tw: violence + head injury mention !
No one knew the Invader like Red did, never having seen the side that Irk would scorn and laugh upon. Well that was assuming they didnāt already. Juxtaposition as he had always striven to maintain a confident facade with His Tallest, Red was also the only one he allowed himself to be vulnerable with save for anyone residing in his base. Although a few tears had slipped over the years, none had seen the type of obnoxious break downs he had as a smeet to the only one he let himself beā¦weak around.
He inhaled another shuddering breath. There it was, the ugly word that had been chasing him his entire youth. He always managed to outrun it in his own subconscious but proverbial armor had chipped away over the years and now crumbled as one of the ones he loved mostāone of the only ones he loved most reminded him of something he knew he always was.
He always relied on deflecting, laughing off his mistakes or simply somehow twisting them into accomplishments but not now. Faced with his greatest blunder yet over this month he had no choice but to finally confront the truth, as tears dripped down.
āI never tried to hurt them or you. It was a mistake.ā A mistake. It was always a mistake he was just a mistake just a- āMy Tallest, youāre the last being in the entire universe Zim would ever try to hurt! Everything Zim has ever done has been for you, and Iā¦ā Ruby eyes watered more, unable to escape the ugly reality and the cruel words. āIt just happens. I donātā¦I donāt know why it just happens!ā he cried pitifully.
āStand straight and take this bullet like the great invader you keep claiming to be. ā
Cold fear coursed through his veins as he felt himself go rigid and his eyes to snap open wide in terror. An order. A direct order from His Tallest. When an Irken received any order from Their Tallest, they did it, without question and thatās what they were programed to do, no matter how outlandish it was. They lived to serve them. ā¦He had lived to bring them heartache.
Numbly, mechanically, the spider legs retract as his feet place themselves firmly on the ground, but he didnāt feel the ground under his feet. He didnāt feel anything, and the ambiance of the city even sounded muffled as his senses dulled. Swallowing thickly he turned his head towards where he had parked the voot runner, but he didnāt even see his vessel. Of course GIR hadnāt stayed put.
Submissively, antennae quietly lower as his eyes shut. āI knowā¦.Iāve been branded Ā defectiveā¦.since hatching.ā His fists trembled in grief. āI just wanted to make you believe I wasnāt.ā
Ā Ā One shot and the pain will be gone. The anger and resentment. The betrayal and heartache heās had to endure for decades ---- how long has he been alive? Sometimes the numbered days of his continued existence escapes him, debris left over from the remains of what had always been a dying civilization. A slave to the very creators that he calls Gods; the Control Brains. Hesitation floods his very fingertips. The internal struggle having him second guess his superiors and his own morals.Ā
Ā Ā Thereās something wrong.
Ā Ā Thereās something wrong with the system. No. Thereās always been something wrong. He was a martyr to the truth. He knew this being crowned and he turned a blind eye to what had been there all along. Why did he forget? Why did he accept a lie? Why did he lie to himself? The Control Brains broke him! Oh Irk... they broke Purple.
Ā Ā Red pulls the trigger.
Ā Ā His PAK had already put on the safety long before his body could act. He had already decided. He gasped and shook, pulling the trigger again and again and again. And there was nothing. No brains strewn across the pavement or the hint of Irken blood.Ā
Ā Ā ā Shit! ā stumbling back he lowers the rifleās scope from his eyes and the weapon feels heavy in his arms. Heās shaking his head, a flood of emotions running wild in his thoughts all melding into one like a code desperate to seize control. And all he could think about as his dread filled chest filled with another kind of anger is that his creators purposefully broke the smile on his brotherās face. And they werenāt going to break him. Whatās one more defektive to add to the list anyway? Heāll make the rules. Their reign over him is over.
Ā Ā Red brings his attention back to the other alien. The resentment is still there and heās quite sure that the hatred he feels will always be there. Perhaps their past is what keeps him from doing the permanent. He doesnāt think of himself as a coward though, no. ā I canāt do it. Shit I canāt do it, Zim. ā
Ā Ā Red drops his rifle to the ground and he falls back onto a sitting position, elbows propped over his knees as he buries his face in his hands. He feels different. He feels as if a weight has been lifted off him, as if heās free... from the system. The Control Brains wonāt be happy about that.Ā ā Shit, shit, shit... fuck. ā