Chapter One

I stood on a platform, hovering hundreds of yards from the ground, watching the world burn. I could see for miles, buildings going up in smoke and flames, people screaming and running in every direction like mad things. Police helicopters were everywhere and sirens would start up every few seconds, only to cut off again. There just weren't enough fire trucks to cover everything, because everything was burning. The smoke from the fires was so thick I was almost choking on it. I might as well been choking, I couldn't breathe anyway.

The platform that I stood on was Irken technology, the finest. He had wanted me to see it, he said. And I was seeing it. Oh God, I was seeing it.

My hands were bound in some kind of handcuffs; I hadn't tried to get them off. Even if I did, what then? There was nothing I could do now. The damage was done. He had won. On May twenty third, at five forty seven pm, he had destroyed the world. And I hadn't been able to stop him.

It had happened so fast, this morning I woke up, got dressed for school and left the house, I even met him at the corner like we have done for years. He didn't act any different than he usually does. We went to school, sat through the same boring classes, ate lunch at the same table, just the two of us because we were each others only friend. Or so I thought. We sat through the rest of our classes, walked home together, and split at the corner. He even asked if I was coming over to his house later. 'Of course,' I said, 'like always.'.

I fell to my knees, my eyes staring blindly, not really seeing. I thought he had changed. He didn't act like he used too, when we were children. I thought the games that we used to play were over. I thought he had given up on destroying my world. We had become so close… I thought that maybe I had changed him. Boy, guess I was wrong.

"Well Dib-human? What do you think?" His voice came from behind me. It had grown deeper as we had gotten older. Not suddenly, like a human going through puberty, like mine, but gradually. Slowly. Of course, it still had that metallic undertone, an imprint of what he really was. I turned my head slowly. He wasn't looking at me. He was staring out at the consequences of his actions. This was his moment. The one he had been waiting for for years. I looked at him then, really looked at him. I don't know why, it wasn't like I didn't already have every detail of his psychical appearance memorized. You can thank years of unhealthy obsession for that.

I was sitting in my room at my desk, with my chin resting in my hand, doing some pointless homework that was assigned to me in science class. School had only started back up again two days ago, and the teachers were giving homework, sixth grade sucked. My phone rang, demanding my attention. I frowned. No one ever called me except Gaz, and she was downstairs. I looked at my caller ID and saw a number that I didn't recognize. Insanely curious, I answered.

"DIB-HUMAN! I need you to come to my house. Now." His voice was more familiar to me that even my own. I smiled to myself.

"Why? You always yell at me whenever I come over, even when I'm NOT trying to plant cameras that we both know will never successfully record any footage that I can actually use. And how did you get my number anyway?" I asked, an afterthought.

"Such information is classified. And I don't CARE about the cameras. You must come over. Gir needs attention and I am too BUSY WITH STUFF to be bothered with him." He screeched into the phone. I didn't even know he had a phone.

"You know, Gir is your stupid robot. Not mine. He's your responsibility; you should have to put up with him." I said, thoroughly enjoying the conversation in general.

"I CAN'T right now. I am expecting a call from the Tallest, I must speak to them with no INTERUPTIONS." He growled. I sighed, very over exaggeratedly.

"Alright Zim, I guess I can come babysit your retarded robot." I said, smiling again. I could hear Gir in the background screaming hysterically.

"NOW." He said again, before the line went dead. I began scrambling around my room, throwing things haphazardly into my bag before I bolted out the door.

He was tall. Much taller than any of the others of his race, which for him was an amazing and empowering thing. We were exactly the same height, about six foot, two inches. We stood exactly eye to eye. I suddenly couldn't remember what he had said. As though he sensed it, as though he just knew, he spoke again.

"Answer me, Dib." He looked at me then. He wore no human disguise. No need to anymore, I guess. Or maybe he just wanted to remind me of what he really was. My eyes stung. I couldn't tell if it was the smoke or the tears threatening to spill at any second. As I looked into his red, red eyes, his face wore that superior 'I am Irken, and you are nothing but a pitiful and inferior human' expression that I had seen so many times. My eyes burned more.

"How… Why? I thought… I thought…" I couldn't finish. I looked away from him. I couldn't look at his face anymore. I looked out again, at the cities burning. At my home burning. At my planet, burning. We had been together so long now… we were seniors, about to graduate. Life wasn't perfect… but I thought we were happy. I thought we were okay. I really thought that he had given up on his mission.

"Why am I still alive?" I managed to choke out. I looked back at him, I was suddenly looking up at him, I didn't remember falling to my knees.

"I will keep you as my zakri. My… what is the human word? My pet? My slave? It is common for Invaders to pick one of the creatures from the planet that they conquer as their zakri. It is a way to show ones prowess, ones accomplishment. They are popular, back at Irk. You are tall, so you are a wonderful catch. No Irken is as tall as you or I, not even the Tallest." He said this last bit quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself. It was the best complement that I had ever gotten from him. He would probably never say it again. He had looked away from me again, and out at the world. He was staring so intensely that I could see the flames reflected in his large eyes. Almost as if he wanted to burn this image into his mind forever.

