Episode 12: Where Loyalties Lie

Episode Summary- While Zim converses with the Ancients, Red continues his downward spiral into madness causing everyone to fear for his reaming sanity and their own lives. Meanwhile, as Jamie continue to find weakness in the Prison on Zec, Dib and the others converge to kidnap their fellow Renegades who are still under house arrest. (Gaz tries to send a warning out to Zim which allows Skoodge to know an enemy is on board he tries to hunt down the culprit who sent out the unauthorized transmission.)

Disclaimers: I Do Not Own Invader Zim

Author's Notes: Okay guys here we are again, my hope is to finish this season by the end of October! So, let's get started.

Hope you guys are staying safe out there, please enjoy!

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine :)

Episode 12: Where Loyalties Lie (Part 3)

(Back with Dib…)

As soon as Dib said three they were scrambling out of the manhole and dashing to Shyann's house. The fresh air that greeted them should have been refreshing, but even Tesi was finding herself missing the putrid stale air of the sewards below. Sure, it was filthy, but at least there they know they were safe. Out here in the open they were pigs heading for the slaughter.

It felt like an eternity before they reached the door, and when Dib tried the door and found it unlocked Elma felt like she was going to die. She instantly found herself wishing Goalit had come with her instead. Sadly, he had accompanied Mark as part of his team. She thought she would be okay, but his absence was weighing on her more heavily then she thought it would.

She knew what this meant, that she had grown feelings for him. Of course, she knew it was crazy to even think they could have an actual relationship, but the emotions were still there. She looked to Dib and wondered if he too had found himself falling for the Irken Female known as Tak. Elma knew little about her, since she had betrayed the group shortly after the Scientist joined the resistance. But rumors flew widely among her fellow rebels and many voiced that his feelings for her were "So Obvious." She had offended thought of asking him if he did, but doubted he'd give her an honest answer.

Still she was beginning to wonder if perhaps relationships with the enemy was as uncommon as she originally thought. After all Gaz was with Zim, and Dib just might have feelings for Tak, and she knew she had feelings for Goalit. What she didn't know was, was it love or just a strong since of admiration? Did she love him like an older brother? Or did she love him like Gaz loved Zim?

She wasn't sure, but being out her in the open, this close to death made her ponder these things, made her want to know the answers more than anything. And if she made it out of this alive she swear that she would find those answers. She just hoped he'd be there to learn those answers with her, Goalit was still having trouble keeping a steady hand when he raised a weapon. Still, as they parted ways this morning he had promised her that he would be alright.

She hoped he was right.

Dib opened the door quickly and everyone piled in on to perhaps the most human scene they had ever witness.

"What are they doing here?" Shyann's mom Heather points at Dib, looking at him as if he is the plague in human form. It was obvious that she and Shyann had been arguing, what made the scene so surreal was it reminded Dib of a life before the invasion. A life where the only people teens fought against were their parents or their teachers, not some alien scourge.

"Mom I told you they are here to get us out of here." Shyann said. Her brother Sammy is hiding behind her fearfully, but is peaking out now. "It's fine Sammy, they're not the drones."

"Drones?" Elma asked.

"They've been coming more frequently." Shyann revealed as she handed her one of the suitcases on the floor. "I think they are on to me."

"Honey I told you we are not going!" Heather is frantic now.

"Mom if we don't go you know what they will do to this family." Shyann yelled.

"Do?" Tesi looks alarmed. "Aren't they going to arrest you like they did the others?"

"They can't." Shyann said. "No one can get on Zec, not even prisoners, the drones have one order."

"Shoot to kill." Her father, Greg sad as he came out of a door with two more suit cases.

"Greg what are you doing." Heather looks more worried now than ever."

"What I should have done in the beginning." Greg said. "I am fighting for this family."

"We don't have to go." Heather reasoned. "They might not figure her out, we can still be happy here, as long as we have each other."

Shyann took her mother's hands in hers. "Mom I know you are scared but we are in good hands, I would never put us in this situation if I didn't believe that."

Heather looks sorrow filled. "I should be the one comforting you." She realized, brushing back her daughter's hair from her face. "When did you start growing up so fast?"

Shyann smiled, tears forming in her eyes. "I promise mom, we can trust them, all of them.

