Unlikely Hero
Author's Notes: Yeah, not much to say. I want to get right down to lettin' you read the chapter. My school band took third place at a competition, yo'.
Dude! My karma just ran over your dogma!
Chapter 10: Family Night
"Good morning," Zim casually greeted as Gaz entered the kitchen.
"Eh," she replied with a shrug as she walked past him.
Zim followed her with his eyes and even pivoted his chair to keep her in sight. He watched as she wandered over to the calendar. "Is something wrong? You seemed quiet last night… Am I not-"
"No, Zim, you're fine… and as far as I can tell, the 'bonding ritual' as you like to call it, is good too," she replied matter-of-factly.
"So, why do you sound upset?"
"Oh, well, ya see my period's late and – AW S!"
"What?"
"Tonight's family night! I gotta go back to Earth, Zim," Gaz explained as she ran back to their bedroom to change. "I don't have that much time now, so I'll be back tomorrow to pick up my stuff!"
"Are you leaving for good?" Zim asked. Gaz reentered the kitchen and locked eyes with him. He looked absolutely wilted with his antenna drooped so low that they disappeared behind his head. His eyes were huge and already beginning to look wet and glossy.
Gaz sighed, "Zim, don't give me that crap. You should know by now that I love you. What, we've only been sleeping together for two weeks now. Of course I'll come back to you. I'll just bring some new clothes with me."
His antenna perked up. "Very well. If you must go, then go. But if anything should happen, I'll-"
"Be there for me. I know, Zim, I know," she said, leaning down and giving him a kiss. "I'll be back by this time tomorrow."
"Fine, fine. But tell me… If it's family night, why are you leaving this early in the morning?"
"Oh, things to do, people to see, children to scare. But I'll be back tomorrow, so don't get too protective."
"Alright then, be gone with you," Zim commanded, but lightly smirked. "Skoodge'll let you out of the base after you teleport back down to Earth."
"Right. Bye," Gaz called as she left the room.
Zim waited patiently at the kitchen table. There was a soft noise in the other room, signifying that Gaz had returned to Earth. "Finally," Zim said to himself as he jumped up from the table and ran back to the bedroom. Once there, he looted through Gaz's belongings, looking for anything that would aid him in his mission. He found the desired object in her wallet.
"This is it!" he said triumphantly, holding up Gaz's identification card for the Membrane labs. Wasting no time, he ran to the nearest transmission screen to contact his leaders.
Tallests Red and Purple appeared on the receiving end.
"Zim!?" the two exclaimed simultaneously.
Tallest Red cleared his throat, "Have you found the infor-"
"My Tallests, I have in my possession the female's card that gains her access to the Membrane Human's lab. Within said lab is the information you require," Zim explained, his voice betraying some of his excitement.
"Really?!" Purple asked enthusiastically.
"When do we send the soldiers?" Red asked.
"As soon as possible. I'm off to the labs now to retrieve the transmission the humans intercepted. Once it's in my possession, you can feel free to destroy this filthy dirtball," Zim said.
"Very good, Zim, the Armada is on its way. Contact us as soon as you have the transmission," Red explained.
"Wahoo, yeah. Alright people, give it up for the Irken Empire," Purple called to the surrounding pilots of the Massive. "Let's go destroy a lesser planet just to be jerks!"
The pilots threw up their arms in a silent victory and the transmission was cut.
Zim wasted no time getting on his uniform. He barely even managed to grab his entire disguise, with as big of a hurry that he was in. This was his one big chance to regain his lost honor, and prove himself worthy in the eyes of his leaders.
"You should know by now that I love you."
Zim shook his head as if to shake Gaz's words out of his mind. 'Forget her. You could never have the same feelings, anyways. "Sacrifices will be made", isn't that what they told me at the Academy?' he reminded himself as he adjusted his wig before teleporting back down to Earth.
"Hey, Zim, uh, Gaz just left and I don't know if-"
"Silence, Skoodge. I already know that she left! And she left us with an opportunity," Zim explained.
