Alright, let's go.

Time for the running to start.

This is a confrontation that's been long overdue.

"I wish I'd known right from the start
That I was dancing with the dark
You better run, run, run, run, run-
Run, Devil, run,
Run, Devil, run, run
Run, Devil, Devil run
Run."
-Run Devil Run by Ke$ha

SPECIAL THANKS TO xXIyra16Xx FOR SENDING IN THE FANART! IT'S ALWAYS APPRECIATED! :D

ALSO. SUPER IMPORTANT (two things):

1) Sorry for not updating last week. My fanfiction account needed to be debugged and it wouldn't let me log in.

2) I'm on youtube! Go look up my ravenfollower13 account for more info on what the account is for!

Enjoy.

Chapter 26
"Run, Devil, Run"

I woke up to find my vision filled with cerulean.

I blinked, dully.

Somehow I'd been expecting this.

"Hey, Gir." I mumbled as my eyes cleared, revealing his entire head as he laid next to me. I was immediately aware of the lack of Zim, but I was actually pretty glad that I didn't have to deal with that awkward wake-up. "Where's Zim?"

"Outside." He replied, sitting up to look towards the roof, whispering like he was telling me a secret. "He said it was important."

Well. That was unexpected. I propped myself up on my elbows, eyes wide. "He left?" Gir nodded. "To go where?"

"Iono." He replied, shrugging as he laid back on the bed.

I blinked. "Wow, so we're really here alone?"

"The master didn't believe that you'd be waking up for some time." The computer announced, suddenly. "He's only been gone for about an hour. Shall I call him for you?"

"No, that's alright. How long have I been asleep?"

"Approximately five hours and seventeen minutes. The master was lying with you all of four hours and three minutes."

Lying with me. That just sounded so much worse than it was. "Oh. Okay. Hey Gir, can you hand me that suitcase over there?"

"Mkay!"

A hand extended from the roof, making Gir freeze as the bag was set on the bed.

"It isn't smart to let Gir handle things. Even those that don't break easily." The house advised, boredly. "If you need something, I was instructed to help while the master was out collecting supplies and setting up the second base."

I took the duffel-bag from him, my brow rising at his statement. "Second base?"

"He can explain when he gets back."

"Whatever," I mumbled, rummaging through my things and starting to refold and organize my clothes. I set aside a few choice ones; a pair of black sweat pants, and a loose purple v-neck t-shirt that I knew to be more comfortable then any of my other clothes. These ones were starting to feel gross after sleeping in them for two days. "How long is he going to be gone?"

"A few hours. Why? I was instructed to inform him if you needed him to get someth-."

"No. Like I said, I'm fine." I insisted, removing a black sweatshirt. "How dark is it?"

"Not very. It's only 1:34pm. Standard-time skool isn't even out yet."

"Good," I replied, pulling my shirt over my head and shivering at the breeze. I wasn't wearing a bra, and I found myself extra sensitive to my surroundings. I shoved my shirt on quickly, extricating myself of my pants just as easily. "Less people to see me walking around."

"With all due respect, you're in no condition to leave."

"Fair enough. But are you gonna tell on me if I do?" I asked, wiggling lazily into the sweat pants.

I could practically see the gears turning in his head. "Mmm . . . Well, I mean, I wasn't ordered to. But still, it's not a good idea. A whole private police force is out looking for you."

"It'll only be for a little while," I replied, holding up my arm to cough into. After such a good sleep, I was definitely feeling better. Not a hundred percent, but enough to go home, rummage through my crap to find some papers, and then come back here. Zim wouldn't even have to know that I was gone. "I'll even take Gir with me, if it makes you feel better."

"Personally, I could care less. I just don't want to hear my Master ranting about it later if he finds out."

"Well then lucky for you, because he won't find out." I retorted, noticing my shoes in the corner and digging through my bag for socks. "Hand me my shoes, will you?"

