A few days later, the communications system started pinging them. The two of them had been making out on the bed at that point, and the sound startled them so much that they both flinched and tumbled off in a heap. Dib accidentally knocked the box off of his laptop, while Zim scrambled to his feet and scurried to the cockpit.
"Are you two finished?" the AI asked dryly.
"Sort of, not quite," Dib mumbled, getting on his own feet to follow Zim, tugging at his clothes to smooth them out as he went. He made it to the cockpit just in time to see Zim answer the call.
The shadowy figures of the Resisty appeared onscreen. "Zim, Dib," Lard Nar said. "We just finished building the disruptor you designed! We tested it on some scrapped Irken tech we had, and it works perfectly!"
He clasped his hands together, horns wriggling. "So! If you two are ready, we can put your plan in motion at any time."
Zim bit his lip, drumming his claws on the dashboard. Dib leaned forward to speak next. "We upgraded our cloaking device, so we've finished preparing. Zim, we can go when you're ready."
"Hmm." Zim frowned. Dib reached over and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Zim looked at him, eyes softening as he slowly relaxed…and then, he turned to face the Resisty, shoulders set in determination.
"We can be at the edge of Meekrob's system in three hours," he declared. "We'll see you there."
Lard Nar nodded, and they hung up. Zim quickly tapped the coordinates into the system, and the ship swiveled around and took off.
Dib leaned over, looping an arm around Zim's shoulders. Zim sighed, leaning over and curling up against Dib's side. "It's going to work," Dib mumbled, trying to reassure him. "I know it'll work."
"Mm." Zim snuggled further into his torso, shifting until he was sitting in Dib's lap. Dib wrapped his other arm around him, using one hand to gently rub the side of Zim's face. Zim sighed, tension slowly leaving him.
As the hours passed by, though, Zim still seemed worried, even as Dib did his best to get him to relax. They ate a small lunch—well, Dib did, anyway. He tried to offer some food and soda to Zim, but Zim just shook his head, staring out at the cosmos stretching before them.
Still, Dib at least coaxed him to try a few bites of the sweet roll he'd grabbed with his sandwich.
After he'd finished, there was still an hour left to go—an hour Zim used to run through the whole plan with him again. And then again, this time with GIR listening. Tak's AI grumbled and muttered about treason as they talked, but they ignored it…though Zim bared his teeth when it mentioned something about 'defectiveness'.
He grabbed Dib's arm and GIR's head and dragged them away before the AI could elaborate further just what that meant.
Three hours (and several reviews of the plan) later, they arrived at the edge of the Meekrob system. There were only a few planets in this system, most of them barren, though it was quickly obvious which one was Meekrob. Even from here, Dib could see the giant red-and-pink ships circling around one particular planet like vultures…
Zim gripped his arm, claws sinking painfully into Dib's skin.
Dib grabbed his wrist to give a squeeze, perhaps a little too tight to be reassuring. "The cloak," he whispered, even though there was no way those ships could hear them. Right?
Zim nodded, quickly reaching forward to press a button on the panel. There was a faint fizzing sound as they were covered with a hologram to make them practically invisible. Zim sighed, relaxing further.
Still, Dib took the controls and maneuvered them to duck behind the dark side of a different planet. Now that they were out of their direct line of sight, Zim slowly relaxed, and Dib rubbed circles over his wrist with his thumb.
It wasn't long before the Resisty arrived, the large logo on their ship making them easy to spot. Dib turned on the communication system to ping them, and they quickly answered.
"So," Lard Nar said. "We could only have one shot, here. Two, if you count us getting you back off. But the point is, are you ready?"
Dib nodded, then glanced at Zim and gave him a nudge. "Yes!" Zim said with a small jump, as though startled. "This will work. It's going to work."
Lard Nar nodded. "Excellent! Everyone, battle stations!" A few Resisty members rushed to different parts of their cockpit, and the call was cut. Dib and Zim watched and they kicked up the ignition, flying right towards the barricade.
Zim tightly gripped the controls, nudging them just out from behind the planet. The Resisty was getting closer…and some Irken ships were turning to face them.
Soon, the barricade fired on the Resisty! But they managed to weave through the shots, returning fire of their own that barely seemed to make a dent in the hulls of the enemy ships. They kept pushing forward…and then swerved to the side when many of the smaller ships swarmed over them.
Zim pushed forward on their own controls, heading towards that fight, biting his lip. Dib carefully watched the larger ships, and their radar, one hand hovering over the weapon controls.
As the Resisty weaved away, a crowd of the smaller ships trailed right behind them. They passed in front of one of the much larger ships, which practically dwarfed them—and the giant cannon at its front began to glow, aiming right for them.
