Epilogue:
Outside, the moon cast a pale glow on Zim's house. Most of the lights in all the houses surrounding it were off, making the lone one stand out. But what made it stand out even more was the dark silhouette that stood atop the roof.
The shadow froze as a slight breeze blew, rustling the trees and startling the mood. It breathed deeply, attempting to calm down. Then it crouched down and disappeared off the roof.
Odd tubes stretched from the walls of Zim's house to those surrounding it, and the form used them to slowly edge down from the roof to a ledge, level with the floor of the attic. Then it stooped toward a section of the tube that was unlike the others. A curse escaped the shadow's breath as it accidentally touched the ice cold metal with their bare wrist. Grasping their wrist, they felt around for the same unlatched opening, which had allowed their entrance the last time, and would allow their entrance again.
It was pitch black, making it difficult for the figure to see but at the same time making it difficult for any watchers to see the figure. There were none, however, and the figure successfully grasped the handle, pulling hard. The small door swung open swiftly, making a terrible racket as it clanged into the tube in back of it. The form froze momentarily, hoping no one heard the sound. The same quietness evoked just so.
The figure dropped down into the access tube and carefully closed it, glancing around, but it was of no avail because it was completely dark around here as well, except for a pinpoint of light that signified the end of the tube. The form felt the walls of the tube as it carefully walked toward this light, forgetting to tread softly like last time as, for a moment, it strode over a small blue panel on the floor of the tube.
***
Zim was in his lab, slightly angered by what had happened earlier. Why couldn't humans just leave him alone? If it wasn't Dib that was chasing after him, it was Liz. For two different reasons, of course, but it was irritating to be forced to deal with either one of them.
His eyes drooped. He was obviously exhausted. He was just about to fall asleep when a blaring alarm jerked him to full attention. His eyes glazed over to the console screen, where the words PERIMETER BREECH flashed across, the alarms resounding throughout the lab concurrently. Zim swung around, fist clenched, sneering beneath his breath, "Dib."
He quickly stood up and grabbed his nearest weapon- a laser- and entered the Geoffrey's tube, which rose him to ground level. He halted for a moment to put the laser on it's highest power, and, grasping it tightly, moved out into the 'living room'.
It was silent, except for the sound of the television blaring the Scary Monkey Show, a snoring Gir who sat asleep in front of it. Zim's eyes immediately led to the ceiling, and figured that Dib must be in one of the other rooms. He slowly walked over, turning the t.v. up slightly so the intruder would not hear him come, and then he turned toward Gir, clamping his hand over the small robot's mouth.
"Shhhh," Zim whispered when Gir woke abruptly up.
"Hi- mmph," Gir responded.
"I said be quiet Gir!" Zim snapped again, still in the lowest voice possible. "We have an intruder."
Gir was about to tell his master that he liked intruders, when a creaking sound in the kitchen caught Zim's attention. He immediately followed the sound, and stepped lightly, closing in on the entranceway to the kitchen.
Finally, Zim had a full scale view of the kitchen. A figure was bent double from the ceiling, reaching out toward the table. It wore an outfit entire in black, much like the one Dib wore so many years ago when he infiltrated his house. He narrowed his eyes in the darkness, seeing a tuft of black hair sticking out from under the mask. On observing the figure itself, however, Zim could clearly see that the body structure could not possibly belong to Dib.
"That's who visited me when I was fixed, master!" Gir said to Zim in a whisper of his own, thinking this was all a game.
"What? Why did you not tell me this, Gir?!" Zim said, reminding himself to continue speaking in a low whisper.
Gir stared at him for a moment and then responded, "You never asked."
Zim gritted his teeth, about to answer to that, but instead slowly put down Gir. "Don't move," he instructed as he felt the laser with both hands. He rose it, aiming it directly at the intruder, and prepared to press the trigger.
***
The figure had breeched security now, and popped her head down from the tube, waiting patiently for her eyes to adjust to the dark so she could find what she was looking for. Directly beneath her was a small, green- colored dog, which sat, sleeping in front of the television. She quickly searched the room with her eyes, but realized it was not there. Slowly, she edged out of the tube just enough to use her legs to grab on to the various wires and cables that littered the ceiling. She used them again to mobilize herself across the ceiling, heading into another room.
