Once upon a time, I wrote an IZ fic and it got mediocre ratings. so here is something I'm working on. It's an extended, burbling brook of writing that will update randomly. Hope you enjoy!

I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

Chapter 1

The reek.

The smell was unbearable.

Gaz lifted the edge of a sleeve to check her watch. 6:45 p.m. Dib was well beyond late for dinner. He hadn't answered his cell phone or Gaz wouldn't have dragged her trashy car out this way. She decided to wait a bit longer, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. She hummed a few bars of some unknown song. The grey blanket of clouds overhead shifted vaguely. Gaz's stomach gurgled. Time to find Dib and kick his butt for making her wait.

Gaz kicked the rotting car door open. The hinge on the frame snapped back, causing it to nearly smack her in the face before she stood up. She cursed before nudging the door open again, this time more gently. Her weighty boots crunched on the crumbling pavement as she fluidly slipped her bag over a shoulder while slamming the door shut behind her.

This part of town was an industrial wasteland. None of the older teens even knew if the run-down machines ran anymore. They were coated in rust and their seemingly ancient paint jobs had long since faded and chipped away. The overcast skies lent an eerie atmosphere to the towering pipes and receptacles. Dib would hang out here. Speaking of which.

"DIB!" Gaz shouted with all of her strength, her voice echoing out like ripples in a lake. No answer. Sounds of shuffling leaves with creaking branches were followed by an older teen with bizarre green skin bursting out of the nearby stand of trees. A small, green, bi-pedal dog followed close behind, wagging its tongue. The teen was panting heavily.

"Zim, where the heck is Dib?" Gaz addressed the boy as he approached. He waved a hand dismissively.

"Zim does not know… the Dib-beast was right behind and then," he made a motion with both hands, "gone." Gaz took notice of the other-worldly gun in Zim's left hand. She ripped it away from him fiercely.

"What did you do to my brother?" She hissed, narrowing heavily lined eyes. Zim held his hands up in defense.

"Zim did nothing!" He took the weapon back and opened the chamber towards her, revealing foam darts. "It's a nerf gun, see?" Gaz nodded in acceptance.

"Was something following you guys then?"

"Zim thinks it was…a…a… bathory!"

"Do you mean a banshee?" Gaz gave him a withering look. Zim shrugged lazily.

"Green idiot," Gaz huffed at the back of her throat and stomped away towards the trees, pulling a heavy-duty flashlight from her bag. Zim straightened up and went after her.

"Wait! Gaz-human!" Zim easily caught up to her with his long strides. His dog chirped, skipping behind him. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Haven't I told you to just call me 'Gaz' like, a hundred times?"

Zim grimaced, "Ugh… Gaz…. It's dangerous to go alone. Allow Zim to escort you. Gir! Defensive mode!" Zim's dog pulled away its fur to reveal a compact, aqua-eyed, silver robot. Gir saluted, his eyes turning red for a brief moment. He waddled to the other side of Gaz. Zim moved to link arms with her. She slapped his shoulder gruffly.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me."

Zim gulped, nodding.

The trio marched into the woods, which were unusually dark due to the cloudy skies. Zim trembled and even Gaz gave an occasional shiver. Gir whistled obliviously.

Something was off here… Something Gaz couldn't quite place. It wasn't until Gir stopped whistling did it dawn on her.

"It's too quiet. Dib is awful at stealth and there should be animals out here." Gaz peered into the trees, trailing the flashlight beam across gnarled roots and leafy bushes. Zim snorted haughtily.

"You filthy human pollution probably killed them off."

"Yeah," Gaz responded blandly, "too bad it didn't kill the rest of us yet." They walked silently for a moment before sharing a dark chuckle. After searching for a while, Gaz stomped in frustration.

"Where is that big-headed idiot?" Gir popped out of a nearby bush and frantically waved a shred of fabric around.

"Masta! Look what I found!"

"Yes, yes…bring it here, Gir." The little robot skipped over and placed the fragment in Zim's outstretched hand. Zim held it out to Gaz who ran a thumb over it slowly.

"It's part of his trench coat… I wonder if he's nearby." She crumpled it and stuffed it in her pocket before gesturing for them to continue. They stepped forward with more gusto, worry for Dib building in their systems. They shoved a low bush out of the way and Gaz recoiled, dropping the flashlight and shielding her eyes.

