The first week of detentions went along similarly. Continuing to write sentences, do homework or in a single instance having to help the custodian clean the school. They'd only been made to do that once before the two started bickering and escalated into a fight. They'd done nothing but make a bigger mess for the custodian whom refused to baby sit the two 'demon' children for their detention any longer.
Zim however hindered by these 'detentions', had been working slowly but surely on his next attempt at taking over the planet. Dib knew this and was plotting to spy on the alien tonight. The human was learning more and more about the Irken species and discovered that every few nights they would 'sleep' for some odd amount of hours. Having found this out after Dib had snuck into the base to find Zim just waking up from said nap, though the alien insisted he wasn't sleeping and that his superior specie did not require such time wasting activities. By his calculations Zim would be sleeping tonight, probably right before he launched his next plans.
The lunch bell rang and the kids poured out of the classroom to stuff themselves with unsanitary goop from the cafeteria. Zim stood as most of the pig-beasts departed their class and began his way out to the horrid cafeteria. Dib followed and after Zim had sat down at an empty table, closed in on the weirdo.
"I know you're up to something."
Zim had to keep his antennae from springing up in surprise. No.. shock. An invader was never surprised, only shocked. "HNNN! What sort of up are you talking about Dib-worm?" Zim grinned at him. "I am a completely normal worm-baby and just want to eat my delicious human-FIIILTH!" He screeched the last word and then looked around. A few kids from their class looked at the two, making zim feel uncomfortable.
"C'mon you weirdo just let the green freak eat his lunch." A boy said, Torque probably.
"Yeah. Why you gotta be so weird dib?" Another student stood up for Zim and it made the alien sneer at Dib.
"Yes Dib. Why must you be weird? Everyone knows that I am just a normal hyuman." Zims eyes narrowed triumphantly as Dib spluttered and stuttered.
"B-But he! I know its crazy but-!" Dib was cut off as the custodian made his way through the cafeteria, slinking along the walls to keep distance from himself and these insane creepy children. The custodian spotted Dib being crazy and glared at him. "Go eat your lunch!"
Dib sighed and slunk back to his spot across from his sister Gaz, whilst Zim analyzed his food in peace. "I know he's got some evil plan Gaz. Maybe something bigger than normal too!" His eyes glanced around shiftily while Gaz merely groaned and tried to block out her siblings weird paranoia rant.
Mr. Wesle Groaned, suddenly waking up from his napping, the two boys were silently sitting a their desks and doing their homework obediently. He eyed the two suspiciously. Notorious for loud outbursts, violent tendancies towards one another, hateful glares at the very least. His bloodshot eyes widened. Could it be? They were getting along? He didn't want to get his hopes up and grunted, gaining their attention.
"Urhnn Since you two seem to be behaving…" He cleared his throat and licked his lips, "I will let you go early.. no staying on school grounds. Just leave." He added in, as he had been receiving complaints from the custodian about their after detention fights on the playgrounds.
Dib grinned and collected his things, not daring to say anything to Zim for fear of their early release being reconsidered and rescinded. Zim smiled evilly at dib and did the same, the two not saying a word as they left the room. Dib stopped momentarily at his locker to switch out his books, his homework now done he didn't need to schlepp it home and back. Slamming his locker shut in a hurried motion he looked down the hall. Zim was nowhere to be seen. Cursing quietly Dib hurried down the halls to the outside and headed home, the heat had lessened though it was still very warm, it was foretold to rain this coming week though so maybe he would have more opportunities to spy on zim soon.
Gloved claws tapped hurriedly at an irken keyboard, symbols flashing with a loading bar in the corner. Soon it would be set in motion, however for now he still had to wait.
"GIR!" Zim yelled in his regular method of speaking. Said robot fell from the ceiling where he had been having a teaparty with some rats and a pink rubber piggy in the rafters of cords and wires. He was still holding a plastic tea cup which was full of what appeared to be a mixture of dirt and maple syrup, half of which splashed out and onto the floor.
"Aaaaww.. my tea.." Was all Gir said, not really acknowledging his master and not really doing much to distract himself from whatever his master might be wishing.
"Prepare the- What is that" Zim stared at the now glop of stuff on his floor., it jiggled a little as Gir poked it and then picked it up to put it back in his cup to drink.
"TEA!" The insane little robot shouted and started slurping obnoxiously.
Zim shuddered a little, disliking the gross noises his robot was making. "Anyways… Gir I require you to prepare our defenses. I know Dib will be snooping and I can't have this project ruined before it can even begin!" Claws rubbed together excitedly and his antennae wiggled, an evil chuckle leaving his zipper tooth mouth. "And then this world will be MINE!"
