-Chapter 3-
Zim woke up to see his robot sitting on him, eyes wide and mouth thin set. "Gir! Get off me this instant!"
Nothing. Neither moved for a fraction of a second before a bellowing screech escaped the android's mouth.
"You've been sleeping for a long while, Mastah! You don't look so good."
He tried sitting up. It didn't work. Now he was starting to panic. "Why can't I move?"
He was answered by red eyes and a drawn-out phrase. "It looks like your spine got snaaaapped!"
"Then FIX IT! Zim is of no use lying uselessly on the ground! So much to do, so much to buuurn."
A sharp pain near his jugular made him tense. An empty injector lay on the floor near Gir's left hand. That tiny robot could be awfully quick when he wanted to be. As the feeling returned to his body, Zim breathed a heavy sigh and started to calm down.
Zim pushed Gir off his chest and sat up stiffly. Come to think of it, he didn't feel that great. He raised a hand to soothe his aching head and felt blood.
"Gir, what did you do? I don't remember being injured, nor falling asleep! Clearly something knocked me out. What happened?!"
"Weeell, the green lady came when you weren't looking, and she gave you a hug and you started sleeping and she went downstairs and brought the big head boy and they left!"
"YOU LET THE PRISONERS ESCAPE? AGAIN?!"
"And then she came back and went in the broken shippy thingy and got a pretty box and then it sploded! And she left again."
"You let them escape AND destroy the evidence?! Why you wretched little-" Zim suddenly noticed the clock on the wall. 9:04.
"Shit, I'm late! Why didn't you wake me before? I've been gone three days already this week, they're going to notice something for sure!" He made a mad dash for the stairs, muttering anxiously. "Must shower, so filthy. Blood in my hair will not do. Must be quick, must hurry. The mission will go on. The mission. Must get to school."
No less than two hours later he was out of the bathroom and storming outside. Keeping up appearances by attending school is important of course, but not as important as perfect hair.
Finally reaching the classroom, he dropped down into his usual seat (front row, five across, closest to the door) and ceremoniously dumped his shit down next to him. Breathing a sigh of relief, Zim relaxed a bit before turning to the teacher. She seemed to be shouting some blabber at him. Blinking slowly, he waited patiently until she lost interest and stalked away towards the chalkboard. Already bored, he let his head fall to the desk. It was then that he noticed there was an anomaly in the usual student body.
Wait a minute. Something isn't right. I don't know that bitch. Must be a new student!
At the other end of the classroom, sitting right in front of the teacher's desk. A pale boy who looked calm but nervous. Messy black hair with large brown eyes and big glasses. Average height.
He's pretty cute. Too bad he's probably a pretentious douchebag like all the rest, Zim thought. If not, maybe he can be a slave instead of being burned to crisp like everyone else. He turned away and gave it no more thought.
As the minutes passed he became aware that he was being watched. A heavy presence infected the air, hanging thick and making it hard to breathe. Not wanting to do anything noticeable, Zim slowly looked over from the corner of his eye to see the new kid gaping at him with wide eyes and shaking hands.
Ugh, he noticed me, Zim inwardly groaned. If he tries to talk to me I'm gonna shoot something. Zim may be amazing but annoying admirers are... annoying.
Something sharp stabbed into his back, causing him to breathe a quiet "Fuck!" and whirl around to face the adversary. Keef.
"Hey Zim, look at the new kid!" The ginger-haired boy whispered excitedly. "I think he likes you. What if he became our other Bestest Friend? That would be so great!"
Zim hissed in response, irritated further. "Keef. Shut. The. Hell. Up. Don't talk to me."
He slammed a hand over his mouth, bright eyes going wide and light eyebrows shooting up and getting lost in his red bangs. "Oh, right! The teacher's talking. Sorry, buddy, don't want to get you in trouble."
"Keef! Will you be QUIET?!" A dark shadow loomed over his desk as the teacher's hunched form stood in front of the boy. The change in location was so fast it could pass as teleportation.
"I-I'm sorry, Ms. Bitters! I promise I won't-"
"Too late! To the underground classrooms, NOW!" The floor beneath him gave way and the desk fell down into oblivion, dragging the terrified boy down into the mighty doom below. A very faint crash could be heard as the floor closed once more, flames licking just below the entrance.
So there is a god. Zim leaned back and gave a small sigh of relief. Thanking whoever was up there, he turned to the front of the classroom and saw a load of homework written on the board. He shrugged and put his binders away; he didn't need algebra. In his line of work all he needed to excel at was civics, english, phys ed and science; screw everything else. Hearing the bell ring for lunch, he bolted to the door and swiftly marched down the hall towards his locker.
"Hey, wait up! Zim!"
Narrowing his eyes in disgust, he turned his head to find someone following him. It was the new kid. He walked faster, weaving in and out of the tightly packed crowd of students.
"Come on, I just want to talk!" He could hear the skinny teen stumbling through the hall and bumping into people. Footsteps grew louder as the boy approached him, reaching out to grab his sleeve when Zim whirled around and glared at him.
"I don't know how you know me or what you want from me so I suggest you get the fuck out of here before I rectify you. This is your only warning." He gazed harshly into the slightly taller boy's eyes, daring him to respond.
"Don't you-" The slime-child's big eyes enlarged even more, the dawn of realization flashing briefly before his retinas. "Oh I get it; you can't recognize me, can you?"
"Am I supposed to?" His voice had not lost its dark edge.
"Yeah, just...come on." Noticing the thick mob around them, he grabbed Zim's arm, pulling them both into a nearby empty stairwell. Closing the door, he took a quick breath before fiddling with his wristwatch for a second. His body flickered and glitched for a jarring millisecond, milky skin dissolving into green. After a split second the false form arose once more, concealing the foreigner beneath.
Zim spat out a single malicious word, face twisted in rage. "You."
"Me."
"How did you find Zim."
"It's not like I came looking for you or anything. I'm just as surprised as you are."
"You were lucky to escape my wrath once. I won't let that happen again."
"What? We're not-"
"Shut up, you insolent little fuck! Now tell me, as an invading soldier on a mission, why would you reveal yourself to me, the enemy? If you hadn't approached me, I may never have suspected you of being anything different than what you appear to be. Why would you be so stupid and careless as to unmask yourself in front of Zim?"
"I'm not a 'soldier on a mission'! And even if I were, why the hell do you care? My life has nothing to do with you!"
Zim stood straight, defensive, holding his ground subconsciously. Lowering his head slightly, he focused both eyes on the Dib's and unclenched his fist.
"Oh yes it does."
"Oh, this should be good."
Getting right in his face, Zim scrutinized the other, pointing a long thin finger tipped in black for dramatic purposes.
"I don't know your pathetic little plan but I'm gonna fucking tell you one thing: No one takes what is Zim's."
"What're y-"
"I'm not done yet, dirt child! You will never be able to take over this planet. This here nation is mine to invade, the rest will fall shortly after. You're far too late; my leaders were here planning conquest long before any of your filthy race cared about Earth, so I suggest you sit back and reconsider your life purpose somewhere far away from this galaxy."
"But I never said anything about conquering this planet." They both blinked stupidly at this.
"Eh, well it's written all over your green-ass face! Zim's genius brain doesn't need any feeble declarations to figure out your plans!"
With that he turned away, face drawn in a proud pout and walked out the door behind the stairs leading outside. Dib was left standing there, confused. "It's not the end of the day yet, where the hell does he think he's going?"