Episode 8: Love and War

Episode Summary- The Tallest has Gaz test their new weapon against the Renegades. Can she gather enough information to save as many of her friends as possible. Meanwhile as the Leaders of the Renegades prepare for their inevitable defeat; forbidden love threatens to blossom once more as Kathy finds herself stuck with Cadet Scamooch as her science partner. Will these two unlike individuals fall in love?

Disclaimers: I Do Not Own Invader Zim

Author's Notes: Ok guys I know it's been forever again, but life happens as you know. Luckily I finally have the time to update. So, without further a due let's get this show on a road.

Hope you guys enjoy and please review!

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine :)

Episode 8: Love and War (Part 2)

(Back with Kathy…)

[The Next Day…]

To say she was simply nervous would bring little justice to the emotion that currently had her sitting on edge. It wasn't that Kathy disliked him; she just had a hard time not blaming him along with the rest of the cadets. They were Irken's after all, and thy were all to blame for the horrible state their planet was now in.

But then she'd stop and remind herself of the obvious; The cadets were children. Therefore, they didn't know any better. They had been raised to act this way; to see others as lesser, lower life forms. Still, this fact alone was not enough to steady her rapidly beating heart. Cadet Scamooch was just so intimidating, and the fact that he was still a total jerk despite his status in the resistance rubbed her the wrong way. By continuing to be cruel to his human peers it was like he was determined to look out for himself. And Kathy could already feel the growing migraine just thinking about how she was going to have to deal with that stuck up attitude of his for the entire week.

Needless, to say she was not looking forwards to this.

She wasn't the only one.

Scamooch made his feelings known the moment their eyes met when she walked into the Classroom.

Kathy put on her best brave face as she walked across the room to join him, everyone of her classmates who were already with their partners were whispering as she did. No doubt everyone saw this as a sick and cruel punishment.

"First he eats with them, and now he partners with them." One cadet whispered.

"What a human lover." Another agreed.

Scamooch growled under his breath as she took his place beside her.

"Listen I don't like this anymore than you do." Kathy whispered to him. "But the less time we waste letting our feelings get in the way. The less time we have to deal with this."

Scamooch was taken aback by her sudden boldness. Still she had a point, the less time they spent arguing the faster this would be over with and they could focus on more important things.

The bell sounded around them, and the room grew silent as Mrs. Syl addressed the class. "You will spend today's class time brainstorming the concept of your projects." She informed them. "Naturally I expect my cadets to bring more to the table." She stated the obvious. "But don't think for a minute that this means you humans can slack off!" Her eyes narrowed on Kathy. "As your instructor, I know what you are truly capable of. So, no slacking off; it will only hurt you in the long run."

Kathy restrained herself from strangling her teacher, but only just barely. She hated how the Irkens saw humans as these lazy creatures always looking for the easy way out. Sure, it was true bout some of them but to bunch them all in the same group was insulting. It was like she was saying humans were carbon copies of each other with no personality of their own.

"You will only have today to brainstorm. The rest of your time will be outside of classroom hours" Mrs. Syl revealed. "Now begin."

Neither one made the first move.

The silence between them was deafening, still Kathy knew as the useless stupid human she was not allowed to have the first idea, if any idea at all.

Scamooch however was still trying to figure out how he was going to manage a whole week of this. Honestly , he just wanted to leave already; he didn't understand why Taller Zim was wasting his time with this.

The humans didn't need him to finish this war; he need to ascend beyond this charade and take his rightful place.

And yet he insisted on staying by the Dib's side.

Of course; he knew why, the Dib was HER brother unit, there history went as far back as the beginning. When this whole war got started. Back when both humans and Irkens alike didn't know a war was even going on.

They started this together, and now they planned to finish it the same way; together.

It was meant to be touching, symbolic even, but Scamooch just saw it as a big waste of time. The soldiers they were fighting now were small fries compared to the real targets. If Zim would stop messing around and receive his blessing already he could take the fight straight to the Tallest and end this war.

But he insisted on fighting this war their way.

Why?

What could they possibly learn from life forms that were millions of years behind them in evolution and technology. Don't get him wrong, he was all for Zim being the Next Tallest, but to just give everything back. All the worlds they conquered, everything without a fight.

It would make them look weak, the universe would stop fearing them, and think that they can walk all over them. Surely some of the races will try to get even in their moment of kindness.

How will Zim expect them to react? After all, surely he knows that peace comes after war.

