Summary

That was the last time I ever saw her.

It all happened three years ago, when I was twelve, back when I was trying to expose Zim at every waking moment. The stupid alien, it's his fault anyway. His fault that the one person who I could ever connect with is dead – all his fucking fault. If he had never come here, Cai, my friend, my only friend, would still be alive.

I wish he'd gone somewhere else, rather than coming to this planet - to my planet. Why can't he just leave? He's already made my already miserable life unbearable, he has every bit of information he needs to conquer this damn planet. That was the only reason he came here, after all – to gather information. I never thought he'd stay inconspicuous all these years, let alone succeed in his mission.

He took all meaning from my life, made it a complete nightmare; it takes all my courage just to get up and talk to someone, they'd probably think I'm crazy before I even opened my mouth.

Sure, they all know me; know me as the crazy kid who thinks aliens are real, the kid who plants cameras in the forest trying to capture footage of Bigfoot. And they're right, or, they used to be. I'm still interested in paranormal science, but not any of that crazy stuff I used to believe in. No, I only study what I know – and have known for the past four years – to be real. I don't care if they believe me now, or anytime soon. They will see; they will see that I'm not insane, that aliens do exist. And Zim will be the first one I unmask.

Prologue

I had never run faster in my life than I was now. Trailing shortly behind me was my enemy, though it was not him I was running from. No, he was the least of my worries. It was the destruction to which I was running from, an invisible force that demolished everything in its path, and it was heading straight for me.

Inside, I was torn, part of me – the rational part – told me to run, to get the hell out of there before it caught up with me. The other told me to turn around, and try to save the person just mere meters from it. I didn't know what part of me wanted me to do that, it was irrational, against my better judgment, against all morals. I just had to. It was one of those things you can't explain, like if a sibling was in immediate danger. In truth, one was. I didn't really think of Gaz as my sister, not in that sense. It was the person behind us that I felt scared for, rather than myself. The one I had considered as my sister ever since I met her, she was the only person who really understood me. I looked back at her, slowing my pace, trying to find her sleek figure among the wreckage that was getting closer with every step. My fear was reflected in her face, etched onto her features, marring her once cheery expression.

"Run!!!" she screamed "Get out of here! Go anywhere, just run!!!"

She had no concern whatsoever for her own safety. It was this that made me want to stop and turn back – her devotion to Zim's and my safety, rather than her own life.

She was a born leader, if she said something – particularly something like this – it needed to be recognized. She'd said things like this before, but only to be heeded as a warning. This time it was different; this time it was an order. It was this that caused the conflict in my mind, rationality or morality, both for her benefit.

I almost completely stopped, causing Zim to run into me. We came crashing down, something that wouldn't be much different from a normal chase – If we weren't in mortal danger that is.

"What are you doing!?!" The alien hissed, scrambling to get up "That thing's gonna kill us if we don't get out of here! – or, on second thought," Zim had finally gotten to his feet and started sprinting away. He turned his head to look at me as he ran "Stay down, Dib! I don't care if it kills you!!"

I got one last look at the Irken before he turned to look ahead, barely missing the low wall he was about to run into. He leaped over it, being careful not to catch his feet on it. I turned my attention away, feeling slightly disappointed; it would have been quite amusing if the wall had in fact tripped him.

"Get up!"

Cai was next to me, pulling me up. Once I was on my feet again, we broke into a run, trying desperately to avoid obstacles I had not noticed before. Cai gained speed when we reached the wall, clearing it easily. 'Damn' I thought 'why did I skip out on gym class when we were doing track?'

I had to slow down, and use my hand for balance as I clambered over the wall. I soon caught up with Cai, who was directly behind Zim. It took all my strength to get ahead of them

"Ha!" I yelled back at them "Who's superior now, Zim?"

"Silence!" the Irken shouted "How dare you question my superiority!?!" I could only laugh, he'd been saying it for years, but he never seemed to say why exactly he was so superior. "If you weren't already running, I'd sure as hell give you a reason to!!!"

"Zim! Look out! Ahh!"

I whipped around at the sound of Cai's scream, it was too quiet, I hadn't realized how far ahead I'd gotten. I expected to hear something else, but there was nothing, not a sound.

My whole world came crashing down.

It seemed that the destructive force – whatever it was – was retreating, or rather, reversing. It recoiled, leaving everything it had touched back as it normally was. But as I saw this I noticed something, one minor detail. Zim was sprawled on the ground, coughing, trying to catch his breath. But there was no one to accompany him, he was completely alone.

"Cai…?" I said, the words barely escaping my lips. I tried again "Cai! Where are you!?!" I looked around, searching, not caring about anything else. "Cai!!" but the words were pointless. I didn't get an answer, I never would.

"Oww… My head" wait, something wasn't right… did I always sound this… weird? No, something was definitely wrong. I didn't feel any different, really, nothing immediately noticeable, at least. Well, nothing apart from the fact that I was still alive.

"How… how did I survive?" was all I managed to say. As an invader, we were trained to expect anything, to be ready for anything. But no amount of training could have prepared me for this, not for what was happening.

"You…" the words were spoken softly, but I could hear the anger in them. "…What. Did. You. Do."

I looked up to find Dib standing over me

"Dib… I–"

"Don't" he jerked away as I reached up "Don't come near me"

My fingers curled in as my hand slowly lowered. I didn't understand; just a few moments ago he put himself in danger for me, not caring what happened. I tried to get up, but, realizing how weak I was, sunk back down onto my knees. I tried again, slower this time, staggering until I regained my balance.

"Dib… Wait"

"Leave me alone!" I was taken aback by the sudden outburst "I don't want your sympathy, Zim – I don't need it! Just leave me alone!"

It took a few seconds for the words to register in my mind. Zim…that's my name… I suddenly wasn't sure of anything, how could I be if I didn't even know who I was? I looked up at the place where Dib had been – now vacant. Realizing there was nothing keeping me here, I trudged off in the direction of my base, not really paying attention to anything as I passed.

The walk back to the base seemed endless, but I finally reached my destination. I went inside, only to find GIR sprawled on the ground. Strange round disc-like things were spread around him, one was in his mouth. When he spotted me he shot up and came over, holding out his arm.

"I made cookies!!! Duu you want wun?"

"…Huh…?"

GIR cocked his head to the side, confused

"Is master not hungry?"

What did he just call me?

"…Master?"

GIR shrieked and ran over, squeezing my leg – it was all he could reach

"Yews is my master! And I made you cookies!"

That's right, I was his master.

"…That's good, GIR… now go, umm…" what could I make him do that wouldn't bother me? …Who was I kidding, I was too tired to really think about anything "just go do something, okay?"

"Okai! Hmm, I'll go– no, wait! I'll…"

I had stopped listening to the little robot. He wouldn't care, probably didn't even notice as I slipped off into the elevator. I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'sleeping quarters' and slumped against the wall, closing my eyes. Nothing seemed to make sense.

I opened my eyes several minutes after the elevator had stopped, getting out and walking over to the bed. After many failed attempts, I finally slipped into unconsciousness, welcoming the calming darkness that took over.

I don't know how long it had been, but I awoke to find something standing over me. I was used to things being taller than me, so this came as no surprise; it was the sound it made that startled me

"Guess who made waffles?"

The little robot said – perhaps screamed would be a better description. I looked up at GIR, who had a silly, wide grin on his face. I reached behind my head and flung the pillow at him, sending him flying across the room. I nearly smiled.