From Rivalry To Passion- Chapter 3: At Long Last
Disclaimer- I do not own the cartoon that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Rating: M
Enjoy~ =3
"At'l tacy. We're here. Are you ready?" a whisper broke the silence as one of two shadowed figures shifted within the space pod that had transported them to the small blue planet they'd once called home. "I can carry you if you're still worn out. I don't know how far we'll have to walk though." fingers untwined themselves from the mess of brown hair they'd been locked in for the majority of the trip. Petting them back delicately, the man then worked to rearrange the locks back into place before stretching and searching for the emergency exit so both could crawl out from the cramped space pod.
Without so much as a word, the second form shifted beneath the man but otherwise remained close, clinging to the man's shirt as he finally found what it was he was looking for and went to release the latch that had been keeping said pod tightly sealed the entire trip.
"You probably don't remember anything about this place. But it's much safer here than anywhere else we've visited these past three years." the man pushed open the pod door before stepping out into the surrounding area, fire light casting an orange glow upon his pale skin as well as the skin of his much younger companion. "Welcome back to Earth. Your home planet and mine." he said before taking in a deep breath and savoring the scent of dew covered grass, a smell he hadn't encountered in over 6 years now.
"It's about time we headed out now." he then said, pulling something out from his pocket and handing it over to his companion.
"Put this on." he instructed, adjusting a strange looking breathing mask of sorts over his own face before going to help his young ward with his. "We can't afford our pod to be found while here." he went to press a small button just within the hatch of the door, causing a strange gas to begin leaking out. "We'll knock out the surrounding wildlife and then activate our pod's cloaking device so no one, animal nor human, comes across it while we're away." he said before pulling the smaller body close and up into his arms. "The effects of the gas should wear off by morning." he then pressed another button inside of the pod that instantly activated its cloaking feature. "Now let's find us a place to stay, shall we?" he smiled beneath the mask before heading in the direction he remembered town to be, needing to locate a cheap motel they could stay in until further notice.
Meanwhile, standing mere yards away, Dib could only stare in shocked silence as he saw what had looked like two humans crawling out from the debris. But that couldn't be right. The vessel was most definitely not of this earth.
He took a step out from his hiding spot, his eyes almost instantly dropping to the gas that was quickly filling the surrounding area and obscuring his view from being able to see the two leaving figures any clearer.
"What is...this...?" he suddenly saw his vision blur as he accidentally breathed in a fair amount of the gas in question. Bringing a hand up to press against his head, he tried to focus and run through the gas towards the two disappearing silhouettes. But before he could take more than three steps forward, he saw his world beginning to turn dark on him.
"D-Disguises...?" he managed to force out before finally blacking out where he stood, the ground rushing up to meet him as his world turned upside down without any warning at all in that moment.
Unaware of the young paranormal investigator left behind in the woods behind him, the man in question went to remove his mask upon coming to a clearing that he never thought he'd see again.
"This...is exactly where things first started." he said, gazing down upon the sleeping city below, his blue eyes lighting up with excitement when he saw all the tiny specks of light that told him he was home at long last.
Reaching into his pant's pocket, he then pulled out a number of rather old looking dollar bills, the only Earth money he had left in his wallet from all those years ago. "$600 in total." he said, having counted it before coming to Earth. "That should be enough for at least the first twelve days of our stay here, give or take a day depending on what we eat during that time." he sighed. "Hopefully I manage to find a temporary job before too long though. Otherwise, I'll have to see how much I have stored away in the bank." he said, biting down on his bottom lip as he knew there hadn't been much when he left.
Shaking that thought from his head for the time being, he returned the neatly folded dollar bills back to his pocket before shifting his hold on the boy clinging to the front of his shirt and smiling down at him. "We'll sleep in tomorrow and then catch a late lunch, depending on how you're feeling in the morning, that is." he said, heading for the road that led to town and keeping his eyes peeled all the while for any motels they could set up base in.
QQQQQ
Dib thought he would be sick, an overwhelming dizziness sweeping over him when he next awoke to sunlight filtering in through the leaves and dancing across his face. He groaned as he went to sit up slowly, feeling as though he'd been hit by a truck.
"What happened last night?" he winced as he brought a hand up to press against his head, his memories fragmented but still there nonetheless. "I could have sworn I saw-" he stopped midsentence and almost instantly went to search for his camera, frantically stuffing his hands into his pockets and sighing in relief when he found it safe and sound in his trench coat pocket.
Pulling it out before going to stand on his feet shakily, he then began to brush off any and all debris he could from his clothes, feeling as though he needed a shower but not knowing whether he had enough time for one. He checked the watch he had strapped to his wrist and nearly jumped when it read 11:00 A.M. School had started three hours ago! And surely Zim was by now creating some sort of havoc without him there to keep him in check. He had to go and make sure things weren't in chaos at the school. Not to mention, his perfect attendance record would be in jeopardy if he didn't make it there before lunch time.
Turning to make a run for the main road so he could maybe catch a bus into town, he then stopped himself when another thought jolted through his mind. In his panic, he'd almost forgotten about what he'd witnessed last night.
Glancing back at where he remembered the pod to be, he then dropped his gaze down to his camera. Had he gotten a picture? He couldn't remember. The shock of seeing what looked to be two humans crawling out of the vessel was all he could remember of that moment.
He fisted his hands tightly. The proof had been right there. There was no way he would ever let such an opportunity pass him by. Whether he remembered it or not, he knew he MUST have taken the shot, at least of the capsule if not the two occupants who emerged from it.
Taking a few steps forward toward where his initial hiding place had been, he reached a hand out in the direction he remembered seeing the pod and began walking towards it slowly, feeling the air until finally his fingers met with what it was they were looking for.
It was still there. Cloaked but definitely there as he pressed the palm of his hand to the by now cooled surface of metal.
Sighing in relief at the physical proof he still had, he took a step back. He'd get any pictures he had on his new camera developed after school. Then he would return to this location later on in the night to figure out how to deactivate its cloaking device.
A smile crept onto his face but then fell away just as quickly. He finally had proof of his sanity, proof that aliens actually DID exist. But with that proof came the knowledge that two potentially new and dangerous aliens could be roaming the Earth. Even if he did turn this in to the authorities, THEY were still out there, possibly plotting the downfall of the human race.
He bit his bottom lip as he still felt rather uneasy about what he had by now convinced himself were only disguises. These new foes were obviously craftier than anything he'd faced before and could be virtually anywhere in town by now. It made his stomach flip that he hadn't gotten a better look at them both so he could easily pinpoint their disguises from within a crowd.
Sighing to himself, he shook his head and turned to head for the main road. He'd have to figure out SOME way of finding and exposing them to the world, but such a task would obviously be easier said than done. He hadn't even managed to convince ANYBODY that Zim was an alien yet, and said Irken quite possibly had one of the worst disguises of all time. It made him wonder at times whether the human race was even worth protecting. So many of them were just plain stupid, with the exception of his sister and perhaps one other human he'd met long ago. He stopped when he reached the forest's end, having a look about the field that came just before the main road.
"That's right. This is where it all happened." He looked up towards the sky, wondering what had ever happened to him. Although it had happened nearly 7 years ago now, he still couldn't help but think back to that day on occasion.
A/N: And there you have it for now. As always, feedback would be very much appreciated. Until next time~