wish once they get onto the planet. However..."

The rising rage made Hik'uh tremble for a moment.

"Tallest Red is mine."

...

(Floating Through The Galaxy, Voot Cruiser)

...

She blinked a few times in confusion.

No, that didn't just happen.

There was no way that the Massive had just flown by her.

Through the front window of her ship there the image was though. No way to pretend that it had been fake. The Massive being badly flown through the galaxy as though a fight for control over the ship was commencing on the Tallest's transmission quarterdeck. Or some new recruit had control of the Massive and didn't know how to fly it. The ship was sprawling through the galaxy at a rapid pace, barley missing the comets that zoomed by as it twisted upside down. Purple and red lights were the two colors flaring through the ship that she could see. Even if she hadn't touched Irken weaponry in years she still knew what those lights belonged to. Ultra-Mega-Dooming Lasers. Name given to them by none other than Tallest Red. Tallest Purple had wanted to name them 'Not-Smoke-Machines-So-Who-Cares Lasers', but that had been too long of a name. So Ultra-Mega-Dooming Lasers they were. There was a fight happening on the Massive. She already knew that Tallest Purple was missing, but perhaps Tallest Red was on there. Her Tallest could be in danger.

And yet, she didn't even care.

"Does that make me less of an invader?"

The Irken glanced downwards at herself.

Her skin was green like an Irken.

Yet she wore the clothing of a Meekrob.

"Should I see if I can do something to save them? I should-"

She should.

But she didn't.

Instead the Irken leaned backwards against the captain's chair of the ship, curling herself into a little ball in the seat. Her Tallest had left her to die and from what the queen had told her about her planet's current condition, the Tallest was leaving the rest of the Irken race to die, too. So she would do the same to them. Just to leave them too die. Besides, maybe the ship was fine and it really was a new Irken controlling the ship. It wasn't her business. She wasn't planning on staying on Irk. As soon as she landed on Irk she was either going to try and find a way to fix the coordinates on this ship or steal some other one and get off her planet as quickly as possible. She wasn't going to stay on a doomed planet for fun. They had left her alone for years, did they really think that she would stay loyal to them when she came back? Pfft- It's not like they even knew that she was coming back. They wouldn't care even if they knew. Why would she care about a planet with worthless leaders that didn't care about her?

Gah. Wasn't like she wanted to be Irken anyway. They wanted to control everything too much.

Tenn suddenly smacked the back of her neck, grunting.

Weird, that was a random twitch.

Well, no matter. When she landed on Irk she would just get off it. As easy as that. She didn't have to follow the rules.

Jeez! Her neck was starting to hurt from this weird twitch!

Whatever. Some sleep would do her some good. Anything to get her mind of Queen Po-

Her face buried within her knees only a split second later.

...

(Queen Port, Planet Meekrob)

...

She should have never sent her home.

"You filthy Meekrob! You can't keep me captured! I am an invader! I am an Irken! You can kill me-"

"I shall not kill you. That would give you too much mercy. No. You have snuck onto my planet to try and invade it. You tried to hide with weapons and had believed that you would have taken over my planet with you nasty little tactics. Hiding, back stabbing, and refusing to start a war face to face. Just what a worthless Irken would do. I cannot blame you though, it is in an Irken's nature to be weak minded and to sneak around things instead of having combat face to face. How... Pathetic."

"How dare you call my race-!"

"I can say what I wish. I at least do it to your face. You have nothing you can really say in this current event. After all, you are the one chained up and on your knees, not I. I will not remove your Pak though, no matter how much my sisters plea. I see that there could be some sort of worth in you if you just see how our race is. You will become a servant to me."

"A servant?! I will NEVER-"

"Yes, you will. And you will do it with grace whether you like it or not. Or you shall do it with some form of respect, I very much doubt that you have any grace at all. You have destroyed most of my planet with those insane units of yours. It is only a simple thanks to our ultimate energy that we may be able to repair it so quickly. You shall serve for what you have done. I swear on my life that when you have proved to have become a creature worth living for more than just greed and destruction, I shall let you go back to Irk. No communicating with Irk, do not steal anything, do your job as you are required, and most importantly- Do not betray this race. Do not tempt me, young Irken, for I may not kill you, but I shall torture you. I will do it before you Tallest's eyes if I must. What is the best choice? Serving as a servant on a planet that plans on letting you go if you follow the rules or having your Tallests see that you have failed your mission?"