Did he really think it would all be ok and forgiven if he just undid everything they had done. That the consequences would just magically go away.

"Um…?" Kathy asked, she could tell the cadet was distracted.

"Right." Scamooch shook his head, forcing him to focus on the task at hand, no matter how meaningless it seemed to him. He promised to follow Zim and trust his judgment, and he would. "Since I must include you." He said with a roll of his eyes for good measure. "What useless ideas do you have so I can shoot them down now."

Okay she knew he was going to be mean, that was a given; he had to be. But to call her ideas useless! Oh, he was treading on thin ice now; it wasn't like her to keep her thoughts to herself, and the guy was already asking her to punch him with his current attitude. However, she took a deep breath and thought about it. "We could make a Reusable Water-Powered Battery or harness energy with a cutting-edge desalination plant to generate drinking water from the ocean." She suggested.

Scamooch was honestly taken aback by the answer and showed it openly.

Kathy gave him a look. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing." Scamooch answered quickly. "I just wasn't …"

Her eyes widen. "You didn't think I'd have a good idea." She exclaimed under her breath. "You think I'm stupid!"

Oh boy Scamooch could tell just by her expression that he had already messed up.

"Well since I'm so stupid." Kathy yelled louder now. "Than why don't you do the project all by yourself and I'll just go!" She marched off then, leaving him staring in disbelief with his mouth agape.

The class began to chatter around him.

No doubt about her outburst.

"Cadet." Mrs. Syl voiced, "As much as I can understand your hatred for your partner. I partnered her with you as a punishment for your tardiness." She reminded him. "And without her cooperation you will fail this assignment."

Scamooch growled but got up from his seat. "Yes, Mrs. Syl." He said before reluctantly following her.

He could already tell he was going to hate this week more than any week before.

(Back with Dib…)

The young paranormal investigator screamed as the enemy surrounded him from all sides. Ready to pounce him; taking him down where he stood; ending all hope for mankind in one swell swoop.

How could this have gone so horribly wrong?

Hadn't they been winning this war?

He felt their hands grab him, and a blaster shoving into his abdomen.

And in the back of his head he knew this wasn't right; even as the fear overwhelmed him… deep down he knew.

'This isn't real.' He thought.

"Knowing that isn't enough."

Dib gasped as the Irken Soldiers parted revealing…

"Zim…" he whispered.

"At this rate you will be figured out and killed." Zim pointed out the obvious. "Do you forget? If you are found out my cover is also blown."

"I know." Dib said. Now he remembered what was going on. He and Zim, (having sent their robot doubles to school in their place) were back at the Dome. Thanks to Gaz's efforts; Elma and Goalit had been able to create a prototype simulator of the defective test. And now all five of them Zim, Rachel Mark, James, and himself were trying to ensure their success.

Zim having found success at his own trial; seemed to conquer the task with ease. His fellow resistance leaders however proved early on to have difficulty. So naturally Zim had to take a more active approach in their preparation. Dib knew this was necessary since they would all surly be instantly killed upon discovery.

Sure, the Tallest maybe weary to kill children due to the massive negative response the killings at the science camp had provoked. But Zim also found it hard to believe he would allow their survival. After all, it was a common Irken practice to kill the leaders of enemy forces. Either way, anyone of them getting caught, especially Dib would spell disaster for Zim.

So Zim decided to train each of them individually, by entering their subconscious during the duration of the simulation. In a since this made Zim the computer brain; instead of the original brain made along with the simulator.

"It's just when you told me about the trial and how they did this to you…I don't know, I thought."

"What? That this was easy?" Zim scoffed. "Because I can manage it should be no problem to you; is that it?"

"Well I've always managed to match you step for step." Dib pointed out.

Zim burst out in full blown laughter. "Against me, yes." He admitted. "I admit you are my equal, but you are not up against me in here." He pointed out. "In here the enemy isn't even the computer brain." He revealed.

"Then who?" Dib began.

"It's yourself." Zim cut him off. "In here your own mind is the enemy. This is how you see yourself Dib." He reasoned. "In your mind you are still the misunderstood hero of this dramatic tale."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Dib said.

"At the trail I was not Zim." Zim reasoned. "I was not the jaded invader robbed of purpose and meaning; betrayed by my own leaders." He explained. "I had to believe fully that I am Joseph, a normal earth child. You have to believe you are Josh; you have to believe you are a naive child who knows nothing about the Irken race than what you have been told at school."

