Episode 15: It Came From Outer Space (Part 2)
(Back with the Tallest)
[Location: Zec]
"I thought you said you would handle this!" Tallest Red hissed once the transmission was cut off.
"My Tallest I assure you that the best course of action is to let the two fight for dominates." General Kazar spoke softly. "You both knew this kind of thing would happen." He smiled. "One Amon going through the transformation is manageable, but to have a berserk rogue added in the mix...Well you knew that would only fuel Zim's own transformation. Now that he feels threatened the change will come on faster, in hopes of self-preservation. He may just go rogue now."
"Do you think we care if he goes Rogue?" Tallest Purple managed to growl despite his pain. "Do you really think that we care if anyone goes rouge especial HIM!" He turns to Red and growls harshly. "I told you that we should have killed him when we had the chance but no you had to allow the computer brains to banish him!" Tallest Purple clutched his stomach painfully. "Now he's finally started growing and it's already bad enough that we have to deal with one being so close, one that mind you we recreated and released into the city below!"
"If we had disregarded the brain's decision and killed Zim we would have lost our position as the Tallest. We were far too new to be breaking the rules!" Red hissed.
"At least we would have finally been rid of him!" Tallest Purple was practically at the other's throat.
Tallest Red gave a low warning growl as his claws began to unsheathe. "So, you think you can pin this all on me uh? Well it wasn't just my decision to let the other one loose. You could have spoken against me, put your foot down for once..."
"Why so you could threaten me like you are now?" Purple hissed.
"My Tallest please there is a matter at hand." General Kazar spoke more softly this time. He knew all too well how dangerous his leaders were when they were like this. And even though he too was an Amon, he was far too under developed to stand a chance. They'd kill him for sure; so, it was best to be careful.
Red and Purple stood their ground staring each other down. The fact that both had manage to rule together for so long had shocked their entire race; and for good reason! Most Amons who managed to live through the change would fight each other for dominance it was after all tradition, but Red and Purple chose to rule side by side. It was the first time in history that any Amon had ever done this, and it seemed to work out…for the most part!
General Kazar cleared his throat "My Tallest I know this is not something you want to hear, but one day you will pass on and leave this world behind. No being lives forever. Even we Irkens can die, and when that happens someone will have to take your place as the next Tallest. And if you keep getting rid of the competition there will be no one left! Our race will fall! Is that what you want?"
Red and Purple growled with deep frustration, and not because the general was wrong. No, it was because they knew he was right!
"And what would you have us do?" Purple hissed.
"It's already been done." General Kazar said. "Just let the two fight this one out, let nature take its course. Then once Zim is dead the donator will eliminate the other as you programed it to." General Kazar advised. "Then this whole mess will be over."
Purple took a deep breath knowing all too well his self-control was far less gone then his companion's was. "He is right" he stepped back as he spoke giving the other some much needed space to calm down in.
Red forced himself to take a step back as well. "Fine we go as we had planned, but that beast better hurry along, this is killing me."
"You have to remember this is still Koi." General Kazar reminded him. "He maybe berserk, but not even a mindless beast attacks a potential threat head on without first evaluating the enemy's skill set."
The Tallest knew he was right, but that still didn't help the pain.
"Very well, just keep an eye on it!" Red hissed, as he stormed out of the room.
General Kazar simply turned back to the camera feed of one of the many spy drones following the berserk Koi. He was sleeping in the dark caverns of the seward pipes. The glow of the monsters claws gleamed back at him, making even him shiver in fear. It was a monster, however he wouldn't count Zim out just yet; the male had a way of out doing the odds against him, no matter what.
This was going to be a close fight.
"Oh yes." He scoffed his orange eyes glowing "A very close fight indeed."
(Back with Cadet Scamooch)
[Location: School]
{Time: 7th Pd}
The pain was unimaginable…
But Cadet Scamooch refused to go to the nurse.
Why?
The answer was simple really; if he went to the nurse she'd send him home on bed rest. And going home was the last thing he wanted to do, and for good reason! He was still no closer to finding Zim, and any moment now the renegades could launch an attack; especially if they see this weak state of the Irken race as an opportunity.
Of course, he knew what was going on and he hated it…!
When he was younger he didn't quite understand why the presence of a Worthy One would make you sick, but now that he was older it really was a no brainer. An Irken body could detect a fully developed Amon from a mile away. And Since the Amons where a pure and more powerful breed of Irken it was the natural instinct for lesser Irkens to obey them and fear them. And that was actually what was going on!
