Once again, the small Irken awoke from the nightmare only to realize it was yet to be over. He glared at the glass walls of his personal hell with all the cold fury that had built up in him over the course of the experience. A single moment's weakness, that was all it took.
****A WEEK BEFORE****
How odd. Zim thought as he fixed his Pak. He glanced at the clock and, seeing that soon he would not be able to, put on his PAK.
Instantly, his perspective on everything changed. How could he be so blind? It was a wonder how he never noticed it before. Zim was a defect. His PAK contained a malfunctioning feelings block and it had allowed him to behave in ways unfit for any respectable Irken. No wonder the Tallests had sent him on a fake mission.
Zim could feel no anger toward them now. He simply saw the logic behind getting rid of a defective Irken.
"Computer!" Zim commanded. "Contact the Tallests!"
****** Onboard the Massive******
"Oh no. Zim," groaned Tallest Red.
"Why was he never deactivated, again?" Purple asked, munching on a nacho.
"He kept escaping, remember? Now let's see what new failure of a plan he has created," Red sighed.
"Greetings, my Tallests," Zim saluted." I am calling to inform you that I will no longer be contacting you. I have discovered that my PAK contained a defect so I will continue my banishment on Earth. I believe I have temporarily countered the effects of the malfunction but I'm not positive. For your safety, I will destroy all ways to contact the Irken Empire so that I will not try to attempt revenge. Zim, signing off."
The screen reverted to the red Irken symbol. All the Tallests could do was stare in shock.
"Hey!" Purple said. "He's never calling back again!"
"Finally," Red slumped into his chair. "I thought I would go crazy with him calling us every single day!"
"Let's go eat food," Purple said.
*****Zim's Base***
"Computer! Destroy all ways to contact any Irken owned property. GIR!" Zim shouted into a microphone.
The blue-eyed robot appeared out of a hole in the wall. "Yes!"
"GIR, we no longer have a mission and I will be improving the base's defenses. You will be joining me at skool, passing as my insane little brother who can no longer be home-skooled. Besides, I can't trust you alone at the house even with Minimoose after the biscuit incident," Zim shuddered. "Your suit is a little too noticeable so I will be adding holographic projectors to you."
"You gonna make biscuits!" GIR shouted.
Zim sighed. "No, GIR. I won't be making biscuits."
"Awwww!" GIR cried.
The next day at skool, Zim was joined by a short, blue-eyed, black-haired boy with a white tee with a giant cupcake on the front. The boy was jumping around excitedly, poking at things.
"He's up to something, Gaz, I just know it," Dib ranted. "I mean look at him! He's so…. green."
"Go away, Dib, before I make you wish that I was never born," Gaz growled.
"Don't you care that he's trying to take over the Earth?"Dib asked, shocked.
"No. He's too stupid to take over," retorted Gaz. "Now go away. I'm finishing these last levels."
Dib pouted but soon got over it. Instead he went over to discover "Zim's new plan". Unfortunately, he was attacked by the blue-eyed boy.
"HI! Why is your head so big?" the boy grinned from ear to ear.
"It's not big! And who are you and why are you hanging out with Zim?" Dib questioned.
"GIR! Get away from the Dib," Zim said, glaring at his enemy.
"GIR? Isn't he your robot?" Dib returned the glare. "What are you planning, Zim?"
"You speak nonsense, worm," Zim sneered. "Zim has stopped planning to destroy this spinning ball of filthy dirt as of last night."
Dib scoffed. "Like I would believe that for a second, Zim! I'll find out what it is eventually! You'll be sitting all snug in your evil and turn around and I'll be there! Doing stuff!"
"Ha! You wouldn't make it past my lawn gnomes and even if you did, you would find nothing to do you stuff to. So don't try!" With that, Zim turned and stalked off to class.
"Just you wait, alien," Dib mumbled. "Just you wait."
"Kids, today a new student is joining us! Isn't that great! Yay!" Mr. Elliot hugged himself.
Gaz growled and rolled her eyes. Her teacher was always getting on her nerves. Her utter darkness and his stupid optimism were constantly at war, and it drove her insane. Not only that, but she wasn't allowed to play her gameslave2 because it "distracted the other students". She knew that none would dare even glance at her while she was playing, not if they wanted to keep their limbs. Besides, she only followed that particular rule because the last time Mr. Elliot had called her Dad to explain why Gaz couldn't bring her gs2 to skool, her Dad had said that it "improves hand-eye coordination and turns us into better human beings" instead of punishing her like she wanted. Her Dad barely paid enough attention to her or her brother and probably wouldn't care if they disappeared except for the fact that he wouldn't have anyone to take up the Membrane Labs once he no longer could.
"HI! I got chocolate bubble gum!" an annoyingly familiar voice said from the front of the room.
"That's nice, Gir, but you can't eat in class," Mr. Elliot explained to the blue-eyed boy who was drinking a Suck Monkey.
The reasoning was lost on the disguised robot. GIR looked blankly at the teacher for a second before turning around and walking to one of the many empty seats next to Gaz, happily drinking and humming. He turned to Gaz and smiled.
"Hi! You're pretty!" GIR said happily.
How can someone be so annoying and still exist? Gaz growled.
"Master likes you! I seen it!" Gir babbled. "He say you not like other humans! He say you're like him!"
Gaz wondered how Zim had not destroyed the robot already."Shut up before I make you wish you had rabid weasels in your head instead of knowing me."
"I already have bees in there," GIR said.
Gaz opened her eyes slightly to glare at the robot. She would have to come up with new threats for this case.
During lunch, Zim kept GIR from going on a rampage and eating everything by bribing him with his own lunch. Gaz glanced at him over her game slave, reflecting what GIR had said in class. She normally wouldn't have cared, but this felt different. She didn't think anyone could compare themselves to her.
Dib, however, was watching Zim for another reason. "What could he be planning, Gaz? Why would he bring his robot to skool if he weren't planning anything?"
"Maybe because he can't trust GIR to behave," Gaz had been told by GIR why he was here.
"Naw! You would think an alien invader would have a better minion," Dib chuckled. "He has to have some sort of evil plan and I'm going to find out what it is!"
Gaz got up and faced her brother. "Shut up, Dib. I'm tired of listening to you talk about your stupid paranormal this or your stupid Zim is evil that."
She stomped off to slam herself down next to Zim and GIR, leaving Dib speechless for once. She knew what would scar him the most and this was one of them.
"Hi, lady!" GIR screeched while Zim simply raised a nonexistent eyebrow.
"What are you doing here, little Gaz?" Zim asked uncharacteristically curious.
"Punishing my brother because his voice fills me with rage," Gaz said while killing pigs on her gs2. "He thinks you have another plan and he's probably going to sneak into your base tonight."
"Umm…why are you telling Zim this, Human?" Zim asked.
"I thought it would be funny to see him get tested on or something," Gaz replied. "You got any video games over at your base?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'm coming over then to scar Dib even more."
"How do I know you're not lying to find out my new plan?" Zim questioned. "The Dib-stink has done that before."
Normally a comment like this would earn the one who said it a punch in the nose, or in Zim's case the face, but Gaz was feeling slightly calmer with the prospect of watching Dib's mental pain. "I can tell when you don't have a plan, Zim. You're a horrible liar and besides, I am Dib's only family. He would go insane if it seemed that we were friends."
Zim grinned evilly." Dib in pain? I would never miss an opportunity like this."