And then, finally, there was a green pulse from the Resisty ship.
That giant weapon fizzled out, and all the smaller ships suddenly stopped firing, engines turning off and leaving them drifting forward. This was it, their chance!
Zim angled the controls towards a space left empty by the smaller ships. Not quite in the center of the window—a bit closer to the now-deactivated ships, but not too close. He punched the controls down, their ship surging forward. His antennae were vibrating wildly, but his grip was so tight his hands didn't shake.
Dib squeezed Zim's shoulder as they flew past the barricade…and soared right into the atmosphere.
A glance showed they weren't being followed at all, probably not even noticed. The Resisty had already pulled away from the barricade, a few unaffected ships firing at them to 'chase them off'.
But Dib quickly switched his attention back to the planet they were rapidly approaching. Zim tugged back on the controls, pulling them out of the screaming nosedive they were in. With the danger of crashing or being shot down gone, Dib felt free to drink in the sight of the new planet.
The sky was a pinkish-grey color, the looming dark shadows of the barricade standing out quite a bit. The planet itself, at least the part they were on, was rocky and barren, with purple soil. Off in the distance, Dib swore he saw a blue glow, a halo around the silhouette of a city.
Zim flew low to the ground, heading for a towering mountain. "Shouldn't we head that way?" Dib asked, tugging on his sleeve and pointing at the city.
"And risk them thinking we're just another Empire scouting ship and fry us? No way," Zim said. "It'll be much safer if we approach on foot." He started circling around the mountain, eyes lighting up when he found a small cave practically at the base.
He dove inside, turning their ship around to face the entrance before landing and turning it off. He took several deep breaths…and sighed heavily, slumping over and against Dib's side.
"We did it," he said. "We actually got past them…!"
"Told you we could do it," Dib said, poking his cheek.
Zim shushed him, curling up against his chest. Dib became quiet and wrapped his arms around him, taking a few minutes to just hold him.
But, as time passed, he started bouncing his leg anxiously. "We should probably get moving," he said. "That was only the first step."
"Right…right!" Zim hopped off of him and went to the back, returning with weapons for both himself and Dib. GIR trailed along behind him, and Dib set up the ship's computer to play one of his movies.
"Okay, GIR, your job is to guard the ship, got it?" Zim said. "And if you notice anything weird on the radar or see the barricade changing, contact us. Understand?"
GIR nodded and saluted him…immediately turning his attention to his cartoon. Zim hesitated, but opened the cockpit window and climbed out with Dib.
At the cave's mouth, they paused, Dib raising a hand to shield his eyes as he squinted at the glowing city. "So, that's where the Meekrob are, huh?"
"Yep." Zim started to make his way down the mountain, using his PAK legs to carry himself (and Dib) over large obstacles and steeper portions. "It shouldn't take much more than an hour to get there."
"Mm." Dib checked his pockets, making sure he had his water bottle and a snack with him.
It didn't take long to make it to flatter ground…relatively flatter, at least. It was still rocky and not quite level, smaller hills and mountains rising here and there. Zim set Dib down, having carried him over a large boulder, and the two of them began to walk in the direction of the city.
Dib looked around and marveled at the planet. He would have compared it to a desert, but even those had some life. This place just seemed barren. Perhaps there was life around them too small to see...
He stopped for a moment to scoop a bit of the purple soil into a test tube, then tucked that into one of his pockets. Zim gave him a look when he jogged to catch up the few steps. "A planet few besides the Meekrob have ever been to, and you're interested in the dirt?"
"In everything," Dib countered. "The dirt just seemed easiest to grab right now." He again looked ahead to the city. "I can't wait to see what the Meekrob actually look like, though."
"Of course you are," Zim said. "Just…be careful. The Meekrob aren't exactly friendly towards others. Don't make them angry."
"Wasn't planning on it!" Dib countered. "Of course I'll be careful. Making it past the barricade was the hard part, I'm not going to mess it up now."
There was a faint crackle in the air, one that made Dib's hairs stand on end. He quickly dodged to the side, dragging Zim with him just in time to avoid some sort of electric pulse that caused a cloud of dust to billow around him. He coughed, whipping around to find the source of the attack.
A flash of green and magenta disappeared behind a boulder on a nearby hill. Dib narrowed his eyes and tugged on Zim's arm to point that out to him. Zim's eyes narrowed, and he darted around the side of the hill, Dib on his heels.
There, they saw an Irken with prominent eyelashes huddled behind that boulder, a thick metal helmet on her head and a weapon in her hands. She was peeking over the top of the boulder again…and then began to frantically look in every other direction.
This must have been Invader Tenn.
