Thunderstorm: Chapter Two

Inside was very crowded. People with children, some injured, most were just happy that they had somewhere to hide. Every room in the house was full with the only source of light being from a few candles held by some. Zim was appalled. He really didn't like this, and the smell of all the different people made him sick. He passed through everyone trying to reach the kitchen. He had a backup generator and decided there's no time like the present to use it. When the lights came on so did the noise level. People began talking and looking around for family members and friends. Among them were Dib and Gaz who managed to get the solitude of sitting behind the couch. They remained silent for a while until Dib decided to break in.

"Is he okay," he asked. Gaz seemed to pause a moment in thought before answering.

"I'm not sure, all I know is that when the storm hit he told me to go to the lab and hide in the cabinet under the shelf, so I did and I heard the basement door shut," she paused for a second before continuing, "then when it was all over I stepped out and he wasn't there. The lab was there, but he wasn't and..." Dib who was giving her his full attention thought she was about to cry, which was strange to him as he had never seen her cry since their mom died. He gave her a reassuring hug and urged her to go on.

"And..."

"And the house, it's gone, all of it gone. If he wasn't in the basement then where is he," Gaz asked knowing that she already knew the answer. Dib also knew what this led up to, and started to cry silently. They both sat for a while trying to get over their shock, with each failing at the attempt. Suddenly, as if a bomb exploded the house shook, rocking everyone to one side.

"Cupcakes are done," Gir shouted from the kitchen. Some people exited the cooking area with caracoled faces as the little green dog pushed out some blackened lumps of sweetbread and frosting. Zim shook his head in disapproval from his spot on the couch.

"I can't believe this, I leave for . . . um . . ." Zim looked at a clock and saw how late it really was,"One o'clock!"

As his comment was made the house rocked again. "Gir, enough cupcakes already," Zim shouted.

"I didn't do that," Gir answered. Upon hearing Gir's answer everyone looked outside to see that it was a swirling black mass that was violently shaking the building. The sound of the houses boards creaking and bolts loosening did not hold a comforting tune. Zim again was astonished by the strength of this weather phenomenon as he watched the door to his home flex and bend in ways wood and steal shouldn't. Everyone backed away from the flexing windows and creaking boards as the storm drew closer. Zim jumped off the couch, nearly knocking it over on Dib and Gaz, to the middle of the floor.

"Computer, third level now," Zim commanded and just as quickly the floor beneath him lowered. Almost as an afterthought, he ordered that all floor levels be lowered. To the human's surprise, the floor under them sank carrying them and furniture down into the earth. When they were a good ten feet down what once was the floor closed off to become the ceiling, leaving the upper part of the house abandoned. Zim, who was two levels below where the humans were at, began typing into his computer.

"Computer, tell me exactly what is a tornado," Zim asked.

"Processing, Tornados are low-pressure high-pressure winds moving in a vortex, more commonly found in a strip of land called Tornado Alley. It spouts from super...," it was interrupted by Zim hitting a different button.

"I want to know its destructive power," Zim said.

"Oh, why didn't you say so, it's the most powerful storm on Earth next to the hurricane, with a scale of F1 to F5 these winds can start at 100 to 395 miles per hour."

"Is there any way to access this power," Zim asked with evil dripping from his words. "Processing: no."

"WHAT! Why not," Zim pouted.

"Master?" Gir said as he entered the computer room.

"What," the little alien snapped still upset about his discovery.

"Why you helpin' the humans," the sir questioned totally ignoring his master's sour mood. Zim thought about it for a moment longer than he wanted to before coming up with an answer.

"Well, if I let the tornado thingy destroy them, then I can't do it, and we're not gonna let that happen," Zim stated quite pleased with his answer.

"Okie, dokey."

