A/N: Wow... it's been... a very long time since I posted anything here. DX I'm sorry.
Here's the first chapter of an RP between PAT THE KITSUNE and myself, to be updated as we go. :3
Hope you enjoy!
Dib: PAT THE KITSUNE
Zim: Me
"This is all your fault, you know."
"SILENCE! Z-Zim has done nothing t-to cause this horrible d-downpour of frozen i-ice water."
"Are you cold?"
"Guys, I don't think now is the best time to be arguing over whose fault it is that we're stuck in here. Looks like the weather's picking up outside and we won't be leaving this cabin anytime soon."
*Sigh* "I guess you're right. We should really be trying to figure a way out of here."
Dib watched from his bedroom window as gray storm clouds rolled their way in over the town, threatening to cover everything in their wake with the soon to be blizzard that visited their home town for a few days every winter. He was certain it would happen any day now as he sat huddled in a blanket on his bed, letting a breeze slip in through a crack in his window pane and embrace him in the icy chill that came long before the storm actually arrived. Closing his eyes, he savored the uncharacteristically peaceful night and wondered how this solitude would fare with him leaving for two weeks early the next morning.
Turning away from his window, he glanced to his packed bags sitting across the room from him, propped against a wall. School had let out just a few days prior and he couldn't help but wonder what mischief his green nemesis might get up to in his absence. Seventeen years old now and a month to the day, Dib Membrane was just nearing the end of his junior year in high school. Soon enough he'd be a senior and expected to know exactly what he'd be doing next upon graduating from said educational establishment.
He sighed as he recalled the talk his father had had with him about it just a few days earlier. Membrane had insisted he start researching colleges to attend and had even proposed a family trip be taken to achieve said research. Truth be told though, Dib honestly had no idea what he wanted to do after high school. Six years of chasing after Zim had left him paranoid about the future and what would become of the Earth were he to ever end his attempts at exposing Zim as the alien monster he knew he was. Despite the years of failed plots and schemes, he still worried incessantly about the day Zim would eventually manage to actually pull off a SUCCESSFUL plot for world domination. The mere thought had him feeling sick to his stomach as he couldn't help but imagine the chaos that might ensue the second he left town.
Two full weeks away felt like a lifetime to him, but both Gaz and Membrane had gone to drastic measures to convince him otherwise. His father, the world-famous Professor Membrane, had even put a halt to his endlessly busy schedule, all for the sake of making this trip happen. It had been nearly ten years since the last time he'd taken his kids on an actual vacation, and he hoped with everything in him that this may be just the thing to break Dib of his insane obsessions with the paranormal. Gaz could care less about Dib's ranting about aliens and ghosts and other paranormal phenomena however. For once, they actually had a chance to spend some quality time alone with their dad, something they only got to do once a year for as long as she could remember. To say the very least, she wasn't about to let Dib ruin such a rare opportunity.
Groaning to himself as he instantly regretted agreeing to go through with this trip, Dib stood from his bed to head down into his living room. The clock in there struck 11:45 p. m. just as he reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in the entryway nearest to the front door. He couldn't sleep. Perhaps a late night stroll would put his mind more at ease about all this.
Grabbing his trench coat and house keys, he dropped the blanket he'd been huddled in to the floor and stepped out into the pitch black night. The only things he could see clearly were the plumes of white mist shooting out from within his mouth upon exhaling warm air into the icy cold atmosphere and a line of street lamps strung along the sidewalks, seemingly pointing in the direction of Zim's base. He wondered what the alien could be up to right now. Years of observing the other had taught him quite a lot about Irkens in general. For one, they didn't require sleep, though that didn't stop Zim from taking the occasional nap from time to time. Also, food was more a treat to them than anything else, their PAKs seeming equipped to provide them with all the nutritional intake they could ever need.
He shuddered at the memory of the time he'd attempted to steal away Zim's PAK. He'd been about twelve at the time, and it had nearly taken complete control over his body. Stepping away from his front door to approach the sidewalk at the end of his house's walkway, he then began heading in the direction of Zim's house subconsciously, his mind lost in a sea of thought, only brought back to reality by the flashing lights of one house's still-functional Christmas lights.
Looking about himself when he realized he'd let himself wander with no thought as to where he was actually going, he all too quickly came back to his senses upon realizing exactly where he was: the end of the cul-de-sac where Zim's house was situated. Glancing at the ugly decorations adorning the equally ugly-colored purple and green house that belonged to his nemesis, he couldn't help but shake his head at Zim's attempt to make his house appear "normal" during the holiday season. It was the same setup every year.