She sneered.

"I hate you."

"Take her to the empty chamber next to my own. It shall be her new room. Have her fitted for an energy out-

putter suit."

That Irken had been stubborn at first. Screaming, rage, throwing little fits all over the place. Her sisters had told her to get rid of the rotten Irken, just to throw her Pak into an energy output and have her body tossed into a random place in the galaxy. She refused to do such a thing. That was something an Irken would do. The Irken had done her job well though, reading over blueprints for hours and actually learning how a Meekrob lives his or her every day life. It had nerved the queen at first, but she dared to not say a word about it. The Irken never did anything wrong, following every order no matter how ridiculous it was. Then again, she was probably used to it, her Tallests were dumb creatures after all. A planet of snacks. Pfft. Greedy and ignorant, two terrible traits for leaders. The grimaces had become less and the shouting had begun to subside. She could remember the day she saw her smile for the first time.

"Did the annual Meekrob sun come out or did you just smile at me?"

"... Huh?! Did you just use a- Ah hahaha!"

"There we go. A smile. I knew you had one some where. You really should do it more often, young Irken. It is a lovely one. You grimace and sneer all the time, but why? I am not torturing you, this could be worse. I just want to realize that you have done wrong, but you can always fix it."

Silence.

"Invader Tenn."

"Pardon?"

"Tenn. My name is Tenn."

"Tenn. A lovely name for a beautiful Irken. Come, Royal Culinarian, we must discuss the seating and dinner plans for tonight's event. Planet Giuko's Countess is coming to make arrangements with myself and my sisters to have one of us wed their prince. It will be a most horrible night for I will decline and they shall threaten to start a war if we do not, but let them. I am not scared of such a challenge. We must serve raw Firun topped with the eye juices of the voltage Waun. They hate that dish."

"I have been ranked up?"

"Yes, but don't start jumping in joy, left. You have a long way to go."

And a long way she went. Energy Out-putter, Royal Culinarian, City Surveillance, Technician Designer, Event Planner, Swunn Watcher- There was no job that she hadn't done. And every job she had done had been above average. Outstanding. She had done every job so efficiently and perfectly, there was no place to mock her. Tenn had proved to be worth more than just a simple servant, she was above that. Above many Meekrobs on this very planet, in fact. No one compared to Tenn. No one fit by her side better than Tenn, not even her sisters. The Irken stopped hissing about going home and instead began to learn about the Meekrob culture. Her people had started to accept her, including her sisters. She was absolutely... Perfect. She proved her worth, no doubt, yet the Queen refused to let her go. A way a queen would refuse to let her most noble knight slip away. Years she kept on with this charade, giving her one job after the other, daring to not give her the last job that would be the final step towards her freedom.

The day was bound to come though.

It had too. She couldn't keep her forever, no matter how much she wanted too.

"Welcome, Meekrob citizens, to the Festival of the Serk! This is the very day that our third sun will come into our view from its orbit and the Serk flower shall bloom for the first time in three thousand years!"

Cheering and clapping.

"I hope that all of you have been enjoying yourselves so far! All has gathered around from over every inch of our planet today in celebration for such a rare event! It was also spoken through the news that the three royal sisters would pick their new personal advisors at this event. It is time for all of our citizens to hear who we have chosen as our second in command!"

More cheering and clapping followed.

Countess Zort swished forward, big and innocent eyes seeming to have smiled at the world.

"I have picked Firn of the fourth Hurran family as my personal advisor."

Polite clapping to her quiet statement. She wasn't the one they wanted.

Empress Mort followed suit, eyes narrowed dangerously with a wicked smirk on her lips.

"Yeah, I picked KIMPER. You know, the one in the Lukan blood line."

Awkward clapping and harsh murmurs. Kimper was a criminal, wasn't he? No matter, she wasn't the one they wanted.

The one they wanted to hear gracefully floated forwards, hands behind her back, setting herself in a tall and collected posture as a queen would. Her gaze was calm, though her lips were pulled into a thin line, showing her slight discomfort. An internal battle was raging on inside of her mind, one side whispering 'do it' while the other side pleading 'stop'. Don't do the right thing, you'll lose everything if you do! You can't let her go! You must let her go, she is not yours, she is Irken. She. Is. Irken.

