Note: I'm sorry I didn't upload this sooner, but I committed an infraction on FanFiction in another story (which was promptly removed) and was locked out for a week. A whole freaking week! I guess they know what they're doing, but it still makes me mad.

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With a flick of the wrist, Dib sent the scalpel flying through the nearest computer terminal. Sparks flew and the robotic arms began to spasm, flinging Zim around. The Professor spun around, startled.

"Dad, he's using telepathy!" Dib howled, getting behind Zim. "I gotta disable his PAK!" He gripped the gum and yanked it off Zim's PAK, stumbling away as if he had been thrown back.

Spider legs shot from the PAK and sawed through the robotic arms, sending Zim crashing to the floor. With a grunt, he wobbled upright, snatching a surgical knife. In a second he was towering over Dib, spider legs splayed. He seized the boy by the collar of his coat and pressed the knife to his neck, yelling, "Alright! Where is the exit to this stinking lab?"

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Dib caught his breath. This is it. The real test. Zim doesn't know which door to go through. Dad could send us out the right way or… He bit his lip, trying not to think of the alternative. He knew every door and hall in the building, but said nothing, silently begging his father to care if he lived or died.

Professor Membrane froze in indecision. Zim poked Dib. "Well?"

Membrane pointed stiffly at one of the four unmarked doors in the room. Dib slumped in Zim's grip, throwing his Dad a look of utter betrayal.

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Zim felt Dib begin to fall and clutched his shoulder tighter. "Come, Dib, we must leave." he spoke into his ear. Louder, he said, "Don't try to follow me, or he's dead!" With that he plunged through the door into a pitch black hall. The door slammed shut behind them and locked with a click.

"Don't breathe, Zim." Dib's voice echoed down the hall. "They're going to gas this hall any second now, try not to breathe."

Dumping Dib on the floor, Zim spread his spider legs as far apart as he could and activated a force field, enveloping them both and lighting up the hall. Seconds later a murky, cloudy yellow vapor poured in through the ceiling.

Zim picked up Dib again and rolled his force-field ball down the hall to the far end. The oxygen will only last so long. How big is this filthy hall? Ah! A door. Not stopping, they rolled through and shattered the door, startling the techies in the hall. One opened his mouth to protest when the murky yellow cloud rolled out from behind them and surrounded him. His eyes rolled back and he threw himself to the ground, shrieking. His nose, mouth, and ears spurted blood while he tore frantically at his eyes. Shuddering, Zim rolled on through the room as the humans were felled by the foul gas.

With Dib grunting directions, Zim fairly flew through the twisting passageways and rooms of Labrats Inc. Occasionally they came face to face with barricades, but these were quickly disarmed. However the closer they got to the exit, the more barricades there seemed to be.

"Victory is at hand!" Zim crowed as he spotted a sign pointing toward the exit, but his heart stopped when he saw the final barricade. Not mere wood and steel, this one formed a wall of contorted electricity. Irk! The electricity can't hurt me, not with my force field and PAK protection, but Dib! He couldn't take it, even if the shield could absorb most of it. His shell is too fragile! Curse you, Membrane!

He tensed as the Professor stepped in front of the barricade. The man stretched out his hands. "My son," he demanded. "Give me back my son."

Pulling Dib close, Zim snarled, "Now you want him back? You never wanted him before, never cared before! I've seen his memories, and I know enough about Earth to know that you didn't fulfill your familial duties!"

"I protected him. They could have taken him and Gaz apart, but I didn't let them!" Membrane yelled.

Dib gazed at his father with hate-filled eyes. "Look me in the face and tell me you wouldn't have let me die in that hallway, that if I died you wouldn't have cut me open to look at my insides. Tell me you would never have run experiments on me for the good of mankind."

Membrane straightened, but avoided Dib's eyes. "Son, science is everything. I cannot expect you to understand, being a child, but there is more at stake than just—"

"TELL ME!" Dib screamed.

Membrane brought his eyes up to Dib's and said stoically, "I would never have done these things to you."

Dib's face twisted in rage. "LIAR! I saw what you did, I remember!"

Membrane winced and Zim laid his antennae back against his skull, fury coursing through him. The memory download had reached deeply into Dib's mind, unearthing every single memory, no matter how deeply buried or painful, and Zim too had seen what had been done.