"So, I have to convince myself that my lies are truth?" Dib asked.

Zim nodded. "It's the only way to fool the brain."

I guess that means this will be easy for the others." Dib said. "They don't have to pretend they are something that they're not."

"Not Necessarily." Zim revealed. "If used properly our fake identities can act as a shield. You see the brain is so busy trying to figure out if we are who we say we are; that it forgets to prove what it was meant to." He explained. "That we are members of the resistance. Rachel and the other's however go by their real names. Therefore, they don't have anything to distract the brain with. Not to mention by using their real names they put their families at risk. While you and I have nothing to lose. Our family is here in the dome; safe."

'Our family.' It was strange. Dib never thought he'd see his once greatest enemy as family, but he did. And he had been doing so way before they became the Campbell twins. Still, Zim was wrong about one thing. "Not all of us." He reminded him.

"Gaz is in good hands." Zim assured him. "She has proved her worth to the Tallest. Even if she had to stab us in the back to do so."

"Are you still mad about that?" Dib teased.

"NO." Zim yelled and then smiled. "I'm embarrassed that I didn't see it coming."

Dib nodded. "Me too." He admitted.

Yes, they should have know of the impending betrayal; it was inevitable. How else would Gaz have been able to get free of her cage. Had she still been in it now storming the castle and getting to the Tallest would be ten times harder. But now she was free and mobile, able to disappear out of their grasp at a moments notice.

Of course, they had Tak to thank for that. The Tallest trusted her fully because they believed her hatred for Zim would ensure her loyalty. But they miscalculated, they thought there was nothing she hated more than Zim, but there was one thing she hated more…

And it was them!

The Tallest had destroyed the proud legacy of their predecessors Taller Spork and Tallest Myuki. They had also cut down thousand worthy ones so that no one could challenge them. And now the survival of their race was one the line. Worthy ones were worthy because their blood was pure; they were more Irken than the rest of them. And in less Zim could gain the blessing of their ancestors and receive a new sample of pure DNA…

The they and Zim would be the last pure Irkens…the last real Irkens left.

"It's best not to think about it." Zim told Dib. Due to the simulation their minds were linked, so he could hear Dib's thoughts; just as Dib could hear his.

"Your entire race faces annihilation." Dib reminded him. "You should go, we can handle things from here."

"And risk all we've worked for?" Zim challenged. "Dib It took us a whole year to get this close. The Tallest are finally within reach. We can end this war in a matter of months."

"That won't matter if you don't receive their blessing." Dib pointed out.

"What if I don't want it?" Zim asked.

"Zim?" Dib reasoned.

"Look I know it has to be me." Zim told him. "But…"

"You not wanting it is what's going to save them." Dib assured him. "Just look at Red and Purple, look at what their lust for power has done to your people, to this world, and countless others. Your people deserve a second chance."

"Do they?" Zim asked.

"Zim?" Dib was speechless.

"Maybe this is what we deserve. The Universe's way of punishing us." Zim reasoned.

"And if it is?" Dib asked.

"Then I will accept defeat." Zim answered. "If they give me their blessing then I will do my best to repair the damage done before me." He vowed. "But you must understand some things once broken can never be fixed."

Dib knew he was right…still as much as he'd love to argue, they had more important matters to attend to. "I Guess we should get back to it." He whispered.

Zim nodded. "Let's…"

Dib frowned as the guards dematerialized around him. Soon the simulator would reset and he'd be at this all over again.

"Want my advice?" Zim asked.

Dib nodded. "Let's hear it."

"Clear your life as Dib from your mind." Zim told him. "Think only of your life as Josh."

Dib nodded as Zim and the world around him disappeared.

Now he was alone in the dark, but not for long.

Dib, no Josh took a deep breath, readying himself for the plunge.

Zim said it himself, victory was within their grasp, sure some of them would fail, but that didn't matter. With victory this close the best thing they could do was lay low and survive this while Zim left to receive the blessing that would allow him to end this war.

But first, they had to get past one final storm.

"Okay…" Josh said as the darkness began to consume him. Soon he'd forget everything and fail all over again. 'No remember what Zim said.' He advised himself. 'You don't have to remember your in a simulation.' He thought. 'Don't waste time trying to fool the brain. Fool yourself.'

'You are Joshua Campbell, the misfit, believe that.'

And with that final thought he allowed himself to be swallowed into oblivion.

Episode 8-Love and War (Part 2) END!