The Rise Of Irk - Original Manuscripts

Part 6- The Enemies Return

"Everyday you need a bulletproof vest, to save yourself from what you could never guess"

Bel, Dib, Star, Zim and all the other teens took their seats and prepared for class. Ms. Laura walked in and stood in front of the class. "Now, class, before we begin our lesson, I have someone to introduce to you." She looked at the door and gestured for someone to enter. Dib rolled his eyes. This never ends well. He thought to himself. In the room walked a taller boy with pale skin and large, dark bags under his hazel eyes. He had Jet black hair with an odd white stripe running along the side. He had two black earrings in his left ear and wore a faded blue and white striped shirt with some sort of patch torn off the front pocket. He also had a black jacket, blue jeans, and grey high top shoes. "This is Jek." Ms. Laura said. She turned to Jek. "Would you like to say anything to the class?" She asked Jek. He nods and stands in front of the class. As he is about to begin, something catches his eye. In the room of children, he spots Zim. His eyes widened. He refrained from acting on rage and begins to speak. "Hello. My name is Jek." He said in a deep, raspy voice. "I'm a little new around here." He scratched at his arm. "Any interests of yours?" Ms. Laura asked. "Umm..." Jek thought. "I like building stuff I guess." One kid raised his hand. Jek noticed and called on him. "What kind of stuff do you build?" Jek thought for a moment. "Usually stuff to help me work more efficiently." The class seemed impressed. "Well, we are very excited to have you in our class." Ms. Laura said happily. She looked at Dib. "Oh, Dib, you seem like the social type. Do you think you and your friends could help Jek around school today?" He looked confused. "Me? Social?" The class stared at him, the attention now drawn toward him. He looked a little embarassed. "Uh..Yeah, sure." "Wonderful! Jek, you can go ahead and take a seat next to Dib." Jek sat down and stared at Zim the whole class period, which made Zim quite uncomfortable, but he didn't question it too much and continued working.
     The school day continued as normal. Dib showed Jek around and helped him out, while Bel tagged along. "And that's the auditorium. The drama club and the performers sing there." Bel said. "Do you sing?" Dib asked. Jek looked at him like he had just asked the stupidest question ever. "No." He responded. Jek stayed quiet most of the day, keeping a watchful eye on Zim. Finally, everyone retired to their dorms. Zim was doodling in a sketchbook while Dib was studying for an upcoming test hours later. It was 2:40 A.M. Dib yawned. "I'm gonna go get some more coffee stuff. Don't blow anything up." Dib said tiredly. "Yes, yes, very well, Dib-Stink." Zim said, before returning to his doodles. "Well GIR, I say we've earned a treat, today. Let's go get some sweets!" He said, turning around in his chair. GIR didn't respond. "Gir?" Zim looked and saw that GIR was nowhere to be found. Zim got a little concerned. "Gir's never been gone this long before..." He thought aloud. Suddenly, a figure grabbed Zim, putting their hand over his mouth. Muffled screams escaped Zim's covered lips, before one of his PAK legs knocked the attacker off of him. Zim inhaled sharply, trying to catch his breath. "WHAT ON IRK, DIB!? DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!" Zim yelled before looking up to see Jek getting off of the ground. "You?" Jek said nothing and made a mad dash at Zim, hatred in his eyes. Zim tried to escape before Jek grabbed hold of him. "Wait, wait, STOP! DON'T HURT ME!!" Zim pleaded for his life with a few tears in his eyes. Jek loosened his grip. Zim tries to calm down, shaking with fear. "What do you want from me?" Zim asks. Jek started laughing quietly, but it soon got louder. Jek pulled out a small pad and pushed a button, disabling his disguise. Jek appeared to be a dirty irken with a blue uniform, dark blue eyes, purple goggles with one cracked lens, but most notably, he had a broken antenna and a prosthetic right arm. "You're...Irken?!" Zim asked, shocked. Jek smirked evily at Zim's confusion and said, "You did this to me." He held up his prosthetic arm. "B-but I've never seen you before." Zim said, stuttering. "Oh I've seen you before, Invader Zim. Irken elite training. Impending Doom 1. I was practicing a training course when I heard explosions from outside. I step out to see nothing but my comrades being obliterated before my eyes. I heard a loud one land about 15 feet away from me. After it landed, I could barely see, there was a ringing in my sound receptors, and I could barely move." Zim listened, realizing the stupid mistake that he made that day. "Imagine trying to get up off the ground, and seeing your arm 6 feet in front of you. I woke up in an infirmary and heard the news. 3,302,001 lives lost that day." Zim gulped. "Look, I know that I made some..not great decisions that day. But you've gotta hear me out! I've changed!" Jek put his hand around Zim's neck and a light blue energy emitted from it. "Really? You? Changed? Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow your shmoopsquizz to Blorch." Zim struggled to make a sound. He also wasn't getting much air.  "I-I.." "Tick, Tock, Zim..." Dib walked in with a large coffee pot and a small jug of milk. "Zim, I got more coffee stuff." Dib looked up and saw Jek, ready to kill Zim. Zim gave Dib a 'help me, I'm going to die' expression. "AAH!" In a moment of instinct he dropped his things, spilling both the coffee and the milk all over the carpet, grabbed Jek, and pulled him away. "Who are you!?" Dib asked. Zim coughed. "It's Jek.." Zim said weakly. "JEK!? What are you doing?" "Your little friend is gonna pay for his mistakes!" "Mistakes..? Zim, What did you do to him?!" Zim got up, stumbling a little. "Irken stuff. It's complicated." Jek looked at the clock, which read '2:47 A.M.' He looked at the door, calmed down a little, and turned his disguise back on. "I need to go back to my dorm. We're making too much noise, people will be suspicious." He looked at Zim, furious. "I'll deal with you later..." He stormed out. "What the heck was that all about?!" Dib said. Zim sighed. "I blew up stuff, accidentally killed like a million Irkens....and accidentally injured Jek. It was a long time ago. He...tried to kill me. Zim feels....guilty for what he has done." Dib gave a long sigh. "We'll deal with it in the morning. I'm gonna get some sleep. If anyone tries to kill you again, wake me up and let me know." Zim looked confused. "But you hate me, don't you? Why do you care if I live?" "Of course, you're the worst, but you don't deserve to die." Zim looked surprised. "Uh...ok. Thank you, Dib-worm." "Just call me Dib. It's getting annoying. Goodnight, Zim." He walked into his room and locked the door. "Good night..." Zim walked back to his room, still in shock over all that had just happened.
The next morning, Bel and Star knocked on the door. Dib answered. "Hello? Oh, hey guys." "Hey! Where's Zim?" Star asked. "In his room. I'll get him." He knocked on Zim's door. "Zim! Time for school!" "Coming!" He came out of his room. "Hello Star." Zim fixed his hair a little, wanting to make a good impression seeing Star. "Hi! Um, GIR snuck in my room last night. He said he wanted taquitos, but I didn't have any, so I made him cookies." GIR came out from behind her. "Hello!!!!!" Zim sighed, and smiled. "Hello, GIR. I was worried you had ran off." "Nope! Star made me cookies. She's so sweeeeeettt!!" Zim pet GIR on the head. "She sure is. Stay in the dorm. I'll see you after skool." "Okie!" He ran inside and flopped on Zim's bed, giggling as his hood came off. "Aw, he's the cutest!!" Star said. "Yeah.." Zim looked a little upset, thinking about the whole ordeal with Jek last night. "Zim? What's wrong? Are you ok?" He looked at Star and faked a smile. "Yeah, just...Mondays." "Heh, yeah, I get that. Let's head on to class before we're late." "Ok." She held his hand as they walked to class. Bel and Dib had slightly grossed out faces as they followed. "Bleh. I am never going to get used to that." Dib said. Bel laughed a little. "Yeah, but it's great that he has someone that supports him. He's gonna need that help after what happened..." "Yeah...I only told you, cause I don't want Star to know he's in danger, and I don't want Zim to know that I told you. Man, having friends is weird, I've never done this before." "Eh, that's fair. We'll try to keep Jek under control." "Yeah...we'll try...the guy has some anger issues...and fighting skills." "Really? Like, What kind of skills?" Bel seemed intrigued. "He got that close to killing Zim. If I had waited to step in a few seconds later, Zim would've been dead." Bel's face immediatly went from interested to extremely worried. "Maybe we just leave him alone, and if he tries to kill Zim, or any of us, we can just stop him...hopefully. I know how to fight with dual swords, it'll be fine." "Yeah...hopefully. Wait, you can SWORD FIGHT?!" "Uh, yeah! Well, I'm not supposed to know how, but..I trained in secret." "You're gonna have to show me sometime." They smiled and went into class.
