AN: This is evidence of my extreme boredom, I suppose. I dislike reading scripts so I have written The Trial in story form. The dialogue is mostly the same as is the script (which I most certainly do not take credit for), although I have taken a few 'artistic liberties' and there might be a few differences in the plot. It will be presented in two to three parts. Enjoy… or something.
The Trial
Part I
Location: Planet Judgmentia – The Spike of Judgment
Excitement ran through the air like an electric current as the huge crowd of Irkens streamed into the imposing black structure known as The Spike of Judgment. They pushed and shoved against one another as they all vied for the seats with the best view of the tall platform in the middle of the huge stadium. The massive building was going to be filled to capacity, as everyone from the lowliest Drone to the highest ranking Taller were there if they could be. The buzz of conversation was nearly deafening as server drones weaved among the crowd, selling snacks of nachos and soda and souvenir t-shirts and hats, all emblazoned with the same violent message in bright red Irken lettering:
Die Zim, Die!!!
Needless to say, those particular articles of clothing were sold out within minutes.
The roar of the crowd increased a tenfold as the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the stage as the floating Control Brains suddenly appeared, and a tiny blindfolded and shackled figure ascended onto the stage. The huge monitors hovering around stadium rapidly flashed the name 'Zim', sending a fraction of the audience into epileptic seizures.
The Brains spoke in unison. "Irken Zim!" they boomed dramatically, voices echoing loudly among the crowd. "Your time has come! Prepare yourself for all you deserve!"
The restraints binding the tiny figure were suddenly released and the blindfold drifted slowly to the ground. Large crimson eyes blinked slowly and then squinted in confusion, looking around at the crowd and the floating monitors. An excited smile spread across the green face.
"Heyyy, a surprise party? Is that what this is all about?" the Irken known as Zim asked excitedly. "I was wondering why I was beaten up and transported from Earth to this place! A PARTY FOR ZIM!!!" he screeched, his amplified voice causing all the Irkens present to grab their antennae in pain and glare at him hatefully. He was, of course, oblivious.
"SILENCE!" the Brains demanded, their eyes glowing with a terrifying light. "All will be made clear, Zim!"
Zim crossed his arms and glared at the two floating Brains. "Geez, this is a party, lighten up," he muttered irritably. His eyes widened and he suddenly looked extremely nervous. "Hey, can I make a quick call?" he asked, and without waiting for a reply he dashed off to a call booth in the corner, ignoring the shouts for him to stop where he was.
----
Location: Planet Earth – Zim's House
Gir sat happily on the couch, a Suck Monkey clutched in front of him as he watched his favorite TV show, 'The Scary Monkey'. He giggled hysterically at the grunting beast and took a long sip of his drink, then let out a high pitched shriek of horror as the image on the screen suddenly disappeared and was replaced by another.
"MONKEY?! DON'T LEAVE ME, MONKEY!!" he wailed, his cyan eyes filling with tears.
"Forget the stinking monkey, Gir," Zim growled from the screen. "The Tallest invited me to this "party," and it's dead like… death." He looked over at something off screen. "Will you shut up! I'm on the phone here!" he shouted and then turned back to Gir who was still sniffling.
"That's soo saaaad," the robot sniffed.
"Until I get back, you are in charge of the deadly orbital laser," Zim said. "It's simple: Just push the button."
Gir perked up as a small pedestal with a large red button on top suddenly rose up out of the floor. "Push the monkey?" he asked, pointing at the button.
Zim sighed heavily and raised a hand to rub his forehead. "Yes, Gir… the button is a monkey."
Gir squealed happily and pushed the button. A small window popped up on the screen next to Zim, displaying the deadly orbital laser array in orbit over the planet as it sent a glowing stream of doom down to earth.
"WOO!"
Zim nodded in approval. "See? Easy. You just keep doing that until I get back. Good work, Gir."
Gir's eyes flashed red as he saluted his master and then back to cyan as he gave a huge thumbs up, insanely pushing the button all the while. He didn't even notice when Zim cut the transmission and the Scary Monkey came back on.
----
Location: Planet Judgmentia – The Spike of Judgment
Zim trotted back onto the stage and looked up at the Brains impatiently.