Zim pulled out his PAK legs…but hesitated, glancing between her and Dib. He shuffled forward to get between her and Dib, but didn't move other than that. Dib narrowed his eyes and tried nudging him forward and up the hill, ready to confront the one that attacked them.
Unfortunately, they only moved a few more inches before probably-Tenn checked behind her, quickly whirling around and pointing her weapon at them. "Where's your ship? How did you get here?" she demanded.
"What do you care?" Zim said.
"This…this is my chance to finally leave! You have to let me!"
"And why should we help you, Tenn?" Dib asked dryly, crossing his arms.
She flinched, swinging the weapon around to point it at him. "How…how do you know my name!?"
"Well, according to the news, there's only one Irken Invader on the surface of this planet. It's pretty obvious," Dib said.
Tenn blinked, glancing between them and the city on the horizon. "Ugh, there's no time for this!" she cried, firing another pulse of electricity at Zim.
Zim swiftly dodged to the side, then darted up the hill towards her, PAK legs extended. Tenn pressed herself against the rock, clutching her weapon like a lifeline—twitching when something went 'click' underneath Zim's foot.
That 'something' was some metal disk that shot arcs of electricity around Zim, blowing off the thin layer of dirt over it and making Zim yelp. He fell limp, his expression blank, and Tenn jumped forward to quickly slap some handcuffs on him before hopping back to her rock.
"Hey!" Dib shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Zim just as the electricity faded. Zim was limp in his arms, expression still dazed. Dib shook him a little, but all he got in response was a quiet groan.
His head snapped up, and he glared at Tenn. "Yeah, attacking us is really going to convince us to help you," he sneered. "Sarcasm, by the way."
"I don't care for your sar-chasm," Tenn said. "And I'd be better off without the 'willing' help of Zim and some ape, anyway! I just need your ship."
She fired her weapon again, and Dib darted to the side and rushed forward, reaching to grab the weapon out of her hands, making a couple of swipes with his knife. She twirled away, out of reach, and kept quickly ducking and doing every attempt Dib made to grab the weapon away from her.
Then, just when he made another grab for the gun, she swiveled again to face him and shot him point-blank with it. Dib screamed, vision going white as hot pain arced through him, limbs shuddering and collapsing.
For several seconds, he was only aware of the ringing in his ears and the soreness in his body, especially where he had been shot. The first sense to return was his hearing…he could hear Zim shouting at Tenn in Irken, but he could only barely understand.
He tried to check his translator, but his fingers just twitched weakly. That was when he realized that first, he was laying belly-down in the dirt, and second, that a pair of handcuffs had been slapped onto his wrists.
"…shit," he groaned, slumping against the ground. His vision, though swimming, returned just in time for him to see Tenn approach and grab the chain of his cuffs, watching him warily. She nudged him over onto his back with her foot and began to drag him up the hill.
He heard the crunch of Zim's footsteps as he gave chase, even though Tenn was using her PAK to aim a weapon at him. "Let him go!" Zim snapped in Irken.
Tenn rapidly shook her head—and the next thing Dib knew, he was being dragged down a hole with her, landing harshly against a metal floor.
He groaned in protest, but was ignored. Tenn dragged him across the floor, shoving him aside and jumping away. Dib shook his head and sat up, watching Zim dive down a hole (with a ladder)…only to stumble and tumble in a heap when he attempted the landing.
Tenn zipped past him and back up the ladder, a metallic clanging suggesting that something had closed, with a clunk of a lock locking immediately following it. She slid back down the ladder, landing on both her feet with ease, then grabbing Zim's cuffs and dragging him in the same way she had done with Dib.
Zim struggled and managed to slip away…but still rolled over to Dib's side, looking over him with concern. Tenn scoffed and went to a computer console, pressing a button—and metal bars slammed down in front of Zim and Dib, cutting them off from both her and their exit.
Another button press, and the cuffs on them unlatched and fell to the ground. Tenn used a PAK leg to snag them and drag them to her side of the cell, watching them warily all the while. "Don't try anything," she warned as she took off the helmet and set it aside. "I still have plenty more weapons, and…and lots of commands I can give my base to stop you!"
Zim growled, then turned from her to focus on Dib—brushing his hair out of his face, peering into his eyes, and lifting him up to lean him against the wall. Dib mumbled a 'thanks', glancing around as he regained his strength.
Tenn's 'base' was…not that impressive. Especially since Dib was used to Zim's own large, sprawling base. This base appeared to be made of just the one room, the only entrance (and exit) the hole Tenn had dragged them through.
In the first half of the room, there was an Irken chair Tenn sank into in front of a giant computer screen and a panel filled with buttons. There were flat desk-like surfaces along the walls, covered in tools, weapons, and Irken candy (or 'sweet rations'). A small trash can under the computer was filled to the brim with empty wrappers.