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"Dad? What's that?" Little Dib sat on a plain, white table, wearing only a pair of shorts. He took in the sterile room around him with wide eyes, but what captured his attention was the device in his Dad's hands.

"Just a little invention of mine, Son. It's going to tell me some things about what's inside of you."

"Inside of me?" Dib was confused. "But nobody can see what's inside me."

Membrane chuckled. "I can, with this." He set a large box beside Dib. It had a large screen on the front and lots of colorful buttons and knobs on the sides. Membrane took two alligator clamps and attached one to each of Dib's arms.

Dib shifted uncomfortably. "Dad, it hurts. Can you take it off?"

"In a few minutes, Son."

"But Dad, it really hurts!"

"Quiet, Son. It's almost ready."

Dib bit his lip as his Dad set the box on his lap. His skinny legs protested at the weight, but Dib kept silent, until his Dad pushed the yellow button.

Pain flashed up his arms and exploded in his chest. "Da—" He yelped. It was as if a hundred bees had been trapped in his ribcage and every last one of them was stinging him. His mouth hung open and his limbs lost feeling. He could not speak, but his eyes pleaded, Make it stop!

The Professor glanced into his son's eyes briefly, then glued his face to the readout on the strange box. Blood ran down Dib's arms and he passed out.

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The Professor drew himself up and said coldly, "Dib, the world is bigger than you. You may not understand how unusual your position is, but I do, and I had to make full use of the resources at hand."

"Sure Dad, forgive me for forgetting that even your own children are expendable for the sake of the world." Twisting his neck around, he told Zim, "Up the stairs, to the roof quick!"

Zim bounded for the stairs, leaving one speechless professor standing by his flashing barricade.

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Zim was panting hard by the time they cleared twenty floors and reached the roof. Dropping his shields, he retracted his spider legs and set Dib down. "Okay, Dib-beast, what's the plan now?"

Dib ran to the edge of the roof and peered down. Grinning, he gave a shrill whistle and stepped back from the edge. A tremor shook the building as the Voot Cruiser rose into view. The cockpit bubble opened and GIR sprang out.

"MASTER! YOU ALIVE! YOU WAKEDED! DIB NO LIE, DIB HELPED LIKE HE SAID! YAAAAAAYYY!" GIR ran and latched onto his Master's leg, squeezing much more gently. Suddenly he let go and moved back, a worried look on his face. "Master? You mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you, GIR?"

"Cause I did bad, I made you go 'way for a while." GIR hung his head.

Zim strode over and wrapped his arms around the robot. "It's okay, GIR, it's okay." He lifted the weeping unit and slipped into the cruiser, Dib close on his heels. With a roar, the ship lifted up and blasted off, trailing smoke into the clear sky.

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"You… are… going… to suffer… my wrath." Gaz gritted out. She banged her fists on the door again and again. "Dib! If you and your little green friend don't open this door right now and tell me why a psycho robot kidnapped me and locked me in this ship, I will personally throw you into such a deep pit of despair you will never see the light of day again!"

"Um, Gaz?" Dib's weary voice grated on her nerves. "Listen, you can do whatever you want to me if you let me explain something to you first."

A small grin tugged at her mouth. "Whatever?"

She could almost hear Dib shudder. "Whatever. Now if we let you out, will you listen to us first?"

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever."

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Professor Membrane poked at the ruins of the most advanced computer he had ever seen. Zim had destroyed his own base before absconding with his children, and not much was left to salvage.

Angrily, he kicked at a picture of a yellow and green monkey. It tumbled aside, revealing a monitor, completely intact. Frowning, he reached down and fumbled with the complicated knobs and buttons. The screen crackled and hissed as it came to life, revealing two rather astonished aliens dressed completely in purple and red.

Swallowing, Membrane saluted. "Greetings from Earth. Tallest Purple, Tallest Red, it has been a while. I apologize for contacting you again, but there is a rather urgent matter you should know about. A certain defective alien of your race has escaped and kidnapped my two children. I will tell you what I know and aid you in finding all three if I may be allowed the remains when you are finished."

THE END

Note: This is all for this story, most likely I will write a sequel. But first I would like to tackle a fiction challenge put forward by Invader Sideos and also write a brief history for GIR. Until then. Oh, and if anyone has any ideas to throw out for the sequel, let me know and if I use them I will give you credit.