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Before The Day Is Done

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'Holy water, cannot help you now.
Thousand armies, couldn't keep me out.
I don't want your money, I don't want your crown.
See I've come to burn, your kingdom down...'

- "Seven Devils," Florence + The Machine

"S-sir, the power has gone off line!"

Tallest Red had not expected such a seemingly normal day to turn out this way.

"What do you mean the power has gone off line?" Red demanded, "How does the Massive's power just disappear?"

"All our defenses are down," one of the pilot communicators explained nervously, "And we can't... Uh... exactly locate the source of the problem."

"Just use the emergency power!" Red shouted impatiently, "And find out who's doing this! The Massive does not go out of power unless someone is behind it."

"I believe you are correct about that," a voice, so familiar, so menacing, so cold and calculating responded.

'Holy water,
cannot help you now...'

At first, Red had thought that perhaps the voice was in his head: like a gut instinct in his squeedly-spooch. He didn't realize that the voice was actually being projected from some unknown place until he noticed Purple's eyes widen by the familiarity of the voice.

"The emergency power has been removed," the pilot communicator said, turning his head toward the source of the voice. "And I think... We've been taken over..."

"Taken over?" Red remembered the voice, and who it was. He knew who it was, but he honestly didn't believe this was actually happening. No... If the Massive couldn't be taken over by even the strongest of rebels, how could that measly little defect be behind all this? "...By...?"

The name barely escaped past his lips just as a video appeared over the large main-viewing window of the Massive's control room. Zim appeared much taller than before, but his eyes... Something seemed different. He didn't hold the same pride he normally used to have when he thought he was an invader; his eyes were cold and intense, determined to get the vengeance that Red never thought would actually happen.

The bag of donuts in Purple's hands fell to the floor, his eyes wide, jaw hanging open. That tall, menacing Irken on screen was... Zim? "Oh... my..."

"You two aren't taking the time to laugh at me anymore, I see," Zim noted in amusement. "Because you see a much different Irken before you than the one you once knew."

Red's hands tightened into fists. "Zim," came his threatening hiss, "What is the meaning of this? We banned you for a reason! Now give us back the Massive's power or I'll have you personally executed for treason!"

"Zim?" Purple's hands shook. Unlike Red who wasn't phased by Zim's new appearance, Purple felt a horrible ache twist his squeedly-spooch simply by the evil glint in Zim's magenta eyes. Something wasn't right here. He knew that Zim meant business, though he could still barely believe that this was once the small, idiotic defect from before. "How did you take away the Massive's power? You used to be so dumb and ignorant and... Dumb!"

"How could you possibly know the power coordinates of the Massive?" Red added in, "And why are you so tall?"

"And scary?" Purple continued in a small, quiet voice.

Zim's evil grin never left his face; neither did that evil glint in his eyes. "Earth's gravity has a scientific effect on the normally small Irken body. Unlike you two I've grown naturally tall over the years... And I've become much more intelligent..."

"Really?" The disbelieving scoff escaped Red before he could stop himself. "You? Smarter? I don't believe it for a second,"

"I kinda do," Purple said quietly, though he went unheard by his partner.

"You better believe it, Red," Zim replied coolly, "I'm capable of more unspeakable things than you can even imagine."

"You will address me as Tallest Red!"

"Why should I?" Zim leaned in closely, just a bit. "Why would I honor the two leaders who used me for their own personal entertainment for so many years? Two leaders that most Irkens follow blindly? Two leaders that aren't capable of anything more except stuffing their fat faces with junk food?"

"Zim," Red's voice grew dangerously louder, "You better watch your mouth or I'll have your tongue cut out."

"I'd like to see you try, tough guy," Zim challenged with an amused smirk. "You see, after you two banned me and had my banishment publicly broadcast all over Irk, I found that moping around over the truth of my 'mission' wasn't going to bring me any closure or satisfaction."

"So shutting our power and defenses off is going to satisfy you?" Red chuckled, "You're still that pathetic little defect from years ago..."

Zim wasn't phased by Red's words. "That's where you're wrong, Red. That was just step One in my plan. And there's only two more steps left"

"Which is what?" Purple asked, nervously playing with his fingers to distract himself from this all-to-real situation.

"Step Two is taking place exactly as we speak," Zim answered. "When I cut off this transmission, Step Three will begin. In fact, Step Three is being prepared right at this very moment."

"Step Three being what exactly?" Red questioned, glaring at Irk's most defected Irken... Or at least what used to be.

Zim leaned in just a bit more. "That is a secret. But what I will say is that there are many anti-Irken Empire rebellion groups that you aren't even aware of... And they are all working together to help bring you down."

"What, the Resisty?" Red rolled his eyes, "They've tried going up against us and failed miserably. I highly doubt you're speaking the truth about these so-called 'other' rebellion groups. The Irken Empire is stronger than every planets' militaries in the entire Universe combined. Our Conquest will soon be complete, and if you keep this little game up we might just make Earth our next target."

"Like I'm supposed to feel threatened by that." Zim gave a laugh in amusement. "It's the Empire who should fell threatened by me. You especially, Red, because none of you seem to realize what I have in store for the Massive in the minutes to come. I am much more cunning than you might have thought, much more than I ever was before. I, unlike you two, have grown not only in size, but in mind as well. One's strong desires for revenge can do that to someone." Zim grinned widely. "I will burn your kingdom down. I do not belong to Irk anymore... I am sworn to aid the rebels to take you all down. The Empire will fall under my hands."

