Stupid Star Charts: Chapter 1
Dearest Tallest,
I am sorry to say that communications have been abruptly disconnected. I've decided to investigate this matter immediately. Please take note that as soon as Zim finds the cause, it WILL be eradicated. Especially if it happens to be that annoying pest, Dib. I shall update my status with you as soon as possible, my Tallest.
Your best soldier,
Zim
After signing his name, Zim proceeded to fold his letter and place it in a long, plastic, cylinder-shaped tube. He sealed the top with a purple lid that screwed on tight. As soon as the lid was secure, little green lights glowed all around the top. The message wouldn't slip out now. Zim wasn't too happy, and couldn't bring himself to smile despite his handiwork. His Irken leaders would surely want to know about the reasoning for his loss of electronic communication with them. On the other hand, it was annoying, being forced to resort to such primitive means as sending a letter written on paper. It was so unbecoming, yet necessary for the Irken invader. He only hoped that no one noticed how limited he was as of now.
Dib, an annoying Earth-monkey that maintained the title of "the Bane of Zim's Existence," just might. Dib had noticed from day one that there was something odd about Zim. When he'd first set foot in the humans' "Skool" Dib had glowered menacingly and pointed out his differences. His lack of hears and his green skin were dead give aways. The fact that he had disguised himself with a pair of contacts to cover his crazy red bug eyes and a dark wig to cover his two antennae had been the only thing to save him from exposure. Fortunately, all of the other students weren't as intelligent, and Zim was able to avoid suspicions. However, Dib was persistent.
Zim grumbled, sitting on his magenta-colored couch that was exaggeratedly huge. He crossed his arms, grouchy and in the dark. He wasn't used to this.
Only a few hours ago the little green fellow had been in the middle of a video conference with the Tallest, the Irken leaders, when all went dark. The power didn't just blink, it went out. Unlike Irk, his home planet that was like a sprawling metropolis that almost never lost power, Earth had more issues with maintaining power. Zim's bug-like eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and he had cried out to a blank screen.
"My Tallest? Where have you gone?! Why is it dark?! GIR!"
GIR, Zim's dim-witted robot servant appeared, his eyes glowing a menacing red in the dark. He saluted and stood up straight like a soldier.
"Yes, my master?" he said with an echo in his voice.
Suddenly, after that very statement, GIR's eyes faded back to his normal light blue. Zim's vision wasn't completely horrid in the dark; however, what he saw was dim. He could just barely see the big grin on GIR's face. Zim glared.
"GIR! What happened to the power?!" Zim demanded.
GIR gave him a blank look, searched the dark, and returned his gaze to Zim with a shrug. He made an "I dunno" noise and stared vacantly at Zim. Zim growled.
"I've lost all communication with the Tallest, GIR! We must find the source of the problem immediately. The Tallest cannot be left in the dark!" Zim yelled dramatically. "We will start by checking our main source of power. From there, we will check their main source of power!"
"Okie Dokie!" GIR cheered.
Zim pulled a handy-dandy little device from a lab table. It looked a lot like a pH meter, with a rectangular shaped body and a meter detecting the level of power that would be coming through the two wires and sensors on the top. He walked to the doors of the elevator, only to realize that without power, there was no way to get upstairs and out of the house. Zim cursed to himself. How was he, the almighty Zim, supposed to get out now? Finally, it dawned on him; he could use GIR's rockets to bust through the ceiling and to the top floor. He regretted doing it, because the loud noise could alert the neighboring humans. Zim shook his head. Sacrifices had to be made every now and then, and this was one of those times where a sacrifice was the only option. With this in mind, he called GIR to his side.
"GIR. Prepare your rockets and get ready to burst through the ceiling of the lab! I hate to do this, but it may be our only hope to get to find the source of our inadequate electricity." Zim said.
GIR grinned wide. "Okay!" he hollered.
From GIR's feet came fire that caused him to begin to levitate. He grabbed his master under the arms with his claw-like hands and blasted off. Zim screamed at the sudden inertia, his stomach dropped and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. CRASH! BANG! They broke through layers of the house before finally breaking through the floor of the base level. They ended up in the kitchen, where GIR accidentally released Zim and sent him skidding across the purple and green tile, through a doorway, across the living room, and finally into a wall. Zim hit the wall head-first and was flipped upside down. Standing on his head, he was still able to offer an angry glare.
GIR quickly ventured to the invader's side.
"Are we gonna get tacooooos?" GIR asked childishly.
