The Savoir of Zim

By: Invader TAK the Gothic

With Zim captured by Professor Membrane over a convincing protest by Dib, he faces a certain "project" that the Professor has in mind for him. And once Dib sees this project, he can't help but feel a bit sorry for Zim and wonder what is to come for him. As Dib is trying to figure this out, a surprise visitor steps in for Zim and faces a new conflict for themself. Will Dib get Zim out before Professor can reveal this "project" of his? And who is this visitor and what will they do? And what will become of the beloved Zim?

Chapter 1

Taken Prisoner

"Let me go, you fools! Zim is your future ruler! Put me down, you hear? PUT ME DOWN!" The voice became distant from where Dib stood in the doorway of Zim's home. He stood in the door satisfied with himself. A crooked, devilish smile ran across his face in the blink of an eye. As the caged car drove off it passed the homes of all the other families in the neighborhood. They all stood outside in their yards gazing at the little green boy, who they had all thought to be a child with a skin condition, was taken by force to the home of the brilliant Professor Membrane. After the car dove to turn, the families all turned to Dib. They just couldn't stop staring at him. And they no longer had a stunned look. Instead it was replaced with a disgusted look. It was as if they enjoyed having not known the truth about him. Then one of the children stepped out into the circle drive with tear filled eyes and spoke to Dib in a voice that let him know that this act wasn't appreciated. The words were meaningful to him and lasted all the way to his house as the crowd threw empty cans and bits of garbage at him. The words were still buzzing around in his head as he walked in his own home. Gaz, as usual, was sitting on the couch playing her video games. Dib looked down at the floor and asked his little sister what she thought of the whole situation.

"Gaz, do you think that this was all better off being left alone?"

No response. Dib sighed as Gaz finally nodded while her eyes were still fixed on the screen of the video game.

"But this is what I have been working for ever since Zim landed here to destroy all mankind. And now everyone is mad at me for it. Well, not dad of course." There was a slight moment of silence. Then Gaz stopped her game. She looked at Dib long and hard. Then she said to him; "Dib everyone else says that this all would've been just fine all left alone. And even though Zim tried to destroy all mankind, he hadn't succeeded at all."

Dib stared at her as she picked up her game and started to walk off.

"Gaz wait."

Gaz turned to him and asked in a hateful tone; "What?"

"You don't hate me too….do you?"

She didn't speak to him. She just left the room leaving a wondering Dib behind.

Chapter 2

Lab Rat

"Let me go I demand of you! You filthy pig beasts! Release me!" Zim was shouting at the white lab coated men who were standing around him looking at him from every angle. He wanted to stand tall and destroy them all in just a couple of punches. But he was restrained.

"Hmm…..it seems as though our little alien friend hasn't been taken care of properly." A man said as he emerged from the bunch of the other lab coats. They all nodded and spoke amongst themselves. Their quiet muttering made Zim grow excruciatingly aggravated.

"Do you all not here Zim? I am an Irken invader! Release me now or suffer the wrath of Zim!" Zim shouted to them all.

They all chuckled as Professor Membrane stood upon Zim. He had his hands behind his back and had a smile that crept along his face as Zim scooted his head to see what was behind the Professor's back.

"What do you have there you smelly beast of flesh and…" Zim had no chance to finish for one of the Professor's hands clamped itself to Zim's mouth. Zim tried to pull away and even tried to bite at the palm but had no success at all. Then in the other hand of the Professor's came a small gun with a tube in it. The tube was filled with a clear liquid that seemed to be some sort of anesthetic. It was. And at the very tip of the gun was a small pinned needle. The Professor's smile grew more and more each inch that the gun came closer to Zim. And as much as Zim muffled, tugged, bit, and squirmed, it did no good. The cold pinching feel of the needle entered Zim's skin and he soon began to doze off.

"You...will…p-pay…for…" Zim fell asleep with a clenched fist that now hung in defeat.

The Professor let go of Zim's mouth and stepped back as the alien was wheeled out of the room. He stood tall as the others looked at him in great pleasure. He finally said to them; "Well men, it seems as if we have another Lab Rat for the project."

