Chapter 1: The First Encounter

It's been eight years since Irken Zim landed on Earth, set on destroying it for his masters, The Tallest. But that was before he learned the truth.

Thanks to a nosy paranormal investigator, Dib Membrane, the human was able to gather some exquisite information and reveal the harsh truth to the outcasted alien.

After discovering that his mission was all a lie, Zim stopped being an invader and, quite shockingly coincidental, fell in love with the human that helped him see the truth in the first place.

Dib accepted the Irken's feelings, returning them himself, and the two were now a happy couple.

Now, at the age of twenty and married, the two were ready to move and start a new life together. Of course, they couldn't leave Gir and Minimoose behind, so they took them with them as they blew up Zim's old base and moved into a suburban house together.

"This house is amazing!" Zim gasped as he stared at the decor.

"Do you really like it?" Dib hoped.

"Dib, I LOVE it!" Zim giggled, jumping into his husband's arms as the human spun him around, giving him a full kiss.

"I'm so glad that you like it." Dib laughed as he set Zim back down. "It costed a lot you know."

"You shouldn't have payed so much, Dib." Zim frowned. "We could've easily just made a living in the base."

"Are you kidding? I want to give you the best life possible, and we're not gonna get that in a house filled with more bad memories than good memories." Dib disagreed.

"Yes, well, I guess you're right." Zim sighed, then smiled. "I'm really glad you did this, though."

Dib smiled before kissing the Irken on his head.

"I'm glad too."

Zim giggled before a clock suddenly went off in the living room. The hour marked 10:00 p.m.. Dib sighed before looking at Zim.

"You know what that means." He sighed.

"Yes, yes Dib, of course I know what it means." Zim smiled, rolling his eyes. "You go to work. I'll be fine right here, with Gir and Minimoose. Even if the two are already in bed."

"Ok then." Dib nodded before kissing him again. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Put some souls to rest tonight!" Zim chuckled as he waved his husband goodbye.

Dib waved back before driving the Voot Cruiser, disguised as a Subaru, to work with his paranormal investigation team.

Zim smiled and closed the door, heading into the living room. Gir and Minimoose were in bed, and Dib had just left for work. It was the perfect opportunity for the Irken to catch up on his favorite show.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

What? There's nothing wrong with being a Brony!

Zim was sitting on the couch, watching his show. He was halfway through season six, episode four, when he suddenly heard a noise down in the basement.

He paused the show and listened, straining his antennae to hear anything strange. He heard nothing.

Shrugging it off, Zim unpaused the show and continued watching. Five minutes later, he heard the noise again, like somebody slamming a door close.

Zim growled and paused the show again. He stood up and went to the basement, opening the door. He was about to go down the stairs to see what was going on, but then, something stopped him.

The air felt heavy. He could hardly breath. His nerves told him that if he went down there, something was going to happen.

Gulping, Zim ran back to the living room and grabbed one of Dib's cameras. He went back to the basement, and started recording.

"I think my house is haunted. Uh, we just moved here. Me, my husband Dib, and our two robots, Gir and Minimoose." Zim gulped as he walked down the stairs, recording everything. "Uh, something weird was just going on down in the basement here. I'm all alone. The robots are asleep, Dib just left for work a bit of an hour ago, and I'm hearing noises down here."

Zim turned on the light, but there was nothing there but some of Dib's old equipment from when he tried exposing Zim for being an alien.

"Um, the reason why I'm recording is, well, because I wanna make sure I'm not going crazy." Zim nervously chuckled. "This is a suburban house, there is no reason why this should be happening!"

Zim walked further into the basement. He turned a corner towards the laundry room. He couldn't see it, but in the lens, a girl in a white dress and her black hair covering her face, stood on the other side of the door. Quickly, she slammed the door shut, making the Irken jumped.

"That's it! That's the noise I heard!" Zim growled, running up to the door and opening it. "Hello? Is there anybody in here?"

Zim spun around the room, trying to find any evidence of somebody in the room, but there was nothing.

"This is pretty freaking weird." Zim shivered, running out of the room.

As he walked out of the room, he was surprised to see the girl appear in his lens in the corner of the basement. Zim jumped and looked again, but the girl was gone.

"Please tell me you saw that." The Irken whimpered.

Zim spun around the room, trying to see if he could find the girl again, but there was nothing. Zim shook his head and ran back to the stairs.

"Nah, I'm outta here, dude!" He whimpered, running up the stairs. "Ain't no way I'm coming back down here again!"

When Zim got back upstairs, he went to the living room and sat down on the couch, the camera still recording him.

"That was really messed up." He sighed. "Now, time for the ultimate question… should I tell Dib about this?"

Zim sighed as he stopped the recording. He sat there on the couch, wondering if he should explain to his husband what he just experienced.

But, what HAD he experienced? A couple of noises? A girl appearing in the lens for a moment? That really wasn't evidence of a haunted house. Noises and slamming doors could just be the house settling and a draft going across the house. And the girl, it could've been easily a trick of the light.

Zim came to a final conclusion to not tell anyone about this. But he was sure going to be recording everything that happens to him from now on.