Zim glowered down at Dib triumphantly while perched upon his spider legs. Bright red blood ran down the side of the human's head. It dripped down from his nose and oozed from his various wounds. Zim himself was also bleeding, but sustained less injury than the human. Pink, almost translucent blood trickled from what used to be one of his antennae, before it had been sliced off. The pink substance stained Zim's outfit.
"You'll... never get away with this Zim," Dib gasped. He squinted at Zim through cracked glasses.
Zim laughed. "Oh! But I already have, Dib. And, as soon as I rid myself of you, I can finally conquer this miserable ball of dirt!"
"No!" Dib yelled. "I won't let you!"
The Irken laughed once more. "You won't be able to stop me if you're dead!" He poised one of his PAK legs in a striking position. "Goodbye, Dib!" The PAK leg came down and then...
Silence filled the room. The PAK leg was embedded in the human's chest. Zim retracted the leg from Dib's unmoving torso and inspected it. Red blood coated the tip, some of it collecting together then dripping off. Disgusting, inferior human blood. He wiped it with his shirt, getting some of it off, but mostly smearing it.
Zim grimaced. He'd have to clean it thoroughly later. The short Irken retracted his PAK legs, setting himself back down. He looked down at the human. Dib lay on his back. Blood soaked his shirt, discoloring it to a vivid shade of violet.
The Dib had put up a good fight, but not good enough, evidently.
The so-called "invader" glanced around at the living room. Most of the room had been wrecked- the television flipped over, couch cushions strewn, the little table over-turned... Then he saw GiR- or what remained of him. The robot had been dismantled and destroyed. Nothing remained except for a few spare wires and some scrap metal.
Of course, Zim felt no sorrow or remorse. It was just a robot, and after all, invaders were above such emotions. Zim swallowed hard. He found no joy or triumph, as he had thought he would. Instead, he felt tired. Tired and empty.
"Computer," Zim said roughly. "Clean this mess up, and dispose of the body somewhere no one will find it. I don't need any drama from any Earth authorities."
The computer said nothing in return. Instead, several large robotic arms swept down from the ceiling and began tidying up the room.
"GiR! I'm heading down to the lab. Don't mess with anyth-" Zim paused. "Oh. Right."
The invader took one least glance around at the room, then exited through the kitchen doorway. He walked to the toilet, stepped inside, then pulled the flushing lever. He began to swirl slowly, descending into the giant metal tube that led to his underground base.
Lower and lower it took the Irken, until at last it stopped. Zim stepped off the medium sized platform, then stopped to watch it go ascend back up the chute silently.
Once the metal disk was out of sight, Zim spun on his heel and began to march down the hot-pink colored hallway. For a moment, Zim distracted himself from his exhaustion by wondering why almost everything Irken was pink. The ships, the walls, their uniforms... Hm.
Zim stopped in front of a familiar portion of the wall. It might have looked like just another section of the wall, to any outsider (except for the Dib, but the Dib had studied his base thoroughly, hence why he knew so much), but in truth, it was a secret door that hid a passage way.
Zim pulled off his glove, then stretched out his arm and placed his gloved hand flat on a small square section of the wall. A green light flashed, then the square beeped three times. Zim withdrew his hand, pulling his glove back one, as the sector of the wall began to slide to the side.
Zim started down the previously hidden hall, the wall sliding closed behind him. To a human, it would be hard to see down the hall, because of its dimness, but for a trained invader, it was as bright as daylight. Not to mention, the optical implants each invader received probably helped as well.
He walked for a few minutes, then took a right at the end of the hallway. The Irken went forward a few paces, then stopped at another section of the wall. He repeated the same procedures as before, and, like the other wall, this one began to slide open as well.
The reason for these security restricted sectors of Zim's base was he had not wanted to chance GiR or an intruder catching him off guard while charging, or while performing and other private or hygienic acts.
The room was familiar to him. Of course, all the rooms in his base were familiar to him, but this one he particularly knew well, because it was where he spent a lot of his time.
As the wall slid closed, Zim clambered on top of a hot pink sitting area. It looked almost like a hook suspending from the ceiling, except it had individual cushions lining the top, and it was the comfiest thing Zim had. In front of the "hook" were numerous monitoring screens, which Zim really only used for intercepting Earthly television signals.