The same hand extended downwards, handing me the requested items before retracting once again. "Normally I'd advise against taking Gir, but you'll need him to contact the Master if you get into trouble. He can also prove very helpful defensively."

I snorted, raking my hands through my hair so that it would fit into my hood easier. If anyone glanced at me, I'd look like a jogger, just on an afternoon run. Nothing suspicious. "Seriously? Gir? You're kidding, right?"

"Gir's Duty-Mode has proved more than sufficient on several known occasions. He likes you. He listens to you, for some reason. If you get into trouble, he'll be enough until the Master can come get you."

I nodded, standing up on shaky legs. "How do I get upstairs?"

"Um, well, the elevator."

I felt like hitting myself. "Right. Come on, Gir. Get your disguise on, we're going for a walk."

He threw his hands up in the air triumphantly. "Walkies!"

"Yup," I muttered, walking unsteadily out of the room. I was getting better though, despite the shakiness. And I needed to get used to this if I was going to pretend to be out jogging. Joggers didn't stride around looking like newborn deer. "Let's just do this before Zim gets back. Computer, warn me if Zim starts heading home early."

"Whatever."

"Come on, Gir!" I shouted, leaning against the side of the elevator, waiting impatiently for him to get him. "We don't have time for you to dawdle!"

"WALKIE!" He screeched, launching himself inside and hitting the back of the elevator with an unnerving 'clang'.

He was lucky he'd missed me, or he wouldn't have been able to get back up the way he did, half-inside his doggie suit. I hit the base-floor button, watching as he properly dressed himself, looking like a dog when he was done. Or, well, a green dog. A severely deformed, two-leg walking green dog. He handed me his leash, which I knelt down to attach to his collar. He beamed at me when I stood back up, and I rolled my eyes and ignored him, striding out of the elevator impatiently. Well, at least by having Gir around I was getting irritated. I always felt stronger when I was irritated.

I practically dragged Gir outside, shutting the door behind me. I heard the house locking up again behind me, and was thankful that it didn't seem to care about anything unless it was a direct order. I then proceeded to become thankful that Zim hadn't thought to directly order me to stay in the house. After all, as far as he knew, being sick meant being incapable of doing anything. Which, under normal circumstances, was true, but this was far too important for me to let something as simple as not feeling well stand in my way. Besides, I had overprotective Gir with me. And with any luck, I'd be in and out before anyone noticed anything.

Jogging was still a bitch. I wasn't genuinely jogging of course, but pretending to be jogging while sick was just as bad. Gir ran along beside me obediently, on four legs, seeming cooperative for once. That or he was just happy to be outside and allowed to run. Zim probably didn't take him out very much anymore. Not since his schemes had slowed down. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time Gir had really been out of the house at all.

It took around ten minutes, even half-jogging, but nobody seemed to even notice me. Or Gir, for that matter. By the time I got there, I was exhausted, and my legs were begging for me to stop. I paused in front of the house next-door, letting my hands go to my knees to support me. I appeared to be resting to anyone passing by, but I was actually staking out the place while Gir ran around my feet, making various animal noises. Still, no one noticed. And within a few seconds, I was alone on the street again.

I darted into the house, using the spare key under the mat and getting inside within ten seconds. I replaced it and locked the door behind me, refusing to pause as I headed up the stairs. My house felt unnaturally eery, and for a terrifying moment I wondered if I was alone.

Something creaked upstairs.

I resisted the urge to swear, praying they hadn't heard me. Praying that it was Dib. I'd never been a very religious person, but I figured as a biological Angel, maybe God would place my prayers in the 'high-priority' box. Dib could definitely be home. But then again, so could my dad. His recent, unpredictable schedule made it difficult to make a definite guess. More likely it was Dib. But the possibility it was my father scared the hell out of me.

". . . Hello?" The hesitant shout came from upstairs.