Meanwhile on the upper-level people began to get a little restless and unnerved by the noise occurring just above them. They could hear every scratch, crash, bang, and slam that was whirling around overhead. Some children cried while parents tried to comfort. Still, others whimpered or screamed every time the ceiling shook from the impact. The lights of their underground hideaway were fairly dim, purposely due to Zim didn't want them seeing his home base anyway.

"Hey, do you smell that," an older man shouted from his place in the middle. Everyone quieted and sniffed the air including Dib and Gaz. Both brother and sister recognized the smell immediately.

"Diesel fuel," they yelled in unison with a few others.

"Gas! There's gas leaking in here," a woman cried as she pointed to the location of a stream of diesel fuel coming from a crack. People quickly jumped out of the way of the noxious-smelling liquid as it began to cover the floor.

Drip. Drop, drip, drop. Zim looked up to see an acorn colored fluid dripping from his air ventilation system.

"What the...," Zim said as he stood up and noticed the liquid was dripping from every craves of his lab.

"Computer, what is this," the irken asked rubbing the fluid of the floor with his finger,"It smells awful."

"Fuel, a fossil fuel used to operate human machinery," the computer answered.

"What's it doing in my lab," Zim questioned wiping the liquid off his hand. The computer made a few clicks and beeps as it searched for the origin of the fuel. It pulled up a picture of a truck, that resembled a cylinder made of silver, nestled in the wreckage of what used to be his funny looking home. From a large gash in its side, a black substance poured out and seeped into the ground where they were. Then the computer showed the first level where every human being was climbing on furniture trying to escape the diesel. Most were standing on chairs and tables, a few sat on the fridge and toilet, and many were climbing all over the couch. "Oh great," Zim said as he watched the sight of thirty people balancing on one another. Zim knew he would have to either abandon the base, save the base and expose himself or move the people out and save the base.

"Well Duh," Zim scoffed as he quickly went to the first floor. He was immediately met by the smell of fuel and the screams of thirty. "Computer, transport me, Gir, the base, and humans to um... anywhere but here," Zim ordered. The whole base disappeared leaving the house, diesel, and Earth behind. "What the..." Zim shouted as he and everything became weightless. The base was floating around in the emptiness of space. "I meant somewhere else on Earth, try near their healthcare unit," Zim demanded. The base disappeared again and reappeared beside the city's hospital. "Computer, Get the Humans Out NOW!," Zim shouted and with that, the top of the now exposed lab opened up allowing everyone to climb out.

"Thank you for riding Irken Space Technology, please watch your step and have a nice day," the computer voice politely said as people stumbled out of the base. Dib and Gaz, on the other hand, decided to stay not knowing exactly where they should go

. "Remember, you saw nothing, this all apart of your imagination, and you are really asleep," Zim shouted to the exiting crowd. Being that they were all in a shocked, dazed, fear everyone nodded in agreement.

"Bye," Gir squealed as the base disappeared once again.

"Now we're going to half to rebuild Gir," Zim gripped as he marched through the distorted living room. Gaz and Dib quickly ducked their heads behind their hiding place, the couch. Gir walked over and clicked on the television that was now upside down.

"This is Rich Clark with this mornings news. A terrible scene has hit the mid-west, several tornados have touched down during the hours of 9 pm to 1:30 am," the newscaster announced as pictures of destroyed homes and office buildings popped up on the screen. Dib and Gaz cautiously peeked over the couch to see the television, all the while keeping an eye out for Zim. Then to their dismay, a picture of their dismantled house was shown. At first, Dib didn't recognize the pile of rubble until he squinted and noticed some familiar items. Gaz, who had already seen the mess, turned away to look at her brother. At first, he looked dumbfounded but it quickly began to change into a look of pure agony.

"It's all gone, every...thing," Dib said softly. Gaz really didn't have a response being that she still had trouble swallowing down the shock. They were so distracted by the scenes on the screen that they didn't notice Zim had walked back into the area.

"What are you still doing here," Zim yelled as he saw the purple and black hair sprouting from behind the couch. He was startled when both humans broke out into tears. Gir, who had the capability of emotion, took one look at them and instantly felt sad.