The Irken Cadets and the Staff were sick with fear! In fact, it's been known that if the intensity of the fear were to get too high an Irken could die from it. So of course, having even one around was nerve racking to say the least. Of course, he had no doubt Zim was the cause of all of this, most Irkens had no idea Zim was really an Amon because he step down. However, since Cadet Scamooch was once a pupil of General Kazar (as Zim had once been) he knew these things.
Cadet Scamooch stiffened a moaned and tried to focus on the task at hand. He was currently in the middle of taking a test. It was a test on Mechanical Mathematics, his last class of the day and this test would be one of the many that would decide his future in the Irken Military. Which is exactly why he couldn't afford to be distracted, him or anyone else in the room for that matter.
Cadet Scamooch stole a glace to his left at the thought, beside him the human Joseph was busily working on his own test. He didn't know why but he had the urge to talk to the human, but ever since about three days ago, the human had been distant. Not that they were ever close in the first place, but the two had foraged some sort of friendship, at least the cadet thought they had. However, the boy seemed to have no desire to have anything to do with him as of late.
Did he change his mind? Was he mad at him after all? It was his fault all of this happened in the first place, and that fact alone made him feel nausea! He knew why Cadet Rene had targeted Joseph, and that was because Cadet Scamooch had thanked him for saving his life.
The other cadets had no idea of Joseph's involvement until then. Still, the human did save his life, why he wasn't sure, but it didn't change the fact that he did it! And how did Cadet Scamooch repay him?
He got his house burnt down and his brother almost met an early grave!
Cadet Scamooch forced himself to look away from the human and continue his work; it wasn't easy. He still couldn't get the look of betrayal that had been on Joseph's face the day of the fire. A mixture of shock, and rage! Had the human boy really thought somehow their two races could find some common ground? Did he really think that they could learn to value and respect one another?
And if so why would he want them to? The boy was always so complicating like that, asking questions that got the cadet thinking dangerous thoughts.
Cadet Scamooch forced himself to dismiss these thoughts, and continued his work.
Joseph Campbell shifted in his seat uncomfortably, he could feel the cadet's eyes on him, but it wasn't his eyes he was worried about. He was being watched by the Irken police, and had been for the past three week! And at any given moment they could notice the truth about him!
And it was skin crawlingly unpleasant to say the least!
Joseph shifted in his seat once more, but no matter what he did he could not get comfortable. He couldn't take this much longer, he felt antsy; like a beast stuck in an inescapable cage. It was hard enough to focus on the test in front of him when a thousand Irken eyes could be watching him right now; including the Tallest themselves!
Joseph rolled his shoulders back; they were stiff due to the fact that he was forced to sleep on a hard wood floor AGAIN! Mark had been dead on target when he said that they'd be given a rundown apartment. And the blowup beads brought little comfort. Not that it mattered, the place was practically a pigsty. Even after three weeks of cleaning it over and over again; it still smelled terrible. He thanked his lucky stars that he only had one more week of Community Service! Maybe then he could hopefully push for a better place to live. Of course, at the same time he was cursing those lucky stars for making his life all the more difficult.
He had woken up in an ally this morning…AGAIN! Of course, to his relief he wasn't caught and more importantly he managed to catch the bus this morning. Now if only Dib would stop pestering him about it then everything would be all the easier. Of course, he couldn't blame him for being worried.
Heck Zim himself was worried and for good reason…
This was the eighth time since his conversation with Tak, and Goalit; he was getting worse. And he wasn't sure why. The day after they talked, Zim felt great, but it was shortly lived, for the day after that everything went wrong! He could feel it, something had changed, a new threat had aroused. And all though he could not smell it or see it, he knew deep in his gut it was there.
Still he found himself thanking whoever was listening that he was still undiscovered by the enemy. It was a miracle that he hadn't already been caught. Of course, it did help that he had a robot double to fill in for him during the night hours just in case he decided to… well he wasn't exactly sure what it was that he was sneaking off into the night to do. All he knew was he'd wake up covered in filth and tattered clothes. And strangely enough, with the tasted of fake meat on his breath!
'At least it wasn't human flesh!' he shivered at the thought. 'Now that would be unsettling!' his stomach growled at the thought and he eminently wished he had gotten more chicken at lunch. But after he refused to stop stealing everyone's food the rest of the group moved as far away from him as possible. Not that he could blame them, no he couldn't blame them at all. He could only imagine what they all must be thinking about him by now, and he knew none of it was good. 'Maybe I should do them all a favor and disappear for a while.' He thought bitterly. 'After all it's already too dangerous for me to be around them.'
It was the last thing he wanted, but he knew it was the right thing to do. His condition at the moment was far too unpredictable and if he hurt them or worse…..!