"Invader Tenn has been chosen as my second in command."

She heard not the screams. She saw not her citizens confusion marking their features or her sisters' look of betrayal. All she saw were the tears prickling in the invader's eyes and the grit teeth of the Irken who dared not to cry for it was in her nature too. And though they were breaking right before each other's eyes it was Tenn who still strolled up those stairs to the stage as though it was her birth right. Her antennas were bent all the way backwards against her head and her cheeks were flushed a deadly pale green, yet she knew. They both knew that this day was going to come some day. Magenta never pulled away from light blue, both of them gazing at each other as the queen slipped the circlet onto the top of the Irken's head. There was cheering and clapping.

There were shouts of both joy and disgust. Nothing was heard as the two gazed onwards at each other. This was the moment that they two could have. This could be the event were the two could set themselves apart from some many other species who had been in the same situation like them. They could finally pour our everything that they wanted too. She could stay. She could lead by her side.

Magenta eyes narrowed.

"I hate you."

Light blue drifted away.

"Take her back to her chamber. Have her fitted into the personal advisor uniform."

The Queen was to keep her promise.

She had Tenn serve as long as she could. The time came though. She sent the invader back home. Home. The word sickened her. The Queen had sent her back to a planet that had completely forgotten about her. The Irken had cried and pleaded to her Tallests to save her. Please, my Tallests, please! These units are insane! They have found me, my Tallest! Save me, my Tallest! Save me! Yet they never came. Her cries were never heard. She had sent her back home to leaders that abused their citizens and cared no for no one but themselves. What kind of monster was she? If it had never been because of those Tallests neither of them would have been in this situation! This constant pain wouldn't be wrecking through her body and her mind wouldn't be tormented with screams and pleas of saving her! It was the Tallests who had sent Invader Tenn to her planet to try and take over it! If it not had been for those Tallests!

"Sisters."

Mort and Zort paused form their argument of battle plans, both turning their heads towards their sister. She was sitting on her throne for once, something that the oldest refused to do often. Her narrowed slits were glaring across the chamber at absolutely nothing, each sibling knowing that a war was raging on within their oldest sister. Hands sparked and tongue clicked dangerously, harshly hissing after a few moments of silence-

"Let Lard Nar do as he wishes with the battle plans. Kill all of the Irkens, destroy all their resources and make them suffer, explode Irk if you must. I expect Tenn to be removed from any sort of harm and the Resisty better know of this or I shall have them executed. She is still my personal advisor, Irken or not. Letting her go home was a mistake that I shall not let happen twice. And I give not give a damn if this was his plan or not-"

Did the Queen just curse?

"I give not a single damn who or what is destroyed along the way of Tenn is removed-"

Her eyes flared a rich gold that neither sibling had seen before.

"Tallest Red is MINE!"

All the glass windows shattered and Port was gone for their sight.

It was time for the Queen to reclaim her knight.

...

(Planet Irk, Birthing Facility, Commander Sic)

...

He was trembling.

This was something one could only make up in a wonderful illusion while charging their Pak. This couldn't be real. And yet... Yet. Gray eyes must have been tricking him for this could not be real. He had seen the life signals in one of the scanners, but he refused to believe it. He had only come down here to worsen the agony. Here they were before him, almost like a pray that many Irkens dared not to say. The memory of his first combat division flashed through his frail mind. He remembered breaking them to bits because someone had too, it was the only way to make them stronger. Faster. Good to better too best. And they had not only done that, but even more. He had went from instructor to loving them as his own smeets. All twenty-six of them. They all had been his smeets, he would have given his life for every single one of them as they did every day to take over planets for the Irken Empire. He loved them. It was so unlike an Irken to feel such an emotion. He did though. Oh, how he had loved them so dearly.

A small squeak of surprise escaped one of the little ones that saw the giant take a few steps towards their huddled group.