I sighed in relief. It was just Dib. But that didn't mean that my dad wasn't home too. I waited, listening for the familiar sound of my dad coming upstairs. I turned to motion silence to Gir, and was surprised to see that his eyes were already glowing a vibrant red, and he seemed incredibly tense. Huh. Maybe Zim should listen to his computer more often.

"Hello?" Dib shouted again, and I could hear him coming down the stairs.

I looked to Gir again, who seemed to be looking at me for instructions. I clasped my hand over my mouth and then pointed towards where Dib was coming, clearly attempting to be quiet. I could see the shadow of a bat in his hands and rolled my eyes. Gir nodded and lunged. There was a crash, and Dib came rolling down the stairs before Gir pinned him to the wall, robotic hand clasped firmly over his mouth.

"MMPH!" He shouted, scream muffled by Gir. He tried struggling but somehow, in his panicked state, he couldn't extricate himself from the robot. I noticed that his glasses had fallen away from him and picked them up, slipping his glasses back on.

"Shut up, Dib!" I hissed, kneeling next to him. "It's just me and Gir!"

His eyes came back into focus, and seeing both of us, he visibly relaxed. And then he looked confused.

"Is anyone else home?" I whispered, making no move to tell Gir to let go. He seemed content with pinning Dib for as long as I wanted him to. He shook his head no. I nodded. "Stay quiet anyways. And stay here. Make sure he does, okay, Gir?"

No need to deal with the questions. I was sticking with the plan. Get in, get out. That was it.

Explanations were not included within the plan.

Dib struggled, seeming surprised I wasn't letting him go, but somehow Gir kept him subdued. I made my way quickly up the stairs, wasting no time and entering my room. I scowled at the disheveled state Zim had left it in. Everyone had probably thought I'd been in some sort of struggle up here. Oh well. If everyone thought I'd been kidnapped, then no one would realize I'd caught on yet about my true heritage. With any luck, everyone would make it out with their hands clean, and I'd just look like a runaway. Maybe Dib could get out, too.

"Homework, homework, homework," I muttered, digging around the room, careful no to disturb anything too much and replacing what was unavoidable when I finished coming across it. Eventually I wandered over to my desk, rifling through the drawers.

A lightbulb went off as I paused on a folder, a brief memory flashing in my head. But this wasn't one of my flashbacks, no, I remembered this. Because it had only happened a few weeks ago.(1)

I immediately tore open the folder, my nimble hands making quick work of spreading the papers out in front of me like cards. I scanned over them quickly. I was right; these were exactly what I'd seen earlier. And I'd done just what I would do now; disguised them as homework. I folded them in half twice, stuffing the three or four papers in my pocket and zipping it up before opening the door.

I trotted easily down the stairs, soundlessly, adjusting my papers so that they weren't visible in my pocket when I started running again. There wasn't a lot I could do about the papers pressing against the fabric, but I could at least make it look like part of the seam.

"Okay, Gir," I whispered. "Get off of him. Time to . . . go? Gir?"

But of course neither my brother nor Gir were in sight. I swore under my breath, eyes instinctively darting around the room for some type of weapon as I looked for the both of them. My eyes shifted as something creaked behind me, and I turned to see the door to my father's downstairs lab opened just a sliver, and Gir's foot disappear behind it. I thought I heard him humming, too.

I rolled my eyes. Seriously, Gir? Now was not the time to be exploring my house!

"Gir!" I snapped, still whispering. "Where the hell are you going?"

There was a giggle, and he was silent again.

I sighed, making my way down the stairs after him. What my brother was doing, I had no idea. For all I knew, Dib had offered him something to get off of him, and whatever it was was in the lab. Dib sometimes used my dad's stuff, when he needed to. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew of something down here that he could bribe Gir with.

I reached the edge, eyes narrowing at the lack of light in the room. Something wasn't right.

I realized this all too late as I heard the automatic lock click upstairs.

"Hello, Gaz."

Oh, shit.

