I AM SORRY! I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO FREAKIN' LONG! I hate 8th grade. I hate it so much that I will gnaw out its intestines and use them as my jump rope. And I will laugh while doing so. I. WILL. LAUGH.

Sorry if that little intro disturbed you. I'm Horribly Insane like that. Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: Arrive With A Bang

"Don't startle Ryx, don't ever try to hold Zyx's hand, and if they have AP Chemistry, for the love of Miyuki, do not let either of them near anything that can poison someone or explode. Got all that?"

Kezzi was at her base, drilling Zim, Dib, and Tak on the countless rules she had come up with to keep Zyx and Ryx under control. Dib was frantically jotting down everything she said onto a pencil and paper while Zim recorded all the information and downloaded it into his PAK. Zim never missed a chance to flaunt his superior technology in the face of his arch rival.

Dib stopped writing to stretch his hand out. "Anything else?"

Kezzi thought for a moment and said, "No, I think that's about the basics."

"The basics!" Zim yelped, pulling a screen out of his PAK. "Do you realize how many gigabytes that recording just took up?"

"Thank your lucky stars I didn't go in-depth," Kezzi replied, grabbing her black backpack, which was sitting on the kitchen table, and swung it over her shoulder. She called out, "Zyx! Ryx! Time to go!"

After a moment, they heard a big commotion upstairs, which was growing constantly louder. Then a scream, "GOOOOO!"

Everyone immediately scrambled to get as far away from the staircase as possible. Within ten seconds, a whirlwind of green and black was at the top of the stairs. A tall, spindly figure–Ryx–leaped onto the stair railing and skated down it smoothly, while Zyx was still at the top. Assisted by the spider-legs in her PAK, she propelled herself six feet in the air and toward the dining room directly below her. In a long graceful parabola, she fell toward the floor and stuck a perfect landing just after Ryx touched down. They each struck a pose with their PAK legs showing off their multiple deadly weapons, and then they fell over screaming with laughter. After they finished their hysterics, Zyx stood up and said, wiping the tears from her neon green eyes, "Oh, we've wanted to do that for years! We could never find a proper staircase, though!"

After a bit, Dib asked, "Uh…what was that all about?"

Ryx replied, "Oh, Sister and I just love making an entrance. It's a compulsion of ours."

Tak said, "Well, then you'll be able to make quite an entrance at the Hi Skool. Come on, we'll be late."

With that, they all seized their bookbags, including Ryx and Zyx, who had bought skool supplies Sunday, and headed out the door.

The friends were walking down the sidewalk. Kezzi said to the deranged twins, "Guys, you are going to have to behave yourselves if you want to stay here. That means no stabbing, no poisoning, no exploding, no burning, no torturing, no nothing. Okay?"

"Geez, you're no fun anymore," Ryx whined, but Kezzi ignored him and kept walking. Within five minutes or so they ran into Gaz with her ever-present handheld. Ryx strolled up to her and said, "You're Gaz, aren't you? Kezzi told me how she beat you down in the cafeteria, which was apparently no small feat. How did she beat you, exactly?"

Gaz looked up and glared at him. "Pressure point to the upper thigh with a broom handle. It pinches the femoral artery."

"Fascinating," Ryx said. "Are all humans' weak points so exposed?"

Gaz's eyes narrowed menacingly. "If she hadn't got a hold of that broom I would have broken every one of her limbs," she snarled.

Ryx raised his eyebrows, impressed. "I could get along with this kid," he said.

Finally, after dropping Gaz off at the Middle Skool, the group arrived at the Hi Skool. It was much the same as the Elementary Skool Zim had attended when he first came to Earth, with it's boring structure and foreboding, unfriendly atmosphere, but much larger. Wads of teens were clumped around the skool doors, giggling, shouting, and shoving each other around. However, an odd hush came over the students when the six friends made their way through the entrance. Most eyes were on Zyx and Ryx, who were dressed in the same disguises they had brought that weekend. People stared and whispered. Soon a large boy in a football jersey lumbered over to them. "Hey look! The Freak Circus got two new members!"

Several students started laughing. Zyx and Ryx exchanged confused glances. They didn't know what he meant by 'Freak Circus'. The boy leaned over in his Ryx's face. "What the hell is up with your hair, man? You look like a friggin' praying mantis!"

Emboldened by the boy's rudeness, other teens started making snide comments.

"Jesus, they need some sun and some conditioner."

"Look at what they're wearing! They're like from another century or something!"

"Check out the eyeliner and fishnets. I can barely tell he's a dude."

Completely clueless, Zyx asked, "What are these humans talking about?"

Tak shook her head and said, "Let's just get moving. We've attracted too much attention as it is."

The six walked into the building as the skool bell rang, signaling the start of the day.