It was impossible to not remember their tears. He had failed his division by just standing there and letting Tallest

Red throw one blow after the other at them. He had known that they were not the ones responsible for Tallest Purple's disappearance, and yet... Yet he had said nothing. Stood there was all the Commander had done. Ignoring surprised cries, hopeless pleas of mercy, and eyes that dimmed with a new knowledge of their leaders that refused to listen or protect them. He loved them like his own smeets. 'I love you'. Not words that were often, if ever, said on Irken. He did love them though and he had told them once after a heavy battle against enemy forces when the fear had struck him that he had almost lost them. He had turned against them. What had he done to them?

He didn't want to be Irken if it meant hurting the ones you loved.

"Leader?"

The curly antenna, red eye smeet took a step forward after his choked word, determination on her face far to bold for someone so young.

His breath hitched.

She looked just like the Tallest.

"I am."

Two other little ones fell forward. The little curly antenna girl sneered, purple eyes narrowed as she gripped the leader's hand. Metallic eyes with random white speckles also narrowed, his antennas pressed against the back of his head as he kept his place by the leader's other side. They feared for their leader's life and he couldn't blame them. He was pretty big and probably looked scary to them, no doubt. Maybe he was scary. Falling under the control of a terrible Empire was scary in itself.

"Do... Do you have names?"

"Yes. In order from youngest to oldest...Nav, Tuffin, Hexa, Ju'hull, Spinner, Triwl, Pop, Taunk, Nacho, Heath, Yeena, Skooter, Meeno, Woorb, Larkz, Shleet, Razz, Kem'mon, Rust, Trapinch, Tiff, Kiba, Min, Zimlyminotupin, Purple, and Red. I am Red and my second-in-commands are Purple and Zimlyminotupin."

Purple second-in-command to Red. Of course.

Zimlyminotupin was another story though. Pfft- Zim by the side of either of his Tallests.

"I don't..."

His words trailed off and the leader of the group smiled.

"Understand? I'm usually that way."

"... The energy? I don't get it. How are you exactly, you know... Here. How were you born?"

Here. This is impossible. There was no way to birth you.

"Well, it, uhh- It's weird to explain. I was the first to be born. Tallest Red is the one who did it. He had connected one of the random Paks to an outlet and it powered up the machines. Those really need fixed by the way."

For the first time in a long time, Sic smiled.

"Yeah, they really do. Keep going about the Paks."

"Right. Yes. So, you just connect the Pak and the Pak powers it up, but you can't just use the power. You also have to say- "Welcome to life, Irken child. Report for duty." I'm not really sure why, I guess those are the words that are needed to start up the Pak or something. I've been doing this since I thought it was our duty to work the birthing facility since the Control Brains seem to need a break right now."

Sic slipped downwards onto his knees, hands reaching upwards to collaspe against his face. The power of a Pak. They had tried do many different ideas. Energy from the sun that didn't last long enough, electrical currents that brought barley enough energy for one fourth of the planet, and even to Irkens running around on an overly sized wheel. These young ones had thought to use the power of the Pak. Smeets were smarter than the entire Irken Empire, which wasn't surprising. Wasn't that difficult to be smarter than this Empire. The smeets glanced at each other, confused by the display. What was wrong with him? Was he hurt? Red took a few nervous steps forward, tugging at both her toga and hands to get closer to the big Irken. Her Pak registered that the silver rank on his left shoulder symbolized that he was a Commander and the black Irken mark plastered onto his chest plate said that he was a very high rank- One of the Tallest's personal workers. Why was he here though? He must have known about the birthing facility issue if he was asking so many questions.

Why did he look so sad?

"Are you okay?"

Hands didn't shift away from his face, but a rough nod was given in response.

"How...?"

Her antennas perked upwards at the choking sound, frown instantly crawling over her lips. Purple tried to pull her backwards to no success, earning a hiss from her best friend. He was another Irken just like them and something was clearly wrong, she wasn't just going to ignore it. With ignorant bliss that only a smeet would possess, her little hands touched the top of his thigh, peering upwards through his split fingers. Gray eyes connected with red orbs, his hands slipping away from his face at seeing her. She was real. They were real. Right before him was proof that this horrible situation could change. He reached outwards to touch the top of her head, though his hand halted in mid air. The little one tilted her head to the side at seeing his hesitation, not understanding what was going through his mind. He looked so sad. So scared. Her hands instantly left his thigh and collapsed around the large hand hovering above her head, not missing the struck expression that spread across his face in mere seconds. She grinned up at him, never letting the grin slip even if he didn't smile back. What else was she to do? He was scared and she was going to help him. Like she did with Nacho when all the lights went out a few days ago. Had it been a few days ago? Who know, time down here seem to pass quickly.