Melodramatically, the lights clicked on, revealing my father standing at attention in the center of the room. In his arms were a deactivated Gir, and a groan against the wall next to me made me risk taking my eyes of my dad to see Dib, slumped against the wall on the floor, looking like he was just waking up. I couldn't see any visible wounds, but that was hardly important right now. Alarmed, but refusing to show it, I turned to glare at my dad.

"What did you do to him?" I demanded, referring to both Dib and Gir.

My father held up an empty needle. "Just a small muscle relaxant to keep him still. As soon as you went upstairs, I deactivated your little toy and gave Dib this. We've been waiting very patiently for you, daughter. It's rude to keep people waiting, you know."

"I'm not your daughter." I spat, irritated. So he'd been waiting for me. And I'd walked into a trap. No doubt he figured I'd come back for Dib and had hidden out here, like a hunter waiting for its prey. The bastard. "And give me back Gir! He didn't do anything to you! He's not even mine!"

"Oh?" His brow rose. "Then who, may I ask, does he belong to?"

I glared harder and said nothing. I wasn't about to be tricked.

"I see. We are not on friendly terms anymore, then." He sighed and tossed Gir to my feet, where I immediately knelt and scooped him into my arms. I felt kind of bad that I was paying Gir more attention than Dib, but right now, we needed help. And using Gir's transmission was the only way we were going to get it. "There you are, you may have him back. Although, he won't be turning on anytime soon."

"Bastard." I hissed, opening his back to see that indeed, he'd placed some weird bug on a wire. Just by looking at it I knew I'd need tweezers or something to get it off without damaging Gir. But I didn't need him on, I just needed to send out the distress signal. I masked my flick of the button with a struggle to try and get the thing off anyways, grunting a few times when I couldn't rip it off. "Damn it!"

Membrane shrugged. "I warned you."

I shot him a dark look. "You're an asshole, you know that? I wish you were dead!"

"If I were dead, you would be, too." Membrane replied, evenly. "And that's no way to talk to your father."

"You were never my father." I growled, knowing I'd been denying this for a while. "You were just my creator."

"So you've figured all of it out, then? Impressive. I was under the assumption you only suspected something amiss and ran to get more information at my labs. I suppose congradulations are in order for breaking in without anyone noticing."

If that's how he thought I knew, fine. Best to leave Zim out of this. My anger never wavered anyways. "Guess you made me too well."

Cliche? Incredibly. True? Far more than I wanted to believe.

"Perhaps. But you're simply glitching, as the technical term might be. It's nothing a bit of performance enhancement cannot fix."

"You're kidding me, right?" I demanded, jumping to my feet as he took a step towards me. He stopped, but already, despite the large space between us, I felt threatened. "I'm not doing any of your stupid tests! I'm not going anywhere with you! Now fix Dib!"

The professor waved his hand nonchalantly. "He'll be fine within the hour. However, the three of us need to talk."

"Talking isn't exactly what I had in mind," I hissed, feeling my hands curl into fists.

Membrane scoffed. "Your violent instincts are too high. That, too, must be taken care of. But wouldn't you like to know what you were built for, Gaz? What you're capable of? Surely, despite your nearly incomparable logic, you still have questions for me."

I hesitated. Stall till Zim gets here, that's all I had to do, just stall. "I already know. You built me to fix this society. Kind of a stupid move to announce it on the news when I was sick at home."

"I didn't anticipate you staying home from school." He admitted. "If you'll notice, your school normally holds assemblies so you can watch my press conferences. However, if you had attended today like you were supposed to, you would have seen no assembly of the sort. And it was not to be repeated; this was a singular conference. You and your brother never would have known."

"Great, poor you." I said, rolling my eyes. "Your master plan was ruined, big deal. That doesn't change the fact I know everything. And I'll ruin you if it's the last thing I have to do."

"Why do you resent me?" He demanded. "I made you superior to your race. I made you powerful. You should be greatful."

"That's not in my nature," I spat.

