Author's Notes: Okay guys the next episode is up! I know it's later than usual, but I had a business conference to attend, and everything was too packed to even think about anything else. Anyway, for those of you interested this episode covers Chapters 16-17of my original story, Invader Zim Renegades. And in the season of revamping old forums, I have decided to repost some of my old Youtube videos that were inspired by this story not my new Channel. Please check it out at watch?v=ju9KcdvyxYs!

With that said, Thank you all for reading and please review!

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine ;)

S01 Ep08: The Longest Five Minutes Ever

Episode Summary: As Dib and Gaz race to save Zim time is working against them, can they possibly hope to stop the armada on their own? Find out now!

[Back with Zim]

(Deep within the Massive)

The darkness: he had felt it once before. Meaningless? Yes, he had felt that too.

Zim didn't know what to think. He stood there in his cell, covered in shackles that chained him to the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. He was a shell of his old self; he was empty. This was it. His life was over, his mission a waste, a lie.

He looked at his Life Clock, reading 05:01… 05:00… 04:59…

He had less than five minutes left to live. His eyes began to burn. Then small tears slid down his face, and then finally those tears turned to sobs. Zim bent over, clutching his Squeedlyspooch in pain. He was surprised to find it still beating in his chest. It felt like it had been ripped out!

One question ran through his mind repeatedly: 'How could they?' He had joined the military to prove his worth to his leaders, and to his fellow Irken brothers and sisters. He passed the academy with flying colors, the top of his class. He was even given a part in the Great Assigning in Operation Impending Doom I. If only he hadn't gotten so trigger happy; he was so excited to finally belong that he screwed up. Then, after he was banished and Operation Impending Doom II was announced, he knew this was the answer. This was his second chance, and he had to have it.

Only the Tallest hadn't given him one. They had lied to him, and deep down in the back of his mind he knew it all along, but he told himself that he would prove them wrong; he would prove himself worthy. If only they'd given him a chance! After all, he was just trying to impress the Tallest… to please them.

His thoughts echoed their words as every one of his mistakes came back to haunt him.

"You are a disgrace! You can't do anything right!"

"You're a spineless fool!"

"You need thick skin to be an Invader; a backbone! You are no invader!"

"You're a nuisance to the empire!"

"The Tallest were right to banish me," he whispered as a dark mood swept over him. He crumble completely, falling to the floor. Reality hit him hard, like a brick wall. He realized not only was his life over, but so were the inhabitants of Earth's lives. There would be no school tomorrow; the humans would all be in cages like they were some savage animals. Their lives would be forever changed. It was over.

'Gaz…' He could no longer breathe. 'It's all my fault! I disserve to die.' He looked around his dark cell, suddenly wishing he was in his own soft bed back at his house, or with Gaz playing the Game Slave 3 together. He even found himself wishing Dib was here to taunt him. He wanted something from his past life; anything! Zim sobbed.

"Well, at least GIR got away," he whispered to himself hopefully. "He's safe now, and he has warned the Dib and together they will keep Gaz safe." Zim clung to that one happy thought as the world around him began to spin. He couldn't read the numbers anymore, so he closed his eyes and forced himself to think of anything else. Suddenly, in a wisp of nonexistent wind that only touched Zim's skin, GIR appeared.

"Master? Why are you so sad?" The blue cyan eyes looked at him in great despair.

Zim knew it wasn't really GIR; this was only his mind trying to keep him from thinking of the ever-inclosing doom around him. Still, it was a more pleasant end than the one promised only moments ago.

"I'm fine GIR. You should just leave," he whispered weakly.

"No! You're sad! Here's a dance to cheer you up! Doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo..." Zim actually found himself smiling. The dance was pretty amusing, at least in these final moments.

"Thanks, GIR. I… I've never said it to you like I should, but… I love you."

"Aww. Someone needs a BIIIIG HUG!" The imaginary GIR hugged him close, and Zim hugged him back, sobbing softly, awaiting his unmistakable end….

[Back with GIR...]

"Master, is that you?" GIR held up a PAK hopefully and dropped it in defeat when it didn't answer him. "Master, where are you?!" GIR shouted, his voice echoing and bouncing off the thousands of discarded PAKs. His heart was sinking further and further into hopelessness.

His master was dying, and he was as useless as ever! He thought he could save his Master, find his PAK, and then they could get the Tallest and make them pay for all they did! But it was harder then he thought… The defective PAKs piled high around him, waiting to be erased, and destroyed.

"MASTER!" GIR screamed. "It's me, GIR!" He cried. "Please answer me Master!" He held up a new PAK and smiled hopefully. He was so sure he'd know his master's PAK! Just by looking at it...