This place was darker, for it lacked the light of the t.v. that the other room had. Her eyes quickly adjusted and fell onto a folded piece of paper, sitting plainly in the middle of the table. She held onto a cable with both legs, and then slowly reached down, suspended in mid-air, toward where the note was. She thought she heard the dog waking up, but it was of no threat to her so she did not worry about it.
Then she heard the click of a weapon, and her eyes shot over to another figure standing in the doorway. She panicked- her legs slipped out of the loophole of the cable- and she let out a scream as she fell toward the linoleum floor. Her hand reached out to grab hold of something, but all she could grab was air, and they flailed around wildly on her course downwards. Just missing the table with her head, she crashed into the ground, hearing the loud thud! that came with it. Extreme pain shot up both her legs, but she didn't care about that. She had to complete her mission. She had to…
***
Zim continued to keep the gun focused on the intruder, and quickly switched the kitchen light on so he could see better. She stood up swiftly, despite the obvious pain she was in, and her hands balled in fists, menacing eyes glaring from behind the black mask.
"Yay! We won!" Gir shouted from behind Zim.
Zim chose this moment to ignore him, and slowly stepped forward to examine the menace. Her eyes kept glancing up and down, however. She wasn't keeping her eye on the gun, she wanted-
She made a sudden grab for the paper on the table, but Zim was there first. He had no idea /why/ she wanted the paper, all he knew was that she was after something of /his/ and must be stopped. He held the paper in his hands and held it up tauntingly.
"Is this what you wanted? What you worked so dearly to get into my house for?" he growled, crumpling it up and stuffing it into his back pocket. "It is junk, really. You wouldn't want it."
The figure only stood there, her eyes burning holes into Zim. He focused his eyes on her. "Who are you? What are you trying to do, intruding into my home like this?"
She made no response. Zim reached up to remove the mask but she quickly backed away. He switched the weapon in one hand, and reached forward again, this time digging one of his claws into the girl's shoulder blade, and using the other to get a good hold of the mask. She let out a cry at the sudden jolt of pain but he ignored it.
It was then that he saw the tufts of hair sticking from out under the mask were /not/ black. They were purple. And upon successfully pulling the mask off, seeing the purple hair fall to the shoulders of the trespasser, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Gaz?!"
***
Gaz glared at him and massaged her shoulder blade, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her shoulder. Her face itched now that the stuffy woolen mask had been removed and she was ticked off that she had been discovered. "You better not have broken my skin or else I'll-"
"Gaz," Zim repeated in disbelief.
Gaz rolled her eyes. "Yes. It's me. Now give me that note back or else I'll-"
"Is that what you wanted to intrude into my house for?!" Zim yelled. "The stupid note?"
"It was /not/ a stupid note it was-"
"It was your pathetic friend's attempt to win me over," Zim rolled his eyes, took the crumpled note out and tossed it to Gaz. "Take it and get OUT."
Gaz caught it and examined it to make sure it was what she was looking for. "Thank you," she said smugly, heading toward the door.
"Wait," Zim spun around, another thought entering his head. "Gir, are you sure this is the one?"
"Yep!" Gir said, hopping up and hugging Gaz's leg. "She had grape flavored hair, just like her!"
Gaz kicked her leg into the air a couple times. "Get OFF, Gir! Let go! Bad dog… robot… thing!"
Zim stepped forward and pried Gir off her leg, and then stood in front of her to block her exit. "You were in my house before."
Gaz hesitated, wary. "Yeah, so? Is that a crime?"
"But you told me Liz was the one to fix Gir."
Gaz sighed, trying not to get agitated. "Yes, so I lied. Big deal." She took a step forward to leave but Zim wouldn't let her. He grabbed her shoulder roughly where he had previously injured it and pushed her back.
"I want to know why," he sneered.
"Get your hands off of me!" Gaz yelled, infuriated. "It is not any of your business and I wouldn't tell you even if-"
"Tell me!" he ordered, digging deeper into her skin and pressing his face closer to hers. "Now."
