Author's Notes: Okay everyone, as always, the last few chapters are taking me forever to finish! Why do I do this?! I do not know! Anyway, this next chapter is inspired by the unaired episode: Simon Says! I hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and please review.
(Back with Dib)
The attack came without warning...
The Swollen Eyeball HQ was at ease, celebrating Dib 's return and Trawl's arrival.
They were currently on the ninth sublevel, which happened to be a cafeteria with a fully stocked kitchen. Since it wasn't safe to go out and get Gir tacos, Dib decided to make some instead.
"I love Tacos!" Gir exclaimed as Dib began to squeeze some raw ground beef into a greased pan over the stove.
Dib smiled, it was nice having Gir around, but he was also worried. "Aren't you upset? Zim...you know, he isn't here, right?" He asked.
"Master will come back when he's ready." Gir said as if it was normal. And in a way it was, Zim had left him behind before after all. "Master always comes back."
Dib felt his smile grow, hearing Gir say those words with such confidence did make him feel a bit better. He adds some taco seasoning and looks to Moon. "How many do you want?" He asked.
"Two please." She says happily.
"I want a thousand!" Gir exclaimed.
"I don't think Dib has enough beef to make that many." Luna told him.
"Oh..." Gir looks sad for a moment then exclaims. "I'll have three!"
Dib laughs. "Gaz you and Peg hungry?"
"Sure Dib." Gaz says from one of the tables.
"Is there a vegetarian option?" Peg asked hopefully.
"Of course." Dib said holding up the empty beef wrapper. "It's made with black beans." He revealed.
"We eaten fake meat!" Gir exclaimed as he ran around in circles.
Dib shrugged, it made since to him, most of the refugees lived here and a lot of them like Zim, couldn't eat meat. He looks around and notices Trawl is sitting with Lard Nar and several other refugees. Most of them had returned from their patrols of the town and were now catching up with their old friend. "Lard Nar, you guys hungry?" He called.
"We'll have a few, thank you Dib." Lard Nar answered with a smile, he had been wearing that silly grin since Trawl arrived.
It was nice to see the old Vort happy and after all he had been through, Dib really thought Lard Nar deserved to finally be reunited with what little family he had left.
"Want some help?" Annabel asked offering him a bowl.
"Yeah, thanks mom." Dib filled the bowl with the cooked black beaned meat as his mom started to cut up the lettuce and tomatoes.
"I'm sure we have cheese around here somewhere." Professor Membrane had the fridge open looking for the shredded cheese. "Can't have tacos without cheese."
Gir nodded his agreement. "Cheese!"
And that's when chaos broke loose!
A loud explosion sounded overhead, and alarms blared around them.
"What's going on!" Moon cried.
"We're under attack!" Mrs. Bitters yelled. "Everyone battle stations!"
Dib has just had enough sense to turn off the stove before racing into action, racing towards the stairs.
They were rarely used but they were probably safer than the elevator right now. He follows the crowd towards the armory which is a large volt five floors up.
He grabs his usual weapons, a laser sword, night vision goggles and two blasters.
Professor Membrane rolls up his sleeve, revealing his arm cannons. "Son stay close." He ordered as he starts to load them up.
Dib nods.
Gaz is by his side, her usual bat in hand while Peg grabs another set of blasters.
"Trawl you and Richard take Moon to the Panic Room!" Lard Nar explained. "It's possible that this attack is meant for you."
Trawl nods, he knew the Irken empire my come for him, but not this early. "Come princess." He tells Moon.
"Luna..." Moon looks to her sister hopefully, to see her grabbing a familiar set of blades. They were shaped like two crescent moons.
"I made them for you." Membrane explained. "I hope I did them right."
Luna takes the blades one in each hand; she had never held the traditional blades of her people. Weapons and war were not a part of the usual princess's duties. Still, they looked right. "They're perfect" She assures him.
"Sister." Moon grabs her arm. "Please come with me." She begged.
Luna looks down at her sister and forces a reassuring smile. "A leader must lead her people." She tells her. "You go hide, okay? We'll come for you."
"But..." Moon looks unsure.
"It's okay." Dib assures her. "I got her back."
"We all do." Peg agreed.
"We'll come for you when it's over." Luna says again.
Moon stays put for a moment, until Gir grabs her hand.
"Let's go watch the monkey show Little Bluey."
She allows him to guide her away, following Trawl. "Be safe!" She cries.
"We will." Luna promises her.
"Be careful." Richard tells his daughter.