Tesi felt all eyes on her, and she nodded her agreement. "Irk has never stood by me." She said. "Are system is a broken one, I only want to fix it."

Greg looks reassured and hands Dib one of his bags. "What's the plan?"

"We wait for the cost to be clear then we travel to the hideout through the sewards." Dib explained as Tesi sets up her device for scanning drones. A few have just entered the street, but none stop to enter the home, they quickly zoom by and out of site.

"Does it have to be there?" Heather looks disgusted.

"Afraid so." Elma says. "The drones never go down there."

"Too filthy." Tesi explained, her skin crawled just thinking about returning to those dirty tunnels. She thought she'd be used to it by now, but sadly no. she wasn't sure it that was a good thing or not, but before she could allow herself to dwell on the matter she refocused her mind to the task at hand.

"Anything?" Dib asked her.

"No, I have been counting the period of time between each drone sighting." She informed Dib. "They enter this street roughly every three minutes."

Dib nodded. "Once they come again we'll make a break for it." He feverishly sends this discovery to the other groups. If all the drones were on a three minute rotation then they would need to know this; especially Rachel's group. With so many of them, they may not all get back inside the sewards in time without being spotted.

The drones fly by again, but this time one makes a move for Shyann's open window.

"Hide!" Dib ordered.

It was not needed, Elma takes the bag she has as well as another and hides in the pantry, closing the door behind her.

Dib and Tesi both dive under the table taking the rest of the bags with them as the family try to look casual.

Sammy and Shyann bounces a ball that was discarded close by between them as Greg sits a t the table with a magazine, the table cloth is just long enough to hide their illegal guest. Finally, Heather turns to the sink which is full of dishes.

"Drone number 1586 reporting." The drone says as it enters.

"What do you want now?" Greg looks cross.

"Would you like to make a request?" The drone asked.

"It's about time!" Heather says pulling a list out of her apron. "You drones have come by to question my daughter a thousand times and not once have you asked if we needed anything."

"The Empire does not feed traitors." The drone explained as if that was reason enough to allow them to go hungry.

"Does this mean you finally believe me?" Shyann asked.

The drone takes the list from her mother. "Your story checks out, but we are still watching." It said. "We're always watching."

A chill goes up Dib's spine at the obvious threat.

"I will return shortly." The drone said and left the way it had come.

The rebels emerge from their hiding spots, they were all thinking the same thing.

"We need to get you guys out of here." Dib said. "Now!"

The family moves, no one is arguing now, they can't explain it, but somehow they all know something is wrong.

"They never offer us food before." Sammy muttered.

"We're always watching."

Fear grips at Dib's insides, he reaches for his communicator as Tesi swings open the door.

Before he can dial a weak voice comes out, "If you can hear me, get out, get out now…"

"Mark!" Dib yells, his legs threaten to give out, but Tesi grabs him and they are running, door left wide open. Shyann reaches the manhole first and she opens it for her brother to jump in. Sammy looks afraid but his dad picks him up and jumps down into the tunnels below. Heather is next followed by Shyann, finally Tesi pushes Dib forward before jumping in and closing the Manhole behind her.

"We have to go help them!" Dib exclaimed heading towards Jenkins home.

"Dib my family." Shyann cries. "I can't leave them!"

Dib looks to Shyann and to her love ones, of course she could not come. He looks to Tesi and she nods.

"I got them." She said.

"Shy…" Dib began.

"We're okay." She assured him. "Go save them."

Dib isn't sure he can be much help on his own, but he knows he can't stand by and do nothing. So, he nods. "Let me know the moment you are safe." He orders.

"We will." Shyann answers, but he is already bolting towards his friends, his only hope is that he makes it in time.

(Back with Mark…)

He was not sure when it had all gone so terribly wrong, they had followed every precaution. They had scanned their surroundings; waited for the drones to pass, even double check that the coast was clear.

And yet as they ran out of the manhole and burst through the unlocked door, they had not been prepared for what had awaited them.

There in the door way was two fully armed drones and their weapons were trained on them.

Mark has just enough time to see Keef standing behind them he looks so guilty. "Keef…" He began.

"I'm sorry Mark." Keef said. "They made me tell." His parents stood on either side of him looking just as guilty.

"You must understand." His mother Julie said. "We already lost our daughter."