"Master," he whimpered. "Please…" GIR fell on his knees as the dread settled in. "I don't want to be alone; not again…" he shivered, remembering how cold it was in that garbage can before he met his Master. Cold and alone, rusting away… "I don't want to go back there!" He cried. "Master, please answer me!" His cry was barely louder than a whisper. "Please…"

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

GIR jumped up to his feet at the sound of the voice. He knew that voice! He ran up to the large door and jumped up to press the unlock button. The door slid open to reveal Dib and Gaz, who had frozen in fear of being caught.

"GIR!" Dib looked at the deranged SIR unit in disbelief. He and Gaz had managed to get on the Massive surprisingly easy via access through the garbage shoot and had been sneaking around looking for Zim for several minutes now. "is Zim here with you?"

"No, They took him and locked him away." GIR answered frantically.

"Hurry; someone's coming!" Gaz pushed Dib into the room them and closed the door behind them just in time as three large guards walked by.

"Wow," Dib looked around to see the thousands of PAKs. "Is Zim's in here?" He asked.

"I don't know!" GIR looked defeated. "I thought I could find my Master. But…"

"GIR, what do you mean? I don't see Zim anywhere," Gaz cut in.

"No! Master, his PAK, is his mind; his everything!" GIR explained. "It's where he is! Master's body can't live without it, and if his PAK is destroyed, he'll die!" GIR sobbed. "I have failed Master!"

Dib understood, the PAK was like Zim's brain, and they needed to find it to save him.

"It's okay GIR," Gaz hugged him gently. "We'll find it. I promise." She looked around.

"How will we know which one is him? There are literally thousands!" Dib pointed out unhelpfully.

"You got to call him," GIR explained. "I've been calling out his name, but master doesn't answer!"

"He's lost hope," Dib whispered. "Gaz, you stay here and keep looking with GIR. I have to find Zim!"

"He probably in the dungeon!" GIR told him. "It's all the way down!"

"Be careful Dib." Gaz suddenly hugged him. "Promise me?"

Dib nodded and she let go. "It's okay Gaz; I promise everything will be okay." He ran then, out of the room, and started heading down to the dungeon, to Zim, hoping that it wasn't too late to save him…

[Back with Zim...]

Death…

He wondered what it would be like. He never truly thought it would come for him! After all, Irkens never died of old age, or got sick. Most Irkens like Invaders died in war, and even still this death was not truly the end. No, their conscience was passed on through the collective, and some even had the honor of being reborn as the brains downloaded their consciousness into a new PAK before attaching to a newly born smeet. Zim shivered. He had never thought it would end this way. He wondered what Gaz must be thinking of him now. 'She probably hates me,' he said to himself. 'And she should. Just look at what I've done~!'

"Zim."

Zim's antenna twitched. That sounded like Dib's voice, calling his name…

"Zim, wake up! We don't have much time!" He could feel someone shaking him now; he could feel the darkness lifting around him.

Zim opened his eyes to see… "Dib? What are you doing here? You have to run! Get out, now!"

"We can't do this without you!" Dib said, holding on to the bars, bowing his head in defeat. "I can't do this without you," he admitted.

"It's too late for me. You're the Earth's last hope. Please, go now, while you still can." Zim coughed up a translucent pink blood as he spoke.

"Zim…" Dib's face fell.

(The Control room...)

"My Tallest, it would appear we have intruders," an Irken soldier pointed to one of the surveillance feeds.

The Tallest looked on the screen to see a big-headed boy talking to the dying Zim.

"Hey, it's that large-headed boy," Red said.

"Do you want us to bring him in?" a soldier asked.

"No, not yet," Purple mused. "Let's see what he's up too…"

The Tallest both smiled as they watched the scene play out before them.

"We're not leaving without you!" Dib exclaimed as he tried to break the lock to open the cage.

'We're?' Zim suddenly froze. "Dib, who else is here?"

"Gaz… we came to rescue you. She and GIR are looking for your PAK right now. We have to hurry, Zim. You don't have much time left!"

"You brought her here?!" Zim growled.

The Tallest sneered as another screen showed Gaz and GIR looking through the PAKs, calling Zim by name.

"Do you know what they'll do If they find out who she is?!" Zim went on speaking between coughs. "Our love is forbidden, Dib! Forbidden! A punishment of death, Dib!"

The crowd of Irken Soldiers gasped. This Gaz was the one?

Red looked to the image of Zim and Gaz kissing on the spy drone, then he looked back to the girl with the SIR unit. "It is her," Red smiled. "Invader Skoodge, get her and bring her to us."

"Yes, My Tallests!" Skoodge answered darkly.