Annabel hugs him she wants the rest of the kids to go with them, but She knew Luna, Peg, Gaz, and Dib weren't kids anymore. Not really, not after all they had been through. "Everything is going to be okay." She told him, though she is not sure who she is trying to convince.
Richard pulls away and runs after Moon and the others as another explosion rings out above.
Gaz's eyes narrow. "Let's do this!"
"Everyone form up, watch your partner's back!" Dark Booty orders.
Dib's eyes meet with Luna's, and they share a nod.
"Let's go!" Membrane declares and together as one force the Rebels and their allies ascend the last few flights of stairs towards the battlefield.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this...
Dib gasped as he sees an army of kids and the person that's leading them makes his skin crawl.
"Hi Dib, did you miss me?" Keef asked. "Because I sure missed you."
"Keef?" Mrs. Bitters looks stunned, they all are, the rebels lower their weapons in confusion. It was obvious that this army was full of the same missing kids they had been trying to find. But why were they here now attacking their HQ?
The answer came in a fit of evil laughter.
Tak emerges from the smoke, she knew Dib would lead her to the HQ, and once he did, she and Keef had doubled back to get their army. "What's the matter? Why aren't you attacking?" She mused. "You're not scared of a bunch of children, are you?"
"Tak this is going too far!" Dib yelled. "Keef you can't be okay with this!" He tried to reason with him. "She's leading you and these kids into war!"
"We're not here for war." Keef said almost lovingly. "We're just here for one person."
"You can't have him!" Lard Nar growls.
"Yeah!" Peg agreed. "You want Trawl you'll have to go through us!" She sounds confident but she looks unsure. All the kids before them, besides Keef look like mindless Zombies, holding high tech Irken weapons. They don't look nervous about using them either, in fact they show no emotions at all.
"Trawl?" Tak looks confused. "I know not of this Trawl, but whoever he is we're not here for him."
Dib gives a confused look. "Then who are you here for?"
Gaz's blood runs cold as Keef forms a manic smile. "Why for you of course."
Dib watches with horror as Pak legs emerge from Keef's back like spider legs. "Tak, what have you done?" He asked.
"She made me better." Keef said as he towered over them. "And now she's going to make you better too." And then he lunges.
Just like before Dib is powerless to stop him, He freezes as Keef swoops in. All he can think about is how Zim is not here to save him this time.
Luckily, Gaz is! She swings her bat, connecting it with Keef's head.
Keef stops as blood trickles down his face, he turns to Gaz, smiling. "Bad move, little sis."
Tak smiles. "Children, Tak says attack!" The children raised their weapons and fired.
"Get down!" Luna pulls Dib out of the line of fire.
Jinxs uses a force shield generator, enlarging it, forming a wall between them and the oncoming assault. "What do we do? We can't battle offspring!" he yelled the obvious.
"It's not their fault." Annabel yells over the shouts of fire. "She must be controlling them somehow."
"She has mind control technology." Luna said. "She used it before remember."
"She must have perfected it." Mrs. Bitters reasoned.
"Dib, Darling don't make this difficult." Keef reasons as he stabs at the force shield with his new PAK legs. "You're only making it worse for your friends!"
"Keef stop!" Dib begs. "Can't you see she's just using you?"
"Master Tak, just wants what's best." Keef cooed. "She promised we can be together; she'll take over Earth and we'll live like royalty together forever at last."
"That'll never happen Keef." Dib yelled. "We will never be together!"
"Yes, we will, you love me, I know you do." Keef shouted. "Zim messed you up like he did me, but we'll fix you."
Dib's blood runs colder. "Zim...Zim did this...NO! I don't believe you!"
"OH, but he did." Tak mused. "He programed Keef as one of his mindless puppets and now thanks to him I command an entire army."
Dib didn't want to believe it, but how could he not? He remembered the day Zim got called to the principal's office. How he said Keef just ran away. Zim said he handled it, that Keef would never hurt him again. He was sure of himself, of course Zim did something to ensure that. Dib wondered how he hadn't put it together before now. "Zim..." He whispers.
"Don't worry Dib." Keef assures him. "I know it's not your fault, we'll fix you and then that defective scum will rue the day he took you away from me!"
Dib clenched his fist, Zim wasn't here to protect him now, he'd have to do that own his own. "That's not going to happen Keef. Look we can fix you; Zim was only trying to protect me, he loves me."
"LIES!" Keef screamed. "I love you that scum stole you from me!" the force shield starts to crack beneath his blows.