Zim positioned himself on the cushions as comfortably as he could, then reached over to the side and pulled out a metal tube that was larger than his arm. He reached around and connected it to his PAK, then sighed as he slumped downwards.
He reached for the remote to the monitors, then began flipping through channels. After discovering that there were, unsurprisingly, no good shows to watch, he flipped to a random channel and left it there.
Before he knew it, he had dozed off, oblivious to anything else.
"Gaz, do you know where your brother is?" Professor Membrane asked his purple-haired daughter as he strode into the living room.
Gaz sat on the couch, indulged in her game. "No," she said in her usual spiteful demeanor.
"Ah well," the Professor said. "He'll turn up sooner or later." With that, he spun on his heel and walked off in the direction he had come from.
Gaz played her game late into the night. Unlike some other kids, she could function with little amount of sleep, so she was allowed to stay up later than most.
Around 3 A.M. or so, she looked up at the clock and saw it was getting late. She switched off the game and then started for the stairs.
The girl stopped when she realized that she hadn't seen her brother since he had left to go mess with Zim. Sure, sometimes he would be gone for a while, but never before had he been gone for this long. Even he knew well enough to be home by at most midnight.
Gaz shrugged it off. She would confront Zim tomorrow about it. Dib had probably gotten stuck in one of Zim's stupid traps. Without another though about the matter, Gaz walked up the staircase and into her room, where she changed into her pajamas, climbed into her bed, and promptly fell asleep.
The next day at Skool, no one really seemed to notice Dib's absence. That, or no one cared. All seemed to be going well for Zim. Until lunch, that is. Zim had gotten his disgusting Skool lunch as usual, and when he turned to go to his normal lunch seat, there was Gaz, a bit too close for comfort.
The alien gave an involuntary yelp of surprise, jumping backwards and almost dropping his tray. "Where's Dib?" Gaz asked, getting straight to the point.
Zim took a moment to recompose himself, before saying, "I have no idea what you are talking about, Gaz-thing."
"Where's. Dib." Gaz said again, this time more assertively.
"Oh, I assure you I have had nothing to to with his de... disappearance." Zim blinked slowly at her.
Gaz raised an eyebrow. There was definitely something suspicious going on, but she wasn't about to make a scene over it. "Whatever." She turned around and walked to where her lunch was waiting for her. Honestly, it was nice not to have to listen to Dib's ongoing ramblings about the paranormal, or whatever it was he talked about.
When Gaz got home, she automatically deposited her things onto the coffee table, then plopped down onto the sofa with a book. True, she would rather game than read most of the time, but sometimes she just needed a break.
The purple-haired girl glanced in the direction of the kitchen. She could just barely see past the door frame, and saw part of the giant stack of dishes piled high in the sink. Gaz clenched her fists and dropped her book on the couch. It didn't matter whether or not Dib was missing. There was no way she was going to do his chores for him.
She stood up from the soda, then made her way to the door, stomping angrily. Dib should have known better than to go missing. When she found him, she would make him hurt.
Gaz walked out the door, then began to make her way to Zim's house. That green idiot's "base" would probably be the ideal place for finding Dib.
On her way to the alien's house, she began wondering what Zim might have done to Dib. Maybe he had turned him inside out. Or maybe Zim had him locked away in a test tube. Or maybe Zim had even killed Dib.
Gaz shook her head. Sure, Zim was stupid, but she thought he would have more common sense than that. Authorities would be looking for Dib. Her father would probably start a wide search for his son, and worst of all, Zim would have Gaz's rage to deal with.
Then again, her dad had never really cared much for Dib. Usually he really never spoke to Dib unless it was about something important. He paid more attention to Gaz than he did Dib. Authorities would probably never even be notified of his disappearance, and if they were, they probably wouldn't care much either.
It was kind of sad really, that the one who saved the Earth the most, and maybe was even one of the most vital keys to Earth's survival, was really never noticed or given much thought.
Gaz emerged from her thoughts when she saw the familiar green house, with the creepy lawn gnomes and various "I LOVE EARTH" signs stuck in the lawn. To her, Zim seemed to be trying a bit too hard to fit in.
She simply walked up the pathway. Even though they were just security bots, the lawn gnomes knew better than to mess with her. The girl was almost to the door, when she saw something sticking up by the side of Zim's house.