Zim strode over to his experiment and Gir followed him, still not processing what was happening or what he had been told to do. Tapping the glass of a large green holding tank Zim grinned. "These humans and their water… ooooh how it burns me. But soon they will feel exactly the same as Zim does." There were four of these large tubes and after checking the dials on each one Zim nodded triumphantly. "NOOOOW! It is food time." Smiling happily to himself he marched over to his elevator. "Computer! Take me to the kitchen! I wish to feed!"
The computer said nothing and merely rocketed Zim up to the kitchen. Obviously the computer was having some malfunctions or it was mad at Zim. The elevator shot up far too quickly and upon reaching the kitchen level Zim was sent sailing out of the trashcan and into the ceiling. He fell back down to the kitchen floor with an 'oof.'
"Ugh for the love of Irk I really need to fix my equipment." Zim rubbed his head and pulled something out of the fridge. There were two shelves, one for Zims food and another for Gir's. Zims of course was the upper level. It was some sort of purple mash and after being heated Zim sat down at his table with this weeks newspaper and began eating.
Gir followed soon after and at the sight of his master eating declared he would make something to eat as well. A loud clattering and banging signaled the beginning and after some wild noises Gir came from the kitchen to sit with his master. Zim rolled his red eyes at the sight of Gir's favorite food: Waffles. It was always morning meal time with this machine.
"Want some?" Gir asked. Knowing he couldn't say no Zim sighed and took two with his fork. Whatever, that mush wasn't very good anyways. Quickly eating the waffles much to Girs delight Zim growled as it darkened outside, his PAKs main light blinking.
"GIR! Do not forget! Protect the house! I will be busy tonight and cannot be disturbed by any INTRUDERS!" Zim put emphasis on the intruder part. It seemed to trigger some sort of SIR capabilities in him. He grinned as Girs eyes and blue accents lit up a vibrant red and his little hand saluted his master.
"Yes My Lord!" Gir stood at attention and scanned around the house. It was safe. Immediately after he resumed a cool blue and squee'd "Its almost time for the scary monkey show!" With that the little robot took off and plopped himself onto the couch channel surfing till he hit the right channel.
Zim paid no mind and after a good stretch hopped back into the trashcan. "Computer! Take me to my space!" The computer did so once again without retort and zipped him just as quickly down to a quiet little room. Zim was able to catch himself this time and sighed, antennae assuming a relaxed pose. The room itself was dark in color, deep magenta and black draped the walls. In the middle there was a sort of curved bed, made just so for an Irkens PAK to be accommodated. Several wires and such were to one side and Zim couldn't help but crawl into the small comfortable area. The PAK attracted said wires, each hooking up to a specific slot and the incessant flashing of the PAKs main light ceased to a faint glow. Near immediately Zims body shut down, strewn lazily across the 'bed.'
Dib Had wasted no time in preparing the infiltration. The moment he'd got home his father was unsurprisingly not there. Gaz was sat on the couch playing her game slave and ignoring the world. Dib couldn't blame her really, he ignored everything by obsessing over the paranormal and his main obsession of ousting Zim as an alien kept him just as occupied as Gaz was with her games. They were very similar in that respect.
Donning his invisibility ninja suit and stuffing a camera in his pocket was only the beginning. Extra traction shoes that were labeled by a paranormal magazine as being untraceable came next, followed by some throwing stars and his favorite weapon: a lazer gub he'd stolen from Zim in one of their scuffles. No number on how many shots it had left so as a back up he slid a short sword he'd bought online to his back as well as a regular pair of taser hand cuffs, since those paranormal cuffs didn't work. Dib glanced outside, dusk was falling and it would be a great deal cooler with all this black clothing on now. Making sure to bring his old flip phone just in case he needed to call Gaz he took off without a word to his sister.
His shoes were remarkably silent as he crossed streets and blocks to get to zims house. Edging up along the fence that lined zims property he peeked through a hole in the wood. The lights were off but the light of the tv stood out, giving the windows a faint colorful glow that altered in brightness as the characters moved across the screen and the scenes changed. He tested the security system, picking up a rock and tossing it down the walk way. A gnome turned slowly and zapped it, the rock now nothing more than a black smudge.
The door to the front opened all of a sudden and Gir dressed up as a normal-earth-dog darted outside. "Nachoooos! I need you!" The robot cared not for shutting the door and after a moment was gone out and around the corner.
There was a small convenience store that sold nachos so it wouldn't be long before Gir came back. Dib hurriedly activated his invisibility suit, it had been damaged last time he was here to sneak in, Gir had sensed him and after freaking out had thrown a soda on him. Dib could only hope that his repairs had been enough to keep him hidden for a while. Sneaking inside was of no big deal, the doors and windows were open and with his invisibility he was nearly undetectable.