"GIR!" Zim yelled suddenly.

GIR jumped at the sound of his master's voice. "MASTER!" He ran over towards the sound to find what they had been searching for. A small PAK glowed. "Master, I found you!" He picked up the PAK and held it tight.

"GIR, listen! Forget about me!" Zim screamed louder, trying to ignore the pain. He could hear GIR now, shouting happily to Gaz.

"I found him, I found him!" There was a shuffling noise.

"Zim, it's me. Hang in there, okay?"

"No, Gaz. You have to get out of there now!" Zim yelled, but it was too late. He heard her scream, and he knew that they had been found. "GIR, defensive mode!" He ordered.

GIR dropped his master's PAK and obeyed at once, his red eyes glowing with determination. However, Invader Skoodge was too fast for him. One of his metal arms from his PAK wrapped around Gaz and electrocuted her as another swiped out and hit GIR hard.

GIR fell to the ground, broken and defeated. "I'm sorry, Master. I tried," his eyes closed slowly.

"GIR, NO!" Zim screeched.

"What is it?! What's wrong?!" Dib asked.

"They have her! They have Gaz!" Zim forced himself to his feet, his world spinning around him.

"Zim, you need your PAK! You only have 3 minutes left!" Dib tried to break open the cage but failed.

"Step aside, filth!" Zim demanded.

Dib obeyed and watched in astonishment as Zim spit up some of his own stomach acid. The bars and chains sizzled and dissolved away. "Okay, that was gross, but it was also pretty cool…"

"Let's go!" Zim forced himself to move forward, every step hurt like a thousand knives into his back. "We have to save Gaz!"

"But your PAK!" Dib exclaimed. "You don't have much more time, Zim!"

Zim pushed on and once they reached the storage room for the defective PAKs. He kicked it open in pure rage. "GIR!" He yelled as he ran to his fallen companion.

GIR was laying down on the floor, the glow of his blue eyes gone. Broken pieces of his were scattered on the floor.

"Zim," Dib picked up the glowing PAK. "I believe this is yours."

Zim turned to see his PAK. The device immediately reached out for him and reattached itself. Zim breathed in as air rushed into is lungs. Ten seconds more and he would have died! "That was close," he rasped as his strength began to return.

"What do we do?" Dib asked.

"We can't fight them. Not without GIR," Zim said in defeat.

"Can you fix him?"

"Yes, but it won't be easy." Zim began to go through the old PAKs. "I'll have to use these for spare parts. He will need a new power cell."

Dib nodded as he began to help gather pieces and, little by little, Zim pieced GIR back together.

"GIR, can you hear me?" Zim asked. "GIR, come back to me. Please," he begged as he held GIR's newly built body limply in his arms.

GIR's eyes slowly lit up. "Master," he whispered.

"GIR!" Zim hugged him close. "It's okay; you're safe now."

GIR looked down at himself. "Hey, what happened to my body?"

Zim stepped back. He already knew what had happened; GIR was now a make of old parts, his metal body once shiny and silver was now rusty and old. "I'm sorry GIR, I-" Zim watched as he saw GIR begin to shake. He looked as if he was gonna cry… "GIR, I-"

"I love it!" GIR yelled, suddenly bursting with joy. "Thank you, Master! I love you!" He hugged Zim, and Zim hugged him back. "Now let's go save Gazzy!" GIR exclaimed.

Dib's and Zim's eyes locked with each other's. They nodded their agreement.

"Let's go kick some alien butt," Dib said with striking determination.

"Don't worry Gaz; I'm coming," Zim vowed as they all rushed out of the defective PAK room. "And once you are safe, then they will pay. They will all pay!"

[Back with Gaz...]

Gaz groaned as Skoodge placed her in a cage.

"You won't get away with this. Zim will find me, and when he does, you'll be sorry," she warned weakly, still tired from ordeal.

"Zim won't know what hit him," Red told her as he and Purple came out of the shadows. "Once they try to break into the security system, a count-down will begin, and in 120 seconds this entire room will explode!"

"No," Gaz whispered. They were going to use her as bait.

"Then once you three and that stupid SIR Unit are out of the picture, nothing will stop us." Red and Purple laughed as they left the room, Skoodge following close behind them.

Gaz fell to her knees. It was all over. The moment they stepped foot in here, their doom would be set in stone.

Surely nothing could save them now….

[Back with Zim]

Fear…

It was eating at his insides! How could he let this happen?! How could he allow the love of his life… his entire world… his EVERYTHING… to fall into the hands of the enemy?!