"C'mon, hurry up and praise me!" he snapped. "Every second I spend off Earth is time lost! Zim time! Cuz… I am Zim!" He paused and quirked an antenna. "Ya know?"
"It makes noises," the left Brain hissed.
"Bothersome noises," the right one added.
"We say nothing until the Tallest arrive," they said in unison.
There was a sudden screaming boom which shocked everyone into silence as the Massive flew into view and came to an abrupt halt above The Spike of Judgment.
"The Tallest have arrived," the Brains said.
The Tallest materialized onto the stage, much to the delight of the crowd. They smiled and waved lazily to the cheering Irkens.
"Thank you. Thank you," Red said, nodding slightly and clasping his hands behind his back.
"Yes, thank you," Purple echoed. "Now… be quiet!"
There was immediate silence which was all to soon broken by a familiar annoying voice.
"My Tallest!" exclaimed a delighted Zim. "This really is a surprise party!" He placed a hand on his chest. "You honor me deep in the most wobbly, gelatinous parts of my squeedlyspooch," he said sincerely.
Red and Purple looked at each other and then at Zim, their expressions hardly friendly.
"That's… great, Zim," Purple sighed and then looked to the Brains. "Start already!" he hissed.
"As you command," said the Brains. "SO IT BEGINS."
The crowd roared its approval as the cameras zoomed in on Zim. The Brains' eyes glowed red as the lighting changed to focus on the small Irken who waved enthusiastically at the cameras.
"Irken Zim," the Brains began ominously. "Prepare for Replay. All your memories will be made known. Your life for all to see and know."
Zim's eyes widened. "Ooooh. My incredible Zim-life? Neat!"
Red and Purple shared an evil look as the Brains' eyes took on a strange light. Long, twisting cables snaked down from above and locked onto Zim's ID PAK, lifting him up into the air as monitor screens all around the stadium lit up, showing images from his past flashing by faster and faster.
"NOW, SEE YOUR PAST ZIM...," they droned. "YOUR PAST..."
"My future?" Zim asked excitedly.
"NO! Your PAST! Pay attention!"
Blackness…
"Welcome to life, Irken child. Report for duty."
"I love you cold, unfeeling robot arm."
----
Location: Deep Within Planet Irk, Download Chamber – Minutes Later
"Whee!" squealed the adorable newly-hatched smeet as he zoomed up the strange chute that had just sucked him up from the hatchery. He was disappointed when his fun ride came to an abrupt halt as he was deposited into a smeet-sized Download Chair. He looked around his new surroundings with interest, as wide-eyed and curious as any child. His tiny antennae twitched as a voice began to speak.
"You are two minutes old, little smeet. Prepare to be filled with the whole of IRKEN KNOWLEDGE!!"
"Okeedokee," the little smeet giggled.
The cables from the chair attached to the little smeet's PAK and his ruby eyes widened for a moment before he slumped over lifelessly. His tiny form began to spasm and twitch in an alarming manner as his body struggled to adapt to the massive influx of knowledge. It wasn't unusual for a newborn smeet to die before the download had completed. After several minutes of this the cables finally detached and the newborn awakened.
"UPLOAD COMPLETE!" the voice loudly said. "You have been given a name. IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
The smeet blinked for second and then straightened up the his full eight-inch height, looking as imposing (and adorable) as a naked newborn possibly could. "I am Zim!" he declared proudly. He squinted his eyes. "That was all the knowledge?" he asked skeptically. "Boring! And so many mistakes. Forty-shmillion mistakes to be exact, starting with…"
He was interrupted as robotic fingers came down to shove him from the chair. Another smeet immediately took his place.
"I wasn't done yet!" Zim protested, scowling when he noticed the smeet that had taken his chair. "Hey! Who are you?!" he demanded.
The other smeet blinked her violet eyes in confusion. "Ummm…" she said uncertainly.
"This is my room! Get your own place!" He shoved the little female back into the delivery chute and within minutes it was clogged with screaming newborn smeets, the backup resulting in a huge power surge causing the entire activation chamber to malfunction. The screaming increased in volume as the room, along with all of planet Irk, was plunged into complete darkness.
----
Location: Planet Judgmentia – The Spike of Judgment
There was total silence as all eyes in the stadium glared accusingly at Zim.