Or did it pass slowly?

"... How many of you are there?"

Antennas perked upwards at the question.

"Twenty six."

She didn't know what to do when it happened. She had even forgotten how to breathe. The Commander's large arms swung downwards to pull the smeet into his arms, almost crouching awkwardly over her little form. Purple growled and Zimlyminotupin reached forward to quickly put an end to the action, but when her little arms tried wrapping around his muscular forearm the two immediately halted. The leader snuggled into the warm body, allowing herself to enjoy the affection she was receiving. She had never been given attention like this before. Never had she been pulled into someone's warm arms and held onto in such a way. It was new. It was different.

And she liked it. Very much. She liked feeling... Loved, her Pak told her, not a very common emotion for the

Irken race. Perhaps defective.

Well, she decided, it should be. Nothing is wrong f0or feeling like this.

"Little one, you don't realize what exactly you've done for the Irken Empire. What discovery you've done."

His grip tightened a bit, rubbing foreheads with the smeet that shouldn't even be in his arms. If only Gig was here... Gig. Gig! She would be so happy by the news! A new power source dealing with the connection of unused Paks! He had to go find her and tell her! Far too soon the smeet was put down onto the cold ground, a frown twitching at the edge of her lips. Dread crossed her features at seeing the large Irken stand upwards, towering over the entire group by at least a good six feet, if not more. He wasn't leaving already, was he? He wasn't just going to leave them down here longer on their own? They were running out of food! It was cold on many nights! She couldn't raise all 26 of them on their own! She was just a smeet herself!

Her back straightened, green face determined to not break character. She was a leader, it was her duty to stay down here and fix the birthing facility. If that was needed, then so be it. She would stay down here and do her duty. She must.

"Gig will be so happy to see you! This will be a chance to show the Tallest that the situation is being fixed! Taking 26 smeets upside is going to be hard, but to do anything to stop Plan Dust will be worth it. Tallest Red will have to stop that horrid plan after this! Wow. How do I do this? It's been so long since I've dealt with smeets, I can't just yell at-"

"Upside?!"

"You're taking us... Outside?"

"Up there?"

"On Irk?!"

The Commander paled when the large group of little smeets started to cause a huge riot and sentences started to jumble together. Things were being thrown, including clothes, smeets running around in a mass horde of screaming and yelling monsters. They were worse than the insane SIR Units the Tallests were supposed to send off to Zim. Through the mist of chaos a serious face stood out from among the crowd, the leader tilting her head downwards in confusion. Sic slipped onto one knee to get closer to Red, the little smeet biting the insides of her cheeks in frustration at her own battling mind. She didn't like thinking too much. It reminded her of the fact that she didn't actually know anything. She was the one leading their large group, yet she didn't know anything. Plan Dust though, she had thought that... No. Wasn't it helping the Empire?

"What is it?"

"Plan Dust, you called the plan... Bad. Tallest Red set up the plan though, didn't he? Isn't the plan supposed to be good?"

"How do you even know about the plan?"

"I can still hear what is happening on topside. There's supposed to be a soldier in every building and with every group, aren't they protecting everyone from planet Sekaroo?"

She was so young. She didn't understand.

And how could he make her? How could he possibly look directly into the eyes of this miracle before him and tell her that her comrades and her were born into a world of destruction? There was no planet Sekaroo attacking them, by Irk, there wasn't even a planet named Sekaroo. The solider to every group was to force them to stay indoors for the Tallest could keep a iron hold on his citizens that he refused to help? Force fields are to keep you locked away. The one who brought you into this world is the one who is keeping your race hidden and locked up, little one. The one who you call 'Tallest' is the one who had thrown every last remaining bit of humane emotion and replaced it with raw hunger for rage and pain. You were born into misery, young miracle, born when you should have never been.

You were given the name of the one who is the one killing off your very own race.

"The plan isn't working out so far, young one. There are some complications. It's okay though, we're figuring out a way to fix it. And you have just done something amazing for your race by this Pak idea, little one. I'm so proud of you, Red. All of you. It's okay. This is going to work out."

