Chapter One: Death

Zim and Dib are 17

Gaz is 16

…

"Hmm," Professor Membrane said, after having examined the DNA carefully, "This is interesting."

Is he really going to believe me this time? Dib thought to himself, his heart racing in excitement. Was his father really going to listen to his son for once? After all his years of chasing Zim and gathering information, was someone going to hear him out?

"There is only one conclusion to evidence like this," His father stated matter-of-factly.

"Uh-huh," Dib said, urging him to continue.

"This Zim-boy is an alien," Dib's father said. Dib's heart nearly broke out of his chest, someone believed him for once! "And from what you've told me, he's a major threat to the populace," Professor Membrane boomed in his powerful voice. "Thus, he must be destroyed," he said.

Dib thought he was going to pass out. "But…Dad! He's an alien!"

"Yes, a threat to our populace! I already said this, my poor insane son," Professor Membrane said.

"We can't destroy him, we need to dissect him and find out how to stop the armada!" Dib yelled at his father.

"Dib…" His father sighed, "If there were really an armada, wouldn't they have come by now. I think it's the alien's bluff."

"But Dad!" Dib yelled, not understanding his father's ignorance of the need to research the Irkens more.

"Now, Dib, be a good sane son and make your father toast," Professor Membrane said, anti-climactically. Dib grumbled a fine and stalked off to the kitchen. "I already called the labs, they're making us weapons as we speak. This alien will never take Earth!"

Dib stopped in his tracks; the scientists were already in progress. This meant Zim could never be exploited or even tortured. They would never find out about the armada, whether it was real or not. Dib just had to do something about that. He wouldn't let his father destroy Zim, not yet.

Dib grabbed his gear and swept out of the house before his father even began to wonder where his toast was. Soon, Dib stood in front of the lawn gnomes. He had to admit, after several years on Earth, the gnomes still looked new.

After all this time, Dib finally found the perfect way into Zim's base. He picked up a smallish rock and threw it at the door. Soon Gir stood outside the door, but then ran outside when he saw Dib holding up a waffle.

"Hey, there, Gir. Wanna waffle?" Dib asked, as if Gir were two years old. Gir screamed and ran to Dib, tackling the waffle and ripping it to shreds. Not what Dib expected, but still okay. "Now I'm just going to give Zim some waffles, okay Gir?" Dib said as he easily bypassed the gnomes and walked inside.

"Master says no one may enter," Gir said in his duty mode, standing in front of Dib. Dib just stood and waited, these moments never lasted long. "Can I has more waffles?"

"Sure…" Dib tossed some more waffles at Gir, who nearly exploded with happiness. Dib smiled at Zim's helpless assistant. Now to find Zim.

Dib stood on the toilet platform and flushed. He always wondered why the house worked this way, and if there were any other entrances. He didn't wonder long as he finally landed and heard cursing, rough and thick, coming from the lab. He didn't know the Irken language, but the tone implied cursing.

Dib watched as Zim opened the panel of his cruiser and smoke billowed out, more cursing from Zim. The cruiser looked like a bus hit it, again. It was probably Gir that ruined it. Gir was so destructive.

"Looks like a bus hit it," Dib called out. Zim looked towards him, not looking surprised for once. Gir hardly ever actually kept anyone out. He let people in all the time.

"Gir let you in, didn't he…" Zim suspected, turning back to the cruiser. His pak opened up and tools came to Zim's hands as he started fixing Gir's mess.

"You really should have a better defense," Dib suggested. Zim shrugged, not even looking at Dib. Dib considered the situation, normally it would have been good. The defenses were down, the cruiser was demolished and Zim couldn't care that Dib infiltrated the base again. Dib would normally take the advantage to spy and gather more information and proof to Zim's existence. But with scientists about to come kill Zim, Dib was worried that they might not get away fast enough.

"Zim," Dib said, getting his attention, Zim glanced over for a moment before going back to work. "Zim, there are people coming to kill you right this moment, we need to get out of here."

"What are talking about, Dib-stink?" Zim asked. "Gir!" Zim yelled, not even letting Dib talk first. Gir showed up immediately, bits of waffle on his mouth. "Take the smelly human out of here, now."

"Yes, master!" Gir said, taking the order. He grabbed Dib arm and started to drag him away. Dib smacked Gir away, knocking him out of duty mode in the process.

"Zim, I'm serious, we need to get out. Professor Membrane really believes that you're an alien now, and he wants to destroy you!" Dib yelled. Zim quit working and turned to him.

"And why would I believe you, the one who is also attempting to corrupt the almighty ZIM! You might well be planning a trap!" Zim yelled.

"Yay, a trap!" Gir yelled happily.

"No, Gir, that's bad," Zim said lazily. Gir started screaming and running in circles.