The Brains finally spoke. "That day came to be known as Horrible Painful Overload Day," they said. "Irk was plunged into darkness for five years."
Zim nodded proudly. "Impressive!" he boasted. "Most would be happy with two years, but me… five! Beat that, you!" He pointed to tiny janitorial drone who was quietly mopping the floor nearby. The drone started and looked up at him, raising an antenna in confusion in response to the ridiculous challenge.
----
Location: Unknown – A Small Dark Place
Two shadowy figures were watching the trial unfold on a small view screen.
"It's going well. He knows nothing."
"The fool!"
"Shhh! There's more!"
"So… More Zim! Come on! More Zim!"
----
Location: Deep Within Irk – Military Training Area
The classroom was filled with rows and rows of ten-year-old Irken smeets, each one wearing holo-visors and downloading new information into their PAKs. Every face was set in concentration as military simulations ran in their young minds. Every face, that is, save one.
Young Zim made a sound of disgust and pulled off the holo-visor covering his eyes, looking around with a sour expression.
"Boring! Ten years and we're still in this education plug! When do we get to see the planet's surface?!" He turned to the Irken on his left and jabbed him in the stomach with a finger, causing him to stumble and bump into the next Irken beside him. Both pulled off their holo-visors and glared at him. The two were quite noticeably taller than the other smeets in the room.
"What?" hissed the Irken he had nudged, his red eyes narrowed in irritation.
"When I'm Tallest things will be different!" Zim declared loudly.
"You? Tallest?" snorted the one with purple eyes. "That's crazy!"
The red-eyed Irken nodded in agreement and both put their holo-visors back on.
"The people of Irk must know my power!" Zim hopped down into the row directly below him and grabbed the shoulders of the particularly short and chubby Irken in front of him. "Skoodge!" he hissed, yanking the holo-visor from the other Irken's head.
The chubby smeet let out a startled yelp and turned around. "Zim?"
"Skoodge!" Zim said again. "You look impressionable!"
"I sure am!" he agreed with a moronic grin.
"Excellent! Escape with me to the surface!"
"Sounds terrifying, but… okay!"
The two ran off, as happy as two idiots could possibly be. They kept running and running and running. Oh boy, did they run.
Until…
Zim and Skoodge jumped upward and out of a hatch, into a clearing between the levels of underground Irk, both panting for air.
"We're almost there, Skoodge!" Zim gasped out. "Can't you feel it, you fool?!"
Skoodge nodded enthusiastically. "I do! I do! I'm really feeling it too-day! Ahhh!"
Both froze as a security droid suddenly appeared in front of them, staring at the two motionless smeets.
"Quick, Skoodge!" Zim hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "Name that machine."
"Dermis Prowler Security Droid," Skoodge answered promptly, as though he was being quizzed.
"Good. And how do they function?"
"Detects motion. Homes in. Hurts a lot."
"Good work, Skoodge," Zim said with a nod of approval and promptly grabbed the other smeet, throwing him down the corridor, the droid immediately chasing after him.
Skoodge shrieked and dodged as the droid zoomed in after him. The chubby little Irken moved with surprising quickness and droid slammed into walls and machinery as Skoodge ran and dodged and jumped, each lunge causing more and more damage to the surroundings. An alarm began to blare loudly and Zim ran for the ladder leading to the surface a little ways off and quickly began to ascend it. Skoodge was hurled down the corridor, flying toward Zim.
"Catch me!" the airborne Irken shrieked in terror. "It wants my brain!"
Zim flashed Skoodge an absent thumbs-up as the other Irken sailed past, the security droid in hot pursuit and explosions resuming from below.
"Excellent work, Skoodge," Zim called down, oblivious to the chaos surrounding him. Heart pounding with excitement, he pushed open the hatch to the surface, nearly blinded by the sudden bright light.
"Freedom," Zim whispered in awe, his antenna standing up straight on his head, all senses alert to his new surroundings. "Hmm… A pitiful world, waiting for me to make it great!" Zim smiled happily until he was distracted by an especially loud boom from below. A screaming Skoodge was sent blasting out of the hatch, the droid close behind. He smiled at the other smeet and shook his head. There was another loud explosion and all was plunged into darkness.