"We can't lose him too." His father Cesar finished for her.

And that's when the drones fired.

The Irken Rebel Trill put's up a force filled, but her response is not quick enough, and several shots find there mark.

Mark screams as a hole is burned into his shoulder, it is the most pain he has ever felt.

Goalit pulls mark behind the field for protection and suffers for putting the human first. A blast finds its way through his left side, and even though it misses the Pak on the other side by inches he quickly begins to lose a lot of blood.

Kornelius manages to turn just in time to allow his robotic arm to take the shot, however Jee is not as lucky.

The shot goes straight through his head, the Irken male is dead before he hits the ground.

"Jee!" Trill screams her own rage and starts to return fire.

"Are you mad?!" Kornelius. "They have humans behind them!"

"They sold us out!" Trill screamed.

"I know it is hard." Goalit tells her, weakly resting his hand on her shoulder. "But they are not the enemy. They are just looking after their own."

"And so are we." Mark reasoned. "Don't let up!" He ordered Trill. "We are getting you to safety Keef." He yelled despite his pain. "You know what they'll do the moment you stop being useful."

A flash of understandment filled Keef's eyes and he knew what he had to do. He pulls something out of his pockets. Its three smoke bomb, he tosses them and grabs his parents by the arm as the room fills with smoke, disrupting the drones' vision. The enemy starts shooting erratically, as Keef manages to get him and his parents on the other side of the field.

"I am so sorry Zinger." Keef looks like he is going to die.

"You're not the one who should be apologizing." Mark said, glaring down at his parents.

"He is dead because of you!" Trill screams, she is still firing at the drones, but her anger is pointed at Keef's parents.

"We just wanted to protect him." Julie cries.

"What you have done is kill us all." Kornelius cried.

Mark's eyes widen. "Please." He begged through the pain. "Please tell me you didn't tell them about the others."

Keef looks away, he can't bring himself to say it, and he doesn't need to.

Mark goes for his communicator. ""If you can hear me, get out, get out now…" He says weakly.

"Mark, Mark are you okay?" Its Rachel she sounds frantic.

"We're blown Abort, I repeat Abo-"

A loud blast hits the shield, and it begins to crack.

"Please, we cannot afford to argue." Goalit wheezes, he is in really bad shape now.

"We have to make a run for it!" Trill concludes. "He won't last long!"

"No, we'll give away our only advantage." Mark shouted, he was talking about the sewards, he looked to Keef, hoping that the kid had at least left them that.

Keef nodded. "It's still good, I haven't told them everything."

"You lied to us?" Cesar is obviously upset at his son.

"You made me betray our planet, Alivia fought to protect it, died trying and you just gave it to them!" Keef screamed.

Julie is beside herself now, crying loudly.

"It's okay." Cesar says, grabbing Jee's fallen weapon. "It happened." He said. "We can't focus on that now. We need to fight." He aims the weapon and without much hesitation he fires.

Mark follows his lead, grunting in obvious pain he struggles to pull out his own weapon.

Keef grabs it from his waistband and fires.

"We're coming Mark!" it was James over the communicator.

"No." Mark answered. "We got this." He said. "In fact, we already won." He lied. "We're on our way back now."

"Are all you humans terrible Liars?" Goalit joked.

"Save your strength." Mark reasoned placing one of his hands over Goalit's wound.

Goalit looks at his wound knowingly. "I told Elma I'd be okay, now look at me."

"Guess that makes you a terrible liar too." Mark joked, despite his own fears.

"Are you sure?" It was Rachel now. "We're done here, we can get to you!"

"We'll be okay." Keef said through his own communicator. "Remember this is what we signed on for."

"If my cousin doesn't come back Striker…" James began.

"I take full responsibility." Keef said bluntly. "He never took his eyes off the enemy.

The drones however are taking no damage, they have shields protecting their front.

If only they could get behind them they might be able to stand a chance.

Kornelius sees this too and tries to work out a plan in his head, but only sees one. "We have to make a run for it, before reinforcements come."

"If they see our exit strategy we lose our final advantage!" Trill argued.

The force filed cracks further, until finally it gives way.

The drones stop, looming over them they reload.

The rebels, and renegades drop their weapons, obviously defeated.

"James I'm sorry." Keef says.