They all nodded in agreement then began a small chuckle and soon the room was filled with laughter of all sorts. Zim overheard only one part of that sentence as he fell asleep for good. And it was that he, in no doubt, was a new Lab Rat.

Chapter 3

The Secret Object

Dib was just about to lie down to bed as night fell upon the city. But he kept hearing a buzzing sound coming from in his father's lab. He knew it wasn't all that smart to go down. Lord only imagines what might be happening to Zim. Well if he cared at all Zim was better off to be experimented on. He had his fun with Zim and now he was done. After all, his father gave him the assignment to go and get real proof of Zim instead of getting it destroyed or taken. He had finally convinced him of that. And he did what he had promised and brought to his dad's attention that Zim really was an alien. He had gone and gotten Zim in an hour. And as Dib stood at the door while Zim was restrained and brought to the lab, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for Zim. But of course that was soon overcome by joy and confidence that Dib was finally believed about all of this "Zim is an alien" talk. But that amount of pity was creeping up into Dib's stomach. He could bare it no longer. He had to go see what the buzzing noise was. He sat up and grabbed his glasses and started slowly going down the steps to the lab. He gulped as he became closer to the buzzing noise. Then a shimmer of blue sparks came from the room. Dib could only hope it wasn't from Zim. He didn't want to lose his lunch at the sight of an alien dissection. He peeked around the corner and saw his father crouching over a small object. Dib breathed a sigh of relief that must have startled his father for he picked up the refilled anesthetic gun and aimed it at his son. Dib jumped back and fell over some papers.

"Dad it's me!" Dib said in panic. The Professor lowered the gun and apologized to Dib. He told his son about the "little green fellow" as he called him, and how much he was sorry for not believing him. He said to Dib that if he hadn't kept up the hope of convincing his father then he could have never discovered what an Irken was or anything about them. Or that Zim was just down the road from them. Or many more things about the whole ordeal. "I would've never guessed it son. You came to prove me well and wrong. Thank you however for the marvelous discoveries we made from the little alien."

"Umm….Dad?" Dib tapped the Professor on the shoulder to get his attention before he turned completely around to do more work.

"Yes son?" The Professor's goggles shimmered and reflected Dib's confused face on them.

"What are you working on right now?" Dib was trying to peer over to the side to get a glimpse but his father followed his every move to try.

"Ah, ah. It's a secret for the little alien. And is not to be touched by children."

Dib rolled his eyes and huffed; "I didn't say I was gonna touch it." But the Professor just patted his head and scooted him up to the front room.

"Now stay up here son. I have to work alone with the little green fellow for a while. We need no disturbance." The Professor began closing the door behind him.

"But Dad, I just…" the door closed and Dib heard the lock come just after the door had been shut. Dib let out a sigh. He wanted to know what it was that his father was working on that was so secret that it was to be hidden from his kids. But the thought landed its way to the back of Dib's head and sat there for the whole night.

Chapter 4

The Chip

Dib was off to Skool now as it was nearing Skool time. The Professor waved to the two kids goodbye and quickly rushed down to his lab. He gathered with the other lab coated people they all spoke amongst them self's and then looked towards a little room in the corner of the lab. It contained the yelling Zim. But the room sound proofed itself so every time that he screeched or made a blood curdling high pitched yell he would have the reaction that the humans had to that kind of thing; pain in the ears.

His hot tempered yells and screeches soon ended and once they took him out of the room he became hoarse. Zim's voice was just withering. He could talk but it was low and had a crackle to it. They had to fight off his attacks in order to restrain him. Once restrained they took him to a silver table that he had seen before. It was the same one that they had set him on the first day in the dreadful lab. The other lab coats lifted him and restrained him even more to reinsure that he couldn't move away. The Professor stepped over to the table with a bundle of instruments on a smaller table beside him. Zim gulped. He could only imagine the things that were about to happen to him. He began to shake as the Professor sorted through the instruments. The Professor must have noticed this because he looked over to the little shivering alien lying on the table. He spoke in a firm voice but enough to notice he meant to stabilize the mood of the experimental test. "So you are capable of fear. I see that now." He said to Zim who was shaking a bit more now.