And even through her bright smile he didn't break his bearing.

...

(Planet Irk, Tallest Chamber)

...

"Stop it. This isn't you."

"You don't know me."

The Tallest hissed, antennas bending backwards against his head defensively. His grip only tightened on the throat of the Elite member within his grasp, red eyes narrowing dangerously and back straightening to remind him who was the leader and who was the drone. The member only gave a mock laugh, hands gripping around the wrist of the Tallest that was choking him. The Tallest gave a laugh back when a choking sound was heard, a satisfied grin spreading across his lips. Good. Let him choke. Let him die within his grasp. He deserved it. And if anyone was to kill this particular guard, well, who better than the ruler of Irk himself?

"Of course I know you. I'm-"

"You talk to much."

Another flex of his hands to have the lovely sound of pain return.

Yes, it would be nice to get rid of this defect. He had always been in the way from the beginning.

"This isn't how to be a Tallest! Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork were never like this!"

Something snapped inside the Tallest. Something cold. Something angry. Something completely and utterly ruthless that hungered for power. And it was about to be fed.

The shorter one out of the two was thrown across the dim chamber, back slamming against the far wall as his body tumbled to the floor. Before he could even react a ear piercing scream erupted from the younger Irken, hands flying over the open wound on his thigh that was seeping with blood. The Tallest had just shot him. As soon as the leader caught the sight of the glare his foot went across the face of the wounded one, his body sprawling backwards at the contact. His teeth grit in a snarl when his ruler leaned downwards on his knees to hover above his face, using a single finger to push against the drone's forehead to position him against the wall. Not even bothering to hide the smug expression his other free hand flicked the open wound, earning another cry of agony at the action. It was a shame to have to punish him this way. It was needed though. Control was needed. He couldn't just have his citizens running around and causing chaos, could he? He was Tallest, after all.

The only Tallest that there was.

"And that's why they're dead. They were weak. Foolish. They lacked the power. They lacked control. I have that power, I have that control, and I know how to use it properly. I will be the one to make the Irken Empire great. Perfect. I know what I'm doing. You just don't. Pfft- Like I could expect a moron like you to understand though."

The Elite member frowned, letting his hands slip on top of the hand that was pushing against his head.

"No, I guess I don't. Think isn't the best friend that I knew. You used to be something else. Something great. Not this! This isn't right! Look at yourself! Forcing everyone indoors and to have someone watch over them like smeets to keep them hidden from your view! You know why you're hiding them? Because you're scared of seeing their faces! You couldn't handle their worry, so you locked them away! They were so loyal to you! They cheered every time you came on stage, they laughed when you laughed- They were so loyal. Now look what you've done! They'll never trust you again! One day you'll have to see their faces again! And what will you do when you see their disgust? Their hate?"

Red eyes pull away from the young face before him.

"You weren't meant to be Tallest."

In a blind fit of rage fists flew. He was punching the Elite member and he loved every moment of it. His fist couldn't resist the side of his face. He had no idea when his spider legs had come pout from his Pak and began slicing edges into the younger Irken's skin, but he didn't care. All he wanted to hear were the cries. The screams. Those beautiful pleas of mercy. Yet none of them came. There were tears and grit teeth, but no words. The Elite member only took every blow, not caring when the metal tip sliced all the way down his face or even when another part of his leg was snapped to the point of breaking. This shorter Irken needed to beg. He was supposed to be screaming for release by now! After many moments of a rough beat down the Tallest let himself slump downwards back onto his knees, roughly gripping the Elite member's antennas within his grasp. Slamming his head back against the wall, the two made eye contact, one of utter hate and the disappointment.

"You were never supposed to turn out this way."

"You were never supposed to leave me."

One spider leg lifted upwards, reflecting in the dim light.

"We were always supposed to be best friends till the end."

"No. You were always in the way."

Red couldn't turn away from purple orbs.

"Tallests together."

"I'M THE ONLY ONE FIT TO RULE IRK!!"

And without a single ounce of mercy the spider leg went through the Elite member's chest, rupturing his Pak.

"Good bye, Purple."

The grin was gone replaced by horror by the dark purple blood before him.