"God dang it, Dib!" Dib was half naked, sitting over a log with a pained face.

"What are you doing here?" He said through clenched teeth, embarrassed. He eyed Zim accusingly. "Well?" Zim crossed his arms.

"The Dib-sister—"

"Zim…" Gaz warned.

"Gaz came to tell you to get your stinking earth-butt home. However, you went missing, so…. Well, here Zim stands."

A gut-wrenching sound was emitted from Dib's backside and he groaned. Sweat accumulated at his hairline, fogging his glasses.

"Zim… I told you I was going to the bathroom. Didn't you hear me?"

Zim blushed emerald, sputtering indignantly, "It is not the Almighty Zim's fault if your voice was too quiet, Dib-stink!"

Dib groaned again and Zim turned away, covering his mouth in disgust. He dry-heaved, his snake-like tongue wriggling around outside his mouth. Impatient, Gaz knocked Zim over, lifted one of his legs, and wrenched his boot off his foot. She threw it between the bushes with determined aim; the boot smashed into Dib's face, knocking his glasses aside. He yelped.

"Listen, Dib," Gaz growled, "I'm wiped from skool, starving for Bloaty's, and all I want is to go home and play videogames. So get your dysenteried butt up and into my car or you'll wish you were never born." More squelching was heard from Dib's side before they heard a zipper and the clinking of a belt. Dib stepped through to the bushes, very much humbled. He made a swishing motion with his index finger and the group moved back towards the path, heading home at last.

After Gaz had piled Dib into the backseat of her car, sitting atop a garbage bag in case of emergencies, Zim tapped her shoulder, his cheeks tinged a bit darker than normal.

"What?" Gaz questioned. Zim ran a hand along the back of his neck.

"Erm… Zim has…allowed his ship to run out of fuel and would petition the Dib-sister for a ride home." He looked at her with pleading blue eyes. She sighed.

"Fine, but only if you please promise to call me 'Gaz'." Zim nodded and climbed into the passenger seat with Gir in his lap. Gaz slid into the driver's seat, slinging her bag behind her and shutting the door with a bang. The daylight was beginning to fade and though their dad was never home, Gaz knew he had screens programmed to record whether or not her and Dib made it home by curfew. After all this time alone, she certainly didn't want him coming home to do some latent "parenting".

The car started with a rumbling moan; the muffler sputtered. Gaz pulled it into drive and sped away towards the road and away from this haunting skeleton of an industry. Dib fell asleep shortly; leaving Gaz in the discomfort of Zim's slightly overbearing company. Gir climbed over Zim's head to sleep in Dib's lap, which was fine with Zim. He twiddled his thumbs and glanced sidelong at Gaz.

"So… how is…skool?" He looked out the window, avoiding whatever eye contact might happen with Gaz. She raised an eyebrow and concentrated on the road, which lacked streetlights.

"It's been very…different…since you stopped coming." Truth was: it had gotten really boring. Normally Gaz could hear Zim's boisterous rants through the ceiling in her homeroom, which had entertained her (albeit very slightly) since elementary. Zim had stopped attending after ninth grade, so when Gaz reached sophomore year, she had long since stopped paying attention in homeroom.

"Well it would be different, as my incredible existence is no longer there." Zim grinned at his reflection in the window. Gaz inhaled quietly.

"You…could always re-enroll." It was Zim's turn to sigh.

"Gaz, you know that it would be meaningless for Zim to attend without…"

"Yeah, yeah… I know." They had endured this conversation at least five times before. Gaz would hint at Zim's return to skool and Zim would blow it off. She bit her lip, "Tell me why you left, again?"

"Zim's mission was fake. I had no reason to attend that filth-hole any longer." Oh yes… the day Zim's leaders had called and broadcast their big reveal to the entire Irken armada. It was all a big joke to them, but Zim had been crushed… for a day. Gaz had actually expected him to go a little more insane than he was normally, but he had actually…mellowed out. He started making trinket inventions and sold them to different outposts so other aliens could buy them as souvenirs. That had been summertime after Zim graduated ninth. When Gaz arrived for the first day of high skool, the classroom above hers was silent and Dib later informed her that Zim had dropped out. It had been a year since then.