She backed away, and if she had been thinking straight, would simply have disabled Zim with a small kick. Zim glared down at her, unable to read the expression on her face and figure out why she was looking at him so strangely. Finally she seemed to snap out of it and pushed him away. "Let GO of me Zim."
Oddly, he complied, but he stood his ground, glaring down at her in an intimidating stare. She did nothing but return the look.
"I knew that you would have probably assumed that she did it," she sneered in a dangerously quiet voice . "So I fixed it. Not for you- for her. I thought that if you thought that she fixed it for you, maybe you would be /lenient/ on her. Apparently, someone like you is not capable of being lenient once in awhile."
Zim grunted. "Lenient? I think not. Even if Liz did fix the robot, which apparently she didn't, that note-" he pointed toward the crumpled note in her hand. "That note is over the top. The girl is /insane/."
Gaz grimaced, her face burning, and looked away. But Zim caught the expression, and though not human, was a good judge of the repulsive species. He could do nothing but stare at her, mouth gaping. "You...?" When she did not answer, he raised his voice. "YOU wrote the note?" She remained quiet, and he stepped forward threateningly. "Get it over with Gaz and tell me right now-"
Gaz threw up her hands, yelling and regretting ever braving to come here. "Do you EVER tire? Yes. I wrote the note. I wrote the fucking note! Do you have a problem with that?" Gaz stuck her face up to Zim closely, glaring into his eyes.
"I… um…"
"Good." Gaz crumpled the note in her hands and backed down. She stared at him for a moment, cocking her eyebrow at Zim's expression. She turned around unenthusiastically. "Don't be so full of yourself, Zim. I didn't mean anything in it."
"Then why-"
"I wrote it for Liz too, okay? With the same futile hope as the outcome with fixing the robot," she gave a cynical laugh that seemed forced and empty. "For a moment you actually thought-"
"NO!" he yelled suddenly. "No, I never thought that."
"Good," she said, grabbing her mask and tucking it into her pants pocket. She flung open the door, and just before shutting it, turned back. "And Zim? If you ever tell anyone- I'll kill you." She smiled broadly, winked, and slammed the door shut, so hard that it shook the windows of the house.
"I like her," Gir murmured.
Zim sighed, staring at the shut door, and shook his head. "Stupid humans. Destroying this planet will be doing them a /favor/, in all their supreme idiocy." He sat down on the couch, Gir hopping up to sit next to his beloved master.
"I like the stupid humans."
"No, Gir. Don't like them. Hate them. HATE THEM!" Zim growled, turning the t.v. on.
"Awww... but the stupid human fixed me!" Gir whined.
Zim's fist clenched at the thought of this. Yes... yes, Gir, no matter how idiotic the scrap-for-brains was, was right. But surely if Gaz was able to fix him, /he/ could have fixed him.
Zim said nothing and turned it to the Scary Monkey Show, murmuring something barely audible about four years. But for the life of him, he couldn't get tonight's events out of his mind. He finally stood up, agitated, walking toward the kitchen.
"Where ya goin', master?" Gir asked, giggling for no apparent reason.
"To my lab. To reinforce the base with more weapons."
"Awww... kool-aid human won't be able to fix me anymore," Gir whimpered.
"So don't get yourself broken anymore," Zim growled from inside the kitchen. He paused and glanced toward the ceiling, were scraps of metal and wires were still hanging down from Gaz's fall. "Stupid humans and their stupid emotions..." he said as he descended down toward his lab. The last sound that came from his lips echoed across the cold, metal walls of the transport tube, words that struck the walls and the air and the core of anyone who might be listening like a dagger to the heart.
"Pathetic."
END.
A/N: Yes. It ends there. TA-DA!! It's done! Finally!
...now on to the sequel!
There's a very important reason why I stopped it at that place up there. That because, if you didn't get the indications, this is going to be a ZAGR. Yes. Shame on me. I'm such a horrible fan.
One important thing you should know is that the sequel will NOT be posted on FFN. See my profile if you really want to know why. And now... see that little button down there? I'd LOVE you forever if you clicked it and typed in a review.