Zim crept along the halls of the Massive with Dib by his side. He could hear the human's heart racing, and he couldn't blame him. After all, his own Squeedlyspooch was pounding in his chest. A thousand things could go wrong at any second!

Loyal Irken soldiers patrolled every hall; side-stepping each patrol was a challenge. Zim used GIR as his scout; every hall was pre-patrolled by his loyal servant and most trusted friend. The fear… oh how he wanted to allow it to swallow him whole; to devour him on the spot… but he could not! He had to keep moving, for Gaz!

He could imagine her now, caged like some diseased animal, hiding her own fear with her usual tough-girl act... She was bait on a hook to lure them all to their most certain doom; Zim had deduced that much. Yes, he knew without a doubt that they were walking into a trap, but at the same time he could not leave her! He was like a buffalo on the side of a lake. The buffalo would cross the body of water, knowing all too well that a crocodile lurks just under the surface, but the buffalo must cross to get to the open plain; the home that it loves so dearly. This trap was very similar, only Zim would have picked a crocodile over the entire Armada any day of the week…

Fear…

It had a way of playing tricks on your mind. Dib whipped his head around to look over his shoulder. He could have sworn he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, but nothing was there. He could see that Zim was equally as nervous. He couldn't even imagine what Zim must be feeling; his entire race shunned him, and now Zim, who was once his greatest foe, is his one and only ally! If a future him had gone back to yesterday and told him that this would happen, Dib wouldn't have believed a single word his future self said! After all, how crazy was it to think of him and Zim as a team?! No one would have believed it just a day ago!

He would have kicked himself; how could he do it again?! How could he have failed her again?! All he had to do was protect her like a good brother should, but his obsession kept getting in the way!

"You brought her here; do you know what they'll do to her if they find her?!" Zim's words echoed in Dib's head, filling his mind with fear and self-loathing. How could he?!

When was he going to get this whole big-brother thing right…?

(Back with GIR...)

GIR searched the halls. His mind was always racing, but now? This time it was different. Zim had GIR's obedience level turned all the way up. Last time that happen, GIR nearly destroyed his own Master, and even though Zim had fixed it a long time ago, it was still dangerous for GIR to be in this mode for too long. He had to find Gaz; he had to focus on that order…

"Find her and report back to me!" His mind clung to his master's words because, for now, those seven words were his only sense of sanity. She was close; he could hear her heartbeat! He turned a corner and ducked just in time to miss being seen by three oncoming soldiers. They spoke rapidly in Irken, but GIR heard what he needed. Human; held in room 253…

He'd found her! And now it was time to report to his Master…

(Back with Zim...)

"My lord!"

Zim and Dib froze as GIR seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Target acquired," GIR informed with a loyal salute.

"Where is she GIR?!" Zim asked hysterically.

"Room 253," GIR said bluntly, his red eyes blazing.

"And the guards?" Dib asked.

"The halls are flooded with the enemy, Sir." GIR found the word 'Sir' tasted sour in his mouth. Why should he give this human the respect that only his Master deserved?! His eye twitched, and somewhere in the back of his mind fear began to creep in. It was starting; his sense of reason was slowly slipping away…

Zim saw it coming, and as if GIR was a ticking time bomb he moved fast for his controller. Zim twisted the diel all the way down, then he pulled a piggy out of his PAK. He held it out to GIR. "GIR, what is this?" He said softly and cheerfully, holding the pig out to GIR.

GIR looked at it for a moment, red eyes still blazing as if he wasn't sure, and then his eyes turned wide and blue at the realization. The item being held out to him from Zim was his favorite toy. "Piggy!" GIR snatched it up and held it tight.

Zim breathed a sigh of relief, then his eyes narrowed. He looked to Dib. The human nodded in understanding.

"Let's do this!"

[Back with Gaz...]

Gaz paced her cell back and forth. It wasn't even a real cell; it was nothing more than a cage. She was being held captive like some animal, her frustration and anger grew with every passing second. They were headed for their own demise, and she had no way of warning them! The doors to her room suddenly burst open.

Zim, GIR, and Dib burst into the room.

"Gaz, you're okay!" Dib ran to her. "It's okay, we're gonna get you out! You're safe now!" He pulled out his laptop. "I can probably hack into the security system," Dib spoke rapidly as he hooked his laptop into the mainframe and began typing, "but once I do, the guards will be after us!"

"I'll manage the guards," Zim growled, his anger boiling.

"No, you have to go! Now!" Gaz spoke gravely. "It's a trap!"

"We're not leaving you!" Dib told her.

"No, you have to go! It's not safe here!" Gaz urged. "Zim, please!"