He glanced around the half they were in. The shelves around them were empty, though there were a few tools and pieces of scrap metal scattered here and there…nothing that they could feasibly make into a weapon.
Dib sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. He just…needed a second to rest. Get his strength back…
He bobbed at the edge of consciousness, feeling Zim's hands on his arm as he watched over him.
Dib wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he felt better when he opened his eyes. He was still sore, but his limbs didn't feel like noodles, and the pounding in his head had turned to a dull throb. His chest still stung where he had been shot, though.
With a grunt, he sat up and stretched. His chest twinged with pain, but the action made his sore muscles feel better, at least.
"Dib?" Zim said, carefully caressing his cheek.
"'m fine," Dib assured him. "…what about you? You also got zapped pretty bad."
Zim almost looked smug as he grinned. "It'll take a lot more than that to take me down for long."
"Good thing it didn't need to," Tenn said. Dib jumped and turned to look at her, where she was still lounging in her chair and warily watching the two of them. "I've already got you right where I need you. So…so don't even think of trying anything!"
Zim glared at her, antennae flattening against his skull. She mostly ignored him, glancing back at her computer screen while still keeping her antennae pointed in their general direction.
Dib glanced at her screen, which was filled with Irken text. He could pick out a few words like 'ship', but…his glasses weren't translating it at all. With a frown, he took them off and looked at the attached translator, flicking it with the tip of his finger.
That didn't do anything, and it was with a sigh he put them back on. "Translator's fried," he muttered to Zim, definitely not pouting about it at all.
"It'll be an easy fix," Zim said, patting his shoulder. "Once we get out of here."
"I wouldn't count on that," Tenn said. After a pause, she added, "The…getting out part, I mean. I don't know how easy or hard fixing your little device would be. If you got the chance for it, which you won't!"
"What do you even want from us?" Dib asked, miffed.
"I thought I made it clear—I want your ship," Tenn answered. She gestured to the computer screen, which was slowly filtering through information. "This low-profile scan for foreign technology will be complete eventually and tell me wherever you placed your ship. Or you could make it easy and tell me exactly where it is."
"Like we'd do that after you attacked us!" Dib snapped.
"…fine!" Tenn said. "I don't need you, anyway. The scan will be complete with or without you."
"…then why didn't you scan for it while we were away, then grab it before we got back without us knowing?" Dib asked.
Tenn froze…then groaned, slamming her face onto the desk and tugging on her antennae. Dib felt a bit smug…and also slightly confused. Was this really the great Invader that Zim had seemed so sure was on this planet?
"Not that it matters—we left it guarded," Zim pointed out. "Which means any of your attempts to grab it now will also end in failure."
Tenn let out a muffled groan, twisting her antennae. A minute or so later, she sat up and grinned. "No. No. I'm getting off this planet. I can find your ship. I can drag you there, make you send your guard away. I am getting out of here."
With a sharp inhale and one last tug on her antennae, she pressed more buttons, pulling up what looked like maps of the planet. Zim glared and paced around the cell. Dib did the same, looking for any obvious weak points to expose. When he didn't find any, he ended up leaning against the wall again, watching Tenn work.
After several minutes of silence and fidgeting, he asked, "So…how did you get stranded here, anyway?"
"What does that matter?" Zim asked, sitting beside him (and putting himself between Dib and Tenn).
"I'm curious. No one seems to know exactly what happened for the Meekrob to be on high alert and the barricade know to assemble." Dib glanced at Tenn, who silently watched from the corner of her eye. "Besides. If I were stranded alone on a planet for a long time, I'd be dying to tell everyone what I went through."
Tenn paused…then slowly swiveled to face them, hands clasped together. "I was assigned a great, though dangerous, mission—invading Meekrob," she started. "I felt…honored, of course, that my Tallest were so confident in me!"
Her antennae twitched a little at that last statement, her smile a little forced.
But still, she went on. "And everything was going well! I established a base in a mountain outside their city. I was gathering so much information. I had a plan that would complete this invasion in one fell swoop. Really, everything was going perfectly, until…IT happened," Tenn said with a shudder and grimace.
"It?" Zim questioned.
"I was expecting a package—a new weapon for conquest," she said. "But when I opened it, instead of the Megadoomer I needed, there were SIR units! Dozens of them, each one of them defective!"
She buried her face in her hands. "They ate through everything, destroying my whole base and drawing attention to me! I had to flee before the Meekrob could catch me. I'm still trying to reestablish myself and collect as much information as I can…"
With a grimace, she added, "Which would be easier if this whole planet wasn't looking for any signals I could be sending to the Armada!"