Once inside, Zyx asked, "What was that? They seemed to find us very amusing."

Tak sighed. "This place is absolutely crawling with scum like that boy. They were making fun of you alright? Don't even think about it," she snapped as Ryx glowered and began fishing through his PAK for a knife.

"Hey! What–" Ryx blurted. "Where are all my weapons? My knives and bombs? They're all gone!"

Kezzi nodded. "You'd never be allowed in the building loaded up with weapons like that. You'd be expelled. I emptied out your PAK while you slept. Zyx, too. You can have them back when you get home."

Ryx crossed his arms and pouted. Suddenly, an older woman with curly mouse-brown hair scooted up to them. "Excuse me, are you two new students here?"

Kezzi had gone over this scenario with the twins multiple times. Zyx had learned her lines by heart. "Yes we are, ma'am," she said in a bright, perky voice that everyone instantly hated. "We don't have any schedules or maps yet. Could you help us, please?"

The woman gave a fake-looking smile. "Of course, dear. If you will both just follow me…"

They walked away with the woman down the hall. "Tak said worriedly, "Will she be okay?"

Zim replied, "Of course. They practiced for ages. They'll figure it out."

Tak chuckled. "I was talking about that woman."

Before Zim could reply, the bell rang for first period. Everyone began rushing this way and that to get to class. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys later," Dib said. Zim and Tak nodded, and he went off with Kezzi to his Literature class. Zim and Tak had AP Chemistry for first period. Tak said "Well. This should be interesting."

Zim smiled and the two went off to class.

"Therefore, if you combine the sodium with water, it will produce a violent chemical reaction to form a hydrogen gas. Now, we are going to begin a new lab today…"

Zim's eyelids drooped over his chemistry textbook as he tried to focus on the lesson. Mr. Drudger, the AP Chemistry teacher, was infamous for being probably the most boring teacher the Hi Skool had ever seen. The only reason Zim and Tak hadn't flunked out of the class yet was that, as Irkens trained to be invaders, they had an obligation to find out whatever they could about the planet. Zim found chemistry to be particularly crucial, as he could someday use his knowledge to poison all of mankind. He was startled out of his doze by a knock at the door. Mr. Drudger looked up and went to answer it. The same woman he had seen earlier who had taken Zyx and Ryx away was standing there. Mr. Drudger spoke to her for a bit, eventually having to whisper because half the class was leaning in to listen. Eventually he turned around and said to everyone, "Class, it appears we have some sudden new students. Please welcome…"

Zim and Tak groaned. Sure enough, Zyx and Ryx waltzed into the classroom, grinning and looking around eagerly. "Hello, everyone," Zyx called out. "My name is Zyx LeStrange, and this is my brother Ryx. I'm sure we'll all be the best of friends!"

Everyone just gaped at them in their outlandish clothes, hair, and overall manner. Zim wondered where the heck they had gotten the last name LeStrange from. On the other hand, it definitely fit them. "Take your seats, you two," Mr. Drudger ordered.

"Now, as I was saying, today we are going to begin a lab testing the effects of different substances on alkali metals. Alkali metals, as you know are highly reactive and occasionally dangerous. You won't be in any danger if you handle these metals correctly. Could you all please be taking notes?"

Ryx had beaten Mr. Drudger to it; as soon as he heard the words 'highly reactive', he whipped out a notepad and began jotting down everything the teacher was saying. Tak started to get nervous. Really nervous. "Ryx loves explosive things," she whispered to Zim, "and Zyx likes poisoning people. We can't let them out of our sight."

Zim raised his hand. "Mr. Drudger, since the sibling-creatures are new here, I would be happy to share my amazing wisdom with them and let them be in our group."

Mr. Drudger mulled it over for a second and said, "Sure, fine."

Zyx and Ryx skipped over to the two at their table, "Hello, Zim and Tak," Zyx sang. "Didn't we do a fantastic job? The humans don't suspect a thing!"

Tak said, "They might not suspect you, but they still think you're both freaks. Where did the name LeStrange come from?"

Ryx replied, "Oh, it's just something Kezzi pulled out of a book last night. She said we'd need last names to enroll here."

This was true; Zim, Tak, and Kezzi had submitted fake last names to that administration so they could continue skool. Tak just sighed and said, "Well, let's get started on the lab."

At that moment Mr. Drudger came up and said, handing them a small bag of silvery metal and a beaker of water, "Put the potassium in the water and observe what reactions take place. I'll come back around in five minutes and give you a new metal. Potassium is very unstable, so be careful."

Ryx was grinning in a very unsettling way. Tak growled, "If you step one toe out of line in here, I swear…"

Ryx replied in a sniveling voice, "Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about me, Tak. Don't you trust me?"

"Not in the least."

"A very wise choice, very wise indeed."