Their eyes locked and for the first time Zim saw her fear. He had never seen Gaz afraid of anything, and the last time he saw her so helpless was the fire. He knew then that she was right, and he could suddenly feel the danger closing in from all sides. They had to go; they had to go now!

"We're not leaving you!" Dib said as a matter-of fact. He typed more quickly now; he was not going to fail her as a brother! No, not this time!

"Zim, please take my brother and GO!" She was shouting now.

Zim didn't hesitate a second time. He grabbed Dib and ran for the escape hatch.

"Zim, no! What are you doing?! We can't leave her! We can't!" Dib thrashed around, trying to get free. His fight was useless as Zim finally got him through the hatch. "I'm sorry, Dib," he said before allowing Dib to begin to fall towards the Earth roughly five stories below their current altitude. He then turned to Gaz; his one true love.

"We'll be back for you," he promised.

She wanted to beg him to save her, to look at him with such pleading eyes and give into her fears, but she forced herself to be strong. She had to; for him… She couldn't let him die like this!

"Protect him! Promise me you'll keep him safe!" She begged.

"I promise, I will protect your brother with my life," Zim responded sadly.

Zim looked out of the ship and down below, seeing GIR catch a very angry and screaming Dib, and then he looked back to her again. "I love you."

"I love you too… Now go!" Gaz ordered.

Zim gave her one last fleeting look, and then he fell backwards out of the hatch, clutching her skull necklace to his chest.

The room exploded moments later.

"No! GAZ!" Dib screamed.

GIR flew with all his might and caught his Master as well just in time to shield them all from the blast with his own force field.

The Tallest watched as the smoke cleared; the room was destroyed and the only thing that remained was Gaz, who stood unharmed in her cage, surrounded by its own force field of protection.

"They got away!" Purple growled. "After them!" He ordered.

"No," Red stopped the guards.

"No?! Why not?" Purple asked, puzzled.

"We have something precious to them both," he reasoned as he gestured to Gaz. "They will come to us!"

[Following Zim...]

Zim grunted as they hit the ground. They were safe, at least for the moment, but that was about to change because Dib was going to kill him!

"YOU LEFT HER!" He screamed as he threw punches in Zim's direction. "How could you?! How could you leave her?!"

"She told me to!" Zim said as he dodged every blow.

"SHE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" He struck Zim once, but soon after Zim grabbed both his wrist and held them down.

"The cage had a force field around it; I saw the force field generator on the cage! She was protected by the blast, Dib! She's alive!"

"You still left her!" Dib fought against him. "How could you?! You said you loved her!"

"And it's because I love her that I followed her wishes!" Zim snapped.

"STOP IT!" GIR yelled and they froze. "Look at you! You're fighting! Don't you see? This is what the enemy wants! How can you two be fighting now of all times? Gazzy needs you now more than ever and you're fighting!"

They both looked at each other, their eyes full of shame.

"He's right." Dib let his arms fall to his sides. "We have to stick together, for Gaz. And for the human race."

Zim smiled as he watched Dib fill himself with confidence over every word said. "Separately we don't stand a chance, but if there's one thing I know for sure, Zim, it's that together we are unstoppable!"

Zim nodded in agreement and grew serious. "It won't be easy," he warned. "Every Irken soldier will be looking for us; we will be wanted criminals, rebels, terrorist… and being with me will be hardest on you. I'll be a traitor over everything else, and still a defective…"

"Then so be it," Dib said gravely.

"We should get out of the open; we're not safe out here." Zim looked around as he spoke, as if looking for the already approaching danger.

"I know someone who can help, General Lee from the Swollen Eyeball Network! He's known as agent Sloth. He can help us," Dib assured him.

"Then we'll start there. Lead the way!"

Dib took the lead, and they set off with GIR in full defensive mode at their side. They had to find General Lee; the very fate of them all depended on it.

'Everything will be okay. We'll be back before you know it, Gaz…' Dib promised her silently. Little did he know what was waiting for them within the presence of the remaining human population of his small town would be one of the hardest challenges they'd face. If he'd known, then maybe he could have prevented what was to happen next. If only he'd learnt that not all wounds could be healed, especially when they were freshly cut open by a monster who they had welcomed into their own world. A world that he destroyed without mercy, and without remorse as he sold their enemies all their secrets and all their weaknesses.

No, those kind of scars almost never healed, and those who bore them could leave only vengeance and despair in their wake…

End Notes: Oh no! It would appear the Tallest have the perfect advantage over their foes! Can the Swollen Eyeball help save the day or will our heros learn that their enemies lie with more than just the Irken race? Find out next time on Invader Zim: Renegades!

As Always thanks for Reading and please Review!

Yours Truly, RoxieDivine ;)