There's Always a Light in the Darkness
Or, The Tale of the Logical
By: The Talking Absol
Chapter Ten: Dream On
As soon as Dib was out of sight, Zim let out a heaving sigh. He turned back into his house, taking off his wig and running a hand over his antennae. That girl! She enchanted him so.
So tough and yet so...
He felt a longing, a deep-rooted actual feeling for her. Pitiful human emotions. They made him lose his concentration.
He turned to Gir, who opened the door briefly and then closed it behind him.
"Computer! List off the movies you recommended. Gir, give me a short summary of each one." Zim commanded, pacing across his living room floor.
"Uh, okay. First is 'Princess Bride'."
"This girl is promised to this funny-looking guy but she gets captured by pirates and saved by a long-lost loooove..." Gir said childishly.
"Bah! Next one." Zim waved his hands.
The computer paused, and then continued, "Next is 'Roxanne'."
"This guy with a big nose-" Gir started, but Zim interrupted.
"That's enough info." He paused himself, putting his face in his hands. "What about that one with the title?"
"Uhhhhh...they all have titles." the computer pointed out.
"Oh, right. I meant the one with the Earth-funny title. The one I thought sounded good."
"'Say Anything?'"
"It's about this guy that falls for this girl, and there's a scene with a boombox..."
"Perfect! That's the one." Zim said, growing excited. He jumped up and over the couch, setting down on the cushions, whence Gir flew into the kitchen and threw three bags of Poop-corn into the microwave.
~~~Later
"NOOOOOO! You moronic hyuman! Stay with him!" Zim cried, clutching the pillow. Gir made a series of crying noises, and tears fell from his face in big drops.
"Awww, but Master! He loves her enough to let her go!" Gir cried.
Zim roughly shook his head. "No! They love each other! They need to be together..."
As the credits rolled, Zim recovered and looked up at his computer. " Computer! Download that song, ah..."
"In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel."
"Yessss, that one. I have a plan!" Zim shot up from the couch, grabbing a few wires that were lying around and a few scraps of metal.
"Isn't that plagiarizing?" Gir asked, cocking his head to one side.
"Only if we get caught." Zim responded, throwing the bits into the sink. "Computer, build a...boombox."
"Processing...processing...PROCESSING!!!" the computer whirred like a giant engine, and a boombox with a CD inside appeared on the counter.
"Good, thank you." Zim smiled, and grabbed it, checking to make sure there were batteries inside. Upon a confirmation, he slid out into the night, humming. Gir silently got up and followed him, more out of curiosity than faith to his master.
~~~The Memebrane Household
Gaz kept to herself that night, right up until bedtime. Dib tried pestering her once or twice, but a punch to the face taught him that lesson. She didn't want to think about earlier, or the fact that Zim, of all people, had saved her.
The thought disgusted her, but what made her shiver was that man's look when he grabbed her again.
Was it...recognition? A glimmer of a memory? She pushed those thoughts away, except for his face. As soon as she saw him again, she was going to rip him apart...
If she didn't kill Zim first. But that cause another storm of thoughts to arise. Really better to end his suffering now; she knew he probably wouldn't quit. On the other hand, she could toy with him and break his heart. Slow and painful. She liked that idea.
Love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart...
Music suddenly pounded through her window, and she shot up and out of bed to it. The music turned down slightly, but she could still hear it, clear as day. She threw open her window, and not to her surprise, Zim was clinging to her wall right outside, boombox in his hands. All of his spiderlegs were positioned around her window, keeping him perfectly stable. His antennae perked under his wig when she came out, and he let loose a grin. Gaz tried shouting at him, but the music drowned her voice.
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are…
Zim watched her, fascinated, while she screamed and ranted at him. He couldn't hear her, but the anger flowing around her made her look gorgeous, so he blissfully gazed at her. Upon only seeing Zim's reaction as a dopey smile, Gaz fell silent and resorted to punching his boombox. It shorted out, the music fading quickly, waking Zim up from his dream.
Instead of immediately hurting him, however, Gaz grew playful. "Zi-im, I know what you want." She grabbed his collar, pulling him close. He gulped, face blushing a dark green, but fell easily under her charm. She pulled him closer, closer...
And then slammed the window shut on his neck and hands. He screeched in agony, and Gaz preceded to pummel his face with a series of kicks, punches, and various other objects that happened to be laying nearby. After a minute or so, she threw the window back open and let him fall to the ground, writhing in pain.
Zim attempted to get up, slowly and unsteadily, but something fell from Gaz's window and onto his back. It clanked and pulled him back to the ground, and then something in it glowed red and it came to life. The monkey-looking object screeched, waving its arms wildly and hitting Zim with its long, metal appendages. Zim got up on his feet, yelling with surprise, and began running around, trying to shake or take it off. It stuck insistently to his back, still screeching and hitting him. Gaz saw Gir turn and watch, but do nothing to help his master. Both figures disappeared off into the night.