It really wasn't any of her business. Zim was more of an acquaintance than a friend, even if he did hang out with Dib outside of skool. However, she did occasionally miss hearing "you're lying" echoing down from the ceiling panels.

Half an hour later, the little plum-colored car pulled up into Zim's cul-de-sac in front of the glowing green house and squeaked to a stop. The passenger door creaked open, letting in a gust of crisp, early-October air. Gaz's skin prickled with a chill and she flipped the car's heat system on. Zim stepped out, bowing down and giving a small wave of thanks before closing the door and walking off. The faint scent of green grapes lingered in the car. Gaz waited until the alien and his robot were safe inside before pulling around and heading for home.

"Are you guys going to the Underworld again?" Dib nearly choked on his sandwich when Gaz crumpled her lunch bag and stood, Ana in tow. Gaz had befriended Ana in ninth grade, after Zim had dropped out and during the time Dib was taking finals for his Swollen Eyeball officer's permit. One day he came home and there was just this strange, pale girl with violet eyes playing videogames with Gaz in their living room. He hadn't verbally questioned anyone about it. He had wondered, for sure, but somehow he felt that if he actually asked, he might ruin what Gaz had built up.

Ana flipped her silvery hair over one shoulder and put her hands on her hips, "What's it to ya, Dib?"

"Well, you guys have been going almost every day…doesn't the machine need a break?" He addressed the second part to Gaz, who tossed her lunch sack into the nearby garbage can. She turned to open one eye at him irritably.

"Dib, I don't bother telling you when to stop hanging out with Zim do I?"

Ana raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Zim?"

Gaz waved her away and placed both hands on the lunch table menacingly.

"Listen, we're just going to kill some vampire piggies and see if Ana can contract some sort of monster virus, okay?" She flipped around and began to drag Ana away.

"That's…incredibly dangerous…." Dib trailed off, scratching behind his ear. Gaz and Ana were both gone and he was sitting alone, looking like the crazy kid he was some years ago.

"Gaz!" Ana shoved Gaz's head down just in time to avoid a swipe from one of the larger piggies. Gaz lifted her purple visor, sweat dripping from her now-curled bangs.

"Ana, I've got this… just focus on your own." They went back to back, raising their holographic swords and swinging forcefully.

Splat!

The piggies were slaughtered and the trip seemed mostly done for the day. Gaz opened her satchel and groaned, disappointed.

"We didn't even get any hags' fingers… what a waste of a travelling crystal."

"I think I may have gotten boggart bacteria though."

"Let me feel your hands." Gaz grasped Ana's now clammy hands in her own. It was nothing too suspicious for being in the Underworld for as long as they had been. She shrugged and Ana followed suit.

"Guess we'll see if I stick my hands on my sister's face tonight."

"Guess so." Gaz pulled out their map and began traipsing down the rusty-colored mountainside. "Let's go see what we can get for these vampire piggy eyes."

I can't feel what's in front of me…

Where…where am I? This looks like home, but it's even more decaying than the town normally.

Cold wind rushed over Gaz's body and the sky went dark above her. The creaking of a sizeable ship resonated like a gong, seeming to crush her ears. She looked up to see the sky blackened by an enormous alien vessel. Gore dripped from its sides, oozing down the armored ribbing on the ship's hull. Screams began echoing around her and Gaz felt herself jostled along the road. People hit her, but she couldn't feel it. Her mind was foggy until she looked up, finding herself in a familiar Irken's arms. Zim looked down at her, fear in his eyes. Everyone she knew was around her and Gaz let out a silent scream.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

She pitched forward, panting. Sweat made her pajama shirt cling to her back. It was still dark out, but that meant very little in this northern part of the States. She leaned over to check the digital clock on her nightstand.

6:00 a.m.…Great. Only a half an hour before the wretched thing beeped beyond relief. Might as well get ready for skool.

She pulled on some clothes and headed to the kitchen. She filled a glass with tap water and had just put it to her lips when she remembered her nightmare. The glass slipped from her fingers, shattering on the marble countertop.

Zim…what did it mean?

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