Chemical Warfare : Altered Genes
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I think I will continue it, so here is the next chapter. I hope that you like it, and please, PLEASE review. Tell me the truth or flame me, it doesn't matter! Read and Review!
I
Large red eyes narrowed. Usually, Zim's findings were stupid and pointless. However, the two strands of DNA and microbes on the screen struck the Tallest as... odd.
In the dark, the screen made their skin glow eerily.
"Purple... this looks like..."
"The virus." Purple hissed with displeasure. "He found the cure..."
"How in Irk did he do that?" In the report, Zim babbled on about the human who 'got in his way' on many occasions. Dib? Something like that. Dib had the virus and Zim took a sample of his blood and found the cure. But... the DNA strands... "Why did Zim alter his DNA?"
"Who knows. That human, he's got the antibodies." A zipper grin spread across his face. "Red, we could use this. Irk could be even more powerful."
"More powerful? How could it be—?" His tongue flickered out in understanding. "Ah... Purple... you beast." Red clicked his claws together. "Who will we send to retrieve our biological weapon?"
Dark laughter bubbled in the Tallest's throat."
"I know just the Irken..."
II
"Get back here, you stupid alien!" Dib sprinted down the street dressed in his boxers and trench-coat. He kept his pace, just falling short of the Irken. "Dammit, Zim!"
Something inside of him snapped. Dib leaped, casting a shadow on the shorter male. Zim turned, his eyes wide. Time crashed back down on them in a collision of two bodies. A cloud of debris engulfed them. Dib coughed. Zim groaned. When the dust cleared, the first thing Dib noticed was that his glasses were cracked.
"Holy Irk..."
Zim sat up. He was in the bottom of a very small crater. Dib blinked in awe.
"Did... I didn't do that. Did I? That was you!"
The two enemies fell silent. Zim shoved Dib off of him.
"Filthy mud-baby."
Covered in dirt, Dib stood up, dusting himself off. Zim was walking back towards his base.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
The alien didn't even turn around.
"I didn't infect the water supply."
Dib frowned as he watched his nemesis walk away from a fight. He sneezed as a woman screamed at him, calling him a pervert. Looking down, Dib realized that his trench-coat, his favorite coat, was ripped to shreds. In other words, Dib Membrane was in the middle of town in his boxers.
III
"You called me, my Tallest?"
Tak bowed low, her antennae pressed flat against her head. Red and Purple clicked their claws together.
"Yes, our dearest Tak. We would like to ask you to... retrieve something for us."
Wide eyes sparkled with delight.
"Of course, my Tallest. Anything you ask."
Red placed his hands on the Irken's shoulders.
"Do you remember Zim?" The growl that rumbled from Tak's throat was a satisfactory answer. "Good. He has something that belongs to us. A human."
Her muscles tensed.
"Dib."
"Very good, Tak. We want his Dib-human. Alive. Can you do that?"
Fire burned in Tak's soul.
"With pleasure, my Tallest."
IV
Snap!
"Dammit."
Snap!
"Come on."
Snap!
Three broken pencils laid on Dib's desk. He trembled with frustration. His anger masked his terror. Zim kept avoiding his gaze. Questions buzzed in his mind, and he wanted... no needed answers. Dib sighed.
Zim, on the other hand, was wringing his claws. Irk knows that he wasn't the greatest scientist... but he had done a simple procedure. It cured the human! But Zim knew that what happened yesterday was not a mere coincidence. Dib had pulverized pavement.
Ever since Zim came to Earth, he had to treat everything delicately. The Irken race was so superior to the weak humans that even his fights with Dib-stink were held back. Zim soon discovered that Dib made up for his weakness with his shrewd ability to find and exploit Zim's weaknesses.
But yesterday... yesterday Dib displayed physical prowess that... startled Zim.
All signs pointed to—
"Space-boy." Zim felt loathing's familiar burn set in as Dib sneered, leaning on his desk. "The bell rang. School's over."
"Yes, I see that, monkey."
They waited, staring at each other in silence. Zim stood, though he made no move for the door. It was just him and Dib in a completely empty classroom. Dib was... was he shaking?
"Is this... some weird experiment? Are you doing this for laughs?"
Zim blinked. Dib was... well... he was scared. In all of their spouts, he had never seen the boy so... shaken.
"Zim doesn't know what you're talking about."
"Oh no?" Dib nodded absent-mindedly with false humor. "Good. Then I guess I have nothing to worry about!" In a flash of rage, Dib flipped over Zim's desk, bending one of metal legs like it was silly putty. "What is this? Why did you do this?"