"Don't cry, you can have my moose," Gir said holding out his toy to the tear-stricken siblings. Zim didn't know what to do in this situation. He could deal with Dib being angry, frightened, cocky, or even glad but he had no idea what to do when his enemy was crying.

"Quit it, don't cry. You're getting water all over the place," Zim said trying to sound strict. Gir began crying as well, leaving the irken with the only dry eyes. "Why are you doing this, stop it," Zim said now sounding more like he was going to sob.

"What are we going to do," Dib cried as the thought of he and his sister going to an orphanage ran through his head.

"We have to...find out...what happened to dad," Gaz chocked out as she stood up. Dib followed suit, wiping his face with the sleeve of his trenchcoat.

"Yeah, we'll find him and...and," the pale boy began as he turned to face his sister. Both of their faces screwed up as a fresh batch of tears came down their checks.

"Here we go again," Zim moaned as he watched the two humans weep. He couldn't believe that all this pain and suffering was brought on by some dumb storm. He momentarily had to leave the sobbing trio as he had to make sure that his home base was being rebuilt correctly. He had to clear the old house away to make a new complete replica of the same home. When the little alien returned he saw Dib, Gaz, and Gir all sitting on the couch in silence. Well, Dib and Gaz were silent.

"Zim, can we stay here for a while," Dib asked as kindly as possible.

"Ha, you expect me, a high Irken Invader, to allow you, a filthy human to stay in my house," Zim stated with such contempt that it sounded like he would kill you with his words. Gir gave Zim a look that a mother would give a child who just told a lie.

"Who's a high Irken Invader," he asked in a sing-song voice.

"What are you talking about Gir," Zim said, quite annoyed that his robot slave would question him.

"Wait a minute...what?" Gir questioned, confused.

"You said, who's a high Irken Invader," Zim said mocking Gir's squeaky voice, "and I asked whatcha talkin' about Gir."

"Oh yeah, I forget," Gir cheered happily. Zim smacked his forehead in frustration.

"Master, can they stay, Pleeeeeeeeeeeeassssse?" Gir pleaded, jumping off the couch and making whimpering noises.

"No Gir, they're the enemy. We want to destroy them not have slumber parties with them," Zim stated crossing his arms.

"Zim, I promise no funny stuff, please let us stay here, at least till the sun comes up," Dib tried to compromise.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Zim said obviously not thinking about changing his mind.

"Oh you'll believe it when I come over there and shove my fist into your...," Gaz began angrily before Dib cut here off.

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty Please."

"No!"

"Please, Please, Pretty Please with sugar frosting and a cherry on top," Gir said wanting to get in on the conversation.

"You're not going to quit are you," Zim stated.

"Not before you receive a black eye," Gaz threatened. Zim frowned. He couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"Okay, I'll let you stay, but if you touch anything, and I mean anything, I'm booting you out," Zim said,"And turn the lasers on you," he added as an afterthought.

"Okay, deal," Dib agreed.

"Computer, bring some blankets and pil...pillows to the living room," Zim ordered. From the newly created roof, a few sheets and small pillows came down to the floor. "Now I'll be in my lab, but don't think that I can't keep an eye on you, because I can," Zim said as he watched the two wrap themselves up in the blankets.

"Yea, sleepover," Gir shouted as he dashed out of the room to reemerge with a sleeping bag. He laid it down next to Dib and curled up. Both Gaz and Dib past out being exhausted from crying and being past their usual bedtime. Zim left the room and walked into the kitchen where he climbed onto a toilet and flushed himself down to his replanted, underground base. He wanted to study more about the natural disaster that ravaged the city so and started out on his computer. He glanced at the screen and finally noticed he had received a message. The irken quickly opened it up seeing that it was from the Tallest.

*~There's chapter two. I'm so happy that u like my story. Thanks for the reviews. More chapters on the way!