Outside, the moon cast a pale glow on Zim's house. Most of the lights in all the houses surrounding it were off, making the lone one stand out. But what made it stand out even more was the dark silhouette that stood atop the roof.
The shadow froze as a slight breeze blew, rustling the trees and startling the mood. It breathed deeply, attempting to calm down. Then it crouched down and disappeared off the roof.
Odd tubes stretched from the walls of Zim's house to those surrounding it, and the form used them to slowly edge down from the roof to a ledge, level with the floor of the attic. Then it stooped toward a section of the tube that was unlike the others. A curse escaped the shadow's breath as it accidentally touched the ice cold metal with their bare wrist. Grasping their wrist, they felt around for the same unlatched opening, which had allowed their entrance the last time, and would allow their entrance again.
It was pitch black, making it difficult for the figure to see but at the same time making it difficult for any watchers to see the figure. There were none, however, and the figure successfully grasped the handle, pulling hard. The small door swung open swiftly, making a terrible racket as it clanged into the tube in back of it. The form froze momentarily, hoping no one heard the sound. The same quietness evoked just so.
The figure dropped down into the access tube and carefully closed it, glancing around, but it was of no avail because it was completely dark around here as well, except for a pinpoint of light that signified the end of the tube. The form felt the walls of the tube as it carefully walked toward this light, forgetting to tread softly like last time as, for a moment, it strode over a small blue panel on the floor of the tube.
***
Zim was in his lab, slightly angered by what had happened earlier. Why couldn't humans just leave him alone? If it wasn't Dib that was chasing after him, it was Liz. For two different reasons, of course, but it was irritating to be forced to deal with either one of them.
His eyes drooped. He was obviously exhausted. He was just about to fall asleep when a blaring alarm jerked him to full attention. His eyes glazed over to the console screen, where the words PERIMETER BREECH flashed across, the alarms resounding throughout the lab concurrently. Zim swung around, fist clenched, sneering beneath his breath, "Dib."
He quickly stood up and grabbed his nearest weapon- a laser- and entered the Geoffrey's tube, which rose him to ground level. He halted for a moment to put the laser on it's highest power, and, grasping it tightly, moved out into the 'living room'.
It was silent, except for the sound of the television blaring the Scary Monkey Show, a snoring Gir who sat asleep in front of it. Zim's eyes immediately led to the ceiling, and figured that Dib must be in one of the other rooms. He slowly walked over, turning the t.v. up slightly so the intruder would not hear him come, and then he turned toward Gir, clamping his hand over the small robot's mouth.
"Shhhh," Zim whispered when Gir woke abruptly up.
"Hi- mmph," Gir responded.
"I said be quiet Gir!" Zim snapped again, still in the lowest voice possible. "We have an intruder."
Gir was about to tell his master that he liked intruders, when a creaking sound in the kitchen caught Zim's attention. He immediately followed the sound, and stepped lightly, closing in on the entranceway to the kitchen.
Finally, Zim had a full scale view of the kitchen. A figure was bent double from the ceiling, reaching out toward the table. It wore an outfit entire in black, much like the one Dib wore so many years ago when he infiltrated his house. He narrowed his eyes in the darkness, seeing a tuft of black hair sticking out from under the mask. On observing the figure itself, however, Zim could clearly see that the body structure could not possibly belong to Dib.
"That's who visited me when I was fixed, master!" Gir said to Zim in a whisper of his own, thinking this was all a game.
"What? Why did you not tell me this, Gir?!" Zim said, reminding himself to continue speaking in a low whisper.
Gir stared at him for a moment and then responded, "You never asked."
Zim gritted his teeth, about to answer to that, but instead slowly put down Gir. "Don't move," he instructed as he felt the laser with both hands. He rose it, aiming it directly at the intruder, and prepared to press the trigger.
***
The figure had breeched security now, and popped her head down from the tube, waiting patiently for her eyes to adjust to the dark so she could find what she was looking for. Directly beneath her was a small, green- colored dog, which sat, sleeping in front of the television. She quickly searched the room with her eyes, but realized it was not there. Slowly, she edged out of the tube just enough to use her legs to grab on to the various wires and cables that littered the ceiling. She used them again to mobilize herself across the ceiling, heading into another room.
