"Get me some pizza while you're out!" Gaz shouted from the living room couch as I made my way out the front door. She was in her usual spot, playing her Game Slave 2 and watching T.V at the same time.

"I told you, Gaz, I'm heading out of the city to recruit allies to help me take the fight to Zim!"

I heard Gaz pause her Game Slave and mute the T.V. "Out of the city? Why would you want to do that?" She asked, incredulously.

"Well, it's not like I'm getting much help here!" I retorted, regretting the comment almost immediately. If Gaz thought I was making a jab at her, she could make my day very... Uncomfortable.

I heard her jump off the couch and help my breath. Seconds ticked away, feeling like years. "I'm coming with you, then." She said, walking over to where I was.

"What? Why?" I asked, stunned. You see, Gaz never helped me, not unless there was either something in it for her, something was bothering her or she had nothing better to do. I studied my sister nervously. She stood there holding her orange, oval-shaped Game Slave 2, dressed in her usually attire, purple-and-black striped tights, a black shirt adorned with a skull and grey-and-black striped long sleeves. Her eyes were brown, not unlike my own, but where my hair was black with a single, horizontal jagged spike shooting back over my head from my fringe, her hair was purple, with her spiked hair taking a more vertical direction over her face and covering her ears, our spiked hair having been inherited from our father.

"Because I want to see what sort of pizzerias they have outside of this dump." She replied, nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes. Typical. Gaz was my younger sister by about... Actually, I don't really know how old Gaz is. Weird. Come to think of it, how old am I? I go to Skool, but what grade am I...? I'm getting off track again. As I was saying, Gaz is my younger sister and there are only two things she cares about; Her Game Slave and Pizza. Like I said, she never helps me unless there's something in it for her.

"Fine." I relented, rolling my eyes. I knew better than to argue with Gaz, "But we're taking the bus. I don't want to risk any more malfunctions from Tak's ship."

Tak was another Irkin Invader who had revealed herself not too long ago, but I had defeated her quite promptly. And quite courageously, I might add. I had managed to secure her ship and upload my personality into its main computer, but a few... issues surfaced. Entirely the result of poor Irkin programming. Nothing I could have done about it. Regardless, I couldn't risk another episode, which left us with public transportation. Making our way outside, we hailed a bus and proceeded on our way.


The bus ride went much the way you'd exect a bus ride to go. Someone coughing, wheezing, crying and drooling as well as the other passengers. Gradually the bus load became less and less until it was only Gaz, the bus driver, a green-skinned, elderly man with his dog and myself left on board. I wasn't fooled for a moment. Walking to the back of the bus, I stood in front of the green-skinned old man and his green dog. The man's ratty clothes and long, grey beard didn't fool me.

"I know it's you, Zim." I sighed, "You've used this disguise before, did you really think it would work a second time?"

The 'old man' feigned ignorance, "Eh? What you say? You'll have to speak up, I'm quite deaf and need my hearing-ear dog to help me around!"

I thew my hands in the air in disbelief, "C'mon, Zim! There's no such thing as a 'hearing-ear dog'! Or a green one for that matter! Just take this ridiculous thing off and tell me why you're-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOWWWWW!" The old man cried out in pain cutting me off mid-sentence, the hair of his beard tangled between my fingers from attempting to yank it off. The dog yipped, tail wagging before nuzzling up to his master and pressing a series of buttons with its' nose on a wrist device I hadn't noticed before, which ran a cable to a small device attached to the side of the man's head.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, sonny, or who you think I am, but I will not stand for this sort of abuse!"

"I-I'm sorry!" I stammered, mouth agape, "I thought you were someone else!" I mumbled as I hurried back to my seat, the little dog pressing more buttons.

"Way to go, Dib" Gaz muttered, not looking up from her Game Slave, "You ever think he took his dog to a salon or something? It's not polite to discriminate against the handicapped."

I slumped back into my seat, sulking for a moment, before I noticed the bus beginning to slow. "End of the line." The bus driver called back. I walked to the driver and looked him over for the first time in the trip. He was a tall, lanky man, almost noodle thin with spiked red hair and a pair of glasses not too different from my own. His long trench coat looked almost out-of-place for a bus driver and a small fish bowl sat on the dashboard, housing what looked like a piranha.

"But we aren't even out of the city yet!" I exclaimed, looking out the windows. We were parked in a tunnel of sorts, a few hundred yards from the exit.

The driver shrugged, "This is as far as I can take you." He replied, almost dismissively, "My authority only goes so far."

"What authority?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"City Bus Authority. Now get off my bus, kid."

Muttering to myself, Gaz, the old man, his dog and I made our way off the bus and started walking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. The old man didn't say too much, he just whistled some awful, off-key tune, while his dog wagged his tail and Gaz played her Game Slave.

Exiting the tunnel, I had to blink momentarily to help my eyes adjust and opened them slowly. Only to have what felt like a blade pressed against my throat and what looked like and mouthless, blue centaur glowering at me while a group of weird looking kids looked at me in shock.

"It would seem we have a problem." A voice said, inside my head.