Danem

The Noose Tightens

By the time Zim reached the outskirts of the city, he realized he was shaking. He'd pushed himself harder in the past few days than he had in quite awhile, and he hadn't eaten much. He would need all his strength for whatever test the stupid Eyeballs threw at him last, he decided, so he turned aside to enter a run-down donut shop, donning his disguise patch as he did so.

Tallest Red still had his monies-card, but Zim had a small amount of cash on hand, enough for a meal or two. Ordering a dozen of the sugary pastries, he sat at a table in the corner to devour them. Truly, the donut was the perfect Irken food, combining sugar with carbohydrates to provide fast, efficient energy.

Licking the sugary glaze off his claws, he glanced up, noting the badly flickering TV on the wall, listing a bit to the side. Its purchase, he guessed, was probably a desperate attempt to interest customers in staying and buying more food. He watched it with disinterest as he lifted the last donut to his mouth. The donut froze in place as images of Della and Tom flickered onto the screen.

Bolting to his feet, Zim rushed to the TV, fumbling with the volume knob.

"Sound's busted." The shop worker mumbled around a mouthful of gum.

Zim stared at the screen, trying to figure out what was going on. Della was crying, Tom was holding her, looking angry and worried... He didn't see Mikko or Tiana anywhere. There was Tiana, or a photo of her, being held down by... a....

Zim sank to the floor, shutting his eyes and pressing his forehead to the ground in an attempt to hold back the scream trying to force its way out of his throat.

I should have known better...

WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE?

He didn't have to look up to know whose voice was ringing in his head.

"I had to find out—"

FIND OUT WHAT? A flare lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the wall of the shop. He grimaced as his hologram flickered out. WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE TO DESTROY TWO FAMILIES TO FIND OUT?

Zim choked. "If it made any difference... if he could be proud of me if I was his son... if he'd known that, would he have treated me differently... I can take everything he did to me, if I could just know that he would have made different choices if he knew..."

Gaz stared at him, incredulously. You put everyone at risk, for that?

Zim gritted his teeth, vision blurred. "Gaz, please, can you get Tiana out? The Eyeballs, I can tell you where they are, it's the City Sewer—"

Not that you don't owe me enough already, but I can't come within thirty feet of their stupid headquarters. They want to protect their Irken specimens from predators like myself, and they have a sonic barrier enclosing it from all sides.

Zim slumped. "Then you need to let me go now."

What?

"I'm going to make this right."

What are you talking about? You can't make this right, I'm taking Red back, and you're going home to sort this out from there.

Zim grabbed a napkin dispenser from a nearby table and hurled it at her head. It sailed right through, hitting the counter behind her with a clank. Startled, she dropped him. He stood, glaring. "You are not going to touch Red, because Zim is going to keep his promises. ALL of them. I'm going to disappear, and never bother your family again. I'm going in to the Swollen Eyeball for their stupid final test. And I am going to protect my family if it's the last thing I do!"

Gaz stared at him incredulously. Zim... it WILL be the last thing you do, if you're about to do what I think you are.

Zim snarled, "Then so be it! Isn't that what you wanted from the start, SISTER dear?"

Gaz shrank back slightly.

Zim growled, "Your father tracked me down and told me. Thank you ever so much for giving me the full picture right from the start, it saved me so much trouble and helped me understand exactly why you needed Zim gone, wait, YOU TOLD ME HALF OF WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW!" Zim turned toward the door. "Don't touch Tallest Red, Gaz. All promises are going to be kept, in spite of you, in spite of every flirking thing in this universe that is out to get me." With that, he bolted out of the building, past the terror-stricken shop-worker, heading straight for the Sewers.

It didn't take him long to find the now-familiar manhole cover. He stared down at it, feeling his claws start to tremble. He knew what awaited him on the other side.

You've endured before, he tried to assure himself. You can endure again.

This is different. You didn't have a choice before, you were traded to them. This time you can walk away, you can run and hide, and never come back.

The manhole cover slide aside, even before he knocked, and he knew they were waiting for him. Watching him. That even this was part of their sick, psychological warfare on his mind.

And still he knelt at the lip of the hole, trying to breathe through the terror constricting his chest. He had the power to walk away, he had the ability to leave, and he was about to willingly hand over all control of the situation to his worst enemies.

But if he didn't...

"I won't let anything happen to her..." He clutched the rim of the hole. "Not to her, not to any of them. Not ever." Turning around, he grasped the first few rungs of the ladder, and began his descent.