Noticing that the lights were still on inside the house, he then wandered over to the opening separating the fenced in area. No doubt Zim was in his underground lab at this point in time, leaving Gir to watch cartoons up in the living room. He glanced at the gnomes on Zim's lawn, "cleverly" disguised as elves currently. They turned their wide-eyed gaze on Dib and he panicked momentarily, uncertain as to whether they might open fire on him.
Turning away from the house when they didn't proceed to attack him in that moment, he then headed back in the direction of home, glancing back every few seconds until finally the other's house was out of sight from him.
"Curses…" the Irken muttered, striking his fist against the image of some blueprints displayed on a monitor in front of him. "Minimoose, are you sure they are missing from the package?"
The little robot replied with a muffled squeak, only the tips of its antlers visible over the lip of a box.
"Well, keep looking!" Zim snapped. "You're probably sitting on them." he growled, more to himself now than anybody else.
"…Nyeh…" the squeak was despondent this time.
Perhaps Gir could have eaten the parts he needed, but Gir had been locked upstairs to prevent such a circumstance. In any case, they were unaccounted for. The invader unclenched his fist and rubbed it down his forehead. The Caroler-Deterring Laser would not function without its two specified adaptor plugs. He could not afford the time it would take for a reorder of the parts he needed to arrive, and he had no Earth-monies to speak of, courtesy of a substantial, bathtub-sized amount of some revolting 'eggnog' substance belonging to Gir.
"Think, Minimoose! There must be an alternate solution..."
Although it was well after dark, the electric fence was down when Zim arrived at the Membrane household. He cast a furtive glance up at the window he knew to be Dib's before sprinting across the yard to take shelter against the building wall. From the times he'd been in here before, he had a fair knowledge of where the father's lab was located. The challenging part would be getting in and out without alerting anyone to his presence.
Lasering an opening into the locked kitchen window, Zim climbed through it cautiously, smothering a startled yelp when he very narrowly avoided tumbling into the sink before lowering himself to the floor. He stopped in the kitchen doorway, looking and listening for any activity. Several curious objects heaped together in a corner of the room caught his notice. He crept a little closer and took a whiff of them. They didn't seem hostile, or alive for that matter. When he shifted around to see them at a better angle, he realized they were bags of some sort. Were the humans going somewhere, perhaps far away? The Irken shrugged. He had priorities to attend to.
Half an hour of scavenging the laboratory brought Zim no closer to finding anything even sufficiently promising. He exited in low spirits, leaving an array of heavy, sharp, and high-voltage equipment hastily pushed back into place. Pausing at the top of the basement stairs, he then peered up towards the ceiling. The upper story was off-limits as it housed the rooms of the Dib, his sibling, and supposedly the professor. He didn't want to touch anything in the living room either. It would be best he left quickly at this point. Creeping to the front door, he quietly unlocked it and let himself out.
The vehicle that was parked out on the street then caught the invader's eye. He'd overlooked it before, hoping he could be in and out of the lab easily with what he needed…but although this contraption was primitive, it was probably a goldmine for parts. Approaching it tentatively and skirting around so it lay between himself and the house, he skimmed his hand over its surface. It seemed robust on first impression, but Zim knew better than to overestimate the strength of these things. The shell could be breached with a little force and firepower, though, given that he'd already come this far without being caught, it wouldn't hurt to be subtle. He felt along the interconnecting grooves that bridged the segments of casing together, stopping to hover thoughtfully over one of the semi-opaque orange things on the rear of the structure. There was no better place to start. The Irken worked two claws into the grooves on either side of it and gave a firm tug. There was a little bit of give. Discreetly scanning the surrounding houses, he then extended two mechanical legs and pushed them into the narrow openings until the entire section popped loose.
The several wires he found behind the casing were of only mild interest to him, but when he followed them to their source, his antennae perked excitedly under his coarse wig. A four-point adaptor plug! Victory!
Zim removed the piece from its wires, placing it safely inside his PAK before then moving around to the identical orange section on the adjacent corner of the car.
There was a faint smear of light in the east. The Irken moved more hastily this time. He had managed to pull three of the four wires out of the second plug when he stiffened at hearing a noise inside the Membrane household. Zim shoved the loose casing sections roughly back into place, wincing when the second produced a loud cracking noise. He pressed his back up against the car, chest heaving. The door to Dib's house unlatched.