ELA was their first class. They sat down in their seats, thinking about how to stop Jek. The teacher walked up to the front. "Good Morning, class!" "Good Morning Miss Sarah." They said, at disarranged times. "Before we begin, we have a new student joining us today!" "Ugh, another one? Geez, how many new kids are we gonna get?" Dib whispered. She motioned for a girl sitting behind Bel to stand up. She had long, spiky, dark purple hair, a pink and purple striped sweater with a dark purple leather jacket, and a black cape attached to her pants. She had black eyeshadow, and her eyes seemed to shine purple. "Guys, this is...um...Takala? Am I saying that right?"  "Yes..hehe...that's me. But you can call me Tak." Bel and Star were interested, but Dib's face immediatly changed to pure shock. "Hello, Tak! Anything you'd like to say? Something about yourself?" "Hmm...well, I can build things, I'm good at Atheltics, and I have a cat named MiMi." "Ooh, what kind of cat?" Star asked. "A....common one." "Ooh, so a persain?" "Yes! That one." "Cool!" "Wow, looks like you're making friends already. You can have a seat. Star, could you and Bel show Tak around in between classes?" "Sure! I would love to! A new friend!!" Bel shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind." "Yes..wonderful." Tak said, a little sarcastic as she sat down. She noticed Zim and had a look of hatred in her eyes. Zim was confused. "Seriously, why is everyone staring at me?" He whispered to Star. "I dunno." She shrugged. And Dib looked like he was ready to explode. "No freaking way."
At Lunch, Star was talking to Tak. "And yeah! That's basically it!" "Ok then. Thank you, Star." "What's up with your accent, by the way? Are you british? Or scottish? I can't tell." "Uh, I'm from somewhere...very very far away from here." "Ah, so you're Australian. They have weird accents, right?" "Sure, whatever." She looked over at Zim. "Hey, do you know Zim?" "Of course! He's my boyfriend!" Tak was shocked. "...Boyfriend? As in your... love interest?!" She said, disturbed and a bit grossed out.  "Yes! He's super sweet and kind. I really like him." Star looked at Tak. "So, you're a foreign exchange student? How do you like America?" "Weird, I thought this was Earth." "Uh...it is. America is one of many countries on Earth." "Oh, right. I used to live here. I left for a little while, but I've returned for...private reasons." "Oh, neat! You have heritage, but you lived here....Do you know Zim?" "Yes, he actually used to have a crush on me, before he met you, apparently." "You were his...ex girlfriend? Zim never mentioned an ex." "Not girlfriend, or 'ex', just um...his crush I guess. But we didn't get along very well..." She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him with an intense look as he was looking for Star. "It didn't really work out...." "Oh! Well, um, sorry about that." Jek sat at a table nearby. Tak saw him and stood up. "Hey, I'm going to sit somewhere else." "Oh..um, ok." She came over to Jek and sat down next to him. Zim saw as he sat next to Star. "I feel like I've seen her before.." "Yeah, she told me you used to have a crush on her! I didn't know you had a weird ex-girlfriend!" "Crush? What's a crush? I didn't crush her. Or an x." "You used to like her?? Romantically? You were in a relationship with her before one of you ended it?" "Oh. I did? What's her name?" "Her name is Takala, but she goes by Tak." Suddenly, once he heard her name, the memories came flooding back to him, and he got an upset look on his face. "Oh no...what happened to you guys?" "She was...very aggressive. She's an enemy of mine! I HATE her! I didn't even know she was still alive!!" "She seems...nice though. In a weird way." "Nice?! Star, that girl is.." He stopped and whispered "Irken..." "What?! She can't be. She's just a bit of an emo. And she's kinda nice...yeah, no, you're right, she's kinda attitudy. Kinda hateful." "Don't talk with her, Star. She's bad news. I'm not lying, she really is. She tried to destroy the Earth!" Dib walked over with his cafeteria lunch and sat down. "Yeah, me and Zim have experience. She literally tried to suck the Earth's insides out and fill it with snacks before she was sent into space and I got her ship. And there's no way her real name is Takala." "It's not." Zim replied. "Yeah, I trust Dib on this one. She just looks like trouble." Bel said as she sat. "I think you guys are just pulling my leg. She...she probably just doesn't have any friends! I can be her friend! And she seems to be getting along with the other new kid, Jek." Zim and Dib were