AN: Thank you OptimusPrimegirl213 for following, favoriting and leaving a review on this story and my other stories as well. I really appreciate it. Also sorry to everyone reading Stuff Happens. I promise I'm not abandoning the story. These chapters just take less time to write and I've been getting a lot of ideas for this one.
Chapter 7: Plans Begin
Zim stood up and took the protective goggles off his head as he backed up to admire his latest project. He wiped the sweat off his brow with an evil smirk on his face. "You see this Gir?" he asked turning to the robot that was rolling around and laughing on the floor.
Zim growled, irritated, and stormed over to Gir and slapped him. "Gir! Pay attention!" he ordered.
Gir stood up and saluted, his eyes flashing red for a split second.
"Good. Now this device you see before you will help us understand the chemical structure of the Alice-creature who attacked you several days ago." Zim said gesturing to the large tube shaped device covering in wires and several monitors. "But to keep our identities a secret we'll have to gain the dirt child's trust." Zim said adding a bit of disgust to his voice. "This is NOT going to be easy Gir."
"Daww! I get it!" Gir squealed.
"What?"
"You're gonna ask the pretty lady out on a date!" Gir giggled, poking Zim's cheek.
"I-GIR! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Zim yelled, roughly shoving Gir off his face.
"Don't you like her?" Gir asked, tilting his head adorably.
"I don't know where your insane mind goes when I talk to you but that human monster is a pawn in my scheme! NOTHING MORE! Besides, why would I be so idiotic and so...defective to fall for a stupid, smelly human? Or...whatever she is."
"But she's so pretty!" Gir squealed.
Zim groaned and put on his disguise grumbling to himself.
"Master." his house computer called.
"WHAT?!"
"Jeez, I just wanted say you're going to be late. Ungrateful jerk."
Zim cocked his head and turned to a small clock on the wall.
"IRK-DAMMIT!"
….
"DIB!" Gaz called from downstairs.
Dib jumped at his little sister's voice and hurriedly continued to shove equipment into his Skool bag.
When she didn't hear a response Gaz growled and stormed up to his room, kicking the door in. "What are you doing?" she hissed.
"I'm just packing up my spy gear for after Skool. I'll be down in a minute." Dib explained, shoving another camera into his bag.
"You're spying on Zim again?" Gaz rolled her eyes.
"No! Well...I guess I will be but that's not the point! Alice is up to something and I need to figure out what." Dib said, zipping up his bag.
"So we've gone from stalker to pervert. How nice."
"G-Gaz! I'm not being a pervert!" Dib blushed.
"Yeah, okay. Just don't come back with her underwear." Gaz said leaving the room.
"H-hey! Wait up!" Dib called, running out of the house.
…..
"So it's a different boy today?" Ruby asked looking up from her food bowl.
"Yeah I have two assignments to do with two different partners. So I'm gonna check in with the other guy today and over the weekend."
"What's his name?"
"Zim."
"Is he nice?"
"That isn't exactly the word I'd use."
"Is he smart?"
"Meh. It's hard to tell. He seems smart but I heard one time he called a muffin a 'pork cow' or something. Then again I might do the same thing with the food they serve at that place." Alice shrugged taking a sip of her water.
"Is he cute?"
Alice covered her mouth to keep from spitting out her water all over her half eaten breakfast. "Well?" Ruby said jumping up on the table. Alice swallowed her water and turned away from her feline companion to hide the blush on her cheeks.
"Well...he's got this gross skin condition and he looks really weird but...he kinda like a dirty stray dog. He's filthy, beat up, a little mean and you don't really feel sorry for him but he still has a fluffy face and large beady eyes that makes you wanna hug him."
"HA! You admit it! You do have a crush!" Ruby laughed, triumphantly.
"I never said I liked him! He's a total jackass." Alice growled.
"Oh, come on! You say he's cute but you don't like him? I'm calling bullshit on that."
"Like I said, he's not cute like a boyfriend or anything. He's cute like a pet at best."
"But you still think he's cute."
Alice sighed, frustrated, and got up. "Whatever. I'm going to Skool."
"Try to find out if he already has a girlfriend!" Ruby called with a snicker as Alice left the house.
"Piss off!"
…..
"...and that's why we are all destined to survive on the flesh of our friends and family."
Alice sighed and rolled her eyes as she laid her head down on her desk. She looked up at Dib and across the room at Zim. They both seemed to be bursting with impatience to get out of the death trap the three of them were confined to for the remaining 3 hours of the Skool day.
Her eyes shifted between the two boys and she eventually lifted her head up and hesitantly tapped Dib's shoulder. "Hey, can I borrow some paper?" she whispered.
Dib smiled and ripped a page out of his notebook. He slid his hand under her desk and handed the white sheet to her, undetected by Ms. Bitters. Alice nodded in thanks and started drawing on it with her pencil.
Then everything seemed to go black.
…..
"You're quite the little sketcher, Alexis. I've never seen a child your age with such talent." the white cat complimented while looking over Lexi's latest sketch.
"Thanks Scarlet. But I don't think I'm that good." Alexis blushed taking the notepad back.
"Nonsense! You have a real talent, whether you realize and accept it or not." Scarlett smiled, hooking the strap of a dark green bag around her neck.