Immediately Dib set to searching the area. Waffles sat uneaten on the table, an empty plate with purple residue caught his attention and Dib quickly pulled out a q-tip to take a sample. Popping the newly acquired sample into a tube he tucked it into his suit. Now glancing around Dib couldn't help but need to figure out what the aliens new plan was and where Zim might be hiding. He had made the trip once before, into the aliens labs and after fiddling with the kitchen toilet flushed himself down. The toilet tube converted into a shining cylindrical tube and Dib was taken down. Shockingly Dib hadn't been discovered yet. Probably because he was just so good at spying, yeah that was definitely it.
As the elevator door opened Dib stepped out and slunk along the walls. It took only a few seconds to find the new 'plan' as it was nearly the center of attention. Several large tubes of what appeared to be water were just sitting there. Nothing was floating inside them, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just some blue water. Dib stared, confuddled. Maybe Zim was just trying to perfect his waterproofing? With summer coming maybe he would be inclined to swim and this was how he was going to battle it. Never one to leave something with a simple conclusion Dib stared at the machine, everything was in irken so there was little use pushing buttons. Glancing around he wondered how he might get a sample of the fluids inside one of the containers. Looking around he spotted what appeared to be a high-tech microscope and under it lied several petree dishes. Shrugging he took several of them and upon inspection of the work bench found exactly what he had been searching for. A vial of liquid.
Dib hurriedly tucked these things into his invisible pockets and immediately made to leave. He was already pushing his luck. So it was made apparent as he was unable to figure out an exit. Usually by now he had been discovered and was thrown out of the base by the computer. Nearly groaning in aggravation at his current trapped-ness Dib began wandering the base, searching for another possible escape route. So far so good, no alarms but also no viable leave routes. Cursing under his breath Dib spotted a door. An elevator perhaps? Walking up to it he gently prodded the door and the machinery moved it out of place. Stepping through dib found it to be very dark. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he spotted Zim.
The alien was fast asleep. Or whatever state he was in, it definitely looked like Zim had passed out, his libs strewn about and nothing but a blanket covering his body. Wires and cords were hooked up to Zims… backpack thing, but otherwise the slow rise and fall of his green chest were the only signs of life. Dib couldn't help himself, now overwhelmed by pure curiosity. He'd never be able to get this close to Zim again. Stepping closer Dib leaned over Zim, studying the foreign body. Two fingers and a thumb, lanky arms and legs, though Dib knew they held more strength than they looked. Thin torso and as Dibs eyes skipped over to Zims feet he grinned, seeing that the irken had only two toes to a foot and were very similar to his fingers in terms of nail growth.
Amber eyes snapped back up to Zims face, examining closer. Whilst Zim did not have a nose there were two thin slits that seemed to resemble breathing orifices but they blended in extremely well. Zims antennae twitched, their velvety appearance making Dib want to lean in closer, touch them. They looked extremely soft, Much like a deer's antlers before the fuzz was scraped off in spring, but it was so short and fine.
Suddenly the cords and wires attached to Zims pack retreated and Dibs investigation was halted. Heart hammering he quickly tried to leave, touching what he thought was the door he was shocked to see the elevator. Throwing himself inside he waited for the thing to move. Only it didn't. He could hear Zim stirring and eventually standing. Shuffling about was made and then the elevator was opened once more. Not daring to breathe Dib flattened himself against the elevator wall. He had evidence of the plan, he had to get home and figure out what it was before it was begun. Zim yawned and stretched his arms and antennae, grumbling tiredly to himself about waffles. As the elevator reached the kitchen the two were launched out into the living room. Apparently the computer wasn't happy about something still.
"Aaah!" Dib yelped as he hit the floor, his invisibility suit glitching.
Zim immediately perked to attention having spotted the glimpse of Dib in his house, "AHH?! GIR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Zim immediately accused the little bot. "I told you to protect the house!" The robot was peacefully perched on the couch, the front door still wide open from his nacho run the night before. "…Oh yeah." Was all Gir said before resuming eating tacos and nachos and other such similar foods.
"HAHA Zim! I have everything I need to know about your stupid plan!" Dib grinned and immediately took off for the door. Zim seeing this happen grabbed a laser pistol from his PAK and shot at Dib. The first shot missed and the second jammed the weapon. Dib yelled as he was shot in the leg but continued his limping sprint home. Now all he had to do was figure out what was happening to the water n Zims lab.
Zim couldn't take it, he screeched and threw things. Of all the times Gir didn't listen to him it had to be then? He had been absolutely vulnerable! The thought of his PAK reminded Zim of the updates he had just undergone and stormed over to the door slamming it shut along with all of the windows. Not bothering with reprimanding Gir, Zim figured he would set up a punishment later for the little SIR unit. For now he had to get his plan moving and run a diagnostic on his PAK.
Too good to quit, I'm very into writing this at the moment. Sorry there wasn't much dialogue, too much sneaking and planning. Still looking for a beta.
May update again this week. R&R
-FN