Zim stopped shaking as much as he could in order to answer the Professor in a more firm tone that would be believable. "No. Zim has never been sc-scared." He puffed out his chest in confidence. The Professor saw past the act and moved on rummaging through the supplies again. He pulled out a small knife looking instrument and began to sharpen it. Zim looked stiff as the knife came towards him. His eyes blinked faster and faster each inch it came closer to him. Zim closed his eyes tightly as he heard the rip of his tunic. Then they opened and he breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't his own flesh that had been cut. The Professor chuckled a bit at Zim's reaction. Zim shook himself back into character and growled at the Professor as he asked; "What are you laughing at earth scum?"

"Oh nothing." He said to Zim. The Professor looked back to the small table with the tools on them and pulled out a small saw looking device. He clicked a button on the device and the saw began spinning and a buzzing sound filled the room. Zim gulped and the Professor smiled a wicked smile as he brought the saw closer to Zim's chest. Zim widened his eyes in shock as the saw spiked on his skin. Then it deepened and the blood streamed out of Zim's chest and Zim clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and was to the point of tears. He would've screamed if he wasn't so hoarse. The Professor looked at Zim and stopped for a second to talk to him.

"So little alien, are you capable of pain? I do believe you are for you are reacting to this first step of the project." He told Zim.

Breathing hard and blinking a few times, Zim scowled at the Professor and told him that he would never stoop so low as to tell him if he would feel anything of the "project" tests. No matter how bad they were. The Professor just looked at him and laughed. "Well someone is a bit stubborn I see." He said. As he started the saw again Zim tried to let out a yell for help thinking it might do some good. Nothing came out. The saw again entered his skin and Zim still managed to stand the pain that he was feeling. The bleeding continued and the tests only got worse. After the Professor was done with making an incision in Zim's skin, he began to search through the organs in Zim's body. Zim could only lie there as the Professor sorted through his body, violating every organ he had. Zim did everything he could to not vomit. He soon began to close his eyes to stop thinking about the horrid scenes that the lab coasts were preparing for him. Finally the Professor stopped and began to seal the alien back together. Zim was terrified as he was moved from the cold table and placed into his holding room. He crouched into a corner and began to shiver. He checked himself all over and noticed something inside his PAK. It was a small chip looking device. He felt one on the back if his neck also. He wondered what it did and what the lab coats had in store for him next.

"Well whatever it is, I will not give up hope. Not ever." He thought.

Chapter 5

The Auto-Alien

Skool was out and Dib and Gaz were ready to get home. Especially Dib. After all, everyone now hated him even more than usual because of the Zim ordeal. Dib had even apologized to everyone at least 7 times that day. Even Ms. Bitters hated Dib more. And she hated everyone. But she made Dib know that he was hated. She made him sit in the back of the room on the floor. And when lunch came, Dib was to stay there while she got his lunch. Its contents were only a small piece of crumbled bread, three peas, and rotten milk. She told him that the Skool principle wouldn't do anything because everyone hated him. Even Gaz stayed silent when Skool got out. She walked with him but became distant from him the whole way home. Dib was miserable now. He had no friends and only one member of the family in the house that agreed with him about Zim. He almost couldn't wait to see what was happening to him at this very moment. But in the back of his mind was that thought of what the strange object was that his dad was keeping from him. His stomach ached as he thought about Zim's face that day of his capture. He looked helpless. And the robot/dog that Zim had was gone at the time. So Zim was almost defenseless. But he still had his PAK to help him. Or so he thought, Professor Membrane stepped forward as Zim's PAK retracted the spider legs. He pulled out a meter of some sort and pressed a button on it. It beeped and Zim fell as the spider legs broke apart bit by bit. He got up and ran away from the guards. Zim tried to use other supplies his PAK usually provided for him. None of them were working as soon as they came out they quickly fell apart as the spider legs did. He ran into a corner of one of the walls and fell with a thud. Zim scrambled to his feet and began to run again. He was soon shocked by a device and taken by force into a caged vehicle. The day that Dib smiled that devilish smile was the day that the guilt crept upon him. And now it was biting him in the butt. Big time.

As the two got home Gaz started her game from where she left off. Dib, on the other hand, had gone down to the lab and saw that the door was unlocked. He peeked into the lab and found Zim's holding room. He knew it wasn't good to go into the lab when his father wasn't there. And ever since Zim was taken down to the lab his dad hadn't come back up. He was even sleeping in there. If he was sleeping at all. Dib decided to go over to the room and sneak a peek at how Zim was doing. He looked in the window of the door and saw, in the corner, a small, crouching green alien.