Dib's eyes narrow as he stands firm, staring Keef down. "You're wrong Keef, Zim never stole me! Because I was never yours in the first place!"
Keef screams and bangs his head into the force shield. "LIES, LIES, LIES!" The cracks spread like a spiderweb.
"We have to move!" Mrs. Bitters orders. "Everyone retreat!"
"Dib stay close!" Annabel yells as she grabs his arm.
Dib allows her to lead him away, he can hear Keef screaming behind him.
"NO! He's My Dib, MINE!"
He knows he shouldn't look back, but he can't help it, as they enter the stairwell he does. Keef is seething screaming vengeance as he continues to bang his head against the force shield. Blood trickles down his face as Tak laughs evilly. Her plan was working perfectly, she knew these weaklings wouldn't harm children. She would chase them out of their base and claim it as her own and then she would give Keef his reward.
The shield breaks and her army advances as the door of the stairwell closes.
Membrane locks it, but he knows it won't hold long. "Son, move!"
Dib runs down the stairs, he's not sure what they're going to do, they can't hurt these kids, and they have no time to figure out how to break her mind control on them. If they didn't think of something Tak would win for sure. "Doesn't the base have defenses?" He asked his father.
"Not any that won't hurt these kids." Membrane says.
"This is crazy, who uses children as meat shields." Luna cries. "She's a monster!"
"We have to stop her; we're doing exactly what she wants!" Dib screamed.
"I know son, but we can't hurt those kids!" Membrane says as they return to the vault.
Mrs. Bitters presses a button and security walls fall down one by one in the hall they just left. "That won't hold them for long." She said, looking through the vault. "There must be something here, something we can use to dismantle her army without hurting the children."
Everyone starts tearing the armory apart, looking through the weapons, desperately trying to find anything they can use.
Dib jumps as he hears more explosions, they were blasting through the security walls, they would be on top of them in seconds.
"Find anything?" Lard Nar yells.
"Nothing!" Peg shouts.
"We're running out of time!" Annabel screams. "Don't we have knockout gas, something!"
"We can't use that underground." Jinx argues. "We'll all get knocked out."
"There's got to be something." Gaz yelled. "Keep looking!"
"What are we looking for?"
Everyone turned to see...
"GIR!" Dib yelled. "You're supposed to be with Moon."
"She wanted me to check on you." Gir said.
The last security door is blasted through, and everyone freezes as the army pours through, weapons trained on them.
"Make one move and we'll shoot to kill." Keef yelled.
Tak walks through the sea of children, grinning. "Drop your weapons, now." She ordered. "This will be the only chance you get to surrender."
"You won't get away with this Tak!" Dib shouts, but everyone drops their weapons.
Tak cackles. "Looks like I've already have." She laughs. "How pathetic, Earth's mighty protectors taken down by a bunch of children."
Dib looks at Keef hopefully, he knows it's pointless to reason with a lunatic but it's the only card they have. "Keef please, this isn't the way, we can work this out, can't you see you're dooming the human race?"
"All I care about is my Dib, and making Zim suffer." Keef growled.
Tak snaps her fingers. "Children, Tak says..."
"Wait, are you using "Simon Says" to take over the world?" Peg suddenly asked.
Tak smiles. "It's Tak says!" Tak mused. It was a clever idea that Keef had explained to her, the children had listened to her well enough without it. Still, even with the new mind control, they had become reluctant when she started teaching them how to fight and fire deadly weapons. It scared them out of her trance. So Keef told her that pretending it was all a game might keep them from breaking through her mind control during battle, and to her surprise it actually worked. "But yes Mm-hm. Clever, don't you think? Now, behold my victory! Children, Tak says, finish them!"
The children move forward, but a red eyed Gir steps in their path.
Tak freezes, her break in concentration causes the children to halt as well.
Gir is in full duty mode, red eyes screaming murder. If she still had MIMI Tak would have her to handle the deranged SIR Unit. "Must protect friends." He shouts.
"Gir no!" Luna screams. "You'll hurt the children!"
"You, you're Zim's, aren't you?" Keef hissed. "I'll destroy you!" He lunges.
Gir looks ready to pounce.
"GIR!" Dib moves to stop him, Keef scared him, sure, but he was still a kid, He didn't deserve to die. It wasn't his fault he was so messed up.
But he didn't need to worry Gir doesn't pounce. "Computer detain enemy units." He orders.
