Something soft hit Zim's foot. He turned, ready to scream at the offender, when he realized it was the stuffed purple bear. It had rolled through the bars of the crib and into the cage. Irritated, Zim bent and picked it up with the tips of his claws, tossing it back. "Get that away from me, I do not want your sticky, gummy bear."
Crawling over, Cranic giggled, rolling the bear back to Zim. The Invader growled. "Stop that!" And threw it back. Again, it was returned. Zim picked it up and hurled it at the crib as hard as he could. "STOPPIT!"
The bear bounced against the rickety crib wall hard, and it fell apart. Cranic trilled, rolling over the fallen bars and into the cage. Zim frowned. "So it's programmed to keep me in, but won't keep you out? Wonderful. As if this wasn't bad enough. Just… go back, okay?" He picked the smeet up and set him close to the bars, but Cranic continued to roll back toward him, convinced it was a game.
Disgusted, Zim retreated to the far side of the cage, glowering. For a moment, Cranic just looked at him, then began crawling toward him. Angrily, Zim shoved him hard. "Go away!"
Tumbling back, Cranic bumped his head on the floor of the cage. His eyes filled slowly, and he sniffed.
Alarmed, Zim stood. "Oh no… no no no no no…"
A small groan escaped the smeet's throat, followed by more, each successively louder. Clenching his teeth, Zim walked over and picked him up. Soon, the sniffing stopped as Cranic buried his face in Zim's chest, getting it wet with his tears. Zim grimaced, sickened, but didn't dare put him down for fear of restarting the barrage of tears, which seemed to be slowing down. Indeed, the longer he held Cranic, the more he nuzzled Zim's chest.
Zim wiped his chest frantically. "Stop getting gooey wetness on Zim! That's disgusting."
Cranic looked up at Zim curiously. The Invader frowned, waving his claws in front of Cranic's face. "What? What do you want from me?" At this, Cranic giggled. Zim paused, then waved his claws again. Again, Cranic laughed.
Zim paused to consider. He had few options. He could try to send the baby back to the crib, but that hadn't worked yet. He could set the baby down and risk it crying again—not an option. Or he could attempt to amuse the baby and keep it happy. Sighing, he continued waving his claws in front of Cranic's face, wriggling them a little. The smeet laughed harder, and the corner of Zim's mouth twitched upward, just barely. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. Ignoring the part of his mind that was appalled by his actions, he began making space ship sound effects to the motion of his claws, making them take off and land on Cranic's head.
On a whim, Zim hefted him a little, then pretended that Cranic was a ship, flying him around the cage and making zooming noises. Beside himself with joy, Cranic stretched his arms, out, waving them and babbling happily. No one else ever took the time to play with him like this, and he loved every second of it.
Zim smiled, watching him laugh, but his arms were tiring. He set Cranic down by the bear. "Here. You want this, right?" Handing it to Cranic, he sat down as well.
Gleefully, Cranic hugged the bear tightly, then turned and held it out to Zim, smiling.
"What? No, that's yours. Just take it." Zim mumbled. Cranic continued to hold it out to him expectantly. Sighing, Zim gingerly took the gummed bear. With a smile, Cranic crawled over to Zim and sat next to him. They remained in silence for a few minutes, until a grumble from Cranic's stomach startled Zim.
Glancing over, Zim noticed the tray of food Lorelie had left. He picked up a small round biscuit and held it out for Cranic, before realizing that the smeet had no teeth with which to chew the food. Wincing, he looked at the tray again. A small jar of mashed food had been left, along with a little spoon. Zim frowned, getting the uneasy feeling that Lorelie knew this would happen. He popped the lid off and scooped some goo out with the spoon, holding it in front of Cranic. "Here. Eat." He commanded.
Cranic took one look at it and turned his head away, eyes squinting.
"Come on, eat." Zim pleaded. "I heard your spooch growl." No response. Glaring, Zim hissed, "Eat!" and shoved the spoon right up to Cranic's mouth. Cranic turned his head again, the spoon just touching his cheek.
Feeling the last of his dignity slipping away, Zim wiggled the spoon and made zooming noises. Sure enough, Cranic turned to watch, eyes wide. Zim made wider and wider arcs with the spoon, and as Cranic opened his mouth to laugh, Zim made a dive for the opening. The baby's mouth closed around the spoon, sucking off the food happily.
