Chemical Warfare : Doctor Zim
A/N: Hey... this is my first ZADR fic, it's my first story for Invader Zim, so please be honest. I am all about keeping the characters in character and capturing them in interesting lights. Well, this may be a multi-chaptered story, but it all depends on what you all think, because if it's bad than I don't want to sully the site with this. Read and Review!
I
Looking back, the reason Zim and Dib got into such a mess was because of pneumonia. It was funny, but neither of them laughed at the time. At the time, Zim was one frustrated Irken while Dib was a slightly confused and amused human.
The school bell rang. Zim would always remember that it was a Tuesday because Wednesday was when he was going to unleash his newest plan to dominate the human race. He sat in his desk, bouncing with anticipation. Dib would be horrified when Zim told him that he had developed a flesh eating microbe and was going to pour it into the school's water supply as his first test.
Oh, it would be glorious.
However, the teacher closed the door. Dib wasn't in his seat.
"Dib Membrane, absent."
"WHAT?"
Zim bellowed, his claws digging into his skin. The entire class turned in their seats, staring at him. Zim ground his teeth, but was willing to let the monkey have his one day. It was the first time he was absent during his entire school career.
Wednesday rolled around, and Dib was still missing. Clenching his fists, Zim simply walked out of the school and went to the human's house. He kicked the door in, quickly finding Dib's signature body heat in a room upstairs.
The Irken stealthily crept up the cold, quiet house and opened the door to Dib's room.
II
For all of his life, Dib had never missed a day of school. He couldn't. Who knows what Zim could have done if he was left completely unsupervised.
It was during senior year that he woke up, only to fall back asleep. His mind was willing, but his body felt like a hot, wet bag of sand. His cheeks were flushed and his entire body ached. Vaguely, he remembered his father mentioning something about pneumonia.
After that, there was darkness.
"Monkey." A loud, annoying voice roused Dib from the dead. He groaned. "Worm baby!" It wouldn't go away. Couldn't he die in peace? "Dib!"
Bleary brown eyes cracked open. Dib might have screamed when he saw the Irken leaning over him, his boots on his bed. Instead, he coughed violently.
"W-What," cough, "are y-you," cough, cough, "doing here?"
The alien narrowed his eyes.
"You haven't been in school for two days."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"Who is this Sherlock? Is HE keeping you from coming to SCHOOL?"
Dib moaned, wishing that this was a bad dream.
"No... Sherlock didn't— ugh, I'm sick, Zim. I have pneumonia!"
The silence that followed made Dib uneasy. He couldn't see the little invader (well, not so little anymore) because he had moved away, clicking his claws together. The human boy sighed, trying to sit up only to flop back down again. Helpless. Utterly helpless.
Click. Click. Click.
"Is this... pneumonia fatal?"
Shifting in his sheets, Dib closed his eyes.
"It sure feels like it."
When he heard mechanical whirring, he forced his eyes open. Zim's pak was expanding, unfolding and revealing a... a box. It was placed on the ground by those weird spider legs so Zim could look through it. Dib observed with growing anxiety as the Irken began tinkering with shiny instruments.
Zim sniffed, his dark contact covered eyes intense as he raised up a weird metal.... toothbrush thing.
"Your species is so pathetic, Dib-monkey, that it's probably nothing." He pulled on goggles, high pitched tones and beeps spilling out of them. "Hold still."
III
Human beings were such a strange race. They had squishy internal organs, yet their skin could resist that horrible acid that it called "water." Also, germs were very casual, none being taken too seriously. Dib was the biggest threat to Zim, and Zim was the biggest threat to Dib.
The system was screwy, but it worked.
So... seeing Dib so weak and defenseless was as alien as Zim was to earth. The wormy insect had never fallen ill. Or had he? Zim didn't exactly monitor the human's health... but he had never missed school....
Dib, at the moment, was struggling to defend himself. It seemed, however, that the mysterious sickness had taken all the strength Dib had left. The boy, sweaty and clammy, could only stare up at him with wide hazel eyes, his breathing hitched. Zim held him down, a clawed hand on the human's chest as he pressed the boy into the mattress.