Everyone watches in awe as robotic arms shoot out of the walls and scoop up the children. Tak and Keef dodge the oncoming arms.
Luna was confused, how was Gir commanding the base?
"I thought you said the base didn't have nonlethal defenses." Dib said to his dad.
"It doesn't, this isn't..." Membrane rambles obviously confused.
"Dark Booty? Is this your doing?" Mrs. Bitters asked.
"No, I have no idea, what this is." Dark Booty says.
"I do." Lard Nar smiles. "It would appear a certain Irken has hacked your base my friends."
"Zim!" Dib laughs. "Of course."
"No wonder the robot kept escaping his cell." Jinx realized. "He has control over this entire base! He could have killed us."
"Yeah." Luna admitted. "But he's protecting us."
It was true, Gir was commanding the base to neutralize the enemy, and he was doing it without harming the children.
"How is this possible?" Tak screamed, "My plan was perfect!" She dodges more arms as she retreats.
"Nobody hurts my Mary!" Gir yells, his eyes still blood red. "Master said protect Mary and his friends!"
Only Keef is still trying to get at them. "I'm not leaving without you!" He says to Dib.
"You can't have me Keef, just stop." Dib yelled. "I'm not some prize to be won."
"Oh, but you are." Keef said with a deranged laugh. "And if I can't have you, no one can!" He makes one final lunge.
Gir side steps him and cuts off his Pak legs in one clean movement.
Keef screams as he rives on the floor, Dib guessed his PAK was connected to his nervous system somehow. He cringed as Keef started to crawl towards him.
"Must have my..."
He was never going to stop, Dib knew that. Keef would hunt him down to the ends of the Earth, maybe even the universe.
Some computer arms scoop him up and he tries to break free from their hold.
"It's okay son, I got you." Membrane said, pulling him close.
Dib allowed himself to collapse in his father's arms. "Dad, we have to help him!" Dib said.
"It's okay, well fix them." Membrane said looking at the children, who still stared out into space like Zombies.
"I know what must be done." Gir says. "They are under the control of project purple." He revealed. "All But that one." His red eyes look at Keef knowingly. "That one's had his removed."
"You mean this child is deranged all on his own?" Lard Nar asked.
"Keef always had a screw lose." Gaz said. "I hate to say it, but he may have finally cracked Dib."
Dib looks at his father hopefully. "Please dad, I know he's bad, but..." He couldn't stand this; he couldn't stand seeing someone so messed up. And it was all his fault, sure he could blame Tak, even Zim, but the truth was Keef was like this because of his obsession with Dib.
"I'll do what I can son." Membrane promised him. "But a broken mind is not easily fix." He warned.
Gaz placed a hand on her brother. "This isn't your fault, Keef was always messed up, had Zim not done something he would have tried to hurt you sooner."
"Yeah, remember how he nearly jumped you on the way to school." Peg reminded him.
"I know, and I don't blame Zim, though his method probably made it worse." Dib admitted. "I know it's not my fault, but I can't help seeing him like this, because of me."
Annabel wraps her arms around him. "It's gonna be okay, we're going to figure this out."
Dib nodded as tears spilled down his face, he wish Zim was here, he'd know what to do. He always made him safe.
"Computer, detain the human Keef!" Gir ordered.
The arms around Keef lead him away, no doubt to dump him in a cell until they could figure out what to do.
The arms placed around the zombie children fell away, and they stood there, obviously awaiting an order. However, without Tak there was no orders to follow.
"I'll get the AIs to patrol the docks just in case Tak tries to come back." Mrs. Bitter says. "Dark Booty, you and Disembodied-Head work on the children. The rest of you start helping with repairs, our base must be concealed by morning."
Annabel pulls away from her son. "I'm going to check on Moon, why don't you come with me?"
Dib nods and allows his mother to lead him away.
"As for you." Mrs. Bitters looks to Gir. "You will tell me everything your master has added to my base!"
Gir stares her down for a moment, eyes blazing red, than they turn blue. "OKAY!"
"Just like that?" Jinx asked.
Gir shrugs. "Master didn't tell me not to so it must be okay."
Lard Nar chuckles, he had feared Zim had once again abandoned him. That he was doing what he always did, running back to his leaders to do their bidding. However, it would appear he was wrong, Zim had not abandon them like he had done so many times before, he looks at Dib and his smile grows.
Zim would return soon, after all someone special was waiting for him. Someone who couldn't wait for him to finally come home to stay.
-To Be Continued