----
Location: Planet Judgmentia – The Spike of Judgment
All was silent save for the sound of Zim's enthusiastic clapping. Everyone present was glaring at him even more hatefully than before.
"That day became known as Horrible Painful Overload Day Part II," the Brains said. "Four more terrible years of darkness for Irk."
"People love darkness," Zim boasted proudly. "But enough of the past. Let us speak of the present. Do I get a little Zim statue? Some kind of award, perhaps?"
----
Location: Unknown – A Small Dark Place
The tall, shadowy figures were hunched over the view screen.
"Every word seals his own doom!" one declared dramatically.
"Soon we will be rid of Zim forever!" the other said ominously. "Hey!"
Light shone in on the two as the roof was suddenly lifted away, revealing the shadowy figures to actually be Tallests Red and Purple, who had been crouched under a blanket and holding flashlights up to their faces in a spooky manner. The janitorial drone pushing a laundry cart was holding the blanket in his hands.
"Oh! My Tallest!" the drone exclaimed, startled. "I didn't see you there."
The Tallests stood, coughing and rubbing the backs of their necks in embarrassment.
We are actually still in….
Planet Judgmentia – The Spike of Judgment
Red fumbled for an explanation. "Ehhh… uh… We were just…."
"We just got lost!" Purple blurted.
Red punched him in the shoulder. Purple punched him back, much harder. They scowled at each other.
"Hey!" Zim interrupted before their little spat could erupt into an all out brawl. "Pay attention! You're missing my party!"
"It's not a party, Zim!" Purple shouted back. "It's an Irken Existence Evaluation! And you're--!" His eyes widened and he slapped his hands over his mouth.
"Nice one, Pur," Red muttered with a harsh glare at his co-ruler.
"Existence Evaluation…?" Zim asked in confusion. "But those are for criminals… and space clowns…" His fists clenched briefly at the mention of the latter. Oh, how he hated space clowns.
For no apparent reason, an adorably tiny Irken smeet suddenly appeared next to Purple and tugged on his robe.
"Mista' Purple? Tell me all about the Irken Existence Evaluation." the little smeet asked, blinking up at him with large red eyes.
"Well, you see Timmy," Purple began in a kind and wise voice, kneeling down to the smeet's level and patting him on the head. "It's a trial for malfunctioning Irkens. You know what a trial is, doncha' Timmy?" Purple asked, poking Timmy in the belly, causing the little smeet to giggle adorably. It's so cute it makes you want to vomit rainbows. "Of course you do." The tall Irken smiled. "Say, you see this ID PAK on your back?"
"Nope! My head don't turn that far," Timmy giggled.
"Awww!" went the crowd, about to die from a massive overdose of the cute.
Red laughed and joined Purple in kneeling down beside Timmy. "Well, we all wear them," Red chimed in. "They hold the collective memories of all the Irkens before us. Our personalities, our power, our high scores, all in here," he said, lightly tapping Timmy's ID PAK with a long finger.
Purple nodded. "But some Irkens," At this point he glared over at Zim. "They get fitted with damaged ID PAKs. These people are called Defectives and must be deactivated, erased, never to be remembered."
"A world that does not remember Zim?" Zim exclaimed, aghast and as he looked around himself nervously.
"Thank you Mista' Purple," said an elated Timmy. "I smart now!"
Purple's eyes narrowed. "The child knows too much," he hissed to Red who nodded in agreement. "To the dungeons with it!"
Guards suddenly leapt in and dragged the screaming smeet out of view.
"Um… I think there might be a mistake," Zim said and began to fidget nervously. "This is good stuff you're all watching. Why am I on trial?"
"Good stuff?" hissed the left Brain.
"It thinks there is good stuff?" said the right one.
"IT IS DOOMED!" the Brains boomed.
Zim looked around himself, noticing the hateful stares of the crowd for the first time. The Tallests collapsed against each other as they began to laugh insanely, the audience soon following suit. The Brains lifted Zim into the air again and even they were laughing now. Zim shivered as his squeedlyspooch clenched unpleasantly. He was now fully aware that things were looking very, very bad for him.
End Part I
Well, there's the first part.
Love it? Hate it? Think I butchered it horribly? Tell me. ;-p