On normal days, she would have ignored it, or probably not even have noticed it, but today, she decided to check it out. Gaz cut across the grass to get a better look. There was something black sticking out from a lump in the ground. When she reached it, she crouched down to look at it. She brushed her hand across the black thing, half-expecting something to jump out at her.
Instead, it just bent forward, then snapped back into place. The texture of it was soft and smooth, and a little sticky, as if there were gel on it. The girl opened her eyes a bit, having a dreadful suspicion of what it might be.
She slowly began pushing dirt away from beneath the black thing. She kept scraping the dirt until a disgusting odor reached her nose. Gaz jerked away, covering her nose with her sleeve. She then quickly took her shirt collar and adjusted it to where it covered half her face, so she had her hands free and the odor would not reek as bad.
The girl bent over and began dusting the dirt away some more. About a minute later, her hand felt something squishy and soft. She took her hands and placed them on the sides of the small hole she had just dug, giving herself a rest from digging as she silently dreaded what it was.
"No," she told herself. "Zim's just being stupid."
She stared at the small indention in the Earth, then slowly took her hands and lowered them back down into the hole and started sweeping away more dirt. She uncovered more fleshy matter, just enough that she saw the side of a glasses frame.
Gaz retracted her hands quickly. She looked away, suddenly feeling like she was going to be sick. The girl stood up, then began to walk away.
Most believed that Gaz was strong, and she was, but the cruel hands of fate were just strong enough to squeeze a small drop of grief from her dry, pruned heart.
She was not about to cry. She had never cried in her eleven years of living, and she was not about to start now. But she did not feel well. Her mind kept thinking back to the squishy, fleshy, rotting flesh of her deceased brother's corpse. Every time it did, she would grasp around for another subject to think about.
When Gaz got home, she sat down on the sofa, trying to sort out her thoughts. Dib was d... gone. He was gone and he would not be coming back, unless their father decided to bring him back as a zombie or something, which was highly unlikely to happen. This meant that now Gaz would be doing all of the chores, and that if she ever needed to go somewhere late at night, her father would not allow it, due to no one being able to take her.
The violet-haired girl clenched her fists, angry at her brother, then unclenched them, not quite sure how to feel.
On the bright side, Dib wouldn't ever annoy her again. Then again, sometimes Gaz didn't mind the company of her sibling, since he was really the only one who ever approached her.
Gaz stood, then made the decision of going to her father's underground lab. She walked through the kitchen, and then out through the garage door. The garage had a secret underground passage way that led to her father's lab. She found the passage way, and then made her way to the laboratory.
When she came in, Professor Membrane was at the center counter, performing tests on what appeared to be ladybugs. Gaz couldn't be too sure what exactly what they were, though, seeing as sometimes the Professor experimented on things that weren't even known (or supposed) to exist.
"Dad."
Membrane turned, then looked down and saw his child. "Hello, daughter of mine!" He bent down and picked up Gaz by the scruff, then rested her on his shoulder. "What seems to be the trouble?"
"Dib's dead."
The Professor paused for a moment, then laughed. "You're my funny child!" He then took her and placed her back on the ground.
"No, he's really-"
"Run along, now. I've got SCIENCE to do!" the Professor said, emphasizing the word "science".
"Dad-"
"Ah-but-but! Go play with your brother!"
Gaz gritted her teeth, but didn't argue any further. She turned around and headed back to the living room.
Zim narrowed his eyes at the monitors. That was suspicious.
The Dib-sister had strolled down his walkway willy-nilly, looked at something (that his cameras were not able to get a clear view of), and then had just left. Zim puzzled over this for the next few minutes, until a sudden thought struck Zim:What if she had found the Dib's body?
The Irken immediately dismissed the though. If she had, she'd be a bag of hopelessness and despair, while sobbing like any normal pitiful human would... right? Zim began to panic. What if she had seen it, and she was at her house right now, plotting a horrible revenge?
Zim started to fret. If she had discovered the Dib-human's corpse, would she have not confronted him about it? The invader's mind was filled with panic-inducing thoughts.
"Computer! Take me to where you hid the Dib's body!" Zim commanded.
"It's by the side of the house."
"I said take me!"
"Do it yourself."
Zim growled, frustrated. He'd have to remember to ask his Tallest for a new AI system.
The green alien raced from his private quarters and through the halls. He rode the metal disk up to the ground level of his base, then rushed outside. Zim froze right outside his door, making eye contact with one of his neighbors who decided to be standing right outside of his fence.
