Chapter 4 - False Confidences

I sat at the bottom of the cage, consoling the little girl as I watched the chaos raining around me. The Irkens moved quickly. Soon the entire town was packed into large ships. One of the last people to be shoved onto the ship was Kris. They had let us out of the cages and we were just huddled in the holding pens. People gave me a wide girth as I cried noisily, and the tears were real. My civilization was falling down around myself, and I was partially to blame. The only people who didn't avoid me was the little girl and her mother, who had come to find her, and finding me sitting there consoling her quietly decided to give me a chance. We were sitting in quiet when a small body flung itself from the throng of people and latched itself onto my legs. I felt a moment of shock before recognizing my little sister. [br]
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"Zen. Zen! It's ok!" I shouted over the deafening noise of children crying and parents yelling. I tried desperately to calm my sister, trying to reduce the shudders running through her body. I stopped yelling at her to calm, and just patted her back. She looked up at me with giant, tearstained eyes. [br]
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"Why would he do this?" Zen asked, and I knew instantly who she was talking about.[br]
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"It was his job, Zen." I said quietly, aware everyone was suddently quiet.[br]
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"I liked him. He was so nice. And he had Gir." She smiled fondly.[br]
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"I liked him too sweetie. He made me happy." I said quietly. We sat in silence for a moment until a commotion made us look up.[br]
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"Zen!" My aunt pushed her way out of the group. "We were so worried! Leave that poor girl-" Then she saw who the 'poor girl' was. He eyes got very narrow and she pulled Zen away from me. I saw my cousin Robbie peering from behind her. He grinned at me and ran to give me a giant hug. I sat in shock then put my arms around him. He was yanked unceremoniously away from me as my aunt shot me one deep, dark look and pulled my little sister and my little cousin away.[br]
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"Wait!" I called after her, struggling to get up. "Aunt Ann! Wait!" She stopped for a moment and turned to look at me.[br]
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"Where's my family?" I asked. "I can't find Kyle, or Mike. Where are my mom and dad?"[br]
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"Hiding. From Zim." She said, giving me one contemtuous look before turning and escorting my two favorite children in the world away. I felt my jaw fall open with grief and stared blankly after her. Tears streaked down my face.[br]
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"Come sit down sweetie." The woman whose daughter I had comforted said. I obeyed her quietly.[br]
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"I'm Lorie. This is Lexie." She said, indicating her sleeping daughter.[br]
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"I'm Xena." I said.[br]
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"What's troubling you sweetie?" She asked, "Your parents? Don't worry, they'll never find them. They're hidden. With my other children and my husband, and about thirty other people. In the basement of the hospital. The one near Stillwater Jr. High, you know it?" I nodded, then shook my head.[br]
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"That's not it." I mumbled. "I screwed up." [br]
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"Everyone screws up. Not normally on this scale," She said, smiling cynically. I just stared sadly at the ground, and slowly fell asleep.[br]
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I woke up as the ship landed smoothly. An Irken was standing over me, tapping his foot impatiently.[br]
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"I am Skooge." He said. "You will follow me now." I got up, looking around warily. All the other passengers were asleep. With a jolt I realized my parents were there, and my brothers. Skooge led me to a door and knocked on it. Zim threw it open.[br]
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"Finally!" He said. He yanked me inside.[br]
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"Hurry, get these on." He said, thrusting some Irken clothing into my arms. "We have a chat meeting with all the capitals of the world to explain this to the humans." He said, his eye twitching for some reason. "The Tallest will be there, so it is important you aren't dressed in that... horrible excuse for a shirt." He said, eyeing my crumpled shirt critically. I snorted.[br]
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"What?" He asked, his eyes widening.[br]
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"You just sounded gay." I chortled. Skooge stared at me like I was insane. I waited. Zim tapped his foot impatiently.[br]
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"Turn around!" I exclaimed. Zim rolled his eyes and turned around.[br]
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"No peeking Zim." I said sternly and he just groaned impatiently. I pulled the clothes on and Zim turned around. I spun myself in a circle to showcase my new clothing. [br]
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"How do I look?" I asked.[br]
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"Beautiful." Zim said then motioned for me to follow him. He opened the latch towards the outdoors and I stood stock still. A group of humans stood staring at us, along with Tak and another Irken. It wasn't the people that shocked me. Well, it was one person.[br]
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"You're Jhonen Vasquez!" I exclaimed. Zim buried his face in his hands. [br]
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"Yes, we have him. Now, can we please go?" He moaned.[br]
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"Relax!" I said, shooting him a glance. I walked up to the author and held out my hand. [br]
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"Hi!" I said cheerily. "I'm Xena." [br]
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"Wait-" A boy next to Jhonen said quickly, staring at me, "You're the Xena?" He asked. I nodded.[br]
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"Who else do you know named Xena?" I asked him, glaring. His eyes widened in shock as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and I finally understood the resemblance. [br]
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"Oh. My. God." I said.[br]
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"What?" He asked, looking worried.[br]
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"You're Dib!" I exclaimed. "How are you real?"[br]
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"Jhonen Vasquez is my dad." He said sheepishly.[br]
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"My friend Kris is going to go INSANE. Well... she used to be my friend." I whispered at the end, then continued briskly. "You need to find her- Sector 1B in this ship, right Zim?" I asked, looking over at him. He nodded, raising one eyebrow at me and tapping his watch. "Ask for Kris Sagar. Ok? She's like your biggest fan. Tell her I'm sorry, ok?" He nodded, and Tak ushered them into the ship. I watched them go, and turned to look at what I hadn't seen beyond them.[br]
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"My God." I breathed. Zim grinned next to me.[br]
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"Amazing sight, isn't it?" He asked. I looked at the huge mass of Irkens and my mouth fell open.[br]
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"It truly is." I whispered.[br]
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"This is a kind of tourist attraction." He told me. His mouth twisted upward in a smile. "It's not every day you get a planet with one of the natives on our side." I wrung my hands in worry. He patted me on the back awkwardly.[br]
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"Come on, you need to meet the Tallest." He said, grabbing my arm and leading me over to his Voot Cruiser. I pulled my arm out of his.[br]
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"I can walk Zim." I told him sternly, and he looked at the ground, chastized. I laughed. He looked up at me, a grin playing on the corner of his mouth. I stepped into the VC and he followed me in. [br]
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"Can I drive?" I asked.[br]
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"Uh... no." He said, raising an eyebrow at me. He powered up the Cruiser and we flew towards the Tallest.[br]

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