Skoodge's antenna perked up. "Really? What kind of op-"
"What part of SILENCE are you having trouble comprehending today, Skoodge? Now, the Earth female left in my possession her access card to her father's labs. We have no time to waste! The Armada will be here shortly! Don't just stand there in silence like an idiot, Skoodge. Get your disguise!"
Skoodge saluted and he hastily turned to fetch his disguise, and in doing so, he promptly tripped over GIR, still in his ductape cocoon and fell flat on his face.
"I'm okay," Skoodge informed from his position on the floor while Zim smacked himself on the forehead.
(Page Break)
Gaz sighed heavily as she looked up to meet her reflection's eyes in the mirror in the family bathroom. 'This isn't what I wanted…' She then disposed of the tiny unit that had given her the troubling news and retreated back to her bedroom. She flopped face down into her pillow. 'Great…' her mind commented sarcastically. 'How in Hell am I going to tell Dad? Let alone Dib.'
The thought of her brother finding out brought Gaz back to the nightmare she had had about Zim nearly a week before. It sent chills down her spine, so she crawled under her bed sheets. 'Dib'll surely be furious, but he deserves this, in an ironic way. This is my life, and for once I was starting to feel like I was in control of it. This is a setback, but I'll make good of it… or get rid of it.'
That thought surprisingly made her sick to her stomach. 'Do I want to get rid of it?' she asked herself. Her mind bombarded her with nearly a thousand different scenarios, and she covered her head with her pillow to tune them all out.
"I'll talk to Zim about it," she reasoned out loud. "He put this thing in me, and if he doesn't want it, he can take it out of me as well."
Throwing off her covers as well as the pillow, Gaz prepared to go back to Zim's house when she heard a door open downstairs.
"Now that we're home, Dib," began a very familiar voice, "let Family Fun Night BEGIN!"
"Yeah," Gaz yelled as she opened the door to her room and peered down the staircase. "And I'll be joining you."
(Page Break)
The members of the Membrane family now sat at the small, circular table in the middle of their kitchen. The tradition used to be that they would go out on Family Night, but Dib had long ago grown out of fast food restaurants for a healthier alternative. As for Gaz, it was hard for her to go to Bloaty's Pizza Hog without strangling any of the screaming children. So the new tradition was that Family Night was spent at home.
Professor Membrane looked between his two children. "So, daughter," he began, "where have you been for the past week. Dib told me that you ran away."
Gaz picked at her dinner, "No, I was just staying with a friend."
Dib then added, "A friend who just happens to be an-"
Membrane chuckled, "That's nice, honey. So, Dib, today in the lab…"
"Oh, yeah. I can't believe we've come this close to decoding the transmission. I've fully decoded some bits and pieces and it talks about a key of some sort, and that it lies in the south. Weird."
"You said it, my boy. We'll be on the cover of every magazine known to man by this time next week. We'll go down in history together, Dib. They'll put us in the Skool textbooks for this. We may even get the 'Greatest Father and Son to Ever Live' award!"
Gaz slammed her fists down on the table, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt. "I'm sick of this. You two just blabbering on and on between each other and pretending that I don't even exist. Tell me, Dad, when you and Dib are in the Skool textbooks, what will I be? A footnote? Will my name even be mentioned, or will history just pretend that I was never born so it can focus on the two of you with no distractions!! This is why I left in the first place, because neither of you care about me. You never have! I've just been this mistake that the two of you try desperately to control. Well, I'm just as human as the two of you, and I'm just as much a part of this family, yet you continue to ignore me and just go on with your lives. Did you even send out a search party for me when I turned up missing?! NO!! And it's because neither of you care about me or what goes on in my life!"
Dib and his father both sat leaned back in their chairs, in shock from the horrible, yet truthful, rant. Now that it was over Dib continued chewing, though at a slower and more cautious rate.
Professor Membrane cleared his throat, "Well, daughter, you make an interesting point. I promise to be a more active parent in your life. So, tell me… How are you today?" he asked kindly.
"I'm pregnant," Gaz growled and then stood up from her seat.
The news instantly made Dib choke on his food while Membrane's goggles cracked over and shattered. The stunned scientist then fell over out of his chair, making a heavy thud on the floor. Gaz left the room and went out the front door.