This place was darker, for it lacked the light of the t.v. that the other room had. Her eyes quickly adjusted and fell onto a folded piece of paper, sitting plainly in the middle of the table. She held onto a cable with both legs, and then slowly reached down, suspended in mid-air, toward where the note was. She thought she heard the dog waking up, but it was of no threat to her so she did not worry about it.
Then she heard the click of a weapon, and her eyes shot over to another figure standing in the doorway. She panicked- her legs slipped out of the loophole of the cable- and she let out a scream as she fell toward the linoleum floor. Her hand reached out to grab hold of something, but all she could grab was air, and they flailed around wildly on her course downwards. Just missing the table with her head, she crashed into the ground, hearing the loud thud! that came with it. Extreme pain shot up both her legs, but she didn't care about that. She had to complete her mission. She had to…
***
Zim continued to keep the gun focused on the intruder, and quickly switched the kitchen light on so he could see better. She stood up swiftly, despite the obvious pain she was in, and her hands balled in fists, menacing eyes glaring from behind the black mask.
"Yay! We won!" Gir shouted from behind Zim.
Zim chose this moment to ignore him, and slowly stepped forward to examine the menace. Her eyes kept glancing up and down, however. She wasn't keeping her eye on the gun, she wanted-
She made a sudden grab for the paper on the table, but Zim was there first. He had no idea /why/ she wanted the paper, all he knew was that she was after something of /his/ and must be stopped. He held the paper in his hands and held it up tauntingly.
"Is this what you wanted? What you worked so dearly to get into my house for?" he growled, crumpling it up and stuffing it into his back pocket. "It is junk, really. You wouldn't want it."
The figure only stood there, her eyes burning holes into Zim. He focused his eyes on her. "Who are you? What are you trying to do, intruding into my home like this?"
She made no response. Zim reached up to remove the mask but she quickly backed away. He switched the weapon in one hand, and reached forward again, this time digging one of his claws into the girl's shoulder blade, and using the other to get a good hold of the mask. She let out a cry at the sudden jolt of pain but he ignored it.
It was then that he saw the tufts of hair sticking from out under the mask were /not/ black. They were purple. And upon successfully pulling the mask off, seeing the purple hair fall to the shoulders of the trespasser, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Gaz?!"
***
Gaz glared at him and massaged her shoulder blade, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her shoulder. Her face itched now that the stuffy woolen mask had been removed and she was ticked off that she had been discovered. "You better not have broken my skin or else I'll-"
"Gaz," Zim repeated in disbelief.
Gaz rolled her eyes. "Yes. It's me. Now give me that note back or else I'll-"
"Is that what you wanted to intrude into my house for?!" Zim yelled. "The stupid note?"
"It was /not/ a stupid note it was-"
"It was your pathetic friend's attempt to win me over," Zim rolled his eyes, took the crumpled note out and tossed it to Gaz. "Take it and get OUT."
Gaz caught it and examined it to make sure it was what she was looking for. "Thank you," she said smugly, heading toward the door.
"Wait," Zim spun around, another thought entering his head. "Gir, are you sure this is the one?"
"Yep!" Gir said, hopping up and hugging Gaz's leg. "She had grape flavored hair, just like her!"
Gaz kicked her leg into the air a couple times. "Get OFF, Gir! Let go! Bad dog… robot… thing!"
Zim stepped forward and pried Gir off her leg, and then stood in front of her to block her exit. "You were in my house before."
Gaz hesitated, wary. "Yeah, so? Is that a crime?"
"But you told me Liz was the one to fix Gir."
Gaz sighed, trying not to get agitated. "Yes, so I lied. Big deal." She took a step forward to leave but Zim wouldn't let her. He grabbed her shoulder roughly where he had previously injured it and pushed her back.
"I want to know why," he sneered.
"Get your hands off of me!" Gaz yelled, infuriated. "It is not any of your business and I wouldn't tell you even if-"
"Tell me!" he ordered, digging deeper into her skin and pressing his face closer to hers. "Now."
