Hey, guys! Sorry I forgot to update yesterday! Work has been insane. But better late than never!

Chapter Ten: Zim

Hearing that someone had broken Dib out of the House of Crazy was a shock to me, especially when they interrogated me. Me! Zim! The one that the Dib Stink had accused! They let me go without a fuss, but still!

I decided to pay Dib another visit that night to see what was going on, only to find that I couldn't break in using the same paths as before. They stepped up their security. No matter. It would be no match for my mighty Irken technology.

I used my mechanical legs in my PAK to quickly make my way up to the door. I took a hacking probe out of my pocket and threw it up to the camera that was closest to me. Sparks of electricity enveloped the camera and then suddenly disappearing. The probe would temporarily knock out the cameras. The people watching will think that it's just a malfunction, so as long as I cover my physical tracks well, I won't get caught.

I carefully picked the lock and entered. I made my way silently to the elevator, hitting the button to call it. The doors slid open, and I entered as the doors closed again. I was about to hit the button labeled "Treatment Level" when I noticed a slot for a key card. I suppressed a frustrated yell. They had stepped up their security more than I expected.

I used my mechanical legs to raise my height up to the ceiling of the elevator. I removed the panel in the middle of the ceiling and then lifted myself through the hole it left behind. I closed up the panel again before climbing up the sides of the elevator shaft with my mechanical legs until I got to the necessary level. I pried the elevator door open and slipped through. I made my way quickly to where Dib's room, picked the lock on the door handle and snuck inside, closing the door behind me.

I retracted my mechanical legs and approached Dib's bed. He was laying on his back, not strapped down for once. His glasses were off, and his eyes were closed, though he was muttering to himself.

I picked him up by the collar of his shirt and shook him to get him to wake up. I dropped him back down onto his bed, and his eyes fluttered open. "Zim…" he muttered.

"That's right, Dib," I whispered.

I didn't usually have to say anything. Just my presence without my human disguise was enough to make Dib scream, but this time he wasn't.

Dib's eyes closed again, and he seemed to fall asleep.

"Hey," I said, raising my voice slightly, "what's wrong with you?" I picked him up by the collar again, but Dib did nothing but groan. I let him drop again. "Huh," I muttered. Maybe they've broken him.

I glanced down at him again and finally noticed a clear plastic tube that was coming out of his arm. I followed the tube to find that it was connected to a hanging bag that contained a clear liquid. I went over to it to inspect it. The liquid in the bag looked a lot like water, but I doubted that it was. It must be what's making Dib behave even more stupid than usual.

I smirked. As long as it kept him out of my way, I didn't care. "Happy summer break, Dib."

I went back the way I came, carefully retracing my steps, leaving no indication that I was there at all. I reclaimed my hacking probe and returned to my base.

The months of summer break flew by as I made plans to destroy the pitiful humans and distracted GIR. I almost forgot that I needed to attend skool again. The members of my class were the same, but we were in middle school, now. I didn't know exactly what the phrase "middle school" meant, but we were in a different building and had a different teacher. I rushed off to the new building as the late bell rang in my antenna. I burst through the door to find that the rest of the class was already there, and that our teacher was a man now.

There were two empty seats near the door, and I quickly took the one that was further back, leaving one last seat in front of me.

The teacher looked up from his papers, put down his pen and stood up, walking around his desk. "Class," he began, "as you are well aware, after Christmas last year, Dib Membrane was taken to the Crazy House for Boys and looked after. Today will be his first day back in school since then. I expect you all to treat him with respect and kindness today."

The Dib human was returning already? I wonder if he'll still try to come after me.

The door to the classroom opened again, and Dib entered the room with his male parental figure behind him. "Here you are, Dib," the adult announced. "I will see you at home."

The adult turned and left, and Dib walked in, slowly closing the door behind him. He dropped into the last empty desk in front of me, his head down.

"It's good to see that you're doing well, Dib," our new teacher said. "I'm mister Kowalski."

Dib barely nodded.

As class officially started, I tuned out the teacher unit and studied Dib. He has hardly reacted to anything let alone my presence. I suppose that's a good thing. And he wasn't wearing his long, black coat either, which was strange. I always thought he was quite attached to that thing.

This past summer has been boring. I made plans that I'm going to implement some time this school year, yes, but it was boring. No one continually broke into my base or fought against me. His lack of interference was somehow simultaneously pleasant and frustrating.

As class went on, Dib's large head gradually lowered until it rested on the desk, and moments later, gentle snoring could be heard coming from him.

I snickered as some girl nearby shouted, "Hey! I think Dib fell asleep!"

The teacher stopped droning on and approached Dib's desk, smacking a ruler next to his head. Dib jumped up. "I'm sorry!" he shouted.

"I know that this is just your first day back, Dib, which is why I'm willing to be lenient today, but this behavior will not be tolerated. Understand?" teacher Kowalski threatened.

Dib looked down at the floor. "Yes, sir."

As the day went on, I noticed just how poorly Dib was doing. He didn't eat anything at lunch, and he could hardly keep up during gym-I ran circles around the Dib Human-and he dozed off during class more than once.

Whatever those humans in charge of the House of Crazy did to him, it was effective, and it would keep him out of my way physically. Now I just need to test him and make sure that he no longer even thought of foiling me.

As the final bell rang, I followed Dib out of school and onto the road. "Hiya, Dib," I announced, catching up to him. "Remember me?"

"Hi, Zim," he muttered.

"So how was the Crazy House?" I mocked. "Surely they got all of that alien nonsense out of you."

The Stink Boy visibly tensed when I mentioned aliens. Good. That means he'll stay out of my way permanently.

We met up with Gaz as we walked. She greeted me, but didn't look up from the device that she always had in her hand. We separated as we went to our separate shelter units, but I almost looked forward to seeing Dib tomorrow.