"Professor Membrane is my Dad…I know what he's planning to do. He wants to destroy you to save mankind, but I still need to experiment on you. And I need to know when the Irken armada is supposed to come and how to stop them!" Dib cried in frustration.

"That's simple, Dibbers," Zim laughed, "The Irken armada cannot be stopped. As soon as ZIM calls for them, they will be here to wipe out your puny race!" Zim yelled triumphantly.

"Hmm, so you have to call them first?" Dib asked.

"Eh," Zim glanced at Dib. "Who told you that?"

"Zim, you."

"WHO!"

"You di-"

"WHO!"

"Geez, Zim, no wonder you haven't been able to take over the planet," Dib speculated.

"Oh, I'm just waiting, and when the time is right, Zim shall!" Zim yelled loudly. Dib heard something upstairs. A small alarm went off nearby.

'Intruders, alert. Intruders, alert,' The computer warned them.

Dib cursed, his father was already there. "Computer, stall them!" Zim yelled.

"Zim, stop yelling! You'll let them know where we are!" Dib whispered.

"ZIM shall never be stopped-" Dib tackled Zim, making him shut up.

"Gir," Dib called.

"Watcha want?" Gir said.

"Go up and confuse the people there," Dib ordered.

"Okey-dokey," Gir agreed.

"How dare you order MY robot around!" Zim whispered, freeing himself form Dib.

"It doesn't matter, Zim. If you want to continue taking over the world, we have to get out of here NOW!" Dib hissed. "Is there an escape hatch somewhere."

Zim looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, over there," Zim said pointing to a wall panel. Dib ran to it, leaving Zim staring at the door.

"Zim, come on!" Dib whispered loudly. Zim still waited for a moment. Gir came running into the room and Zim finally strode to the panel. Dib removed it to reveal a long tunnel way, sloping downward. "It goes down? We're already underground, shouldn't it go upward?"

"Shut up, human-FILTH!" Zim hissed, and pushed Dib down the hatch. Dib screamed and hoped the end of the tunnel was soft.

Zim jumped on Gir's back and he flew down the passage way after Dib. They landed in a small underground room. The roof was low to the ground. But they could both walk without hunching over.

Dib sat up and looked around. "Hey, this doesn't look like escape."

"Oh, but it is, stupid earth creature. Look that way," Zim said, acting superior. All Dib saw was a huge-ish box.

"What is it?" Dib asked, confounded about it's nature. Zim took this chance to pretend he was way smarter. He started to walk to the box, striding boastfully.

"It's-" But Zim didn't get to finish his sentence. There was a loud boom by the tunnel. And then smoke and fire filled the air for a moment. Dib tried to dodge and get cover. But he wondered about Zim, he'd been in the middle of the room and in plain view from the tunnel. Dib just hoped Gir was malfunctioning and that it wasn't his father.

When the smoke cleared Dib jumped up. He looked around and saw that the roof had collapsed in on the room. Dib could see his father high above on another floor, looking down on the room. He jumped out of view. Soon Professor Membrane left and Dib examined the place again. Zim wasn't to be seen.

"…Zim?" Dib called wearily. Then realizing that he didn't need to worry about volume anymore, "ZIM!" He yelled out. His dad left because he believed Zim to be dead, but Dib wouldn't let that happen.

…

Someone was yelling…were they on fire..? Zim wished he could see. Everything was dark. So much pain…why did it hurt so much? He wished he could tell the person yelling to shut up, it was agonizing him. There was so much pressure…on his chest, on his limbs. Something wet too. The yelling got closer. He moved a little, trying to make the yelling stop.

But there was no air. There was no air to yell at the person. Why wasn't there…had the underground oxygen tanks been ruptured, he didn't think so. The yelling above stopped abruptly when Zim moved. Then more yelling, louder and quicker. Zim tried to get some air to make it stop, but couldn't. There was too much pressure anyway. Too much pressure and pain.

Pressure started ebbing away from his chest. Good, he thought, he still couldn't breathe, but maybe the pain would go away if the pressure did. It didn't. But it did start getting darker, and the yells became more distant. Now Zim could sleep. He didn't know why, but sleep seemed to sound so good right now.

"ZIM!" A yell woke him. He shuddered, the pain was worse with air colliding into it. "Zim! Don't give up…not yet, not now!" The yelling was so close now. It was Dib, Zim realized. Maybe Dib could make the pain go away, make it better.

Something pressed onto his face and air rushed into his lungs, at the same time making the pain inflame. He struggled to grasp to reality, not wanting to slip away from it. A strangled yell escaped him, surprising himself.

"Zim!" A pained cry came from Dib. He kept doing whatever it was he did to make air go into Zim. But every time he did, the air just whipped back out or Zim would yell. Zim's lungs felt caved in, he wondered if Dib knew that. He probably did.