"Mark you said you were fine!" Rachel cries.

"I lied." Mark whispered.

"I'm coming to get you!" Rachel says.

"No, it's too late." Goalit warned. "It's been an honor, all of you." He said. "Please Tell Elma I'm Sorry…"

"For your crimes against the collective you rebels are sentenced to death." The drones Aim and…

Mark watched in disbelief as the drones began to shake and spark before falling to the ground.

"Oops they were supposed to go exploded." Gir giggled.

"Nice work Gir." Dib praise. Luckily, the Sir unit had been close by when he had ran to find Mark. The Sir unit was never far from his side. It had been this way since Zim left. Dib guessed it was Zim's way of keeping his promise to his sister. By having Gir close, Dib stayed safe. "It's okay everyone I got them." Dib said over the Comms.

"Gee you could have said something." James yelled. "I thought they were goners."

"Same." Rachel cried with relief.

"Sorry." Dib said. "Didn't want to give away my position, the element of surprise was all we had."

"We better move." Kornelius said.

Dib notices his banged up cyber arm and the pool of blood forming around Mark. "Gir help Mark."

Gir obeys picking up the injured boy.

Trill picks up Jee's lifeless body. "I can't leave him." She says.

Keef gives her a look of despair. "I will cover you." He tells her.

She nods. "For what it is worth, I do not blame you, any of you." She says looking to the parents. And it was true, Goalit was right, she could not blame these humans for looking after their own child "This is the price of war. Jee knew that, all I ask is that he gets to come home, so many of ours had to be left behind."

"We'll cover you." Dib echoed Keef's words as he pushed Goalit up to his feet. "I got you." He assured him.

Goalit could only manage to grunt his thanks.

"Mom, dad we have to go." Keef says. It's not a suggestion and when they reach the manhole his mother is hysterical.

"No Keef not in there." She rasped.

"Yeah sorry." He tells her. "But it's only a little while, until we get to the base." He assured her.

"You have a base?" His father looks stunned.

They all managed to retreat into the tunnels and cover the manhole, just in time before Drones flood the area. They made it, their secret safe for the time being, but they barley have time to take a breather before they are running again.

They take off towards the opening above the dome, and they don't slow down until they see it.

Tesi, James and Rachel are waiting there with the liberated renegades and their families in tow.

"Mark you scared us half to death." Rachel and James embrace him as they grew close.

"Uncle Kornelius you're injured." Shyann looks alarmed at his battered robotic arm.

"Oh, this is nothing, easy to fix." He assured her. "But not all of us were so lucky."

Trill suddenly comes into view, and Jee's motionless body makes Tesi go limp.

They had lost another one, Mia would be heart broken.

"What about you guys any snags?" Dib asked Rachel.

"No, we found out that the drones patrolled every three minutes are so, so we took turns going in and did the same coming out." Rachel reported.

"No problems with our end either." James reported.

"I stalled as long as I could when they questioned me." Keef reviled. "I managed to only give away the ones coming for me." he looks to Tesi and the others. "I never meant for anyone to die."

"You had to give them something." Goalit said.

"And you managed to keep the rest of us safe." Elma agreed. "That has to count for something."

And it did. Dib couldn't help the relief that washed over him. Instead of blaming the humans, the rebels were following Zim's example. They were seeing the humans as their equals. Yes, the only ones to blame were the Tallest. They had forced them into this, and they would be the ones who had to answer for Jee's Death.

And all those before him!

Tesi nodded. "Jee would want to be remembered as a hero, not a maunder."

"Who will tell Mia?" Macey asked perhaps the hardest question.

"I will take responsibility of this." Tesi takes Jee from Trill.

"We need to go." Rachel says. "It won't be long until the town is over ran with them."

Everyone nodded and one by one they took the plunge into the water below.

"Will you make it?" Elma asked Goalit as she went to help Dib hold him up.

"Nothing a med kit can't fix." He assured her.

Elma sighs in obvious relief.

"Ready?" Dib asked them.

Goalit nodded, all the Irkens had lathered themselves with paste before they left the dome that morning, and he was sure he'd be fin for the plunge.

"Ready." Elma answered.

And with that they jumped into the watery depths below.

Episode 12: Where Loyalties Lie (Part 3)END!