Title: Parallels

Summary: Dib and Zim manage to travel and meet each other in the same alternate universe. In order to protect them from the authorities or worse, a sci-fi fanatic girl has to keep an eye on both of them. However, as Dib and the girl begin to fall for each other, neither notices soon enough that Zim has more than one trick up his sleeve.

Genre: Romance/ Sci-Fi

Rating: T for language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Invader ZIM. If I did, you'd all be obsessed with Twinkies, rubber ducks, marshmallows, and Zim getting hit with a metal baseball bat. Enjoy.

Sparks of blue electricity flew from the machine. Professor Membrane pressed a few more buttons before smiling behind the collar of his lab coat.

"It's almost finished." He said to no one with a hint of joy in his voice. Beside him stood his son and daughter, both looking through the glass with opposite reactions. The girl, Gaz, with her dark purple hair curled in a jaw-like fashion, and eyes squinted shut, shrugged as if the experiment wasn't that impressive. Her brother, on the other hand, Dib, with short black hair and a cow-lick in the shape of a scythe, stared on excitedly, with amber eyes wide and magnified by his round glasses. He wasn't even bothering to hide the excited grin on his face.

"Dad, is it really going to work?" The boy asked, looking up at his father anxiously.

"If my calculations are correct, then yes, son, it will work." The Professor replied. His son turned back to the glass showing the device inside. If it really works, Dib thought. We'll be able to travel to parallel universes.

"Gaz, isn't this exciting?"

She shrugged, removing the smile from her brother's face.

"I'll be shocked when there's a machine big enough to hold your head without it collapsing." She replied. Dib looked at her angrily.

"My head's not big." He said, folding his arms and heading out to get something to drink. Gaz smirked and followed him out, but headed in the other direction to her room. Professor Membrane sighed sadly. Unable to cure the situation, he pushed it to the back of his head and ran a few more tests on his device.

I'll finish it tomorrow. It can wait until then. He thought, getting up from his seat and walking out. Dib came back in with a Poop Cola, noticing no one was in the room. He looked back out the door and looked both ways.

No one.

A small smile appeared on Dib's face. He set the soda down on a nearby table and looked at the door leading to the mechanism. No one would know. It would just be for a few seconds. His hand wrapped around the cold metal knob, turning it. The room smelled… lemony? Hmm. Odd. It was also shaped like an oval, or perhaps a circle. The dimensional ship looked strangely similar to Zim's Voot Cruiser, only it was black and white with a blue windshield.

"Oh, whaddya know? The ship is already running." Dib said to himself, seeing the vessel was still on. Remember, Dib, no one will know, okay? Just take a few little steps and you'll be inside, and press a few buttons and then you'll –

"Son! What are you doing in there?" Dib turned around to see his father in the doorway.

"You… I was just… coming in here… to…" THINK! "I just thought I saw someone inside the ship. I guess I was wrong." He said, hoping his father would buy it. Besides, I can't really be coming in here, not until dad's finished making sure everything's okay.

"Ah, well, in that case," Professor Membrane said, heading out to the hallway. "Carry on." A sigh of relief escaped Dib's lips. Then again, Dad never really cared about me or Gaz. Why should he start now? No one else will care anyway. He concluded in his head, entering the cold, buzzing machine. There was a collection of buttons and controls along what could be called the dashboard. Of all of them, there was one blue lever next to the front chair that stood out from the rest.

"Hmm, I wonder if this one activates the vessel." Dib whispered, walking up to it. Now he could just extend his arm a little and pull it, and perhaps be taken apart into millions of atoms and sent to a parallel universe. And it was just with a little tug…. No, he shook his head and turned to leave, then tripped over his own feet. In hopes of finding something to keep his balance, he grabbed the nearest lever.

The nearest lever happened to be the blue one. Yay.

The buzzing grew louder, eventually turning high-pitched. A bright white light filled Dib's eyesight, and he recoiled under the chair to let his eyes adjust. There was finally three seconds of silence, in which Dib knew what was happening.

"Oh, shi-" And with that, Dib Membrane's body was then separated into millions of atoms – no, even his atoms were taken apart as he headed into a parallel universe.

Grogie: WEWT! I finally got the first chapter up, but I know that eventually I'll be getting some severe-ass writer's block. And, I have a little treat for you all! The first person to review gets a brief cameo next chapter! Until then, later!

~Ex-Invader Ria~