It was getting darker now, harder to keep the air in. The pain started going away for once, Zim was turning numb. He thanked the Tallest that the pain was gone. He couldn't feel anything.

"Relax, Zim…just breathe," Dib told him, his voice getting more distant. Zim realized his arms were clutching something tightly. So tightly it almost hurt. They relaxed and fell. But Zim didn't feel it, he was too numb now. But he still couldn't breathe. He tried to tell his pak to make breathing easier, but his pak was fried out. He didn't need the pak to live, but it made things easier. But now it was dark and he couldn't bother to think about breathing now. Time to sleep.

…

"Zim!" Dib yelled again. Zim stopped moving now and went limp. Dib was trying to make Zim breathe, but his lungs and chest had been completely crushed by a rock. Dib got an idea. "GIR!" Dib yelled. Gir stumbled up to his side.

"Uh-huh," Gir said lazily.

"Gir, look, your master," Dib said, "He's dying." Gir finally looked down at Zim and saw. Then he held his hands to his head and shrieked. "You can make it stop, go get these things," Dib said calmly, writing a list of things on paper and handing it to Gir. He glanced at it and ran off, screaming as he went. Soon Gir came back with the supplies and Dib got to work, with occasional help from Gir.

…

"Hello? Zim?" Tallest red called through the speaker.

"He's not home, let's just end transmission," Tallest purple suggested. Red shrugged.

"Wait!" Dib yelled, suddenly appearing in front of the transmitter.

"Who are you?" Purple asked in a bored, yet surprised tone.

"I'm Dib," He said, hooking something up to the transmitter.

"You're human, and you're in Zim's base…" Purple noticed.

"Does this mean Zim is dead?" Red asked hopefully.

"Actually he's just incapacitated at the moment," Dib said, not seeing their disappointment. "I have some questions for you."

"What makes you think we'll listen to you?" Red asked. "End transmission," he ordered. There was a click, but the image still stayed on the screen. Dib grinned.

"Hey, Red, why is he still there?" Purple asked. Purple looked at the screen astounded.

"I've made it so that only I can end the transmission. Now answer all my questions," Dib commanded. Both Tallest just shrugged. "One, when is the armada coming to earth?" Both brothers started laughing hysterically.

"There…haha…there's no armada headed to…earth!" Purple said between laughs.

"But…Zim said…" Dib said confusedly. Was it really a bluff? Zim didn't seem smart enough to make it up.

"Haha, it's genius really," Red boasted. "Zim only thinks there's an armada coming."

"But…why? Why would you lie to your own soldier? What's the point of him being here?" Dib asked all at once.

"There isn't a point, that the good part!" Purple burst out. They started to laugh even more.

Dib was just confused, but let them get over their laughter. Then Red continued, "Have you noticed how destructive Zim is?" Dib nodded, "We can't have that around the Irken armada, he screws up all the invasions!"

"So," Purple took up, "We sent him to an uncharted, unnamed planet on the other side of the universe from us." Purple started eating pretzels.

"Wait…what does that accomplish?" Dib asked, trying to grasp the concept.

"Nothing!" Red yelled, "Heh, we expected him to die before he even found the planet."

"But Zim just won't die!" Purple exclaimed, "We've tried everything to doom him. We even gave him that dumb robot made of garbage."

"As long as he stays on earth and keeps failing at his mission, then the Irken Empire is safe," Red concluded.

"What if I send him back?" Dib asked, formulating a lie that would have Zim retreating back to Irk.

Both Tallest looked frightened. "You would really do that?" Purple asked in a scared voice.

Red pushed Purple out of the way, "No way, all invader's are programmed to be dedicated to the mission. Zim would never leave without wiping out the humans."

"You mean his pak?" Dib asked with an evil smile.

"Eh…yeah," Red answered.

"It got destroyed, Zim's not programmed into anything right now," Dib said, "And I can make him believe the human race is wiped out easily. There's nothing keeping me from doing it, you know."

Both Tallest looked like the world was about to end. They huddled and whispered. Red turned around grinning, which scared Dib. "Keep Zim on earth or else we'll send our strongest armada to entirely decimate the planet earth, you'll feel the true wrath of the Irken Empire through the soles of our shoes."

"Wow, Red, you got creepy there for a minute," Purple commented.

"Yeah, weird how that happens sometimes," Red said back. They both turned to Dib.

"Fine…As long as Zim is on earth, you'll leave earth alone?" Dib asked.

"Yup, we won't go anywhere near it," Purple promised. Red agreed.

"So we have a peace agreement…" Dib concluded.