It was the lady with the weird nub hands and tiny fingers. She happened to be holding a leash, which led behind the fence towards something that Zim didn't care about.
"Eh... This is my... Halloweenie costume," Zim said slowly, making air quotes around "Halloweenie".
The lady nodded as if she understood, still standing in the same spot.
Zim slowly backed up into his base and shut the door, unnerved by the odd stare of the neighbor lady. He crept to one of the windows and peeked out the blinds. The lady was out there, still staring at the same exact spot he had been in. Zim shuddered, growling slightly. How he hated this awful planet. The sooner he conquered this miserable planet, the better.
The invader retreated to the wooded drawer by the wall, in which he kept his disguise. He pulled out his wig and contacts, then put them on. He personally hated his disguise, mainly because of the fact that it was just plain uncomfortable. The wig scratched at his scalp and dampened his hearing. The contact lenses itched his eyes, and whenever he went to take them out, there would be a slimy residue from his own eyes, which he would always have to wash off the lenses.
Zim thought of how Tak's disguise must have been more comfortable. All it was was a hologram. Tak had it easy, or so Zim thought. He quietly also thought that it was a little better than his own disguise, but not by much.
The Irken shook his head, clearing the unrelated thoughts, then slowly made his way back to the window. This time, when he peered out, the lady was gone, along with whatever had been on her leash.
About time, Zim thought to himself.
He opened the door, then jumped out into the lawn, completely disregarding the open door. The alien walked to the side of the house, then immediately spotted the small hole. Right then, Zim began to panic.
He imagined the Gaz alerting the highest Earth authorities, then those same authorities coming and finding the Dib's body, and eventually discovering Zim's extraterrestrial origin. It would become even worse then. Then, the experiments would start, along with the tests and dissection, and then the result would be the death of himself, the greatest Irken to ever live, ZIM. The Tallest- no, the ARMADA- would be devastated by the loss of their greatest invader and soldier. The Armada would then surely rain down doom and destruction upon all of Earth in a fiery revenge, leaving the Earth in a smokey ruins, and the human race would be no more.
Zim reveled in this thought, cherishing the idea. He then decided he would rather be alive to see this destruction, though. He liked himself too much, so he would rather not die. Besides, he had a mission to fulfill.
Zim then returned his attention to the task at hand. Zim had no doubt that the Dib-sister had seen the Dib's corpse- she had even dug some of it up (much to Zim's dismay). He had no idea what the Gaz-pig's reaction would be, though he could make a fairly good guess.
The green alien decided to worry about the Dib-sister later. His main focus right now would be to relocate the body, this time to an area no one would find it. If he left it here, the stench would become stronger, and would attract unwanted attention.
He decided that it would be best if he took the Dib and dealt with him himself, because he obviously could not trust the computer to do this job.
Zim shuddered at the thought of his next task. He would be spending more time with the Dib's unpleasant, rotting corpse than he cared to.
A black figure darted through the near empty streets, shielded by the thick darkness that the night offered. The figure carried something slung over its shoulder, a something that was almost as large as the figure itself.
Steering clear of the prying eyes of people, the creature made its way to the outskirts of town. Only when there was nothing around to witness its next act but the trees, did the figure pull back its dark hood to reveal its face. Magenta eyes darted around, alert, while a deep frown was seemingly imprinted on the face.
The thing set down the giant bag, then took a shovel and drove it into the hardened Earth. The shovel made a dent, but not enough of a dent. The thing took the shovel and pulled away, then rammed it harder into the Earth than before, creating a quick "skff" sound, and then lifted away a mound of Earth.
The figure kept at this for quite a while, until it had a decent-sized hole in the ground. It then set the shovel down, and picked up the bag. It tossed the bag into the hole, the bag making a muffled thud when it hit the bottom, and sending up a cloud of dirt. The figure went and retrieved the shovel, and then began filling the hole again.
Once the hole was filled and packed, the figure scattered the remaining dirt across the terrain, then threw the shovel away from itself as far as it could. It then pulled up its hood, and slipped away into the night, having completed the perfect crime.
A/N: So I haven't put anything up in forever, sorry about that. I would just like to say that this story was inspired by Jaywings' story "Mirror", which I would highly suggest reading if you haven't already.