Gaz started to let out a giggle, but the doorknob turned and she re-composed herself. Dib walked in, rubbing his eyes.
He let out a mumble that Gaz translated as "Everything alright?"
"Get...out...of...MY ROOM!" Gaz shrieked, punching him, hard, in the gut. He stumbled backwards, still unaware, and she slammed the door in his face. She put her back up against it, and let out a short sigh before stifling another giggle.
She might just enjoy this "relationship" with Zim. She considered the pros and cons while she settled back in to bed.
One, she would certainly annoy the hell out of Dib. That was a major plus. Two, she could control Zim. Another major plus. Although, she didn't really want to risk actually liking Zim. That was a major bad sign.
Oh well...she could take chances. Just a little experiment for a while.
Zim didn't come to school for a few days, but no one noticed other than Dib and Gaz, though Dib swore he saw the Voot Cruiser flying around. When Zim did come back, he still had remnants of Gaz's abuse. He now avoided her like a plague, evidently having learned some kind of lesson. She watched his movements, and after that initial week, he began to grow, again, more comfortable around her.
In the meantime, Dib and Zim started hanging out at each other's houses, evidently trying to get along. Gaz knew Dib was probably just taking advantage of the fact that Zim was too stupid to think that Dib would take advantage of him, but Dib hadn't made any moves after this long period of time. So, maybe for once in his miserable, pathetic life, he wasn't thinking about paranormal studies. And while Zim was in a generally better mood, he still had his "past Zim" moments.
Dib was the first to officially notice Gir's change, and Zim gave the same answer he did to Gir when Dib questioned him about it. Zim, however, did not mention what the Tallest (unbeknownst to anyone) had noticed about the little SIR unit.
Dib was ecstatic when Zim agreed to help fix Tak's ship. It meant that one, he would finally get some help form someone who really knew what they were doing, and two, he could follow Zim when he went out.
He still planned on handing Zim over the authorities, but with each day he felt a greater weight on his conscious whenever he thought about it. It was like handing a baby over to a meat factory- Zim was too...ignorant now. Too innocent and helpful. The thought of Zim on the autopsy table now sickened Dib, but Dib felt sickened with himself about that thought too.
If he wanted to be a good paranormal investigator, he would hand Zim over to the authorities. When he did, he could plead Zim's case to be "Research only" though. Hm. That could work. As Zim and he worked on Tak's ship, however, he thought of delaying it until next week.
"Hey Zim, gimmie the green wire."
"You sure? It'll turn on the automatic voice."
"Oh." Dib's hand hesitated, and then waved Zim off. "Nevermind. That can be done last."
Zim laughed, and then scrambled back up from under the ship. "I'm going to connect the battery gauge." Upon hearing a silence from under the ship, he finished, "It'll adjust the power level and charge the battery. I suggest you get away from the engine."
Dib hurriedly jumped out and away from Tak's ship as Zim jumped into the cockpit. He had pulled the control board away earlier, and now connected several different wires. The ship beeped, and there was a nasty growl as Zim pulled two wires apart and connected them to other wires. The ship rocked, and Zim clung for dear life as it threatened to fall. Suddenly, it made a low, dull beep, and straightened itself, sparks flying briefly before settling down.
There was a sullen silence between the boys before Zim said quietly, "That usually means it's safe."
"Usually?" Dib questioned as Zim carefully climbed out, clicking one of the wires into the outlet in the garage. Tak's ship lit up, and Dib was pleasantly surprised to see the power didn't go out in the neighborhood.
"Most normally, almost-all-the-time-sort-of-thing." Zim said, going back under the ship. "If you want, I could test it out first..."
"Okay." Dib said, shrugging.
"Hey, hand me the 2 by 4." Zim called out from under the ship.
"Okay..." Dib said hesitantly. He grabbed the plywood and set it in Zim's hands, and Zim went back under the ship. There was a bashing noise, a spark, and finally a curse, but the ship whirred to life.
Zim crawled out from under it, and looking satisfied, patted the ship. The two worked quickly, putting the last pieces into place on the ship. After only a few more minutes, Tak's ship was completely repaired.
"Good work Dib-mon-" Zim paused, shook himself, and finished, "Dib."
Dib frowned, and asked bravely of Zim, "What's going on with you?"
Zim looked startled, antennae perking under his wig. "What do you mean?"
Dib's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "I mean everything. You're nice, humble, helpful, and just so opposite of yourself most of the time. You past self, that is." Dib sighed and proceeded to clean his glassed on his shirt. "I just don't get it, especially when your old personality shows up like that."
Zim looked away, eyes distant. Finally, he turned back and said, "I guess I'm just trying to make up for everything that I did. I was cruel, egotistical, and an all-around bad guest on this planet. Sure, I am an Invader, but when I went through some old files in my memory, I found that the Tallest had told me to solely observe this planet." Zim grinned sheepishly. "I guess I was so eager to prove myself to them that I twisted the message."