"I didn't do anything!" Zim punched Dib in the stomach, sending the boy sailing into the blackboard. The board shattered, but Dib rose. There was a long gash down his arm, but he didn't even acknowledge it. "Dib-stink, you're crazy—"
Pale hands shot out, skinny fingers digging into the Irken's neck. The really frightening thing wasn't the fact that Zim couldn't breathe... no. Terror laid in Dib's eyes. He released Zim as soon as he heard that first, pitiful gasp. Tears welled in Dib's hazel eyes as he backed away.
He left, leaving Zim wheezing on the floor.
V
Dib stood outside of his door. He had been staring at the golden knob for five minutes. Biting his tongue, Dib let his hand whisper against the device, barely caressing it. A terrible moan came from the metal. Dib snatched his hand back. Wiping sweat from his brow, the teenager tried agin. He let his skin just barely, BARELY touch the metal.
No noise.
With a grace he didn't know he had, Dib turned the knob as gently as he could. When it didn't implode, Dib sighed with relief and closed the door behind him, tearing it off of its hinges.
"God dammit!"
He cringed when he heard a low growl. Gaz appeared, her fists clenching and unclenching.
"Explain. Now."
Just as Dib was inhaling, another girl popped her head in the hallway.
"C'mon, Gaz. I thought we were going to play Street Fighter: DOOM edition!" The girl fell silent when she saw Dib. "Oh... hi."
"Hi."
She slowly approached, smiling. Gaz rolled her eyes, muttering darkly.
"This is Caroline. Caroline, this is my... brother Dib."
"It's nice to meet you, Dib." She briefly nodded, and Dib returned the gesture. "Can we play now?"
Gaz stared at the broken door and Dib, but the insisting whine from her friend made her shoulders relax.
"Yes, Caroline."
The two girls returned to the living room, explosions and screams emanating from the television. Dib exhaled slowly. He went to his room and unpacked his backpack. He opened his textbook, but ended up ripping it in half.
Chills wiggled down the paranormal investigator's spine. Dib slunk down the stairs.
"I'm going out, Gaz!"
"Bring back pizza!"
VI
"Bring up the coordinates, Mimi."
"Yes, master."
Tak stared into the darkness that was space. Soon she would have the point of destination and she would be able to open a wormhole bringing her to Earth in a matter of seconds. As the SIR unit began tracking Dib's place of residence, Tak licked her lips with anticipation. She was given a second chance. Now she could prove herself to be an Irken elite!
She took a deep breath, calming herself. Focus... get Dib. Get out. She frowned. Zim... he could be a problem. He had worked with the human to discover her plan... and to bring her down. But... in school they were sworn enemies.
It was making her antennae ache. Oh well, no matter. Nothing would get in her way. As Mimi typed the coordinates into the ship and they opened up the wormhole, Tak giggled madly. Dib was as good as hers.
VII
Zim narrowed his red eyes as his computer screen. He heard his computer sigh.
"Did it ever occur to you that altering the human's genetics was a bad idea?"
"What? Dib-stink's genes were flawed! Broken! Zim was generous enough to fix them."
"You really don't know what consequences are, do you?"
"Con-see-what?"
Before his computer could let out another depressed sigh, Gir transmitted a message to him, his face appearing on the screen.
"Houston, we have a problem! The gnomes are in a massacre!"
Zim almost slammed his head through the screen.
"Gir... I dare you to make less sense!"
A monstrous explosion rocked his base. Gir squealed with excitement.
"The British are coming! The British are coming!"
In a flash of white, the transmission cut out. Zim immediately abandoned his computer and leapt into the lift, shooting back up to ground level. The doors opened, and to Zim's horror, his front door was open. His door was open, and Girl was purring. His door was open, and Dib was standing in it, his hair smoking. The human's glasses glinted as he dropped the head of a lawn gnome, the wires sparking.
The head rolled to Zim's feet. He blinked as Gir leapt into the human's arms, demanding affection. Dib smiled at the SIR unit, stroking his head and earning a contented purr.
Zim picked up the lawn gnome's remains. Great Irk, the boy had ripped apart his defensive robots with his bare fleshy hands.
"Um..." Gir nuzzled Dib's face, cutting off the boy's speech. Adjusting his glasses, Dib held onto Gir and stared at Zim. "We need to talk."
VIII
A/N: Annnnnd Cut! Woo! Well, I hope you like the interesting turn of events. Please tell me if you liked this chapter and if everyone was in character. Hell, if you hated the chapter, you can tell me! I don't mind! Read and Review please!
-mia