"A Megadoomer?" Dib said, turning to Zim. "Didn't you have one of those? That giant invisible robot?"
"Oh, yeah!" Zim said, then scowled. "I can't believe the cockpit itself wasn't shielded."
"Really stupid design," Dib said in agreement. "…anyway, when did you get your package of SIR units, Tenn?"
She sneered at him. "Why would you care?"
"Just humor me…I have a hunch."
Tenn huffed. "Very well. It was a little over…about two years on Meekrob."
"That would be six Urth-years," Zim translated for Dib.
"Now, wasn't that around the same time you got your Megadoomer?" Dib said. "…unless every invader gets one of those, that timing seems a bit suspicious."
"Of course not everyone has Megadoomers," Tenn scoffed. "They're a top-of-the-line model, and very recently produced—or at least they were when I was last in contact with the Empire. Only the most elite of elites get one, and I was going to use their latest version!"
"Hey, that's the one I got!" Zim said proudly.
"Yeah…" Dib clicked his tongue. "My hunch is that, well…that was actually Tenn's Megadoomer. I'm pretty sure your packages got mixed up somehow."
The two Irkens stared blankly at him…and then Tenn whipped around to glare at Zim, antennae flattening against her skull in anger. "You! You stole my Megadoomer from me!" she hissed.
"I deserved it!" Zim hissed back, his antennae also flattening. "And it was a stupid machine, anyway!"
Dib coughed. "I think the real person to blame is whoever it was that switched your two packages…" he pointed out. The two Irkens were too busy making angry clicking noises at each other to take notice. "Also, why would anyone send Zim a bunch of defective robots?"
Tenn glanced at him and laughed. "Seriously? Why wouldn't they send something like that to Zim? He—"
"Shut up!" Zim snapped, cutting her off and lunging as far forward as he could. Tenn jumped back, and the two glared at each other.
…weird. Dib supposed he'd just have to file someone possibly, maybe trying to hurt Zim with those weird robots as yet another question to look into. Including why someone would apparently want to do that, as Tenn was implying.
But with Zim right there, and glaring at Tenn as though daring her to continue, he probably wouldn't get any answers to that right now.
He coughed, trying to break up their glaring match. "…any chance we could convince you to let us out?"
Tenn crossed her arms. "After the trouble I went through to trap Zim...and you? And after learning he's at least partially responsible for the mess I'm in? No!"
"You can't keep an elite Irken Invader locked up forever in this dump!" Zim snapped, shaking a fist at her.
She grinned wickedly. "Good thing I don't have one here, then, huh?"
Zim let out an angry screech, leaning forward and trying to reach out and claw at her. She flinched back, but then paused and grinned when it became clear that she was far out of his reach.
"Hey," Dib said, carefully tapping Zim's shoulder. His head snapped around to look at him. "I don't think that's, uh, helping."
"Are you suggesting I sit here and accept this slander?"
"No, just that maybe you don't try to push yourself pointlessly into prison bars." Dib tapped Zim's face, right where his nose would be. Zim frowned, covering his face with both hands. "We'll think of some other way out."
"No, you won't," Tenn said. "And I can hear you." She stepped away, slumping into her chair and focusing on the screen again.
Zim let out a loud growl, but Dib gently brushed a hand down his shoulders, pulling his attention back. "…fine," Zim said, stepping away from the bars.
Dib went to the far wall and leaned against it as he sat down. Zim joined him, holding his hands, though it wasn't long before he fidgeted and started to shift closer to Dib.
"Might as well get comfortable while we think of something..." Zim muttered. He scooted over to sit in Dib's lap, resting his head against his chest and closing his eyes. Dib began petting his antennae. Zim let out a contented sigh, and soon the tension began to leave his shoulders.
A soft smile spread over Dib's face.
It was only a few minutes later that he realized there was an intense gaze focused on them. He glanced over out of the corner of his eye and saw that Tenn had turned to just…stare at them. Her brow was furrowed, her antennae quirked forward questioningly.
She frowned at Dib when she noticed him looking. But she still seemed curious, shifting forward and looking at Zim. "...what are you doing?" Tenn asked.
"Relaxing," Zim said, not opening his eyes.
"And you're just...letting that thing touch you?" she said, tilting her head with a slight sneer.
"Of course. It feels nice, and he won't be too stinky for at least another day," Zim said.
"Gee, thanks," Dib said dryly, rolling his eyes.
"You're quite welcome," Zim said, butting his head affectionately against Dib's chin and nuzzling him. Dib sighed and placed a kiss near the base of his antennae.
Tenn gagged. "Ugh. How…soft. To think you called yourself an Elite Irken, once."
