Today was going to be a big day indeed. Citizens and workers alike were gathering below to witness the execution of the rebel leader, something this world had been craving for years. Meanwhile, Gaz remained in her office, making it through the last of her paperwork, and contemplating everything that had gone on lately. Slowly she pulled her chair from her desk and stood, heading out of her office. She still had a few hours before she had to show up for the execution, so she figured she might visit Dib in his cell and give him her last farewells.
She greeted some passing guards as she made her way to the jail, and pulled out her security card, slipping through the passage until the green light flashed, allowing her entrance into the long dark hallways. As she slowly moved onward, the prisoners all began yelling and screaming at her to free them, as always happened in these rare occurances when she went down here. She looked on at them in disgust, and kicked some small pebbles in their faces. After moving down many long corridors, she began to near the solitary confinement area. Taking a deep breath, she again took out her card and awaited permission to pass through.
The light flashed, and she slowly swung open the door. The awful smell instantly hit her and she had to take a few steps back before being able to move on. She raked her fingers through her bangs as she slowly moved forward, the only sound being that of her high-heels as they tapped against the concrete below. The security doors closed behind her, instantly throwing her into a world of pitch darkness. As she did not have a flashlight on hand, she had to fumble around to see which way to go, being able to see only the faint outlines of the cells. Her eyes were opened wide as she looked around her, and she moved very slowly. She reached out a hand and placed it on the bar to a cell, until she felt a sickening stickiness enwrap her palm. Instantly pulling back, she shrieked as a large spider fell to the floor and quickly scurried away, and she hurried to wipe off the spiderweb she'd brought with her.
She was breathing heavily and absolutely devestated at the condition of these cages. Obviously this was a part of the Earthen Empire she had never before seen. Shakily, she stepped forward, ignoring the fact that her heels would always land in a puddle of filthy sewer water. Her heart pounded beneath her chest in fear, until she caught glance of a beaten figure up ahead. She creeped forward, tears threatening to fall down her face simply at the smell of this place, and looked inside. Below, she could see the bedraggled form of her brother, lying on the moss filled floor, curled into a ball, and slowly moving his finger around in the same circle over and over again, humming an undistinguishable tune. He was too sickly to even acknowledge her prescence, and looked on in delight at the design his fingers had made in the filth on his cell floor.
Her heart jumped into her throat and she nearly broke down right then and there, but she had to remain strong, she must. She had intended on coming in to taunt Dib one last time, but now her mind had switched sides, and she wasn't so sure. Still, she couldn't let any prisoners know any feelings she may have had toward them, not even her own brother.
"H-hello, Dib. I see we meet again for the l-last time."
She was having a hard time speaking, and her mind was clouded and dazed. But it wasn't until he heard her voice he even looked up, and had expected to see Zim standing there, his mind too foggy to recognize Gaz's voice. He quickly shot up from the floor, and quivered against the back wall, having lost all spirit to fight back.
"Please don't hurt me.."
He pleaded with the figure, still unsure who it was who looked into his quivering face, and his entire body shook violently. Gaz managed a cocky grin, but it lasted only a few short seconds.
"Hurt you? Dib I haven't come to hurt you, only your spirit."
It was quite obvious she'd lost the true pleasure she got out of seeing Dib suffering, and her voice was weak and blank, still unable to cope with the conditions he was currently in. Once having the time to focus, he finally recognized who conversed with him, and his eyes narrowed.
"Haven't you had enough fun out of me...yet? Your going to see me killed today, do you--really need to add on to the pain, Gaz? Or should I say, Second-Captain?"
He too had trouble speaking, but out of hunger and pain more than fear, like Gaz. She shook her head, no longer able to remain here.
"I'm..sorry you feel that way. It's just too bad you couldn't have avoided all this earlier by just giving in."
She turned and headed back to the exit, leaving Dib behind. Quickly he ran over to the bars of the cage and reached out his hand.
"No, wait! Come back!"
He wanted this conversation to last forever, despite all the pain it brought, because he knew it would be his last, but she had already left, and never heard his pleas. He sighed, knowing the next time her saw her, he would probably already be dead.
--------------------------
She left the jail as fast as she could, the images of that horrible place still fresh in her mind. A few workers tried to give her a friendly greeting as she rushed away from the office building, but she just shoved them out of her way. She hid her face as much as possible, wanting no one to catch the tears, until she was in the safety of her suite. She quickly fell upon her bed, face-down, and just cried. Something she had never done in so many years, she just let herself go, cursing herself for ever getting wrapped up in something like this. She didn't want to see Dib killed, the conditions of his cell had told her that, but at the same time her brain told her it was all for the better of the majority, all for order and peace in society. Her mind was being pulled in two seperate directions all at once, and now, all the pain she'd felt in the last twenty years finally got to her, and she just cried, and didn't stop until she couldn't cry any longer.