Joseph pushed the thought away; he didn't want to think about what would happen if he lost control. The last thing he wanted to do was destroy another life, he had already destroyed so many with the invasion and the aftermath of the Great War. He couldn't bear to be the cause of even more pain and destruction, the guilt was already far more than he could take.
"Alright class pencils down, the test is over!" Mrs. Dizon demanded.
Joseph finished bubbling in his last question at the same moment and in spite of himself he breathed a sigh of relief. This act was getting far too exhausting! Before the trial, this class had been his free period, but now that he had a record he couldn't be trusted with free time. So, he had been forced to take another class! And the extra work was starting to have an effect on him. The bell ringed signaling the end of the school day, for most of them that is; but for Joseph it signaled the beginning of a really, really big headache!
The real irony of the situation was it was Joseph who had blown up the bridge in the first place! Well actually it was Zim who blew it up, but of course he and Zim were one in the same. And that very fact is what made this punishment so nerve racking. Someone who was watching was bound to notice…Right?
Someone watching was bound to notice that he was acting like this! Someone had to of noticed the signs by now! Either that or Zim was just getting paranoid!
He was hoping the later conclusion was correct. After all he swear every time some Irken soldier approached him it was, because he was about to be put in chains!
"Name?" An Irken soldier asked him once he reached the construction site.
"Joseph Campbell." He answered bluntly with little to no emotion.
The Irken soldier smiled. "Lighten up Campbell it's just six more days. Don't tell me we've broken you already my, what a shame."
Joseph grabbed his hard helmet and began to walk over to his spot. Making cement wasn't a hard job; Joseph had to admit it was nice to take all his aggression out on something. And cement was definitely the ticket. He had a lot of aggression pent up in him lately of course he knew why! His stomach growled at the thought.
He was getting worse!
He wasn't sure he could keep this up much longer, but he also knew that if he used the robot double too long it could malfunction or have other dire consequences! After all the last thing he needed was one of the Renegades thinking he was sneaking out to rendezvous with the enemy. He knew that certain renegade was bound to be Mark. It's not like he was deaf, no he was a superior being with superior hearing, and he could hear Mark, him and every other human in the resistance talking trash about him as if he was nothing more than common filth.
'Those filthy worms and their accusations!' Joseph stiffened a growl as he added water to the dry cement and started pounding away at the mixture churning it with his shovel like he was making butter. 'And after all I've done for them.'
"He's hiding something!" Mark's words cut through him like knives "How can we trust him if he's always so secretive?"
"I'm sure he has his reasons." Of course, Dib would defend him, he always did. But lately Zim was beginning to notice that even Dib was looking at him with suspicions in his eyes. Zim knew that look, for it was the look Dib use to give him when they were still enemies. It was the look of curiosity, the look that Dib would get right before he got too nosey.
Oh yes, he knew that look all too well! It wasn't that he didn't want to tell them, he did; but how could they understand? 'What if they reject me? Or worse try to pick a fight, and I lose it!' The last thing he wanted to do was hurt them. He also didn't want to be turned away from by them. They were after all the only things he had left.
The only group of others that kept his life from being totally isolated. Which was good to have, isolation would not be good right now. He needed the socializing to help him from going rogue, but said socializing was also putting them at risk. He had already attacked two of them.
Joseph stiffened another growl as he continued his work. Soon the cement was ready to pour and he passed the wheel barrow to the human that would pour it. Then he grabbed another wheel barrow of dry cement and started all over again.
He did this over, and over again for the whole day; and it helped with his aggression.
Joseph froze as a loud siren filled the air, 30 minutes till curfew, it was time to go! If it were up to him he'd continue to pound at the cement; sadly, it was not! Joseph put his tools away and began to walk home.
Six more days…
He was actually beginning to worry about how he was going to control his anger without the cement! Maybe he could punch some holes into the apartment walls. He shook his head at the thought. The place was already unstable as it is, one punch just might send the place tumbling down. And even if it didn't he wasn't exactly sure how he'd explain the holes to the Landlord.
He continued to ponder on this thought as he turned down his neighborhood street. He stopped and turned around sharply; he had the strangest feeling something was watching him! He knew with one sniff of the evening air that it was the thing that had been haunting his dreams for the past several weeks. "Who's there?" he asked, but nothing answered him back.
'DANGER!' The word was screaming in his mind, he turned and ran on instinct as fast as he could. He knew if he reached his house he'd be safe! He kept running faster still and didn't stop, he swear he could hear the ragged breath of another breathing down his neck, but when he got to his door and turned around nothing was there!
Was he going crazy with paranoia? Was this all in his head? He wasn't sure what to believe all he knew was that ever since the first time he woke up in that alley, he felt that something dangerous was out to get him! He thought these feelings would fade now that Koi was gone, but sadly…no.
