Dib skulked through the shadows of the darkened house, stilling his breath behind a shaking palm. The little robot had left the window carelessly ajar, and he had entered with relative ease—but remaining undetected was another feat entirely.
He sank down on all fours, maneuvering past the kitchen table, desperately searching for the entrance to Zim's lab. The dark and dismal room exposed little to his eyes, but to his ears all was revealed—the Irken's voice echoed from the tiny trashcan, filling the kitchen with muffled exclamations. Dib shakily started towards the orifice, clutching a makeshift weapon of his own creation. It was essentially a water gun, ingeniously designed to sear Irken flesh—and the plastic object did not aid his confidence in the slightest. He placed a hand on the lid and lifted tentatively. The impassioned yelling was clear and sharp as glass.
Dib swallowed hard and stepped into the trashcan.
It consumed him, pushing him deep into the bowels of the Irken's home, and with each dreadful moment the voice grew louder. Dib began to regret his decision, clawing at the frictionless walls of the portal. He struggled in vain; the journey lasted only seconds, and he crashed inelegantly on the floor of Zim's lab.
The Irken was miraculously unaware of his presence.
"My Tallest? My Tallest? Yes. I understand, you must be very busy but—we haven't discussed my brilliant plans in weeks, and—"
Dib clutched the water gun with trembling hands, stepping quietly into the shadows. He stumbled through haphazardly strewn wires and unfamiliar technologies, resisting the urge to inspect them more closely. He did not have time to spare.
"Please listen to me! My Tallest—"
Dib sidestepped through the labyrinth, eyes fixed in Zim's direction, searching desperately for something—anything—that resembled his objective. He knew Zim possessed time-travelling technology, but he could not for the life of him locate anything that looked like a time machine. He glanced nervously at the trail of water his gun was leaving, realizing it might have been wiser to come unarmed.
"Please, please, please—"
The lab fell disturbingly silent.
Dib's heartbeat roared like thunder in his ears. He tiptoed behind a bizarre piece of machinery, cursing his choice of weapon as it dripped noisy on the tile floor.
Zim muttered something inaudible to himself, and his footsteps echoed throughout the cavernous room.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Dib glanced at the growing pool of water at his feet, frowning.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He turned the gun so the nozzle was facing upwards, and the incessant noise stopped; Zim seemed otherwise occupied, hissing crossly under his breath. Dib sighed and glanced up at the structure he'd taken refuge behind.
It looked suspiciously like a portal. In fact, he was rather certain it was a portal—potentially a portal of the time variety.
Dib grinned despite himself. Perfect. He set down his weapon, running his hands carefully over the contraption. Now I just have to figure out how to use it.
This proved next to impossible. He poked and prodded at it, kicked it, even begged it to start working to no avail. Dib swore quietly, furrowing his brow in frustration. "How in the hell do you work this thing?"
"Oh, that's easy!" the robot screeched, suddenly appearing at his side.
Dib's eyes widened in horror.
"You just pull this lever, see!" it yanked down on a blatantly obvious control situated beside the machine, and Dib mentally slapped himself for not noticing it earlier. "Uh…thanks?"
"No problem!" it squealed. "I love levers."
Dib nodded nervously, tapping randomly at the alien controls. He recognized a few Irken symbols from hacking into Zim's computer system, but he couldn't make rhyme or reason of this particular panel. The robot hovered quietly behind him, watching the kaleidoscopic colors swirl within the portal.
"So whatcha doin?" it asked.
"Travelling."
"Oooo. Where?"
"Back."
"Back where?"
"In time."
"Why?"
"To, uh…" Dib struggled for a viable excuse. "Warn myself about an upcoming test, that's all."
The robot seemed to consider this. "That's silly," it decided.
"Yeah," Dib muttered. "It kinda is." He keyed in what he prayed was the correct date, taking a step back from the controls.
"Gir!" a voice screeched. "What are you doing? Stop him!"
Zim stormed into view, eyes bright scarlet fury. "Dib-stink! Get your filthy hyuman hands off of my time machine!"
"Never!" Dib screamed, grinning victoriously. "You'll never catch me, Zim! By the time I enter this portal you'll be dead—because I'll have killed you—in the past! Before you ever knew me, Zim! You never thought your technology would be used against you, huh? Well it's over, Zim!"
The Irken raised a nonexistent eyebrow, glancing at the controls. "Eh?"
"I'm travelling back in time. To kill you before you get the chance to set up base at Earth," Dib clarified.
"So…you're travelling back in time."
"Yes."
"Go, then," Zim said nonchalantly. "It will not stop Zim."
Dib tilted his head, perplexed. "That's…um...really stupid." He turned towards the portal, taking a deep breath. "Well…goodbye, Zim!"
"Bye."
He glanced over his shoulder. "You're really ruining the dramatic effect here."
Zim made a shooing motion with one glove. Dib sighed, stifling his frustration, and fell headfirst into the past.
A/N: I wrote this story for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) last year. It is about one hundred pages typed, but it is mostly unedited...I will try to update at least once every two weeks this summer, dividing it up into chapters and re-writing bits of it. But yes, this is a crossover. Dib will be joining Starfleet, and there will be some Star Trek characters cameo-ing in this story. But for the most part, the characters are either from Invader Zim or they are OCs of mine. I didn't want the cast of Star Trek to steal the stage, as I wanted the focus on Dib and Zim's relationship. If you've never seen Star Trek, you will still understand this story! Please Review! I know many people don't read crossovers, but I did work hard on this particular fic, and I'd love to get some feedback.
Cheers, and thanks for reading!