--------------------------
He smiled in utter delight as he prepared to speak in front of his entire empire, servants waiting on his every need. Off on the sidelines, Gaz stood, having gotten over her earlier ordeal in the jail. Her eyes were still a bit red, but not enough to be very noticeable. Zim lifted up his arms as a slave slipped on the long robe he wore in these occasions. It was black, and had a picture of his face on the back, representing his Earthen Empire. When his attire was finished, he laughed in his normal maniacal way and turned to the Second-Captain.
"Today we see the end of the rebellion, the end to my long-lasted foe! Today he finally gets the revenge I've been planning for so long! Today, is the day, of Dib's final execution!"
Zim now stands on a large balcony, finishing the same speech he had started with Gaz, in front of a huge crowd of humans. He was held up on a small throne by four guards to make him appear bigger. He clapsed his small hands together as a sadistic grin spread across his face, and he looked over the cheering crowd.
"Guards! Bring me down to the execution platform! I want to get a good look at the end to my foe."
They quickly did as he ordered, and Gaz followed after him. They soon reached a large wooden platform, and Zim stood atop his throne, filled with anticipation of what lie ahead. He looked to Gaz, then to the line of guards assigned the duty of shooting the killing blows, and then to the crowd before him.
"And now, bring out the prisoner!!"
The crowd silenced as a large door swung open, and some masked guardspeople dragged out the rebel leader, his hands clasped behind his back, and his eyes covered in a blindfold. They violently chucked him to the ground before Zim, and he struggled to get back to his feet. Gaz watched the scene, once again numb to her feelings, but that barrier was quickly breaking. On Zim's command, two guards yanked Dib upward and ripped off his blindfold so he may see what was happening. Zim chuckled to himself, relishing in this moment to finally see his true victory; the destruction of Dib.
He looked around in fear at everything that surrounded him. The cheering crowd, the guards all holding their guns, his sister. She looked away as soon as he glanced over in her direction, so she would not have to see the pain held in his face. He took in a deep breath to appear strong, accepting his fate, and knowing there was nothing more he could do. He had failed--miserably. He had let Zim seize the control of the planet, he had let him brainwash his sister, and the rest of mankind. He had lost all his hopes and dreams, and was now going to die. His life was at its end, and he had no way of fighting back. He looked around at the faces of the crowd, at all their sneering, and laughing, and wondered if they could truly see the pain in his eyes, in his heart. He knew they couldn't. They had been forced to live a life under Zim, and had accepted the rebellion and anyone to do with it to be the spawn of the devil, and so truly did not see his pain.
But no, he realized. That wasn't right. And he figured it out right then. They did see his pain. They saw the emptiness, the torture, the suffering. They saw it all, they knew it all. They just..didn't care. They didn't care that he had lost everything in the world. They didn't care about the hunger, the loneliness. They didn't care. He stood there, oblivious as the guards were given their orders, and as they pointed their guns at him. If they didn't care, neither did he.
"Ready!....Aim!..."
"Yes..yes!"
It was finally happening. The day he had so longed for was finally here. He stood, wide-eyed and bursting with the anticipation of the gunfire, when suddenly his eyes caught Gaz's stare. She looked to her brother, and not with a look of numbness and cold-heartedness, but with a look of pain and despair. She was feeling for her brother! No! How could this be?! Her loyalty was to the Earthen Empire, not the rebellion!
"Waaait! Hold your fire!"
He quickly leaped off his throne and ran to one of the gun-holders, grabbing his weapon. He then stepped over to his Second-Captain, a sly and sadistic grin holding across his face.
"You say you'd never help your brother in the future, but I think it's time you prove your loyalty, Second-Captain."
With that said, he handed over the gun, and she hesitantly looked down at it, not quite ready to take it in her hands.
"You do realize that if you don't take this gun, you will be executed as well for having loyalty to the rebellion."
She gasped as she remembered, and took the silver weapon within her grasp, holding it in her palms. She looked down to Zim, and his sadistic expression. Must always do for the better of the society. She then looked up to Dib, who had given up all hope. But he was the only family she had left. Go with society, or stand up for her family? Where did her loyalty lie?
This was the moment of truth...