"Can we go now, we're very busy…" Red said. Dib ended the transmission. Earth was safe, except for the alien still on earth. Dib went back to where Zim lay, still unconscious, but not dying.

Dib suddenly felt a little sorry for Zim, he sympathized with him even. Everyone hated Dib, except his family, who just thought he was insane. Everyone on Zim's home planet hated him, especially his leaders. Dib didn't think Zim even had family to turn to. Zim was just a tool. Not even a tool, just something thrown away.

Zim had no one, just his malfunctioning robot. He was on earth just so his leaders could operate without him. They even wanted him dead. Zim had no real purpose in life. All he wanted was to serve his leaders, The Tallest, and complete his mission proudly. And yet that's exactly what everyone pursued to keep from him.

Dib and Zim were actually very similar. Not that Dib would ever let Zim know that. The only difference was that Dib was much better at seeing the obvious, and he did let Zim know that, quite often actually. Maybe now he would tease him less.

Dib looked at Zim, almost wishing for those piercing red eyes to open. Why was Dib feeling this way so suddenly? Why did his chest feel warm? Was it Zim? Was Zim really making him feel like this? This made Dib almost sick, but also a little warm inside, which he couldn't explain. He had to get out of there.

"Nnn," Came a groan from behind him. Dib turned around, astonished that Zim was awake so soon. He'd been so badly injured. "Where you going?" Zim asked harshly.

"I can't stay here forever," Dib reminded him.

"You're the one who caused this…at least keep Gir busy…" Zim suggested, sitting up painfully and glancing away from Dib. Dib scoffed at Zim, but went off to find Gir, which is what he should have already done. If an injured Zim were left alone with the crazy Gir…who knows what Gir would do to make Zim worse. Dib spent the time in the elevator wondering why he cared what Gir did to Zim, but didn't reach a conclusion before the elevator landed at the lab.

Gir was on the floor, playing with mini-moose. Dib couldn't see the harm in that. Then Gir threw mini-moose at a computer monitor and shattered it's glass, Dib winced. Gir really was dangerous. "Hiya Dib!" Gir called out.

"Eh, hi Gir," Dib said nervously.

"Let's make muffins!" Gir said unexpectedly, running towards the elevator and dragging Dib with him.

"Uh, okay," He said. Muffins…can't do any harm with muffins, Dib thought. And this would keep Gir busy.

…

Muffins were a bad idea. The toaster was floating around the kitchen, thanks to a cord attached to it, and it was popping out toast randomly. The oven door kept opening and closing. And muffin mix was everywhere. Gir was crazy. It kind of made Dib laugh at how ridiculous Zim's house was.

Suddenly Dib's watch beeped. He clicked various buttons on it and found out it was Gaz calling him. He opened the transmission.

"Dib, are you still out there?" Gaz asked.

"What do you, Gaz?" Dib asked back, wondering why she called in the first place.

"It's 12:53 at night and you're still out chasing ghosts?" Gaz asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Dib said, not letting her know about Zim.

"I'm kicking you out…" Gaz informed him.

"What?" Dib said. How could she kick him out, she was only 16, she didn't have the authority.

"Dad is never home and you're insane, so I'm taking charge. You have to stay out of the house now…" Gaz said with pure hate in her voice.

"But Gaz-" She ended the transmission and Dib was left in an alien's house with a robot who was singing some sort of song…the only word he was saying was 'doom' and he was shaking his butt everywhere.

Now Dib needed a new place to stay, certainly not at Zim's house. How could he stay with his enemy? He would never do that. He didn't actually know anyone else in person. He could ask the paranormal researchers he knew online, although they hardly ever released their identity and would probably turn him down.

"What's going on here?" Zim asked from the doorway.

"Huh," Dib muttered. He'd been staring off into space, not paying attention to Gir on the floor.

"I made muffins!" Gir announced. He had a plate of muffins before him, along with mini-moose, who Dib hadn't noticed came back.

"Yes…you did," Zim said, taking notice of the mess in the kitchen. "Dib-filth, I no longer require your pitiful assistance, OUT!" Zim yelled, pointing at the door.

"Zim, I just saved your life," Dib pointed out, wanting Zim to at least be a little nicer.

"LIAR! No human could do such a thing!" Zim yelled.

"You were there! Don't you remember?" Dib asked, knowing Zim was conscious for a few moments of him helping.

"OUT! Get out you!" Zim yelled, ignorantly. Dib just snorted.

"Fine, like I'd want to be here anyway," Dib puffed out as he walked past Zim. Dib was off to find a new home, preferably one without an annoying alien and destructive alien in it.

"Aww…why you have to fight?" Gir asked once Dib was gone. Zim just went back to his lab.

…

I hope you like the first chapter :) The next will be up soon, it's already mostly done. Isn't Gir cute?