"Zim? Are you okay?" Dib asked softly to the shaking Zim. He looked up from the corner and over to the window to Dib. As he turned Dib saw the horrid scar on the back of his neck. Zim only shook as Dib motioned for Zim to come over to the door. He didn't want to see Zim this bad.

"Zim, I…I didn't want to…" he cleared his throat.

Zim finally found the courage to speak to his enemy. He spoke quietly and said; "You didn't want what Dib? You always wanted this didn't you? You always told me it would happen. And….." Zim stopped and began staring blankly at the door. He looked hypnotized from something. Dib knocked on the door to snap him out of the trance. Nothing happened. Dib stood there looking at the dazed alien. Then he shrugged and turned around only to find his father looking down at him and holding a remote control.

"Oh! Umm….hi dad." Dib coughed nervously. His father looked a bit upset. Not much but enough to tell it was so.

"Son." He said, "What do you think you are doing down here?"

Dib gulped and told him; "I was just…talking to Zim." He gave a nervous smile. The Professors expression stayed there. Then he knelt down to his son to look him in the eyes. He put a hand on his shoulder and said; "Okay then, I want to show you something." His expression was joyful now. As Dib followed his father over to the room where Zim was, the Professor began to tell Dib of a new breakthrough project that he had tested on this "little alien friend" of Dib's.

"It's called the Auto-Alien machine. It gives us total control of the little alien. Watch here." The Professor said as he pulled a lever on the remote control and Zim stood up. Dib looked at Zim and was in awe as the Professor began pushing buttons and pulling levers this way and that. Zim moved along with the directions and the buttons. Dib couldn't believe his eyes. Zim was being used as a puppet. The Professor looked satisfied as he put the remote down, still on.

"So son, what do you think?" He asked Dib.

"I…..I'm not sure what to say dad. I….I guess it's cool." Dib hated it inside of his gut. Zim was no puppet he was an Invader. He made that very clear when the two would fight all the time. Professor Membrane looked thrilled as he told Dib that there was more to be done with his friend.

"We must make him into a full Auto-Alien. We can't just have an on and off switch he must be able to be auto on his own. We must fix that."

Chapter 6

Decisions, Decisions

Dib had gone upstairs and into his room. He was shaken at what he had seen. Zim was now a mere robot used for nothing. And now Zim was going to be made into a permanent Auto-Alien and could never go back. Although he hated Zim sometimes in the past, he couldn't stand to see him like this. But he also wouldn't go against his father's wishes. He decided this was for the best; after all, Zim was an alien and deserved it for trying to destroy all of mankind. Dib pushed the thought of Zim to the back of his mind. He decided to go to bed early and so he took off his glasses and fell asleep within 2 minutes.

It became 1:23 in the morning and Dib had woken up a bit too early from the recent sleeping. He heard a bit of yelling as he went into the kitchen to get a soda. It was coming from the lab. He couldn't quite make out what was being said but it was Zim who was yelling. He could tell Zim had been hoarse for quite some time now and was beginning to lose his voice for good. Dib went to go down to the lab but soon stopped as he heard voices from there. They were of his dad and the other lab assistants.

"What are they doing?" He asked himself quietly. He could hear a whimper a bit from Zim. He couldn't see Zim whimpering about anything. Then he heard the voice of his father. "I do believe it is time to have a bit of rest before we make the final cut to insert the Auto-Alien clean up chip. Dib knew that was what the Professor and he were talking about. Dib heard footsteps coming up the lab stairs and to the door. He rushed into the living room and set the soda on the table. Then he began to act as if he were asleep. The Professor and the assistants looked in the living room and saw the young boy sprawled out on the couch.

"Is this your son? The one who caught the little alien?" one of the assistants asked quietly.

"Yes he is my son. He is the one behind this discovery." Membrane said to them all proudly.