Zim huffed and pushed himself to his feet.
"No, GIR, no tacos. We have a mission. Get into your dog suit; we have much investigating to do."
"Aww…" GIR's antenna drooped as he turned to go obey.
Within a few minutes, both were ready in their disguises. GIR wore his green dog outfit with a little black nose, black ears, and a felt tongue that constantly stuck out. A large zipper hung from his chest, but no one ever seemed to notice. Zim was wearing his normal human-imitating disguise complete with blue contact lenses. His green skin, zipper-like teeth, lack of ears, and missing nose and fingers weren't covered, it was believable enough; he told everyone that it was a skin condition, which they thankfully accepted. Those fools.
"Time for departure, GIR." Zim warned as they headed out the front door.
As soon as Zim opened his door, he noticed movement in the street, like a shadow ducking behind the fence that stood around the perimeter of his yard. Zim's brow furrowed. (Although he has no eyebrows…) He squinted.
"GIR," he whispered, "go check behind the fence."
GIR stared for a moment before strolling behind the fence, his every step producing a squeak. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak… Zim cringed every time. Hopefully whatever was behind the fence wouldn't be so sensitive to noise.
"AHH!" came a familiar voice from behind the fence. Out from the fence posts came Dib, a great big lollipop jutting out from his left hand. In his right hand was a pair of high-powered binoculars. He wore his traditional heavy trenchcoat and a blue shirt with an unhappy face on it. His large glasses framed his big brown eyes and his dark hair was slicked back into a greasy fashion. Dib's hair was always an oddity to Zim; for some reason one long shock of hair tended to point up and over his head, and it was longer than all his other hair. After seeing Dib's father, Zim realized that it had been inherited. However, every now and again, Zim wondered if the strange lock of hair was actually an antennae sticking up.
"HI!" GIR greeted.
"Dib! What are you doing here?!" Zim demanded hastily.
Are you the cause of Zim's electricity being stolen?! Zim wondered.
"The power's out," Dib replied, matching Zim's angered expression, "I thought you might've been doing something weird that could have caused it."
Zim rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Foolish human. Unlike you, Zim knows how to use his lab, and knows how to keep everything under control."
Dib cocked an eyebrow incredulously. "Oh really?"
"Yes, really." Zim growled back.
"Ha! Yeah right."
"Tell me, Dib, what have you done to rid me of my communications with my Tallest?" Zim snarled.
Dib closed his eyes and took a lick of his lollipop. "I didn't do anything. The power outage is just something that happens sometimes. What's the matter, Zim? Can't operate without power?"
Dib smirked.
"No… I…" Zim looked at the ground and then, frustrated, took a step toward Dib. "Tell Zim what he can do to fix this 'power outage.'"
"Nothing." Dib replied. "You just have to wait it out like the rest of us. Find something else to do."
"Hm?!" Zim hummed.
"You know: do something that doesn't require power." Dib licked his sucker again.
Zim rubbed his chin. What could he possibly do now to communicate with his Tallest without using electricity? It was then that he remembered a way. Abruptly, Zim rushed into his house, slamming the door, leaving Dib and GIR to stare at each other.
Zim smiled to himself, exposing his sharp, zipper-like teeth. He was such a sly little Irken soldier. He had used his excellent skills to fuel the little tube he'd filled with his letter with rocket fuel to make it fly up and send. He only hoped that it didn't burn up in the atmosphere of Earth. So many complications with this dumb planet.
Now, Zim was left to sit on his couch, unhappy in the dark. When GIR came in, he picked up the television remote and hit the big red power button. Nothing happened. GIR began to freak out instantly.
"B-but I wanted to watch the angry monkey show!" he cried as little robot tears welled up in his eyes.
Annoyed, Zim grumbled at him. "Can't you do something else?"
GIR thought. "I'm gonna make waffles!" he grinned.
Zim frowned. "No, GIR, no waffles, either."
GIR looked at the floor. "Master, what are we supposed to do?" he whined.
"Play with your piggy or something, GIR. We just have to wait out the darkness."
The little robot pulled a little squeaky piggy from a compartment in the top of his head and began to giggle and play with it. Zim sighed and rubbed his temples, slouching in his seat. This was going to be a long evening.
Hello, everyone! This is my first Invader Zim fanfiction. I've only been watching it for a few weeks, so a few characters may be acting a little weird... Sorry about that, if they are! ^^' I hope you enjoy! Please remember to review and tell me if I've made any mistakes. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! :)