The Nightmare Reboots
Part 1
Dib waited patiently for class to begin. It was almost the end of his sophomore year of "Hi Skool" and he couldn't be more bored. There was once a time where nearly all of his waking life was spent fighting a moronic and deadly inhuman force, but that age had long since passed. He clearly remembered the day he found Zim's house abandoned; Zim had not come to school for nearly six days, and Dib had been getting suspicious. At first, he assumed it was some sort of trap, but upon further investigation, it was revealed that the alien truly was gone.
When he ventured inside the home, Dib found it completely stripped. Not one piece of technology had been spared; save for several foreign screws and an engraved sphere to which Dib never found a purpose for.
"Class," Ms. Bitters decrepit voice broke through to his subconscious, "We have an old student coming back to us again, so be sure to welcome your foolish classmate to his new unrelenting doom…" Dib's mammoth head lazily shifted towards the door as it opened to reveal the figure standing there. "Zim," Ms. Bitters began, "How horrible it is to see you again." Dib's jaw slacked opened and his eye's widened as Zim made his way across the classroom.
Zim stopped briefly and turned toward the ancient teacher, "I'm terribly sorry you feel that way Ms. Bitters." Then he continued toward an open desk several seats behind Dib.
For the rest of the class, Dib couldn't stop concentrating on the alien's reappearance, not that it was an uninteresting topic. It had been five years since the last time they encountered one another, and they had both grown a great deal. The small, green, egotistical creature that Dib had once known was no more, in his place stood a tall, pale, silent predecessor. Zim was still on the small side, but he had obviously grown, he now stood at the average humans nose level. His pea-colored skin was now lighter, like that of someone who was ill, and his voice, that is what was most different about him. Zim no longer referred to himself in third person, he did not seem to have the need to add titles such as "Pig-Smellys" "Dirt-Monkeys" or "Human" onto the ends of people names, but the worst of it, the most painful, was the tone. His tone was so average, so undetectable, just as a human.
Dib himself was also a changed being, having gained an actual height advantage over most people, as well as growing out his ponytail gave him the distinguished and scientific look of his father. Despite this his dealings into the paranormal remained constant, which kept him trim and fit, so he managed to gain the best of both worlds of science.
When he finished his mental review of his nemesis he began to verbally confront him, "Zim," Zim paid no attention, "Zim," Still no response, enraged, Dib wadded up his class notes and chucked them full speed at Zim's face as he looked down at his paper. Dib's smile slowly faded as Zim's hand shot up, caught the projectile, uncrumpled it, looked it over, and passed it up through the line of students until it reached Dib again.
He glanced around the classroom to see if anyone else saw the spectacle, but the only pair of eyes that viewed it seemed to belong to Dib's sister Gaz.
If these last five years had been grateful to Zim and Dib, then they must have owed Gaz their life. Gaz had not grown in anatomy or stature much; in fact, she was almost equal to that of her younger self, taller, of coarse, but almost identical in anatomy. Yet her face, although seeming to have remained the same, had some sort of universal attraction to the male population. She dealt with that problem throughout freshmen year, but all suitors eventually gave up due to her distant nature.
Gaz stared briefly at Dib, before going back to her Game Slave Six. She thought about joining her brother in tormenting Zim, before the lunch bell officially saved the alien.
Zim exited the lunch line and casually walked to his old table that he dined alone so often at, aware that the Dib watched him the entire way. Dib was not hidden, or even too obvious, but that hippo-head gave away every move. "What are you doing here?" Zim jumped at the sudden voice, turning toward the figure behind him. Gaz stood erect, not making eye contact, she just continued to play her video game.
"What does it matter to you? Earth-Beast." Gaz paused her game, and looked up with one eye. The way he said Earth-Beast, it seemed as though the word appeared foreign to him, it came rough off his tongue, but she knew she heard him use the phrase before…
"Dib said you would be more likely to tell a neutral party." Came Gaz's reply, she leveled her eye contact to both eyes now, her golden iris's shone brightly in the dark cafeteria.
Zim paused a moment before letting a sly smile cross his face, "What are you getting in return for this?" Gaz fought for a moment before revealing a dazzling white smile to him, this along with the light from her eye's caused Zim to squint.
"Heh, he has to be silent for a week and then by me the next seven Game Slave's." Gaz responded with pride in her voice.
"Quite a negotiator you are, well done." Zim let out a respectful smile before stating, "Well, nice talking to you."
"Yeah, same here." Gaz turned and walked to her brother, turning the game back on.
"Well, What did you learn?" Dib question eagerly, like a dog waiting for it's meal.
"Learned?" Gaz stopped the game again, and turned back toward the alien, she suddenly realized he had tricked her into leaving. She began to worry. Zim was smarter. Much too smarter.
All credit's go to Jhonen Vasquez and his twisted creation. I am an amateur writer who would like to get some help on his writing style, so I figured I would start a project in which people who possibly know nothing about the subject could critic me, seems fail proof. So I will try to post a couple pages a week, and if you respond positively I will keep it up, if you don't respond properly then I will still put it up. Suck it. The Obvious Genius of His Time, Allen Dillard
