Hello!

Thanks in advance for reading! (the title is a fail.)

I'll probably continue this if I get feedback. (I'll probably still continue this if I don't :B)

Characters and Setting belong to Jhonen Vasquez.

Enjoy!

The small green man threw his hands over his head and shouted aloud, obviously shouting discipline towards the youthful robot in front of him. Leaning closer, Dib strained to make out the ranting; only to hit his head on the cold metal grate he had been peering out of. The man stopped and looked up in confusion, glancing down at the robot and then back up at the ceiling, his blood red irises flickering around the room. Dib reeled back into the air duct and held his breath, tweaking the position of his large spectacles. The man shrugged and walked out of Dib's sight, the little robot bouncing after him, squealing in a high pitched tone.

Dib let out a breath and leaned forward once more, digging a screw driver from his coat pocket and fumbling with it. He held it tightly in his left hand* and began to work on the screws, which, after some elbow grease, twisted out. Out of shape, he thought to himself as he wiped a bit of swear from his forehead with his sleeve. Dib pried the grate from the opening and set it behind him gently, as if it would shatter. He then pulled a small video camera from his large jacket pocket, replacing it with the screwdriver. Turning it on, he leaned carefully out of the air duct and scanned the room through its screen.

Dib sighed in relief when the green man was no where to be found, then struggled back into the air duct and flipped to let his feet hang out and into the strikingly warm room. He lowered himself gently, glad that the drop from the duct would only be a few feet. Dib let out a sigh of air and let go, landing and cringing from the immediate pain shooting up his legs from his ankles. He brushed the signature spike of hair from his eyes, looking about the big room, slightly wary that the man could be back at any moment, he and his annoying robot would certainly kill him. Not just kill him, they would make him suffer.

Trying to ignore that thought and stay alert at the same time, he held the camera up, sweeping the perimeter. "Finally, the world will see the truth." He muttered aloud, smiling wickedly. Dib leisurely walked about, taking verbal notes of things you wouldn't see in a normal house. Not that he needed to point these things out to himself, but the media might not be as quick to find it. If there's one thing that I know, Dib told himself matter-of-factly, people are just as stupid as Aliens think. As he began to slink towards what he thought might be the stairwell or a hallway, the loud mechanical drone of his camera caught his attention. Surprised, he looked down to watch his camera batteries die. Dib silently cursed the batteries and shoved his fist into his back pocket, only to fish around without success. Not wanting to admit defeat, the lanky teen shifted the camera into his other hand then reached into the other pocket to repeat the process.

No luck. Of course, Dib thought, whatever, I'll make do with what I have.

With no plans as to how to get out, Dib headed back to the hole in the wall and looked up at it. He reached up and hissed in aggravation as the realization hit him that he was to short. With a huff he looked about, scanning for something to stack. Dib silently rejoiced when he spotted a large desk chair positioned at a table near him. He grabbed it and swung it around-half expecting the man to be sitting there with that stupid evil grin of his, and rushed towards the grate with it.

Dib hesitantly stood on it, reaching up and securing his hands on the inside wall of the duct. The lanky, out-of-shape teen struggled to pull himself up, kicking his legs violently and sending the chair toppling disastrously towards the floor. It hit with a loud metal thud and Dib froze. It was all over if he didn't get himself out of there fast. With a sudden adrenaline rush mixed with fear, he scrambled up the wall and safely into the duct. Shaking, he replaced the grate and screws. His hands shook and his hair dipped into his face, covering his wide eyes.

Dib assured himself that he didn't forget anything, and then began crawling through the duct the way he'd entered. It narrowed a bit, but he kept going, pausing only to brush his hair from his eyes. The teen's heart rate slowed and he had calmed down a lot by the time he'd made it near the way he'd made it in.

He smiled triumphantly, crawling towards the duct leading into the man's kitchen. The teen peered through the grate and looked around, thankful that the loud bang the chair made alerted the pair. This particular grate had been one that he used as a common entrance, thus it stayed unbolted and merely propped up in the duct. He easily removed it and dropped down into the kitchen, which smelled faintly of waffles.

Wasting no time, Dib made his way towards the small-thankfully not small enough for him-window and began to open it, thinking he'd made it home free. With this feeling of triumph came the pain of something striking against the back of his head. He felt himself falling before what had happened registered in his mind. "Puny human, how dare you try to conquer Zim?" A loud voice echoed into his mind, "Stupid Dib!"

The pain spread across the back of his head again and reached the back of his eyes. He swooned and fell to his knees, his mind warily leaning between unconsciousness and consciousness. Dib's eyelids fluttered, but he was still awake, he could still run away, right? Probably not, but with what little courage he had left, he scrambled towards the open window. He heard a loud snort and he grabbed the window frame with another wave of fear.

Dib's arms shook and his grip loosened as he began to black out. The feeling of someone's cold breath became present on the back of his neck. "Lights out," The man whispered in a gruesomely sweet voice. Before he could manage to free himself through the window, he felt yet another shot of pain, like the crack of a whip. As his body went limp and his mind began to give in to the spreading darkness, he heard the voice behind him struggle through laughter, "Why do you even try?"
Dib grimaced as he felt the pain edging away, why indeed.

Thanks!

That was shorter than I thought'd be...

*Dib will be left-handed because I want him to be :P