Ch. 11

Flashback

Dib and Katherine stood outside of Zim's base, silently observing it. Zim had put Gir out on his leash some time before they had arrived, and he could be heard inside the house arguing with the computer. Dib glances at his friend. "So… Any ideas for how to break in?" Katherine examines the house. She looks through the window, seeing Zim pacing, then at Gir, watching him run in circles. She looks at Dib, and he looks back.

"I… I've got nothing" Katherine admits. Dib stares into her eyes, and an idea comes to him. "Stay here, i know what to do." He gets up, and slowly walks over to Gir. He pulls a small knife out of his jacket pocket, and glances over his shoulder at Katherine. He flashes her a grin, and cuts Gir's leash.

Gir, realizing he's free, runs out into the streets, giggling and babbling the whole way. Katherine walks over to him, a wide smile on her face. "Dib, that was brilliant! When Zim notices he's gone, he'll have to go after him! we can sneak into his house! maybe do something to put an end to his mission!"

Dib grins, and walks around the side of the house, Katherine following close behind him. The two wait there for a while, until they hear the door open. Dib and Katherine watch as Zim walks out, and realizes that his Sir unit is gone. He looks around, calling out for him, eventually pulling some sort of tracking device out of his PAK and walking away. Dib looks at Katherine. "You were right, Kat!" She flinches slightly, seemingly nervous about something. Dib raises an eyebrow. "You okay?" She nods quickly. "Yes, Dib, i'm fine, thank you. Just… Just a bit nervous, is all. just… Just realized we're breaking into an alien's home."

Dib smiles reassuringly. "Ah, don't sweat it. I've done it plenty of times before." She nods, and stands up. Dib does the same, and, without warning, finds himself in a tight embrace. Dib, surprised, looks down at Katherine. "Uh…"

She seems to read his mind, and answers a question he was about to ask, that being, exactly why she was doing this. "Nobody had ever believed me about extraterrestrials, saying they were just myths… Then i meet you, and… And suddenly, i'm seeing spaceships, robots, breaking into the home of a hostile invader… Just… Thank you, Dib…" She lets go, and walks around to the front of the house, Dib following close behind. She smiles a bit, seeing the door wide open. "Bingo!"

The two enter, and Dib shuts the door behind him. They wander around inside the house, examining everything they find. Dib walks into the kitchen, and calls Katherine over. She comes in, and he grins. "Wanna see something really cool?" She nods, and he walks over to a toilet against one of the walls. She looks like she's about to ask a question, until he flushes it, and takes a step back. The floor splits open, and the toilet is lifted up by a cylindrical, glass tube. A metal platform floats up to their level, and Katherine gasps. "It's…"

"...An elevator." Dib finishes her sentence, He gestures for her to get in. "Ladies first." She walks in, thanking him, and he follows. The elevator automatically descends, and Dib glances at the female next to him. "So… Any plans for we can do to mess with Zim?" Katherine stares straight ahead, a look of determination on her face. "As a matter of fact, i know exactly what we should do."

Something about the way she says this unnerves Dib, her voice is filled with a certain coldness that he's not used to from her. "Uh… Well… Wh-What is your plan?" She looks at him, a smirk on her face. "I'm going to hack into his Base's computer, and use it to capture him when he gets home. After that? I'll KILL him, and get revenge for what he did to me." Dib's eyes go wide, and he backs up. "What…? Kat-" He stops mid-sentence. Katherine Kirne. Kat Kirne. Tak Irken. "Oh my god…" Katherine starts to flicker, and she disappears, leaving behind her true form. Before him stands an old enemy- Tak. She grins, and a familiar flash moves across her eyes. Dib begins to feel light headed, and he stumbles back. "But… But when you were here last time…"

"When i was here last time, Zim sent me into the cold depths of space, and i swore vengeance." Dib was finding it hard to stay conscious. "And… The mind control… thing... "

"I got a new one. Seeing how there were humans who were JUST smart enough to resist it, i had to upgrade." Dib stares up at her. She had tricked him, again. The second time he ever met someone who didn't mock him, and it was Her, again. Dib felt like an idiot. She smirks, leaning towards him slightly. "I'd be lying if i said i didn't expect more from you, Dib. Are you really SO desperate for some compassion that you'd fall for the same thing a second time?"

Dib couldn't help himself. He looks down, feeling tears slowly creeping out of his eyes. He had been tricked again, and he knew for a fact that there'd be no way to prevent her from destroying the earth this time. He had failed exactly as he had fought through the entire thing- On his own.

Tak laughs. "Crying? Honestly, Dib, get a hold of yourself. I ALMOST feel bad for you! I mean, you were so easily deceived, and now this? Pathetic!"

Before he knows what he's doing, Dib throws a punch. He had no plan, he had no idea what to do next, he just swung. Unfortunately for him, she was quicker, grabbing his wrist and holding it out to the side. She kicks him in the stomach, sending him back and cracking the glass of the elevator tube. Dib, knocked to the ground, sees an opportunity- He kicks her legs out from under her, sending her sprawling to the ground. He quickly gets up, running over to her, only to receive a plasma ball directly to the face. He's knocked back by the impact, clutching his burning face, and patting out a fire in his hair. Tak grabs him by the throat, and throws him back against the tube, creating another crack.

Tak grabs the front of his shirt, her foot on his stomach. She slams his head into the tube, creating several more cracks as the two descend. The elevator stops at a floor, and they both look out of the tube to see two more Irkens: Bob and Skoodge. The four stare at each other awkwardly. Bob coughs. Skoodge backs up a bit. "Yeeeaaahhhh… We'll… We'll take the next one." Tak narrows her eyes slightly.

3 minutes later

Tak smirks, walking past her three prisoners- Dib, Skoodge, and Bob. Dib had passed out after his beating, and the two irkens walked into the cells before she even had to say anything. The shorter of the two made a gesture with his hands that she didn't recognize, and the fat one claimed that they had done it for their own protection.

She stops in front of the human's cell. She looks in, watching him. He's still out cold, curled up on the ground. Without realizing what she's doing, she puts a hand on the glass. Seeing the determination on his face earlier had caused something to stir deep in her mind. If a human felt what she did, they'd call it Pity. But no, she, an irken invader, has no idea what this foreign, Alien concept was. There was a hint of admiration in her mind, too. This pathetic worm-baby stood fearlessly in the path of his planet's destruction, ridiculed by all who saw him. The situation reminded her of an ancient Irken myth.

She growls, and moves away from the cell. "No… I've got work to do…" She walks over to a computer terminal, and sets to work. It wasn't hard for her to do what she wanted to. Zim had turned his Base's computer off, apparently not having known that a deactivated base computer enters a state where another irken can take control. She opens her PAK, plugging a cord from it into the terminal. The computer recognizes the signal, and uploads her PAK ID into the permissions box. In a few seconds, she gains control over the entire base. She laughs, quietly at first, slowly growing louder. She's cut off by the sound of something hitting the glass. For a split second, she thinks it's Dib trying to escape, until she looks, and sees the smaller Irken, his hand against the glass, making the same gesture as before, and rubbing it in circles on the panel. She narrows her eyes, and one of her PAK legs fires a plasma ball at the glass. It hits, and the small irken gasps, jumping back.

Tak rolls her eyes, and looks up. "Computer! Activate!" The lights turn on, and the base is filled with a subtle humming. "Yes, mas- Mistress?" Tak grins, turning towards a screen. On it, she could see Zim running down the street. She walks towards the elevator. She'd have just enough time to set up an ambush for him. She looks up, grinning. "Computer… I'll need you to do everything i say."

"Yes, Mistress."