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Chapter 11: Starry Night

"Alice-human! Wake up!"

Alice let out a tired groan as she felt something jab at her side. She opened her eyes and looked up at Zim, who was standing over her looking a bit agitated.

"What happened?" Alice asked, sitting up on the couch. "Zim has been trying to wake you for nearly 2 hours. You passed out shortly after sitting down." Zim explained.

"So I fell asleep? I guess that makes sense considering-WAIT! 2 HOURS?!" Alice gasped. Zim nodded, sounding bored. "Yes, you heard correctly."

Alice's eyes widened and she jumped off the couch in a panic. "Thanks so much Zim but I really gotta go! Bye!" Alice shouted, running out the door waving back to him as she got to the sidewalk.

"Anytime human." Zim smirked. He shut the door as Alice left and sighed ripping his disguise off.

"Whatever that thing was it has to be the source of her abilities. But capturing it will take more of my amazing brains to pull off." Zim muttered to himself, walking towards the toilet elevator shaft. "First thing's first. I plan my next attack on Alice herself. If I simply keep drugging her she may catch on so the only way to plan the best attack would be...GIR! Get over here!"

…

Alice tore down the street in a panic. "This is just great! How the hell did I fall asleep so easily anyway?! Dib's gonna be pissed!" she thought as her feet pounded on the sidewalk.

She stopped at a crosswalk to catch her breath and looked up at Mystic Hill. "How *pant* am I even *pant* going to get over there?"

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and turned to see a city bus stopped at a light next to her. She could only stare at it for a second as several elders were making their way off the bus. "It'll be stupid. It'll probably kill me. But god dammit I need a faster way to get there!" Alice smiled.

She ran to the other side of the bus so no one would notice and concentrated, staring up at the top of the bus. She blinked and when she opened her eyes next she was laying on top of the bus. It roared to life and Alice gripped the front for her life, squeezing her eyes shut as the wind rushed past her and the vehicle bounced almost trying to buck her off.

It seemed to last forever but eventually the top of the hill was just a small hike away. She gulped and jumped off the bus just as it was turning away from the hill. She tumbled into the dirt and coughed painfully as the bus threw a cloud of dust and exhaust in her face. She brushed the dirt off her clothes and got to her feet and sighed, starting her walk up to the top of the hill.

…

Dib checked his watch again as the sun began to set and sighed resting his chin on his hands. "I guess she's not coming. Dammit Dib! You blew it!" Dib groaned tossing a rock off the side of the hill. "Why can I never have a real friend for five minutes without messing it up? Why did I even think a loser like me could even have a friend like her?" he muttered the last part sulking.

He felt so depressed and heart-broken he didn't hear someone coming up behind him. An arm wrapped around his head and covered his eyes and another wrapped around his neck. "H-hey?! What the-"

"Guess who?" a voice giggled. Dib gasped and ripped the arm off his eyes to see a long red fingerless glove.

"Alice!" Dib beamed, turning around and hugging her. "Well, someone's happy I'm here." Alice muttered, blushing at Dib's reaction. Dib finally realized what he was doing a quickly let go, his face completely red. "I-I...was just starting to think you weren't coming." he said.

Alice sighed and sat down next to the boy. "Sorry about that. I lost track of time and I...uh...fell asleep." Alice said, with a sheepish giggle. Dib raised an eyebrow but smiled.

"So...what again were you doing?" he asked. "Oh, I was returning something to Zim and-" "Wait, WHAT?!" Dib grabbed Alice's shoulders and started shaking her. "Are you nuts?! Zim is dangerous! Who knows what he could've done to you!" Dib screamed. "D-Dib, relax. I'm fine." Alice said, trying to shake off the dizziness Dib had given her.

"Okay, tell me everything that happened." Dib said, calming down.

"Nothing much, really. I went to his house, his dog tackled me, Zim offered me a drink and I was so tired that I passed out on the couch." Alice explained.

"And when you woke up?"

"He told me how long I had been out and I ran off. Nothing else."

"You didn't feel weird when you woke up?"

"No."

Dib let himself sigh in relief for the moment. He knew Zim was planning something but at least Alice was alright. "Okay, let's just...focus on our assignments for now and get off that topic." Dib said, pulling out his notebook.

…

"And that's all the times I've saved the world. Mostly from Zim." Dib said, proudly.

Alice nodded and wrote down the last of her notes. "Well I think that's all I'll need for my essay. You need anything else?" She asked.

Dib shook his head and put his stuff away.

"It's really nice out here. I always liked just looking up at the stars." Alice muttered, lying down on the grass with her arms behind her head.

"Yeah, this place is so far above the city that can see past the pollution." Dib smiled. "I mainly came up here because I intercepted a weird signal." Dib explained, pointing at his laptop.

"You mean like aliens or something?" Alice asked, sitting up and scooting over next to Dib.

"Probably, I know of a few different alien signals but I haven't been able to decode this one yet. It was too jumbled and choppy when I first got it. I figured coming here would give me a better vantage point and maybe a clearer message if it sent another one." he shrugged, adjusting the tiny satellite dish attached to his laptop. "But it doesn't look like I'm getting anything tonight." he sighed.

"What time is it exactly?" Alice asked, rubbing her eyes.

"8:30. You getting tired?"

Alice nodded and stood up. "I better go. I'll see you at Skool tomorrow, Dib." Alice said, waving to the boy as she turned to make her way down the hill. Dib watched her go as he began to pick his stuff up.

Just as he was closing his laptop he heard a small beeping noise come from the speakers. He quickly ripped it open again and saw he had intercepted another message. It was still fuzzy and hard to make out but he could at least hear the voice a little clearer. It sounded female and was in a weird tongue. Or at least it would be weird for any normal person but Dib recognized the language almost instantly and it made his blood run cold.

It was an irken.

AN: Short chapter bluh! I'm too tired for this crap! DX