"... Purple? What have I done? Purple? Purple?! PUR-"

-WARNING: POWER SUPPLY HALTED. CHARGING PROCESS WILL END.-

His body bound forward a split second later, hand gripping the front of his robes in a desperate effort to contain himself. What had THAT been? A nightmare of some sort? He hadn't had a nightmare like that since the death of Spo- Forget it. It wasn't important. He tugged the connection cord out of his Pak, eyes refusing to look around the chamber that he was sleeping in. He couldn't bear to see that picture at the far end of the wall of their smiling faces of their first time at conducting Probing Day. The soda cup that hadn't been thrown away in months resting sideways on the metal desk edge. If he touched Purple's cup he would probably break down. He shouldn't feel like a prisoner in his own chamber! Shaky fingers tugged at the device on his wrist, lifting his arm upwards after setting in the coordinates to call the Commander. He needed to do something useful right now. Anything his to get his mind off that horrible dream. Nightmare. This constant nightmare that was never ending.

"Commander. Report on the Massive."

"-Massive to report to Irk in a matter of hours, Tallest.-"

Antennas perked upwards.

Was that high pitched giggling in the background?

"Report on Plan Dust."

"-It is- Oh, Irk.-"

The Tallest tumbled out of his bed at the harsh whisper from the other line, reaching for his wrist bracelets to get ready. Something was wrong.

"Commander? What's wrong?"

"-No! Get back! I said get back inside NOW! You can't come outside right now! Planet- Planet Sekaroo is

attacking!-"

There was no doubt that the Commander was no longer talking to him and had accidentally left the transmission line up. Both of them knew that there was no such thing as Planet Sekaroo, but who could he be talking to? No one was allowed outdoors except only him, Commander Sic, Advisor Gig, the Elite members, and soldiers! Who was he talking too?! A sneer crossed his lips as he hovered towards the balcony window at the far end of the dark chamber, throwing the red curtain to the side with a rough tug. His rough grip was gone instantly, fingers slowly slipping downwards from the top to bottom of the soft object, not even feeling the texture. His mind had gone blank and emotions were non-existent, red eyes never blinking at what he saw from his window. He should have known. It was bound to happen. He had just thought that under another Tallest's command that this was going to happen.

The dark atmosphere of Irk easily reflected the yellow streaks that were flying every where. Lasers. Even from his highest window he could hear the screams and battle cries, soldiers trying to take down one citizen after the other. It wouldn't work though, Red already knew. There wasn't enough soldiers. The force fields were no longer up, the city no longer marked with the red and purple warning lights of the field. Someone had shut them off and he knew exactly who. Commander Sic hadn't known of the situation and only one other Irken knew the code. Advisor Gig. She had shut off the device. It was hard to even feel it, but if he concentrated he could make out the very faint shaking from under his hand that gripped the window pane. Bombs were going off. They were killing each other off. They were running out of food, power, and smeets could not longer be hatched. The Irken race was doing what it was supposed to never do under his control.

Irk was rebelling.

And they were killing off the Irken race.

"-Tallest Red.-"

"I know what's happening, Sic."

"-No, you don't. I just received a transmission from the planet Vort. It was from a Vortian by the name of Mistress Para, the seventh royal blood member of Ta-Kuhuni, and the new ruler of Vort. All of the Irkens we had placed on planet Vort have been killed. There isn't a single Irken left on their planet.-"

"Vort has gained control over their planet?!"

"-Yes. And she wanted me to tell you that they're coming here. We have only a few hours to prepare.-"

"I..."

"-Tallest Red, what is your course of action?-"

His hand reached backwards to grip his neck, the agony reaching from his lower spine all the way to the top of his head.

"-My Tallest?-"

He couldn't handle this. The failure of his planet. The downfall of his powerful race. This lack of control.

"-What are we going to do, Red?!-"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

The transmission was ended.

Just like the Irken race would be in mere hours.

...To Be Continued...

88888888

Hey, guys! Sorry that it's taking forever to update! I'm trying to get back into the funk of the story, but it's just not working! I really am getting some where, I swear! :P

I just forgot how to run things through this story is all. :/

So, please review! Tell me what was liked/disliked, all that jazz!

Have a wonderful day! :D

88888888