Zim whipped under the car, his breathing strained as heavy boots thumped their way up the path. He heard the vehicle unlock before something thudded into it, causing the roof above him to shudder unpleasantly. He pressed himself completely flat to the road, a chill from it seeping up through his uniform and reining in his attention for a split second. The Irken started slightly when the human began to hum something, and as the boots moved back toward the house, Zim saw a flash of white that he knew belonged to the coat of Professor Membrane.
The front door shut and he sighed out, shakily.
Rolling out from underneath the car, the invader was about to break cover and head for his base when the door reopened a second time. Looking around him for a place to hide, Zim realized the rear segment of the car had been left open. He leaped inside, tucking himself into the far corner behind a bulky object which he hoped would be enough to conceal him from sight.
Upon noticing that the bulky item looked and smelled exactly like one of the bag-things he'd seen inside the house, Zim frowned.
"I'm going to warm up the car while you and your brother collect the rest of the bags…Where is he, anyway?"
At 5:45 a.m., Gaz struggled out of the living room, a faded, worn, and dusty bag drooping close to the floor beside her. Given how heavy it was, she could only suspect that Dib had packed it, probably full of his 'case files' or some other spooky junk. Just this once, she had reason not to complain. At least he'd agreed to come – it wasn't 'family time' to her father unless they were all there. Reaching the car, she swung the bag into the boot, where it caused the suitcase already inside to knock back against the far wall. She could have sworn she heard a stifled noise –something akin to a grunt - but it was too brief to discern, and given how anxious she was to get on the road, it didn't seem worth her bother.
Walking back into the house, she then shouted up the stairs to her brother. "DIB! Get down here now and take the last bag!" she demanded, annoyed that he was taking so long upstairs.
Exiting the bathroom upstairs, Dib groaned at hearing his sister's shout. "I'm coming, I'm coming." he responded back in a less than enthusiastic voice, his eyelids drooping slightly as he'd barely gotten any sleep at all last night after returning home from his 'midnight stroll.'
Making his way down the stairs to where the last and final piece of luggage sat waiting for him, he then stopped when a cold draft caught his attention, sending a small chill up his spine momentarily. Peeking his head into the kitchen where he could have sworn he felt the breeze coming from, he noticed the all too evident hole gaping back at him from the kitchen window situated just above the sink.
"What the-?"
He stepped into the room to have a look around, certain that hadn't been there the night before. Had they been robbed last night when he was sleeping or out on his walk? Stepping into the living room, he then had a look around there as well, as though in search of anything that may be missing. How could anybody have gotten past their security system though?
Running to the front door, he looked to see that the security system was still down. Perhaps HE had forgotten to turn it back on after returning home from his walk last night! Could it even be possible that somebody was still inside the house, just waiting for them to leave?
"Hey, Gaz, I think our house may have been broken into last night." he said before shifting his eyes from one side to the other, looking for anything that may be out of place or moved. There weren't too many places a person could necessarily hide in their house, but still, the mere thought had the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention, as though straining to pick up on any small sound or movement from the background.
Gaz eyed him very suspiciously for a few seconds. Casting a sharp glare around at the room they were in currently, she then pushed Dib aside to move upstairs, shoulders tightened and fists clenched. In less than a minute, she was back down again. Irritated now, as well as impatient, she grabbed Dib roughly by the arm and jerked him in the direction of the front door.
"Everything's fine. No one's there. Just come on, you've held us up long enough already!" she growled. She didn't have time to be scouring the entire house for what was most likely a figment of Dib's paranoia.
"But, Gaz-" he began to say before falling silent upon receiving a rather icy glare from his younger sister. Glancing about the house one last time, he then sighed out heavily, knowing he couldn't risk ruining this trip for Gaz when it'd been so long since the last time they got to take a real vacation with their dad. "...I guess you're right. Maybe I am just being paranoid about things." he said despite the still rather prominent sinking feeling he felt sitting within the pit of his gut. Of course, his fears of what Gaz may do to him were he to ruin this trip far surpassed any paranoia he had about any intruders possibly being within the house.
"I'll bring the last bag out to the car now. Go ahead and wait outside with Dad." he said before returning back to where he'd left the last piece of luggage. Lifting it with ease, he then made sure to turn back on the security system before casting one last glance back at their house. Everything else seemed secure enough as he headed down the walkway and chucked the final bag into the trunk before closing it. Yet another grunt was vocalized but became muffled and lost with the closing of the trunk door.