Joseph opened the door and closed it behind him quickly and breathed a sigh of relief; he was safe…For now!
"Hello brother how was your day?"
Joseph turned to his left to see that the Joshua robot double had already been activated. 'So, Dib's already gone.' He thought bitterly. 'Well good I don't feel like listening to him tonight!' Then to the robot he said. "My day was fine, but I am tiered, and I want to sleep."
"Okay" The robot said with a smile. "Good night bro."
"Goodnight." Zim whispered then with a yawn he walked through the curtain that separated his room from the rest of the kitchen and curled up on the floor.
His head hadn't even touched the blown up mattress before he was fast asleep.
(Back with Dib…)
[Location: The Dome]
{Time: 11:30 PM}
He needed answers…and he needed them NOW!
Dib Membrane poured over his research desperately searching for what he was looking for. After lunch he eminently activated his robot double and made the switch. He knew doing the switch in broad day light was risky, but he didn't want to waste any time! Dib scrolled down through the research on the Irken computer form anything useful.
Of course, he had tried talking to the Brain, but he was getting nowhere with that. The Irken computer was determined to say nothing. Only saying that Zim will tell him everything when he was ready.
'Yeah right!' he thought, only to pause as he found something, a history document hidden deep within the computer's memory banks labeled: The Metamorphosis!
Dib hit the English translator on the monitor and listened as it began to read the Irken text to him in English.
"If an Amon is lucky enough to survive its first 20 years, then they may become one of the eligible few to reach The Metamorphosis. But sadly, many Amons die within hours of birth while others experience other complications during the first 10 to 15 years of their lives. No one knows why this happens, but for some reason the Amon is a very fragile breed, the conditions of their bodies and their environment must be perfect if The Metamorphosis is to ever take place. Because of this it is important to keep a close eye on the Worthy Smeet from the time they being growing, because as long as the Worthy Smeet continues to grow his chances of reaching the final stage are more likely. If the Amon stops growing before the final stage then they are no longer eligible for the change!"
"It is important to keep a constant watch for the symptoms of the final stage, after all the reason to why the Amons are the dominate breed is no secret! The power of a fully developed Amon strikes fear into all of us. They are a dangerous breed of blood thirsty beast that can snap at any second. Because of this it is important that we look out for the symptoms of the final stage for doing so could very well be the difference between life and death!"
Dib shivered, no wonder Mrs. Peg and the Tallest sounded so worried according to this book these Amons where a dangerous force to reckon with. No wonder they didn't want it to lose in town! 'Maybe I should just let the Irken police handle this after all the Tallest did say they'd be sending someone.' It sounded like the best Idea after all they would have a better idea of what to do once they encountered the Amon. 'But what if it is Zim! They'll kill him! The Tallest will make sure of it!' He knew it was most likely Zim, but part of him hoped that perhaps there was at least one other Amon out there. Zim had been devastated when he had to kill Koi, not only because they were close, but because of what it meant!
Zim was now alone, the only Amon who could stop the Tallest, but if there was another maybe he wouldn't feel so helpless anymore. Still, he had to be for certain that it wasn't Zim.
'I have to at least make sure it's not him before I leave this to the Irkens.' He thought.
The computer continued to read. "Warning: Approach a transformed Amon cautiously, those going through the Metamorphosis for the first few months will have no memories of their past. They will not even remember their own name, or past friends, or instructors. This is a natural part of the Metamorphosis, one that is not fully understand. Our best theory is that the brain is slower than the body when it comes to the change. Memories will return in the order they were lived out. So, until it remembers you, be sure to keep your distance. A transformed Amon with no memory has been known to see everything that moves as a threat, while others simply ignore anything that doesn't obviously try to attack."
Dib forced himself to swallow his fear, as he remembers the monstrous Form Koi had taken on that fateful day. The day he realized what Zim really was. Would Zim be like that now? Would he even remember his name?
'I have to go, no one else in town knowns about this and if it is Zim I have to protect him from the soldiers, and himself.' Dib forced himself leave the computer, and races out the dome.
"Do you think he really knows what he's getting into?" Gir asked the computer as he appeared from out of the shadows.
"Not likely, he may know some, thanks to his encounter with Koi but he has over looked an obvious point." The Computer Brain said. "The article said memories will return in the order they were lived. The problem is he and Zim were once enemies! Without protection the master may lash out at him in fear or confusion if he gets to close."
"Leave it to me." Gir assured him, he was in full duty mode his senses on high alert. "I'll protect them, I'll protect them both!"
Episode 5: It Came From Outer Space (Part 2) END!