shocked. "Tak teaming up with Jek?! Two people that hate Zim and want him dead?! This isn't good!" He stops as Star is shocked. "Oh crap. Um, you didn't hear anything-" Dib said. "...dead? Zim, you know Jek too? Why do all these people hate you?! Where did they come from?! WHY DO THEY WANT YOU DEAD?!" Zim looked at them, upset. He got up. "I don't want to talk about it." "Zim, I'm your girlfriend, you shouldn't keep secrets from me!! I can handle your secret alien past or whatever! I knew I was gonna have to deal with this when we got in a relationship. I knew the risks I was taking. Just tell me WHAT'S WRONG!" "I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Zim yelled at her. She jumped. That startled her. A lot. He had never yelled at her like that. She had never heard him yell before, and she looked ready to cry. He sighed."Sorry, I just...I need a minute." He walked away. Meanwhile, Tak sat next to Jek. "Can I help you?" He said. "Yes, I heard you have a hate toward Zim." He stopped. "Yes, why?" He looked at the logo on her shirt, which was a 'Tak' version of the Irken Logo, minus the antennae. "Are you..?" She said a code word of some sort in Irken. Jek replied in Irken, with a different word this time. "So, What did the jinx do to you?" "Ruined my training to be an Invader. Had me placed on a Janitorial Squad on Planet Dirt. Ruined my life." "He ruined mine too. You sound lucky compared to what he did to me." "So I've heard." She glanced at his arm and shuddered a little. "I want to make an Alliance with you. Team up to be rid of Zim once and for all, and finally be the Invaders we were meant to be. What do you say?" He looked at her and smirked. "Revenge sounds nice. I'm in." She smirked. "Wonderful..."
Later that night, Zim was looking around for GIR. "Zim, you need to calm down. He's probably in Star and Bel's room again asking for food." "But what if he's in danger? What if Jek and Tak took him?!" Dib sighed. "I've known you since you came to Earth, and you've never been this paranoid about anything. I hate you, and you have tried so many times to ruin my life. Heck, you used to be the reason for my mental health stuff back in middle school. But this time, I want it to be different." "What do you mean?" "Our rivalry's gone on for years. It's just dumb. I...I want to make a truce. Jek and Tak are both trying to kill you, and they could end up hurting Bel and Star too. We need to keep an eye out. There are way more important things we need to be focusing on right now then our bickering. It doesn't have to be a permanent trues, and we don't have to be friends, more like...frenemies. I don't want anything bad to happen, and I know you care about Star too much to let anything happen to her. So..truce?" Zim thought for a minute. "I will never agree with you Dib, but for once, you're right. I truce. I can't risk anything happening to Star. She's the only person who likes me. She probably wouldn't if she knew the stuff I've done.  I deserve everything that's coming....why is changing so hard?!" "You shouldn't put yourself down like that. I know you can make a change, it just takes time. Let's just make sure they, and the robots, are ok, and we should be fine." Zim sighed. "Ok." Suddenly, Bel and Star burst through the door. "What's wrong?!" Dib said. Bel and Star, with tears in their eyes, held up Elise and Kora, who were lifeless. "THEY DEACTIVATED OUR ROBOTS!!!" "WHAT?!" Zim yelled. "Was GIR with you guys?" "No..." They said, realizing where he probably was. They put their robots on the couch, and ran to Jek and Tak's fake dorm as fast as they could. They burst through the door, but it was too late. GIR was on the ground, completely deactivated. Zim slowly walked up to him, held him, and a few tears, though subtle, started welling up in his eyes. Everyone was speechless. They'd never seen Zim cry before. Especially not like this. "But...I thought you didn't like Gir?" Bel said. Zim, trying to speak through the tears, said "Just because I was fed up with his antics sometimes dosen't mean I didn't care about him." Jek came in the room. "Oh, get over yourself. He was just a stupid robot." Zim was angry now. "HE WAS NOT JUST A STUPID ROBOT!! He was...my stupid robot." "Yeah, Jek, this is too far, even for you." Star said. "Oh, we're just getting started. You won't even know what hit you once we're done!!" Tak walked in too. "You did this to yourself. You ruined our lives, so now we ruin yours." They cackled evily as they vanished. Zim was in pure shock. "They can't get away with this. We'll stop them....hopefully..." Dib said.
