A Parade of Indignities

Chapter 22: Of Criminal Justice and Writing on the Walls

Chapter art created and owned by Lillylunala.

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"What are we gonna do now, Mastah?"

GIR's little voice trilled through the air, shaking Zim back to reality. He was still standing, leaning heavily against the ship and clutching the sides to keep himself up. His legs felt numb, and he feared that if he dared move, they would simply give out beneath him.

At last, he stirred, turning his head to look over at GIR. The little robot was sitting on the floor, staring up at him curiously.

Zim realized he had been holding his breath and let it out slowly. "We go back to Earth."

Yes. That's what they would do. That's all there was to do.

Slowly, he wrenched himself away from the edge of the ship and tried to make his way back to the pilot's chair. Almost immediately, his knees buckled from beneath him, but he collapsed crookedly into the seat just in time. Wriggling into a more comfortable position, he dropped his chin and released a relieved sigh. At least, it was supposed to sound relieved. The noise that came out instead was a strange mixture between a wheezy exhale and a whimper.

GIR settled in next to him and pressed a button on the console. The windshield lowered over the two, sealing them inside the ship.

Zim poised his hands over the control panel, excitement rising in his chest. As soon as he glanced down, though, he felt his confidence dry up almost instantaneously.

The levers and buttons looked entirely foreign to him. It was as if he'd never flown a ship in his life. He knew that couldn't possibly be true, though. He had many memories of flying, some dating back to his early adolescence when he could just barely see over the dashboard.

He dropped his hands and stared blankly down at the countless icons before him.

After a few moments, GIR began to fidget. Finally, a little metal claw reached forward in Zim's periphery, and the Irken nearly exploded.

"DON'T TOUCH!" He slapped GIR's hand away as forcibly as he could. "I know how to do it!"

"Then why haven't ya done it yet?" the robot countered. It came out with a childish sense of innocence, though. He was genuinely curious.

Zim growled and continued to glare at the buttons as if he could will them to make sense. It was like taking an exam where the answer was on the tip of his tongue, but it just wouldn't come to him.

He must have continued staring down at the panel for some time, for GIR eventually leaned back and rested his stubby little legs onto the dash. "Now wouldja look at that sunset..." he hummed.

Zim's eyes flicked upwards just in time to see Elixus' two suns finish creeping languidly behind the sprawling city high-rises. Within moments, the sky darkened. The Irken furrowed his brows and glanced back down.

"AHA!" he exclaimed. He flicked a little lever on the far right and the headlights lit up in front of them.

He smirked for a moment, then went right back to looking down at the control panel. His expression faded slowly back to one of blankness.

The headlights only broadened in the increasing darkness of the night, though. Zim would hum and grumble quietly to himself, hesitantly reaching towards a button or lever before slowly withdrawing his claw.

GIR hummed quietly beside him. He pulled out a chocolate bar from the storage in his head and began to munch on it. His legs kicked the backrest absently.