"Well let's leave him to sleep. And we should go and rest for the night." Another assistant said. With a nod Membrane's assistants walked out the door. Dib was still faking the "deep sleep" act and as his father left the room, Dib quietly rushed to the lab and ran to the holding cell where Zim was. He peeked through the window and tapped it to get the Zim's attention. As Zim turned his head to see the person who was tapping, Dib saw a giant stitched place on his head. Dib's eyes widened at the sight of it. Zim was now dressed in a white hospital robe. He was shaking uncontrollably and was whimpering even more now. He crawled over to the window and staggered to stand. Finally he rose himself to the proper height of the window.

"Dib….is…is th-that….you?" Zim stuttered.

Dib stood there looking at the stitched head place. Zim followed his eyes and said in a shaking voice; "They're gonna do it Dib. They really are gonna do it. They're gonna make the final cut to make me a living Auto-Alien." Zim's eyes watered with a pinkish liquid in them. "Dib, you have to get me out. Tell your father to stop. Please Dib. Please."

Dib shook himself from the daze. He looked at Zim with a sorrowful face. "Zim….I…I don't want you to destroy the world. I just want to…." Zim interrupted him. His head hung in disappointment as he said; "Its fine Dib, I just wanted to know that you would be the last person who saw me as me and not just some scientist who only saw me as a test subject."

It took all of Dib's willpower to not cry. He had a big decision to make; keep Zim as he was, go against his father's studies and save him…or leave him here to be just another experiment of the Professor's.

Chapter 7

The Final Cut

Dib walked away from the room and out of the lab. He couldn't decide what he would have to do. He couldn't go against his dad and free Zim. And he didn't want Zim to be just a simple puppet controlled by a stupid device. He just couldn't decide. Maybe he could just sleep on it and in the morning he would figure all this out. So he crept up to his room to lie in his bed. Soon he was fast asleep.

It was the weekend and Dib had been asleep for far too long. He had gotten up and it was already past 1:00 pm!

"I gotta go see how Zim is!" he said as he rushed downstairs to the lab only to find the door shut and locked. All of the Professor's assistants and the Professor were standing around a table. On it was Zim. He still seemed to be normal from what Dib could tell. He was thrashing from side to side and trying to yell. Although he was restrained Zim had moved quite a bit. The Professor looked at him and picked up the remote control for Zim's chip. He pressed a few buttons and Zim became stiff and straightened.

"There, now we can begin." He said as he picked up a small knife. Zim could still move his eyes with no problem. However he saw what he didn't want to see. He saw that the knife was inserted into his fleshy skin by his head where the stitches were and then he felt a sharp pain run slowly down to his brain. He took it hard and all he could do was watch this all happen. Dib on the other hand was screeching in fury as this all was happening. He was ranting on about how his dad shouldn't do this and It was inhumane and whatever he did was going to cost him his son.

The Professor motioned for the assistants to get the door. and as soon as they opened it Dib burst through and rushed over to the table. He grabbed his father's arm and pulled at it and tugged at it with all of his might. He began shouting; "You can't do this dad you have to let him be himself! He is Zim not a toy! Leave him be!"

The Professor tried to pull his arm free but Dib was determined to keep this up. So the assistants stepped in and began to pull Dib away from him. As Dib's grip was broken, the Professor stretched his arm back into position for the testing to begin again.

The assistants pulled Dib back away from the table and tried their best to keep him from slipping out of their grips. He was so determined to go back over to that table that he began to kick, bite, and thrash at them. They were not losing their grip on him. he was being dragged up the stairs and out of the lab. As soon as he was thrown out of the lab the door shut and locked behind him. Dib punched at the door and even got a plate out and threw it at the window. Although he knew that it was Plexiglas and wouldn't break over a plate. All he could do was watch the horrible scene as it continued.

Zim was still lying on the table looking at the Professor and the knife. The knife inserted itself back into Zim's head and now was even deeper. Dib couldn't watch anymore of this so he slumped onto the floor and buried his face in his knees. Then a loud crashing sound settled itself in the lab. Dib popped his head up and peered into the lab. Everyone was still as they all gazed at a spaceship and a gaping hole in the wall. The top of the ship retracted and out popped a small little alien that looked like Zim. The alien was definitely Irken. But no one knew who it was due to the smoke and ashes. Then as they cleared, the Irken was revealed. It was Tak. She had returned for Zim.