The next day, the gang sat at their usual table. Tak and Jek, at another table, looked at Zim and smirked evily. He flinched a little, in fear. Star looked at him and held his hand. "Look, we'll figure this out together. I'll make sure nothing happens to you." "But you can't prevent that! No offense, but you're just a human! You can't stop them!" Star looked a little embarrassed, knowing she may have to tell Zim about her Irken situation, but Zim misinterpreted her embarrassment as her being hurt by his comment. "I appriciate that you want to help, but I can't risk anything happening to you." She sighed. "I'm glad you care about me as much as I care about you." She smiled. He smiled back. Tak and Jek saw, and we're grossed out. "Gross. Him being with that girl is annoying, especially since he dosen't know her secret." Jek got an idea. "Wait! I know we were going go for Bel next, but he doesn't care that much about Bel. What if we went for Star instead?" Tak caught on. "And exposed her little secret! She's clearly hiding it." She looked at Jek and laughed a little under her breath. "Well done, Jek. You've proved to be quite the evil genius." "Eh, so have you." "Wait..really?" "Yeah. You're plan to deactivate the robots was pretty smart. Not to mention you scaring the living daylights out of Zim. He can't even look at us, he's so paranoid." "Yeah, I just.." She looked a little upset. "What's wrong?" She sighed. "I want to be more than I am, you know? More than just an evil minded alien. I want to do something better." He sighed. "I get it. I also want to be more than just a disabled Irken who wants revenge." Suddenly, the bell rang. "Oh, time to get to class." "Yeah, see you after school." "Bye..." She replied as she ran off. A while later, both of them were alone, and a song scenario played out in Tak's head.
Song: Breaking Free - Skillet ft. Lacey Sturm
(Jek) This night, nothing like any other night, can't take anymore
You say I'll never be nothing, cause us suffering, something to ignore
These things you say
You make me weak but I have changed
No way, I am stronger than before
(Both) I will break, breaking free, coming alive
(Jek) I broke these chains, never be afraid to live my life
(Tak: Never be afraid to live my life)
(Both) Break, breaking free, one last time
No matter what they say, I will never change
(Jek) And I know I can break (Tak: break) break (Tak:break)
Look out, I'm breaking free
(Tak) This is who I am
You don't understand, you never even tried to swim
I think you're listening
Drop defense, you stab and twist the knife
(Jek) These things (Tak: these things) you say (Tak: you say)
(Jek) They don't hold me, (Both, harmonized) I'm not your slave
(Jek) No way, (Both) I'm stronger than before
(Both) I will break, breaking free, coming alive
I broke these chains, never be afraid to live my life
(Tak: Never be afraid to live my life)
(Both) Break, breaking free, one last time
No matter what they say, I will never change
And I know I can break (Tak: break) break (Tak: break)
(Both) Look out, I'm breaking free
*Guitar Break*
(Jek) Overcome, chains undone
No fear can hold me down
(Both) I know I can rise above it
(Tak) Overcome, chains undone
No fear can hold me down
(Both) I know I can rise above it
(Both) (screaming) I WILL BREAK, (singing) breaking free, coming alive
I broke these chains, never be afraid to live my life
(Tak: Never be afraid to live my life)
(Both) Break, breaking free, one last time
No matter what they say, I will never change
And I know I can break (Tak: break) break (Tak: break)
(Jek, screaming) I WILL BREAK! (Tak, screaming: I WILL BREAK!)
(Both, singing) Look out, I'm breaking free
(Jek) I'm breaking free
(Tak) Breaking breaking, this is freedom, this is freedom
(Both, screaming)I AM BREAKING FREE!