Tak rolled her eyes and sliced off a bit of potassium. Slowly, she dropped it into the water. At once the water began fizzing violently, and an invisible gas came off the surface. The siblings were enthralled. "Oooooh!" squealed Zyx, bouncing up and down in her seat. Zim and Tak recorded all of this in their lab books and the twins copied them. After a minute, Ryx said, "I think it would be safest if I washed my hands before any further experimentation," and slid out of his seat and strolled over to the sink in the back of the room. Tak raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why does he need to wash his hands before an experiment where we aren't handling any animals?" Zim shrugged. Right then, Mr. Drudger walked over to their table and said, "Time to switch. Give me the remaining potassium."

"Yes, sir," Tak said, reaching for the chunk of metal. But when she looked down, the metal was gone. "Zim? Did you do anything with it?"

"No."They both began searching around their binders and books and under the table, but it was nowhere to be found. All at once, something occurred to Tak, and her squeedilyspooch sank clear to the bottom of her toes. She whirled around to see Ryx at the back of the room, with the lump of potassium, pulling a lighter out of his pocket.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zim and Tak screamed in unison, but it was too late. Ryx touched the fire to the metal. Just as the lump caught fire, a force field sprang out of his PAK and shielded him as the potassium exploded.

Complete chaos erupted in the classroom. Students ran this way and that, screaming and falling over, breaking glasses and spilling chemicals everywhere. The chemicals and metals caught fire, fizzed, and sparked, making everyone scatter like roaches. Then, Zim and Tak heard the unmistakable beeping and wailing of the fire alarm. "EVERYBODY OUT! STRAIGHT LINE, STAY CALM!" Mr. Drudger roared.

Everyone filed out of the classroom, yelling and panicking. Soon they were outside, along with the rest of the skool. Tak, Zim, and Zyx had stayed at the back of the line, and as soon as they had their chance they nipped back into the building to find Ryx.

He was standing in the deserted hallway, laughing like a lunatic. Between his cackles he said, "Now THAT'S what I call highly reactive!"

Tak and Zyx grabbed him arms and dragged him out of the building. As they bolted across the parking lot, a man with a megaphone was shouting, "Ryx LeStrange, report to the principal at the meeting place in the football field!"

"Oh no," Zim said, scooting in front of Ryx so the man wouldn't see him. "They're looking for you. We've got to get out of here, now. Where is Kezzi and the Dib-thing?"

"I dunno…" Tak said, but then a shout came from behind.

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to see Dib and Kezzi running toward them. When they reached them, Dib said, all out of breath, "It was them, wasn't it?"

"Actually, it was just Ryx," Zyx said, "But now's no time for finger pointing. They're looking for him now. We can't stay here."

Zim nodded. Then, he pointed to the fence bordering the skool. "Let's hop the fence."

"But we can't just leave!" Kezzi said. "How will we explain being gone when the rest of the skool goes back inside?"

"We can deal with that later," Zim snapped, "Let's just split while we can!"

Everyone darted for the fence and climbed over it. Right when they got over the fence, a fire truck roared into the parking lot. They group had to dive behind some bushes to avoid being seen. "Great," Kezzi muttered, spitting a leaf out her mouth, "Ryx would have been in enough trouble if we hadn't ditched, but now we'll all get suspended."

"Well, there wasn't much choice," Dib said. "If he had been caught, the administration would have looked into the background of both Ryx and Zyx, and they'd find out that those names are fake, and they'd want to go to his house and talk with their parents, but they don't have any, and goodness knows where it would go from there. They might even look at your backgrounds, just because you're friends with them. You all could get taken away and dissected."

There was a silence. Everyone knew Dib was right. But nobody said anything, and just kept crawling through the bushes. When they were off skool grounds, they stood up and dusted themselves off. Then, without warning, Zyx smacked Ryx so hard he went cross-eyed. "What the flyin'…" Ryx began, but his sister cut him off.

"What were you thinking, just blowing up some metal like that! You could have gotten us killed! I mean, I enjoy a bit of chaos as much as the next person, but really, there's a time and a place for everything! You almost completely blew our cover! I'm of a good mind to just head back to Irk and just strand you here!"

She continued screaming for another couple of minutes. When she finally finished she was breathing heavily. She said to the rest of the group, "So…now what?"

"Zim shrugged. "Go home, I guess. You're staying with the Kezzi, correct?"

Zyx nodded and turned to Ryx. "Come on. You sure aren't setting foot in this place again. Let's move it."

As they all walked home, Dib sighed and shook his head. He said to Kezzi, "Remember when you fought Gaz in the cafeteria on your first day here?"

Kezzi grinned. "Only too well."

Dib shook his head again. "Judging from that day and today, you Irkens sure know how to arrive with a bang."

Kezzi groaned.