Chapter Two: 2Player Mode
Dib sighed in frustration as he walked down the pavement behind his sister and Mai. The language barrier was a bit of a problem but he wouldn't give up! There HAD to be some way to make her understand. She was the one person in this town that didn't think he was crazy! Or rather, she had not been around long enough to realize it for herself… He could prove it though! He could prove Zim was an alien!
"Stop following us, Dib." Gaz growled without looking back.
He seemed to ignore her and caught up to them. "So, Mai, you have heard of extra-terrestrials, right?"
She stared at him blankly.
"You know, beings from another world? Another planet?"
"Oh." She said slowly, "You mean space people?"
"Exactly! Well, not astronauts, if that's what you thought I meant, just... CREATURES FROM SPACE!"
"Like Mr. Spock!"
"Right! Only EVIL!"
Mai looked confused for a moment. "You think school mate, Zim is from other world?"
"Yes! Isn't it obvious?"
"Just because he look different?"
"Ye- well, no. Not entirely, I mean of course that has something to do with it! He's green, for goodness sake!"
"Student tell me he have skin illness. No cure. Does not make him monster. Many people have… mutation of body. Some born with no arm or four arm. Some born with no nose or ears. Sometimes even tail."
Dib sighed. "But I've seen him doing… EVIL THINGS! He even admitted to being an alien and trying to take over Earth!"
She was thoughtful for a moment. "Do you have proof? "
"OF COURSE! I'll show you!"
He grabbed Mai's arm and took off in the other direction, towards his house. Gaz froze, realizing her chance at playing the new GameSlave was being ruined by her stupid brother. She gritted her teeth and yelled, "I Hate You DIB!"
Mai just barely kept from tripping as she raced to keep up with Dib's pace. They finally reached the Membrane house and Dib let go of Mai. He opened the door and rushed in. "C'mon, I'll show you!"
"Hold it right there, son."
A floating monitor zoomed in front of the stairs. On the screen was Dib's scientist father. "I cannot condone you kidnapping this girl. Your insanity will surely scare her. She is obviously way out of your league, son, and therefore can press charges."
"What are you talking about? This is my friend-"
"Bah! Lying only gets you into more trouble!"
"No, really!"
"Dib." Gaz growled from the doorway. "Give her back. We had plans."
Professor Membrane turned to his daughter. "Ah. She's Gaz's friend. That's a bit more believable. In that case have fun and make sure your brother doesn't have any lawsuits filed!"
The screen clicked off and floated into the other room.
Dib groaned impatiently and ran up the stairs. "Right this way!"
"Dib... If you come between me and the GameSlave 3…" Gaz hissed, "I'll make your life a living hellish nightmare and then when you cant take it anymore, when you beg for death, I'll rip out your eyes and-"
"C'mon, Mai, the evidence awaits!" he dragged her up the stairs, leaving a silently fuming Gaz.
"This is my room." Dib said, entering his lair.
Mai's eyes widened slightly. "So much technology…" She leaned over his computer equipment, examining it closely.
"Ok, here!" Dib held out a large folder, crammed with papers.
Mai opened it carefully. Inside were hundreds of photos of Zim, only his eyes were red and he didn't have hair. In many of the pictures, there was a curious looking green puppy. "Well… they look very real but…"
"But? NO! You can't be serious!"
"I want to trust but. It is easy to make fake pictures realistic. Simple software can be used and you are smart so easier for you."
Dib sighed.
"Do you have video? It easier to see if false. I can tell. If you show me real, I will believe."
Dib rummaged through all of his files, tearing his room apart. "There has to be something! Not everything could have been destroyed!" He thought about the tapes he had sent to Mysterious Mysteries and shook his head, bringing up that show would be disastrous. It made a laughing stock out of him!
Mai stood there awkwardly, feeling bad for him. She waited until he stopped looking and hung his head. "I don't think you lie just… I can't believe so quickly without proof."
Dib's face lit up. "Hold on! What if I SHOW you? If you actually see Zim doing EVIL ALIEN THINGS then you'd have proof!"