That finally made Zim crack one eye open, frowning at her. "Say what you will about me, but I'm happier than you are." He stuck his tongue out at her. "There's nothing wrong with 'soft'."
Tenn sneered at him. "Oh, is your brain soft and mushy, too?"
Zim growled, with a faint clicking sound also coming from somewhere in his chest. Dib placed both his hands on his shoulders, giving what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. Zim twitched, but stopped growling and again melted against Dib…even if he still looked annoyed.
"…soft can be good," Zim argued as Dib rubbed his shoulders. He reached up with one hand and bat at Dib's cowlick, then rubbed his hand behind Dib's ear, fluffing up the hair there. Dib sighed a little, leaning into his hand. "See—my Dib's hair is clean, fluffy, and soft, and it feels good. So there."
"That's not the kind of 'soft' I meant, and you know it," Tenn said. She hissed something short in Irken, and Zim angrily clicked back at her.
She growled. "Yeah, well you're acting like it, no matter how much you deny it!"
Zim glared at her, then turned and pressed his face against Dib's chest, angrily muttering to himself and squeezing fistfuls of Dib's shirt. Dib went back to stroking his antennae, placing a few kisses on Zim's head and trying to calm him.
Tenn snorted. Dib shot her a glare, wrapping his arms protectively around Zim. "If you're not going to get it, why don't you just drop it?" he snapped.
"I don't see what there is to 'get'," she said. "It's unthinkable that any Irken, even Zim, would allow themselves to be…like this." She frowned at Zim.
Dib glared at her, and she kept staring at Zim with disdain and…something else. Something clicked for Dib. "Wait. You're curious about this, aren't you?"
She twitched and turned away again, though Dib was still pretty sure she was watching them from the corner of her eye. A grin spread across Dib's face. "I get it—you're curious about this, but you don't know why, because you're not 'supposed to' wonder about stuff like this."
His grin only widened when she began to nervously tap her claws together. "And knowing it's not allowed just makes you even more curious, doesn't it? Especially since Zim gets something you don't?"
"…wait, really?" Zim lifted his head to look at Tenn, then grinned nearly as widely as Dib. "Ha! You're jealous of Zim, aren't you?"
"No!" she said quickly. "Your pet is just…guessing at random. It's all lies."
"My Dib is not a pet, and he's very perceptive," Zim said. "I know he's right, so you might as well not bother trying to deny it."
Tenn scowled. "You both seem soft and foolish. You've been captured. So why do you seem so…content? It doesn't make any sense."
"Hmm. I'm guessing things like this don't happen in your evil space empire?" Dib said as he stroked the sensitive spot of Zim's spine just above his PAK, making a quiet purr rumble from his throat.
"There's no need for it."
"But you're still curious." Dib grinned. "And just think, being around us could be your last chance to satisfy that curiosity! To know why we're happy right now while you're just confused!"
"Yes," Zim hummed, smirking at Tenn. "Or you can keep going, always stewing in the questions bothering you. Boil in the soup of questions!"
Tennis frown deepened, and she turned to face them fully, crossing her arms. "Well. You don't really have anything else to do, stuck in there. So if you decide to talk about…this, I might listen to you."
It was progress, at least in Dib's eyes. Maybe it could lead to them getting out, somehow. "I don't think words alone can…cover it," he said. "It might be something you have to feel for yourself."
She flattened her antennae against her skull, bearing her teeth. "Don't even think about putting your…blunt little fingers on me."
Zim grabbed Dib's wrist, pulling his hand down until his palm rested on top of Zim's head. "Fine by me," he hissed, giving Tenn and Dib a look.
"Okay, fine, I won't touch you!" Dib huffed, patting Zim's head. "…but maybe you want to see why Zim likes petting my hair?"
Her antennae raised a little as she seemed to consider it. Zim frowned, turning and wrapping his arms around Dib. Dib patted his head reassuringly, but that didn't keep him from glaring at her.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try," Tenn said, standing and approaching the bars. Dib kissed Zim on the cheek, nudging him until he could stand up and meet her at the bars. Zim stood right behind him, eyeing Tenn critically.
Dib sat cross-legged, shifting forward and lowering his head. Tenn looked him up and down…then bat at his hair scythe, which bobbed out from the makeshift cell.
She hummed and, after a few more bats, reached one hand in to pat the top of his hair. This pat was followed by several more, each one a little less cautious, and suspicion slowly started to melt from her eyes.
"Mm, yes, that's…not a bad texture," Tenn hummed, digging her fingers deeper into Dib's hair. Dib fidgeted a little—claws on his scalp felt nice, but it wasn't the same. And he could feel Zim's gaze boring a hole through him and Tenn. "Yes, that's nice. You said this is a 'Dib'?"