'See I've come to burn,
your kingdom down.'

"The Empire will never fall," Red protested coldly. He turned to the pilots behind him. "Cut the transmission."

"We've been trying to for the last couple of minutes!" One of them shouted in desperation, "Nothing is working!"

'And no rivers and no lakes, can put the fire out...'

"You see, Red," Zim began as Red slowly turned back toward the screen, "There are many groups of rebels that want to see all of you destroyed, and I don't blame any of them. You all judge and condemn for size and minor glitches. The defects like myself are continuously being forced into execution camps: Even smeets. I can name thousands of different species all over the Universe whom would love to see you suffer greatly for what you've done to them."

"It's all in the name and sake of the Empire," Red argued, narrowing his eyes. "To protect the Empire we must expand and eliminate."

'I'm gonna raise the stakes;
I'm gonna smoke you out...'

"What's about to be eliminated is the Empire," Zim reminded his once-leader, "And everything it stands for."

Purple gulped nervously while Red's eyes blazed with hatred. He opened his mouth to speak, but Zim cut him off, "The Empire will fall before the day is even done. And when you die, my face will be the last thing you see." The transmission was cut off, abruptly and sudden, and the new scene before the Tallest and each pilot in that room created an outburst of gasps and panicked shouts.

'Seven devils all around you;
Seven devils in your house;
See I was dead when I woke up this morning, and I'll be dead before the day is done...'

Red wasn't sure just how many alien ships were surrounding the Massive, nor could he exactly tell from the bunch of which ship belonged to which conquered planet. Purple nearly fainted, while Red stood his group best he could a midst the frantic shouts. "Are our defenses still down?" But the way his voice shook as he spoke those words proved one thing that he, despite his racing heart and inner panic, wouldn't admit: Zim had been right. The thousands of non-Irken ships surrounding the Massive meant that Zim's threat was real: "...There are many anti-Empire rebellion groups that you aren't even aware of... And they are all working together to help bring you down."

"Our defenses are still off line," one of the pilots finally answered after a long moment.

"Zim was right," Purple said shakily, "He was right... He was... right..." he repeated the words over and over again, like a broken record. In a way, he was already preparing for the end.

Red stayed silent, but he knew deep down that Purple's words were true. Zim was right. Zim was right...

Everything I worked for is about to be taken from me... And Red realized in that moment that those conflicting emotions he was currently going through were exactly what Zim wanted: For Red to know that the hard work he went through to become a Tallest was about to be taken away... Just like Zim's hard work to becoming an Invader was taken by the leaders he trusted and honored the most.

He's getting what he wants, Red realized, for me to feel his pain...

And it's working.

Millions of miles away back on Earth, in the safety of his underground base, Zim watched as the Massive was hailed and blasted, explosions erupting everywhere, the pilots scrambling for either safety or last attempts at battle while the leaders he once looked up to and admired took cover, just barely, on the floor. Almost instinctively, Red glanced up at the camera's direction, staring in Zim's direction as though he were actually there in the chaos. Zim watched Red for a moment, eyes gleaming with satisfaction at the fear in those blood-red eyes nearly staring back at him...

'I was dead when I woke up this morning,

and I'll be dead before the day is done.'

Another explosion erupted. Red gave a loud, frantic scream just as the screen went static. The Massive engulfed in rebel fire, the Tallest no more among the flames and twisted metal... It was gone. The Massive was gone, and so were the Tallest.

Zim leaned back in his seat, watching the static as he gave an almost euphoric sigh of content. His retribution had come. He had, in a way, finally won.

'Before the day is done.'

A/N: I've been wanting to do a one-shot for a LONG time where Zim gets his revenge against the Tallest (if they ever did tell him the truth of his mission). It's many years later, Zim has grown tall and much more cunning. His plan for retribution finally comes down to shutting the Massive's power off and confronting the Tallest via transmission. When he cuts the transmission, many rebel ships are surrounding the Massive, and because the Massive has no power, it means they can't fight back. They are hit and hailed by enemy fire until the Massive is engulfed by explosions, and the Tallest ultimately die. THE END. XD

This is AU and doesn't really have much to do with my other stories. I got inspiration to write this from two sources: One is from the ABC show "Revenge" which I recently got into and am LOVE with the original concept and the characters, and Two, the song "Seven Devils" which, in my opinion is a song about revenge in some form or another. The song was ironically featured in the season finale of "Revenge" at the way end. Which made me love the show even MORE because the song fits perfectly.

I know I wrote a one-shot a year ago for IZ that is also based on the song "Seven Devils", but when I look back and continue listening to the song and look deeper into the lyrics, the song fits this one-shot waaaaaaay more than the other one-shot. I will admit that completely. I highly recommend listening to "Seven Devils" while reading this one-shot. They both fit hand-in-hand.

So... Yeah. This is AU, and made it into a one-shot because I don't feel like writing a big huge multi-chapter story. :/ This is also to make up for my lack of updating anything lately: I just haven't found that motivation or inspiration lately.

Anyway, please review! :)