Mai seemed a bit skeptical but nodded, not wanting to dampen his spirits. "Hai. Okay. Show me alien. I will believe."
Dib punch the air, grinning excitedly. It was only a matter of time before Zim decided to put one of his EVIL PLANS into action!
"Let's go spy on him right now!"
Dib suddenly screamed, a blue stream of electricity running through his body. He collapsed on the ground at Gaz's feet. She was holding a taser which she carelessly tossed aside. "Are you ready to go?"
Mai smiled nervously. She's a little scary… good thing I'm not on her bad side. "Uh, yes. Will your brother be okay?"
She shrugged.
The two girls arrived at Mai's house after a fifteen minute walk. It looked very modern and clean but had a very flat layout.
"My father is not home or I would introduce. My room is in basement. Follow me."
Mai's room was very spacious and extremely colorful. Gaz had to remind herself of the GS3 to keep from setting fire to the place.
"Here is prototype." She said, pointing to a purple helmet with wires running all over.
Gaz immediately placed it on her head.
"There is multiplayer so we can be team or fight each other." Mai said grabbing another GS3 helmet and placing it on her head.
GAME START. SELECT: TWO PLAYER. BATTLE MODE. START!
The pair kept gaming for a good few hours, testing out all of the games and beating nearly each one. "What you think?" Mai asked as they took a break.
Gaz shrugged. "Its pretty cool."
"Here, I have for you something." Mai plopped on her bed and removed a Game Slave 2 from her pillow. She pulled out the cartridge and walked back over to Gaz.
Gaz took it from her and her eyes widened. "Vampire Piggy Hunter 3?"
"Pre-release. My father want me to try but I'm not good. Would you play for me and say how you like?"
Gaz returned to her cool indifferent demeanor. "Yeah, I guess."
Mai smiled.
Mai made sure she wasn't late for class the next day. The thought of what her demonic teacher would do sent a shiver down her spine. She reached Ms. Bitters class with little trouble, aside from having to avoid a pile of creeping clear slime on the staircase. It was before the bell and not many were in class. Actually there was only one person. Zim.
What Dib had said crept into her mind. Could he really be… She shook her head. Don't be silly, Mai. She smiled and took her seat behind him.
"Ohayo gozaimasu."
Zim ignored her.
"Sorry. Habits hard to break. I mean to say, 'Good morning'."
"WHAT makes this morning so good?" Zim snapped, turning to leer at her. "ANY morning in which, I, ZIM, have to endure the presence of you ffffilthy STINK-animals is a horrible, TERRIBLE, NOT GOOD morning!"
Mai stared at him, trying to process his words. "Could you… repeat please?"
Zim's glare turned into a blank look . "Huh Whaa- NO!" he yelled, glaring again. "Your pathetic little brain meats cannot comprehend the amazing words of ZIIIIM!"
"Please slow your talking. It hard to understand when you yelling."
"SILENCE!" Zim commanded. "There shall be no more talking to the almighty ZIM!"
He turned back around in his seat, satisfied.
"But…"
"SILENCE, MEAT-WORM!"
Mai sighed inwardly and mentally hit herself for not trying to learn English before the flight from Japan. Almost nothing he said made sense... Baka na…
Today's lesson was very similar to the previous class's, very depressing and morbid. Ms. Bitters was comparing the internal torture of the soul of a suicide jumper to that of a serial killer. Don't they teach math?
Lunch wasnt nearly as intimidating as it had been yesterday. She took her seat with her two new friends. She was glad to see that Gaz was enjoying the Vampire Piggy Hunter 3. Mai had hoped the lunch food would be edible today but was sorely disappointed. "Is this normal for this country's food?"
"I don't even think it is food." Dib said looking at his own bowl of green noodly paste.
Mai nodded, her stomach rumbling slightly. She couldn't help but look past Dib's shoulder, over at Zim, who again, was sitting alone. She felt bad for him, despite Dib's warnings. Zim was staring absently into space, a vacant expression on his face. She tilted her head to the side, curious as to what he was thinking (assuming he was thinking).