"Smeets are strange." Zim groaned, and continued this method of feeding him. After Cranic had cleaned the last of the goo off the spoon, Zim set him aside and grabbed the food left for him, his own spooch rumbling by now. Cranic smiled up at him, gobs of goo smeared all over his face. Queasy, Zim made a face at him. "You're a messy eater. You should eat like Zim." Snatching a napkin from the tray, he began wiping off the smeet's face. Cranic whined, waving his arms feebly at Zim, but was ignored.
"Now," Zim set him down and pointed him toward the crib. "Go back to your crib. Zim has much to think about."
Cranic whined, shaking his head, and turned himself back toward Zim, who sighed, "I need to think about things, smeet. Don't shake your head at me." Cranic shook his head again, giggling a little.
Frustrated, Zim pointed, "Just play with the bear, would you?" To Zim's chagrin, Cranic merely crawled back to sit beside him, smiling. "You're very frustrating, you know that? LORALIE!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to get her attention. When this failed, he slumped back against the bars and gritted his teeth.
Cranic pulled his lips back, pressing his gums together hard. Zim frowned at him. Cranic returned the frown, pulling his mouth down. Zim blinked, waving his hand in front of Cranic's face. Cranic giggled, waving his hand at Zim, although unable to reach his face. With a grin, Zim began making ridiculous faces at Cranic, who copied each and every one of them.
Suddenly the ship rocked drastically. Zim was hurled against the back of the cage, and he barely managed to catch Cranic, who whimpered, eyes wide. Zim's eyes narrowed as he held Cranic. "That was no turbulence, what is going on?"
….
Lurich frowned at the screens, calling to Riddick, "We just took some minor fire from an Irken cruiser!"
Raising an eyeridge, Riddick asked, "Why would an Irken cruiser fire at us when we are delivering Zim to them?" Before he had finished the question, a button started flashing. "They're hailing us. Answer that, Lurich."
Lurich pressed the button, and Dib's face spread across the screen, tight with anger. "GIVE ZIM BACK YOU ALIEN CRETINS!"
"Way to win friends and influence people, Dib," A purple-haired girl drawled from behind Dib.
Riddick's brow furrowed. "This one is becoming annoying, and he has brought guests."
"Didn't Mutan teach you enough, kid?" Lurich scratched his head, confuse by the boy's stupidity. "Do you wanna die?"
The purple-haired one opened one eye. "Believe me, you'd better give him Zim back. Otherwise he'll never shut up, and I'll have to get involved. You won't like that."
Pushing Lurich aside, Riddick stood in front of the screen. "Believe me, you have no idea what you are dealing with, little girl."
On the other side of Dib, a man with a white lab coat and goggles gaped at the screen. "Really, your costuming is amazing."
Lurich snorted. "Who's the stiff in the lab coat?"
"My Dad, the greatest scientist in the world." Dib boasted.
Glancing at him, Riddick said dismissively, "Seen a lot smarter on other planets, but if he came he must want Zim back as well. If that is what you all wish, then by all means. We will be waiting for you." He nodded at Lurich, who pulled a lever, opening a hatch in the ship. "Be forewarned, we will not be easy on you."
The Irken cruiser pulled into the hatchway quickly. As soon as the door sealed on them, the three humans spilled out. Dib shouted at the empty room, "Where is he?"
A static crackle sounded from a monitor to their right, and Riddick's face filled it. "Well, let's see how you all fare on the ship then. Golgion, crush them."
Blinking, Dib asked, "Golgion?"
The door leading out of the ship hangar slid open, and a large Irken stepped out. Unlike Lurich, his bulk was as much fat as muscle, and he had a leather mask with a partly stitched mouth. His green eyes shone through the eyeholes maliciously, and his short antennae twitched. He snarled at the intruders, cracking his knuckles. From the monitor, Riddick offered, "I'll give you one chance to leave. If not, Golgion here will kill you. So I will ask again, are you willing to risk your lives for this… Irken?"
Dib paled, staring at the small mountain in front of him. The Professor, however, was fascinated and proclaimed, "Really, amazing disguises. But you can take them off now. You must tell me what chemicals you used to turn your skin that color, or what this horrible disease is."
"And you said he was smart," Riddick muttered in disbelief.
Swallowing hard, Dib planted his feet, standing his ground. Noting this, Riddick sighed. "Is that a no, then?" Dib's hands shook, but he nodded. "Very well then." With a snap of his fingers, the screen turned dark, leaving the three facing down a rather large, angry Irken.
Note: I know the sentences mostly began with names, but it's hard not to when it's a back and forth between two characters, and one is a baby. It'll get better in the next chapter.