"Take a good look, Dib-thing, for this is the last time you will ever see your earth." He said, in an almost bored tone. He turned and walked away from me, walking toward the Irkens soldiers with their weird Irken computers, waiting for his report. I looked back at the place that was my home. I could see my house in the distance, or what was left of it. I thought of Gaz, of my dad, dead. I couldn't see Zim's house. I couldn't even manage to be angry. I just didn't have the energy in me to be angry.

I thought of all the times that we spent together, sitting in the cafeteria, going to the movies, sitting at his house watching TV, walking Gir. He had told me of Irk and how he missed it. I had told him of my dad and how he was never home. We had become close. I trusted him. How could he do this?

"Time to go Dib. Get up." His thin green fingers wrapped around my upper arm, pulling me to my feet. I was numb, I went willingly, there was no point in struggling now. One of his soldiers walked up to us, reaching out towards me. Suddenly, Zim reached out and shoved him back violently. He hissed words in Irken at the soldier. Words that I could understand because had taught myself his language so that I could speak to him in his native tongue. So that he wouldn't be so homesick.

"No! He will ride in my ship with me. He does not leave my sight. Do not touch him." He said, his eyes narrowing angrily. The soldier backed up, his eyes wide. He said nothing. He pulled me by the arm to a smaller platform, I stumbled up onto it. We rose up, into his ship. I guess it was his ship. I had never seen it before. He pushed me into a seat next to his before he sat down. He took the controls and I felt the ship vibrate and come alive with movement.

"Hey Zim, teach me your language." I said from his couch where I sat watching TV with Gir. Zim was sitting at his kitchen table, tinkering with some Irken device.

"Why would I want to spill Irken secrets with a filthy stink beast such as yourself?" He said, his voice monotone while he concentrated. The insults didn't bother me like they used too, after all, we were in ninth grade now, we were friends. We had outgrown that kind of stuff.

"That way I can talk to you in Irken. I know you miss it." I said, looking over at him. He grunted and mumbled something about my being "unworthy of his great and superior Irken tongue". I sighed and dropped the subject. A few days later I came over to his house and saw that there was a bookshelf in his living room that had never been there before. I dropped my bag and walked over to it as Zim walked into the room carrying an empty plate. He ignored me as I looked through the books, all in Irken. I grabbed one and opened it, the pages were made of some weird material that wasn't paper.

"You know, I can decipher these and learn myself. I don't need your help." I said, glancing at him. He grunted and waved his hand and me, as though trying to get me to shut up. I turned back to the bookcase and smiled to myself, grabbing a few more books off of the shelf.

I stared blankly through the thick clear alien substance that made up his front window. The ship was rising rapidly, the beautiful blue sky that I loved was only visible for a few more minutes before it gave way to the inky blackness of space. I had always loved being in space, but it held no interest for me now. I could feel him glancing over at me, but I continued to stare out of the window. I felt numb, emotionally dead. I guess I couldn't really complain. Numb is better than the pain.

"Dib-beast, look at me." He ordered. I looked at him. Why resist? He looked into my eyes for a moment before his expression became irritated. It amazed me sometimes how similar his expressions were to that of a human.

"You are going into shock, stupid weak human. Hold still." His pack opened up and one of his mechanical legs reached behind him and picked up a aluminum case, placing it into his lap. He opened the case and pulled out a syringe and glass bottle, full of some clear liquid. He stuck the needle into it and drew out a fair amount before closing the case. He held his hand out for me. I didn't even think. I gave him my arm. The needle didn't hurt, and I was relieved when I felt the first strings of unconscious pulling at my mind. I looked at him, and even though he had just destroyed my home, my family, and my whole way of life out of an act of selfishness and greed, I think I loved him then. He was taking away my pain, putting me out of my misery. I knew it wasn't death that he was giving me, I wasn't that lucky, but a time of unconscious, where I didn't have to think or see my sisters face in my head. He was giving me an escape from my grief. And I loved him for that. I stared at him as he pulled the needle out slowly, and placed it back in the case. My vision was narrowing, but I saw his mechanical leg come into view and pick the case back up, getting it out of his way. He turned back to the controls and started punching buttons and pulling random knobs and levers. My eyelids were so heavy, and I knew it would feel so good to go to sleep right then, but I stared at him for as long as I could, with his smooth green skin and narrow red eyes. He always narrowed his eyes when he was bothered by something. I blinked a few times, slowly, and suddenly he was blurry and I couldn't see him. The fact that I couldn't see him anymore was tragic to me, so tragic that I wanted to cry. And then everything was black, and I couldn't feel anything.