Operation: Incentive - Invader Zim fanfic (ZADF)

The PAK.

Dib regained his consciousness in a black void - and as soon as he registered this fact, bright colours swirled around him, spinning faster and faster, like a never-ending tornado..

He covered his eyes, and crouched down... His new eyes were too sensitive to this, a haze of bright crimson and violet were burned into his retinas...

And all of a sudden, it stopped. The silence was deafening.

Dib took his hands off his eyes; he seemed to be in a conference hall. He stood on the stage with two tall aliens that he recognized as the Tallest. They weren't very tall, barely the height of his father, but they were huge compared to the rest. Watching them was an entire Armada's worth of Irkens, all staring intently at the two tall ones, as if waiting for something. 

Dib turned around. Behind him stood a row of Irkens, and a towering hologram of a whiteboard, and on it was a scribbled map of the universe. He studied it intently, and found Neptune... Saturn... Mars... but there the board ran out. In the place of Earth was a sticky note, simply stuck to the side of the board. A crude sketch of Earth was drawn on it, and written underneath was "Planet?"

Out of nowhere, as if unpaused, the scene erupted into life. 

The Tallest with Red eyes proclaimed, "Welcome, mighty Irken soldiers! You are the finest example of the military training, the Irken Armada has to offer! Goooood for you! Standing behind us, however, are the soldiers we've chosen for roles in one of the most crucial parts of Operation Impending Doom: 2!" This was met by an ear-splitting cheer from the Irken crowd, and as it died down, Tallest Purple continued. 

"You should've tried harder! These superior ones, not as superior as us, of course-"

"Duh!" interrupted Red. Their camaraderie was entertaining, but Dib wanted desperatly to see what this had to do with Zim. Was he in the crowd?

Red carried on. "These...less superior than us, but still QUITE superior soldiers will each be assigned to an enemy PLANEEET!" He said it like a gameshow host announcing the main prize.

Dib was embarrassed to say he droned out at this point, but he got the gist. Each invader was to invade a planet, and prime it for takeover. The ceremony began, and the Tallest assigned planets to the Invaders, seemingly based on just height. It passed quickly, with no major event, and Dib was starting to get bored.

Tallest Red began closing the ceremony, but Dib heard a familiar voice in the crowd.

"WAIIIIT! Get out of the way...Move it, move it!"

The Tallest Purple was encouraging the crowd to go get some snacks, apparently not hearing Zim's desperate cries, but Tallest Red was a little more intelligent...

"That voice... " 

Yet Purple only realized once the owner of the voice started pulling himself up on stage.

"No... it can't be! Zim?"

Zim marched up confidently, and gave a little bow.

"Sorry I'm late, my Tallest. I couldn't find my invitation. I'm lucky I made it at all."

Tallest Red seemed annoyed, and pointed out to Zim that it was because he wasn't invited at all. Purple was a little more gracious though.

"Weren't you banished to Foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be....Frying something?"

Dib could scarcely believe his ears. Zim, banished? 

Zim smirked as he replied, "Oh, I quit when I found out about this." 

"You quit...being banished?" The assigning is over, Zim."

"But you can't have an invasion without me! I was in Operation Impending Doom: 1! Remember?"

Dib heard Purple say, "Oh yes, we remember..." as the scene in front of him changed to Zim in a huge battleship. The younger Zim seemed in his prime, destroying anything that got in his way. Shame he was still on his home planet... Dib had to supress a giggle. That was truly another level of stupidity, but banishment seemed a little harsh... 

The scene changed again, back to the conference hall, but a little later, as many of the Irkens in the crowd seemed almost bored. The Tallest had ridiculed Zim's height, and given him a sandwich for some reason, but the little alien kept going. 

"All I desire is a chance to be an Invader..." 

Dib kinda felt bad for the little guy.

The Tallest Red nudged Purple, then turned to Zim.

"We see now, Zim, that you are truly deserving! You will be presented with a planet so mysterious, no one has ever heard of it."

The other Tallest continued, "But those who've heard it, dare not speak of it." 

When Zim asked for the name, Purple simply replied, "Oh, we dare not speak of it."

Dib saw their plan now. He watched silently as they tricked Zim into a new exile, as they built him an 'advanced' SIR unit and sent the unsuspecting Irken to Earth. Flashbacks came quicker and faster than ever, the scene changing rapidly.

Zim getting bullied.

Zim making a friend - a blue Tallest.

Zim creating a literal monster.

Zim watching helplessly as his creation consumed the Tallest.

Zim crying.

Zim getting abused in Foodcourtia.

Zim with horrendous burns.

Zim getting called names.

"Murderer."

"Traitor."

"Filthy defect."