"Yes, and he's mine," Zim snapped. He grabbed onto Dib's shoulders and pulled him away and into his lap, burrowing his own claws into Dib's hair. Dib shivered and melted into him. "Go get your own!"
"Maybe I will!" Tenn countered. "…when I'm able to get off, I suppose. And if they'll allow me to travel to any other planets…"
"…if you let us go, maybe we could help you get off planet?" Dib tried to offer.
Zim grumbled, all of his limbs wrapped possessively around Dib. "And personally deliver her to the Massive, where we could be shot down, my human?" he asked sarcastically.
"No! Just…you know, off of Meekrob and then going our separate ways…"
"I don't need your help," Tenn said. "I've managed to survive here for years, and I can keep doing so! In just a few more hours or days, with your ship, I can contact the Armada and fly away to meet them before the Meekrob notice! Why let you go when I've already gotten everything I need from you?"
"Well…" Dib said. "If you don't need anything from us, why bother keeping us locked down here?"
Tenn scoffed. "Other than letting Zim wander free being the biggest mistake I could make? And using you to get to the ship? You'd be nothing but a giant beacon if I let you out. They'll find me, and my base would end up destroyed again!"
"Who'd find you? The SIRs?"
She let out a small, frustrated scream. "No! The Meekrob! Don't you know anything about them?"
Not really, considering the only ones he'd ever met were actually fake. Dib glanced up at Zim expectantly for answers.
"Mmm, right…they're psychic, aren't they?" Zim hummed, tapping a finger against Dib's temples. "To some degree, anyway. No one's sure how well they can read minds, but it's still known they can do it somehow."
"…seriously?" Dib said. "Irkens are trying to invade a planet where the aliens can read their minds and know what they're doing? How would that even work!?"
Tenn huffed, crossing her arms. "Having the Meekrob under our control would make them useful assets. And I accounted for their abilities long before I landed on this planet."
She stood and gestured at the room. "There are ways to block any sort of mental abilities. I trained myself to make my mind difficult to access, and I found metals and devices that would further block me from their senses. With the right firepower, I would be able to strike them with a decisive blow and win before they realized I was even here!
"I might have lost my base and been exposed, but I still had enough materials to make a smaller one they couldn't find me in." She sighed and sat down. "So. To keep you from being snatched up by the Meekrob and telling them where I am, you're staying here."
She turned back to her screen, tapping slowly at the keyboard, still glancing at them out of the corner of her eye.
Dib scowled and started to pace around the cell, dragging a finger against the metal walls. So, this blocked psychic energy? It wasn't surprising something like that existed…after all, some metals and crystals were good magic conduits, and others would repress or repel it. Too bad he didn't have anything magic on him to see how it would react to this metal…
Still. He glanced at one of the screws, then gestured for Zim to come over from where he was glaring and ranting at Tenn. Zim didn't notice at first, so Dib walked over to tug on his sleeve, pointing at the screw.
Zim squinted at him, and Dib walked him over, then made a twisting motion right above the screw, followed by a pulling motion. Zim tilted his head, and then his eyes lit up in recognition.
One PAK leg popped out, and he stuck it in the grooves of the screw, slowly unscrewing it.
"Hey!" Tenn yelled. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Nothing!" Dib said, trying to lean casually against the wall while blocking Zim from her sight.
She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to try and spot Zim. "Whatever you're doing won't work. I took precautions wherever I could. You'd have to make a whole hole in the wall to let the Meekrob detect you, and I'm not letting that happen!"
Zim popped the screw out of the wall and dropped it into Dib's palm. Dib looked it over for a few seconds before pocketing it for later. "I'd like to see you stop me," Zim taunted Tenn.
Tenn grabbed her electricity gun and pressed the trigger, making it crackle ominously. "After I zap you, your 'Dib' will be next."
Zim froze, PAK leg partly extended to the next screw. He glanced between it, Dib, and Tenn, then slowly pulled his leg back with a growl.
"That's what I thought, softie," Tenn said. "There's no way you're getting out of there unless I let you out."
They both glared at her. Suddenly, Dib felt a shiver down his spine, his skin tingling and prickling. Like static electricity was dancing over it. Something was coming, and whatever it was, the Irkens in the room didn't seem aware.
He grabbed Zim, pulling him close and pressing his face into his chest. "What are you—!"
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion at the base's exit, deafening loud and blindingly bright, like a lightning strike. Dib closed his eyes in reflex, but he could still sense spots swimming in them, and his ears were ringing.