Finally managing to safely swallow, Dib jumped from his chair calling, "GAZ! WAIT!!"
She did wait, standing on the front porch just outside the door, but not because of her brother's pleas. She was frozen at the sight of the alien ships that now filled the sky, all bearing the Irken symbol that Zim had on his Space Base.
(End Chapter)
Author's Notes: The plot thickens! Okay, JSYK, this is the chapter that inspired me to write this story. I had the Membrane dinner scene in my mind this whole time, and I think it's HILARIOUS! Hope you did too, now for the thankyous…
Endsville: As usual, the first to review. I'm workin' on reading your story, but I wasn't able to get on a computer this week. I'm glad you like this Zim. He IS evil. (Cackles)
CosmicAurora: There, now don't you feel smart. Don't worry, you didn't ruin anything. I'm sure everybody saw it coming anyways. Ya gots to wonder 'bout dat Zimmy. (Shifty ninja eyes)
Shiruba Anrui: (Feels honored) I'm so loved. TT.TT! First I write the greatest story in all of ZADR-dom and now you're saying I wrote the best story in all of ZAGR-dom?! Wow, I need to expand into DATR-dom to make my empire all the bigger! Oh, and to answer your almost question, Zim and Gaz ARE going to have a baby, and this story is only going to get longer. Enjoy!
Invader Ash: Ah, thankies for the praise. It shouldn't be much longer before Gaz finds out. . .
Shiva the Sarcastic: I'm glad that you like it. Please review again.
Anime master Inu: Oy, tell me about it. NEVER take AP European Histroy. It SUCKS! BTW, I checked out your DA. Cool! Thanks for reviewing.
Invader Johnny: Yes, I know that you REALLY want this to be a gooey romance like ATO. Don't worry, just hang in there. I still have quite a ways to go, and you know how I just LOVE to thicken the plot until it is obese. No matter what, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
geminidragon76: Gaz, the pretty and the dangerous! Don't be surprised if you see that quote later on in the story. So many people want to see Zim get owned by Gaz. I find it funny. Thanks for the review. I love your penname.
DemonSurfer: Wow, I feel smart now. I kinda had a feeling about it, but I just thought I'd check. The jury is correct and if I might say to Zim, the Irony Gods hath smiled upon the as they flipped the the bird.
Da Mongoose: Yes, everybody loved GIR in his cocoon. I hope you have a better idea of what Zim's gonna steal from Membrane.
Invader Chelsea: Awww, I feel loved. Thanks for reviewing.
Sacred Suicide: (Chews with mouth overly full) Mmmm, bwonie. Thanks. I'm glad that my fic has that effect on people. I feel loved.
rikagirls: (Pats on shoulder) Don't worry. Revenge will be had, and a child will be born. But because it's parents are Zim and Gaz, it might be the anti-Christ. Oh well.
Sammy: Don't stare at the computer for too long, you'll hurt your eyes, but I'm glad that you like my fic so much. It gives me the warm tinglies.
Linda: Don't worry, Gaz won't doom me. She'll just beat Zim to a bloody pulp and set his remains on fire. YAY FIRE!
InvaderInsane: Yes, I do feel bad about what I'm doing to Gaz, but not bad enough to change my ways. (Smirks)
AGodofIrony: I'd love for you to do some Zim art for me. I'm desperate for someone to draw pictures for my story. So if you can, or you know someone who can, please let me know.
Zantor7: I think you can sue the schools, or you can bring your lunch. Anyways, thanks for reviewing.
Kezzybob: Smiles abounding! Thanks for your reivew as always.
sonicalien: You don't have to check every day, just every other Sunday. Thanks for reviewing.
Gothic Nny 777: No, I'm pretty sure we're just both equally insane. Please update your fic! It's driving me nuts! I want to know what happens next. And we'll see when the Meekrob appear.
abby: Oh, you know how I LOVE Latin. Thanks I'll take it to heart. And thankies for reivewing again! LURB!!
Trickstar: Yes, your horrible addiction to my writing pleases me. Now go review, because that pleases me as well.