Chapter 8

The Trade

Tak looked at all of the people in the room and then focused on Zim. She was too confused to scowl at him and as her SIR unit, MiMi, zipped in the room it was just as confused as her master. Then one of the assistants asked her; "Who are you?" She responded with a simple answer which was; "I am Tak. I am an Irken invader."

The Professor looked entreatingly at Tak and MiMi. He was in awe that yet another Irken had come to earth.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her in a firm tone.

"I am here for Zim. He has to pay for what he did to my mission. And who are you?" she asked crossing her arms.

Professor Membrane chuckled and said; "I am Professor Membrane, a scientist. And I'm afraid you cannot have this little "Zim" creature. He is in the process of becoming an Auto-Alien. And I have a slight feeling that we have just found another subject." He smiled his devilish smile as three assistants grabbed the Irken and began dragging her over to the Professor as he got out the small meter device that was used for disabling an Irken's PAK. Tak fought back before she got closer to the meter as she extended her PAK's spider legs and began swiping the assistants off of her and flinging them all over the lab.

"You will not make me an experiment!" she said as one of the spider legs slashed the Professor's arm with the knife in it. He gave a shout of pain and stood up backing away while signaling the others to get her with his other arm. He handed to meter to another assistant. As the assistant showed the meter to Tak, the claws began to fall apart. But she managed to make a claw that was still working pull up and drive it right through the device, shattering it to sparked pieces. As it fell on the ground the last spider leg crumbed and fell to the floor in pieces. She looked at Professor Membrane and ordered her PAK to bring out the laser beam. Nothing came out.

"PAK get the laser beam!" she shouted. Nothing happened. "Why are you not working? I destroyed the device!" She looked at Professor Membrane and as he stood up he laughed.

"Silly Irken. You were already hit by the meter's beam even though you destroyed it afterwards. Your PAK is useless now. And that means we can resume our experiment." He said to Tak as the guards grabbed her and held her down. The Professor picked up the anesthetic gun and walked towards her. Tak looked over at Zim planning to scowl at him for the trouble that she thought he had caused. But instead she saw him with tears in his eyes. He had a helpless look on his face and he was shaking to death. She no longer wanted to hate him. She wanted to help him.

"Wait! Professor, I have a deal for you. A better deal." She said to Membrane. He stopped the gun about 7 inches away from her skin.

"Oh? And what would that be?" he asked raising an eye brow.

Tak looked at Zim and then took a deep breath and said; "Me for Zim."

Membrane looked a bit stunned. And the asked her; "Why should we give him up for you?"

"I'm smarter, more resourceful, a bit stronger and can solve all of the human problems with your studies." She responded.

Professor Membrane thought about it and finally he decided that Zim could go free and Tak would take his place. He could see that she was telling the truth about all that she had said. Zim couldn't believe what he had heard. Then the Professor looked at MiMi and asked Tak what would be done about that.

"MiMi will help with Zim. Until he recovers she stays with him. and then she comes back to me and stays here with you all." Tak looked at MiMi with a sad face. She was sorry that she had to make that decision for her SIR unit. But MiMi understood what had to be done. The Professor took Zim off the table, took the chips out of him, and set him down by MiMi. As the SIR unit took Zim over to the ship and sat him down and flew the spaceship out of the lab, Tak looked at Professor Membrane and he walked over to the small Irken girl.

"Are you willing to cooperate or do we have to treat you as we did with Zim?" He asked her holding the gun up.

"I will cooperate. I told you I'm not like him." Tak said putting her head down.

The Professor smiled and motioned for the assistants to set her on the table and restrain her just in case.

"Okay, I am ready." Tak said as a knife was sharpening.

"Okay here we go." Professor Membrane said as he inserted the knife into Tak's head. Dib watched in awe as the whole thing happened and now he didn't feel as bad as he did before. After all, Zim was safe and was going to recover. Everything was going to be fine now. All except for Tak. He was feeling bad for her but not as bad as he did for Zim. So he quickly eliminated that thought and it didn't seem to return as the days flew by and the process of the Auto-Alien experiment went on completed. Everything was back to normal. And now Professor Membrane even had a new helper, Tak, or as he called her; Project B.

THE END