Seconds passed. The ringing faded enough that he could hear commotion outside the cell, even if it was muffled. He cracked his eyes open, blinked a few times to clear his vision, then opened them fully.
The exit was smoldering…and now a gaping hole. Two forms were floating down the ladder without touching it—glowing cyan aliens that didn't look completely physical, and that kind of made Dib think of a set of lungs. One had yellow eyes, the other a darker blue, but they were connected by a glowing blue aura. Just looking at them made Dib's skin prickle.
He swore his ears were still ringing…except that it wasn't fading, and seemed to be coming from his right. He glanced over and realized that wasn't ringing—it was Tenn screaming, babbling a few things. She grabbed things off her desk and threw them at the aliens, but everything just passed right through them. They gave her a nonplussed look.
"How!?" she yelled. "I've been…I hid for years, how did you find me!? Why now!? Why now of all times!?" She was shaking and sweating, looking like she was at the edge of snapping…if she hadn't already.
"Calm yourself, Intruder Tenn," the Meekrob said in unison, each raising an arm. Their eyes flashed, Dib shivered, and Tenn took a deep, gasping breath before falling silent and staring at the Meekrob. She was still shivering, but it wasn't quite as bad.
"…how did you find me?" she demanded, trying to stand tall.
The Meekrob shimmered, the aura connecting them untangling and being pulled into each respective alien. The one with blue eyes went to the bars. "We sensed the minds of these two as they entered our world," they said, pointing at Dib and Zim. "They were practically a beacon to us."
"Yeah, but...but I blocked the psychic energy!" Tenn said, kicking a foot against the metal wall.
"Well, it was kind of suspicious when they suddenly vanished," the other Meekrob said. "...so, we just searched the area we last sensed them near."
"Still, you were pretty well-hidden…it took some time to find you," the first added, floating over and looking at the metal wall Tenn had kicked. "…fascinating."
Tenn shuddered, glanced at the Meekrob…and scurried for the exit. But the closest Meekrob lifted one hand and sent out a small bolt of lightning to zap her, making her yelp and stop in her tracks. The other glided over and blocked her exit before she could try to make a run for it again.
The blue-eyed one looked over her desk, then grabbed the cuffs she'd used on Dib and Zim earlier, tossing them to their partner. Zim giggled when the cuffs were slapped onto her wrists, and even Dib had to bite back a smile.
Their smiles dropped when both Meekrob turned to look at them, squinting. "More intruders?" they sighed. "…though I suppose you aren't associated with her. Considering the barrier."
"Yeah!" Dib said. "Actually, we came to help you against the barricade. Sort of. We have a communication device to give you, and you can use it to reach—"
Both Meekrob's hands sparked with electricity. Dib flinched, mouth clicking shut. He closed his eyes when they sent bolts of lightning forward…
But opened them when he didn't feel anything. A section of the bars in front of them had been melted open. Zim was quick to hop through, extending a hand to Dib to help him step through, too.
The Meekrob both shared a glance, then turned to face Dib. "Looks like you're telling the truth," one said.
"And since we're bring her to face them anyway…" the other said, shaking Tenn's chains. She was pulling against them, gritting her teeth.
"…you're all coming with us to meet The Collective!"
Tenn squeaked, her feet slipping out from under her as her eyes went wide. "Hey, can't we just…talk about this, all five of us?"
"We will 'talk about it', in a way…but with more than just us." The Meekrob holding her lifted her up and set her back onto her feet. She gulped, glancing around as though she could find something. But there were no escape routes, or at least none she was able to spot. Her panic seemed to grow, the cuffs rattling as the Meekrob started to drag her along.
Dib and Zim walked behind, with the second Meekrob following right behind him. They climbed up the ladder—though Zim had to use his PAK legs to scale a section where it had been melted, carrying Dib bridal-style and setting him on his feet once they were outside.
They all began to walk towards the glowing city. Dib glanced at the Meekrob, then leaned over to Zim. "…what's the Collective?" he asked quietly.
Zim shrugged. Tenn huffed from ahead. "Oh, you'll find out…and you'll regret having to face them as much as I am." Her chains rattled as she shivered.
"The Collective is…hard to describe in your words," the Meekrob behind them said. Dib was startled...then realized whispering around mind-readers wouldn't really do much good. "But when seeing it, you will comprehend."
"Hmm." Dib frowned in thought, lifting his gaze to the city. He was suddenly very curious, even with Tenn's insistence that they were all in trouble. He felt around in his pocket, frowning when he came up empty aside from the screw.
Zim nudged his side. Dib glanced over, and Zim reached into his PAK to pull out a camera and pass it to him. Dib's eyes lit up.
"Thank you!"
"Anytime."
And they all continued to march forward to whatever was awaiting them.