She backed away, and if she had been thinking straight, would simply have disabled Zim with a small kick. Zim glared down at her, unable to read the expression on her face and figure out why she was looking at him so strangely. Finally she seemed to snap out of it and pushed him away. "Let GO of me Zim."
Oddly, he complied, but he stood his ground, glaring down at her in an intimidating stare. She did nothing but return the look.
"I knew that you would have probably assumed that she did it," she sneered in a dangerously quiet voice . "So I fixed it. Not for you- for her. I thought that if you thought that she fixed it for you, maybe you would be /lenient/ on her. Apparently, someone like you is not capable of being lenient once in awhile."
Zim grunted. "Lenient? I think not. Even if Liz did fix the robot, which apparently she didn't, that note-" he pointed toward the crumpled note in her hand. "That note is over the top. The girl is /insane/."
Gaz grimaced, her face burning, and looked away. But Zim caught the expression, and though not human, was a good judge of the repulsive species. He could do nothing but stare at her, mouth gaping. "You...?" When she did not answer, he raised his voice. "YOU wrote the note?" She remained quiet, and he stepped forward threateningly. "Get it over with Gaz and tell me right now-"
Gaz threw up her hands, yelling and regretting ever braving to come here. "Do you EVER tire? Yes. I wrote the note. I wrote the fucking note! Do you have a problem with that?" Gaz stuck her face up to Zim closely, glaring into his eyes.
"I… um…"
"Good." Gaz crumpled the note in her hands and backed down. She stared at him for a moment, cocking her eyebrow at Zim's expression. She turned around unenthusiastically. "Don't be so full of yourself, Zim. I didn't mean anything in it."
"Then why-"
"I wrote it for Liz too, okay? With the same futile hope as the outcome with fixing the robot," she gave a cynical laugh that seemed forced and empty. "For a moment you actually thought-"
"NO!" he yelled suddenly. "No, I never thought that."
"Good," she said, grabbing her mask and tucking it into her pants pocket. She flung open the door, and just before shutting it, turned back. "And Zim? If you ever tell anyone- I'll kill you." She smiled broadly, winked, and slammed the door shut, so hard that it shook the windows of the house.
"I like her," Gir murmured.
Zim sighed, staring at the shut door, and shook his head. "Stupid humans. Destroying this planet will be doing them a /favor/, in all their supreme idiocy." He sat down on the couch, Gir hopping up to sit next to his beloved master.
"I like the stupid humans."
"No, Gir. Don't like them. Hate them. HATE THEM!" Zim growled, turning the t.v. on.
"Awww... but the stupid human fixed me!" Gir whined.
Zim's fist clenched at the thought of this. Yes... yes, Gir, no matter how idiotic the scrap-for-brains was, was right. But surely if Gaz was able to fix him, /he/ could have fixed him.
Zim said nothing and turned it to the Scary Monkey Show, murmuring something barely audible about four years. But for the life of him, he couldn't get tonight's events out of his mind. He finally stood up, agitated, walking toward the kitchen.
"Where ya goin', master?" Gir asked, giggling for no apparent reason.
"To my lab. To reinforce the base with more weapons."
"Awww... kool-aid human won't be able to fix me anymore," Gir whimpered.
"So don't get yourself broken anymore," Zim growled from inside the kitchen. He paused and glanced toward the ceiling, were scraps of metal and wires were still hanging down from Gaz's fall. "Stupid humans and their stupid emotions..." he said as he descended down toward his lab. The last sound that came from his lips echoed across the cold, metal walls of the transport tube, words that struck the walls and the air and the core of anyone who might be listening like a dagger to the heart.
"Pathetic."
END.
A/N: Yes. It ends there. TA-DA!! It's done! Finally!
...now on to the sequel!
There's a very important reason why I stopped it at that place up there. That because, if you didn't get the indications, this is going to be a ZAGR. Yes. Shame on me. I'm such a horrible fan.
One important thing you should know is that the sequel will NOT be posted on FFN. See my profile if you really want to know why. And now... see that little button down there? I'd LOVE you forever if you clicked it and typed in a review.