"Could you look over the kittens from me again? I hate to have to give you so much responsibility over them but I need to look for food and I can't leave them alone." she asked, turning back to her.
"Why don't I go looking for food? That way you can stay here and take care of them." Alexis asked, standing up.
"I know it might be easier for both of us but if you get caught by someone they could call the police. I don't want that to happen to you, Dear. You're part of the family now." Scarlet said jumping up on the back wall of the enclosed apartment complex.
"And this family doesn't let any of its members get taken away."
…
Alice's head shot up as the final Skool bell rang and students hopped up from their desks with joy.
"Did I fall asleep?" Alice asked herself.
She looked down at the sheet of paper on her desk to see her unfinished drawing of girl playing with her cat. She sighed and picked it up but taking a second glance at it she saw more. The light shining through the paper revealed something had been drawn on the back of the page. She took one of her hands off the paper and saw her fingers were stained shiny silver from the pencil lead. Her curiosity sadly getting the best of her, she flipped the paper over and gasped in horror.
The image was dark and harshly scribbled on the page. It was a creature with long sharp claws and a terrifying smile, accompanied by a pair of hollow, evil eyes staring right back at her. She moved her thumbs and saw a sentence written very rushed and almost unreadable underneath the image along with the number 813 written neatly in the corner.
tHE tiME Is DRaWiNG nEAr.
As Alice stared at the words something grabbed the paper out of her hands and pulled on her arm. She let out a small scream and saw Zim holding onto her with an irritated look on his green face.
"Come, Alice-human." he said, dragging Alice out of the room.
When they got to the hallway Alice lightly shoved him off her arm and followed his lead. They weaved through the mass of moving students and eventually got out the door and on their way to Zim's house. Or so Alice thought.
"So what are we doing at the park?" Alice asked, sitting down next to Zim on a bench.
"Zim does not fully trust you to see the amazing house of Zim quite yet." Zim explained.
"I see. And what must I do to obtain this trust?" Alice asked in a mocking tone.
Zim shot her a glare and sat back on the bench. "You have been conversing with the Dib-stink, yes?"
Alice nodded.
"And he has told you of his ridiculous alien accusations?"
Nod.
"So…" Zim leaned in close to her. "Do you believe him?" he asked softly.
Alice felt her cheeks heating up. "W-well...he may not be wrong but he doesn't seem to be very mentally stable." She said, attempting to back up.
Zim pulled away from her and back into his original position. "Alright then. Let us begin the assignment." he said as if he hadn't acting like a complete creep a few seconds earlier. "Uh...okay."
The next few hours consisted of nothing more than awkward questioning and jotting down notes.
"Hey, do you know the time?" Alice asked.
"Of course! Why?" Zim cocked his head.
"Just like a dog." Alice thought with a smile.
"Could you tell me what it is?" Alice asked, with a giggle.
"Oh, um...5:47." Zim said, after a minute of thought.
"Okay, thanks." Alice said, standing up and rubbing her sore back.
"Where are you going?" Zim glared at her.
"I need to get home. But thanks for telling me everything I wanted to know." Alice smiled. "So is anytime tomorrow good for you?"
Zim pondered the question for a bit. "Meet Zim back here at 2 o'clock tomorrow." he said, standing up and taking a few steps in the opposite direction. "Don't be late." he warned, turning to her one more time.
Alice nodded and ran off down the path.
…
Dib stepped out of the Skool bathroom in his stealth suit and hid behind a set of lockers as Zim and Alice ran past him without seeing him.
Dib followed them at a distance, ducking behind bushes and garbage cans as they walked together in silence with the occasional awkward small talk. Dib stopped at the entrance to the park and hid in one of the trees. He didn't want to risk getting caught. If Zim tried anything he'd no doubt hear it.
Hours past and as the sun was just starting to set Alice stepped out of the park. Dib sighed to himself that she was unharmed. He slowly made his way out of the tree. Halfway down his foot slipped and he lost his grip, falling into the bushes.
Alice jumped back and built up a small ball of energy behind her back as she cautiously walked up to the rustling bush.
"Hey, Alice." Dib said rubbing a bruise on his head.
"D-Dib?!" The energy broke apart in her hand and she went to help Dib up. "Can anyone just walk by and say 'hey' in this place? You scared the shit out of me!" she asked.
Dib snickered and brushed himself off. "Sorry."
"What are you wearing?" she asked.
"Oh, this is nothing. I'm just...uh…"
"Trying to be a ninja?" Alice smirked.
"Yeah, I guess." Dib rubbed the back of neck, embarrassed.
"Well, good luck with...whatever it is you're doing. You weren't spying on my though, right?" Alice gave him a suspicious glance.
"N-no! Of course not!" Alice nodded.
"Good. I thought I was going to have to put a security system on my bras or something." she laughed.
Dib stuttered and blushed but was able to give a light smile.
"Alright, well, I gotta get going. I'll see you around, Dib." Alice said, turning away with a small wave.
Dib shyly waved back and sighed, thinking in the back of his head that he had planned on following her. He sat down against a tree and sighed, weighing his options.
"Alice trusts me right now. If I try to follow her now she'll never forgive me. She'd probably kill me. If I give it some time it'll be easier to her to overlook if she catches me. Yeah, that's what I'll do." Dib nodded to himself as he stood up and started his walk home.