"Nyah."
"Okay, now this might be dangerous but don't worry, I'll protect you. Just make sure you're ready to run. I don't know if you should stay if this gets ugly…and knowing ZIM, it should…"
Mai grinned. "Do not worry. I am like cat! Very stealthy."
Dib nodded seriously and hid behind a large bush. Mai followed suit and waited.
"He goes this way every day. We're ahead of him so he'll have to pass us."
They waited in suspended silence for a few minutes. And then they caught sight of him. Mai's heart started beating faster, adrenaline coursing through her veins. At her old school, she had stalked-ahem- closely watched a few of her crushes as well as strangers, just for the excitement. It was a bit of a pastime of hers. She half wanted to tackle him as he passed- why? She didn't really know…
They watched as he disappeared around a corner and they sprang out, right on his tail. Did he have a tail? Mai was actually ahead of Dib, the thrill of the hunt overcoming her. She paused as Zim entered a yard. She quickly ran to the perimeter and peeked through a hole in the fence. She watched as he unlocked his door and suspiciously looked around. As the door opened, his 'parents' exclaimed, 'Welcome home, son!'. Satisfied, he slammed the door shut.
"Robots… Now what?" she whispered.
"We can sneak around back. I know a fault in his security system. He's probably already taken off his disguise… we might not even have to go in. If we could look through the window…" Dib squinted trying to get a good look.
"You wish to see him undress?"
"What? NO! Of course not!" he shouted, horrified.
"Where is secret passage?"
"It's just around back. I've tunneled my way underground, and drilled a hole into his lab. The idiot hasn't even noticed! Some superior al- hey! What are you doing?"
Mai was calmly walking up to his house, hands behind her back. Dib remained hidden as she knocked at the door. He bit his lip as he saw the gnomes swivel their heads to look at her.
She knocked again. "Housekeeping!"
The door swung open to reveal the robot parents again. They looked quite disturbing but Mai merely smiled. "Hallo. I am here to fix your toilettes."
"TOILETS?" the mother-bot screeched.
"Our waste removal system is fully operational. If you do not leave we will be forced to cause you bodily harm as it is our right." The father-bot warned, grinning.
"LEAVE OR FACE YOUR DEMISE!"
"DEMISE!"
She studied them a moment then bowed. "Domo arigato, Mistah and Misses Roboto."
With that, she left, eying the small but deadly lawn gnomes. She noticed a large, 'I love Earth' flag and saluted. Dib followed her until they were out of sight and jumped in front of her.
"Are you nuts! You could've been blown to bits! OR WORSE! The point was NOT to be seen!"
Mai smiled. "No parents is not so bad. But robot parents is very suspicious. I had to see up close. No make or model code, must be self-made."
"Yeah, that's right. They might be pieces of scrap metal but they're still dangerous…"
"I look up how to reprogram. Send virus. Go to house again to see what's inside."
"ALL RIGHT! It's a plan!" Dib cheered. "Once you get the virus, let me know and we'll infect his base… Oh sweet revenge…"
"Okay. Sound like good plan."
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow in skool, Mai!"
"Sayonara, Dib-kun."
Mai walked home in a good mood. For some reason, she was excited to break into her classmate's home, despite knowing it was wrong. Zim seemed to be a rather angry person, or perhaps one who is always loud, or both. Although most of his outbursts were lost on her, she was under the impression that he wasn't very fond of her. Or anyone, for the matter.
After doing a bit of research in robotics, a familiar field of hers, she managed to come across a suitable virus- fast spreading, easy to detect, however, hard as hell to locate and dispose of. She created and customized the virus and burned the infected file onto a disc.
Mai giggled softly. "Nyaaaaah!" she purred, rocking back in her chair, "Knock, knock, Zim. Trick or treeeat."
AN: Feedback is always welcome and much appreciated! Let me know if you think someone is out of character- I DESPISE IT! I promise more Zim in next chapter. ^^