Dib smiled at the alien. "I guess I should know how that feels."
Zim turned back to ship, feeling better, until it screamed at both of them in Tak's voice, "You sons of a Blortch rat! Where the hell am I?!"
Both boys jumped back, and one of the ship's sharp legs reached forward to try and puncture them. The wires connecting it to the garage shot back up and into the ship, and the ship instantly went dead.
There was another stunned silence between the two.
"I could've sworn it still had my personality..." Dib said wearily, getting up.
"Perhaps when I restarted the system, it went back to its original one..." Zim gawked, and eyes narrowing briefly, he reached inside and disconnected several wires. He then nodded to Dib, who ran over and re-connected the ship. The ship again whirred to life, but stayed still and quiet. Both boys let out sighs of relief.
"Thank Irk..." Zim said, exasperated.
Gaz came in through the door, calling to both of them, "Hey! Dinner's ready. Dib, get your rear up here." She turned to Zim, growing suspiciously calm and saying nicely, "Zim, you can stay if you want." She gave a nasty smile, and flounced back through the door.
Zim's mouth dropped open, and Dib glanced between him and the door, unsure of what to do or say. Zim closed his mouth, and swallowed heavily, a light blush covering his face, before turning and looking unsurely at Dib.
"Um...I'm not really sure what that was, but it can't be good." Dib stumbled, and then walked back into his house.
Zim paused, fully stunned, before shaking himself off, mumbling something. The ship beeped at him, sparked a weird red, and then fell silent again. He then got up and walked stiffly back into the house.
In the cold, dark night, a red...thing crawled along the floor of Dib's garage. It hissed something, like a curse, and wrapped itself around the wire connecting Tak's ship to the garage. It retracted quickly, and the creature crawled back up and into the cockpit. The wires connected themselves, and the ship clicked back on. There was almost no noise as coordinates set themselves, but as the ship hummed loudly and slowly backed out of the garage, lights turned on in the Membrane house. Dib rushed through the door, evidently worried, and growled a curse and rushed forward, trying to grab onto the ship. It shook him off, and then took off into the night sky.
He collapsed on the ground, cursing Zim, but looked up when he heard a mad giggle behind him. He saw the creature, and while he couldn't really make it out, he was instantly curious. He shot up and made a jump for it, whence it shrieked and moved away, scurrying in another direction. Dib recovered and scrambled after it, and timing himself, jumped and grabbed it. It screamed, tone growing to a painful pitch. Dib gasped, trying to block his ears, but held fast.
He brought the creature up close as it fell into a serious of struggling and shrieking things in a funny language. He sat on his knees, watching it, growing angrier and more curious if this was a new species.
It looked kind of like a snake, but its head was too curved and pointed, and there were three spikes on its oval head. Its length seemed to alter every second, changing between the length of a python and a small lizard. Finally, Dib could stand it no longer.
"What the hell are you, and did you do that?!" Dib cried, pointing to where Tak's ship had gone.
'Karuni...farasha SHANA!' Dib nearly jumped out of his skin when the creature spoke in his head, looking him dead-on in the eyes with its concaved, dark red ones. 'Stani gya ku! Deeb, daruga nagigi kufa!'
Dib had a suspicious feeling that this thing was cursing him out, but that could be dealt with later. Dib pointed at himself, thinking, 'Deeb?'
The creature appeared to roll its eyes, and said, 'Gani...dugi karuni...OF COURSE!'
Dib jumped and let go of the creature, heart pounding in his chest. The creature blew him a raspberry with a snake-like tongue, also red in color, and then disappeared.
As he got back up and walked back into his house, he decided to count that as a 7.5 on his Weird Scale.
Somewhere, out in space, the ship came up to a broken metal appendage that floated along, forgotten but never dead. The ship shot a wire out, grabbing onto it and dragging back into the ship. It beeped to life, and a cry of rejoice was heard inside. A rather quiet mew came from within too, and there were words of hurt and comfort.
Revenge was not perfect enough anymore. Obliterating, now that was something.
Cold purple eyes narrowed as the navigator system set itself back on Earth, and twirled antennae flattened.
She was going back. And this time, there would be no mistakes.
END CHAPTER TEN
Rushed, piece-of-crap-sort-of-thing.
Muchas gracias, again, to Invader Aqua.
Hooray for cardstacking! It's my favorite reasoning fallacy. Also, sorry if what's in this chapter (hooray for ZADF!) has already been re-iterated- I tend to forget what I write a lot. It usually causes problems. XD
And I know this chapter probably could've (and should've) been combined with the previous one. Sorry!
And if the lyrics aren't allowed to be in this (copyright or something), then just let me know and I can remove them- Paraphrasing is also fun! No problem! 3
"In Your Eyes" belongs to Peter Gabriel.
Invader Zim and everything else belongs to Jhonen Vasquez.
Chapter Title belongith to Aerosmith.