"Hold still." A malicious grin almost cracked Zim's face as he activated his medical instrument. Without hesitation, he collected a blood sample. Dib hissed. "Stop whining."
Dib's chest fell, finally letting out the breath that he had been holding.
"What did you... what have you done to me?"
His eyes were fluttering shut, though he fought valiantly to stay awake. Zim's read eyes narrowed, studying the readings on his machinery.
"Nothing. Yet."
Zim left out the window as Dib slipped into a deep sleep. Zim crawled down the Membrane's aluminum siding and scurried to his lab.
IV
Evil sunlight bored through Dib's window. Groaning, Dib rolled over and fell out of bed. He was able to stand, drag his carcass into the bathroom, urinate, then shuffle downstairs.
Blinking slowly, Dib opened the refrigerator. It was filled with orange juice. His father wanted to make sure that his children didn't die from scurvy. Sighing, Dib pulled out a carton and closed the door.
Zim was waiting for him. Dib let out a shout, dropping his beverage.
"Holy sh— Jesus!" As orange juice pooled around the human's feet, Zim stepped out of its reach, scowling. "Zim... what the hell?"
His legs were shaking and he grabbed the counter so he didn't fall. The alien smirked.
"You're still weak."
Dib swooned, cursing his fever.
"I'm sure that Irk had sicknesses too, Zim." He was dressed in a sweaty wife-beater and boxers. He was sallow and more pale than usual. "Are you going to kill me?"
V
Ethereal blue light illuminated Zim's face as he studied the microbes enlarged on his computer screen. Pneumonia... what a strange beast. As it turned out, it was laughingly simple. Stupid human.
He saved the sickness and the cure on his hard drive, intending to send them to the Almighty Tallest.
"Master?" Gir's high pitched voice cracked his computer screen. "What 'cha doin'?"
"Leave me, Gir, I'm working!"
The robot scrambled away, leaving heaps of chaos in his wake. Zim rolled his eyes as he collected the cure from his lab. Zim picked the lock to Dib's house and let himself in, scaring the human.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Zim rolled his eyes.
"No. Give me your arm."
Dib hesitated.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
"Ha! Your pitiful education system is hardly worth Zim's time!"
The human frowned, wordlessly holding out his arm. Zim took out a syringe. In a smooth, apathetic motion he injected the cure into Dib's bloodstream. The effect was instantaneous (because Zim was infallible after all) and had Dib gasping for air like a fish out of water. Warmth and health flowed in his veins. His fever dissipated away like fog into the air.
For a moment, there was silence. Dib clutched at his heart, his lungs heaving. His eyes locked with Zim's purple contacts. The alien looked him over, his eyes steely. The human's flesh had color under it, and his legs were no longer shaking.
Zim may have wondered if Dib knew how thankful he should be. After all, Zim had gotten rid of his one hundred and six fever and those annoying microbes. Not to mention that strange defect in the human's genes. Oh well, that wasn't important. The point was, Zim had fixed him.
There should have been a "thank you," but neither boy was willing to give or accept it. They both denied what had just transpired. Zim had... healed Dib. The human was sick, and the alien cured him. In that silence, there was a question, a cloudy and vague answer, and two beings caught in the middle of it all.
Both of their brains were churning away.
"Uh..."
"Silence, monkey!" Zim wrung his clawed hands, his big eyes wide and alert. He grinned, his sharp teeth making cringe inwardly. "I've infected the school's water supply with a flesh eating microbe!"
Dib's breath caught.
"You... you what?"
Zim's laughter reverberated against the walls as he sprinted out of the human's house. Dib scrambled to pull on his jacket as he ran down the street, his bare feet scraping against the pavement.
And, just like that, it was back to normal. Zim and Dib, bitter enemies. However, their questions would multiply. But... for now... everything was back in balance. Equilibrium.
Then the Tallest received Zims' findings.
VI
A/N: Well, that's the first or maybe final chapter. Read and review. Tell me if you want more or just tell me I'm complete rubbish. I accept all types of reviews, even flames. Thank you! I hope to hear from you!
-mia