He shook his head, as if pitying me. "You think you know everything, Gazlene, but you do not. You know nothing, and so can understand nothing."

"What am I missing?" I shouted, dropping Gir as I slammed my hand against the wall in frustration. "You created a new species, probably to impress your stupid colleagues, and made me believe that you loved me. That Dib and I were your 'beloved kids', and that you wanted to show us off everywhere. But all you wanted was to throw it in their faces how much your projects were succeeding! I trusted you, we trusted you!"

He held up a hand. "There's need for dramatics. Stop yelling at me."

I could've killed him. The only reason I didn't start screaming again was because I was so blinded with rage, I was beyond forming sentences. And all the while, I was hyper aware of the inconvenient pain in my back flaring up again. Of course. Perfect timing.

"Thank you." He said, as if I'd intentionally complied with his request. "As I said, you don't understand. You and Dib are not perfect. Far from it, really, but I applaud you for figuring that out as well. Dib was supposed to be an exact replica of myself. As you can see by his lack of scientific curiosity, I failed when it came to personalities. However his likeness to me is remarkable, in spirit. You, too, while self-righteous, determined, and completely in control of your surroundings, misuse your abilities. I left you alone far too much."

Like I needed to be trained! "Well, that's what you get when you forget how to parent and leave your kids to fend for themselves 24/7."

"Actually," He said, seeming to have piqued his own interest. "That, too, was an accident. While you and Dib were supposed to spend plenty of time together, you were never supposed to believe you were brother and sister. You made the assumption you were biological siblings yourself, and despite my efforts, I could find no way to correct your mistake, and therefore mine."

My eyes narrowed. This had thrown me. "What are you talking about?"

"I designed you and Dib to be . . . how should I put this . . .? I suppose compatible would be the word. You were designed to accept only the other when it came to, eh, physical stimuli."

I stared. Shocked wasn't in my vocabulary at the moment. Horrified was somewhere in the midst, but not quite what I was feeling. He wasn't seriously implying what I thought he was, right? I was just reading far too into this, right?

"Are you saying . . ." I couldn't finish it. I felt like I was going to vomit.

"Yes," My father replied. "I designed you and Dib to be physically compatible. I planned for you two to accept one another as a mate."

That did it. I fell to my knees and dry-heaved, feeling like I was having a heart attack.

This was . . . beyond sick! My father had designed his children to be attracted to one another so that we could screw and he could have more mutant-baby-children! Was he serious? That was just-! I couldn't even finish my sentences, my head was spinning so fast. I was hyperventalating. This was too much. I couldn't DEAL with this!

"You . . . sick . . . fuck!"

My head snapped up, turning to Dib, who was struggling to compose himself. He looked, in all fairness, like someone who'd had a stroke on both-sides. It was gross to look at him, part of the reason I hadn't tended to him right after I set off Gir's distress signal. I could only hoped that worked, now that I thought about it. Because, if there was no power, how was I supposed to know if he could send transmissions like that?

My father's brow rose. "That was unnecessary."

"It was entirely justified!" I retorted at once, speaking for both of us now that I knew Dib was listening for sure. "You can't just tell us shit like that and expect us to be okay with it! You just told us you intended for us to be incestuous after you left us alone for long enough! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You are not. Siblings." My father repated, apparently losing his patients. "Were you not listening to me just then? Dib could probably technically be considered my son, since he shares almost the exact same genetic make-up as me, but Gaz, you were built from scrap. Nothing about you two is the same. We could fix these social barriers you two have, if you'd cooperate-."

"I'M NOT HAVING SEX WITH MY SISTER!" Dib shrieked, his face a deep burgundy that I did not suspect was embarrasment. He thrashed around limbs that would not respond, face getting redder the more he fought against himself.

"Dib," I snapped. "Stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"FUCK you!" He shouted at Membrane, ignoring me. I stared at him in surprise. He rarely ever sweared, let alone at Membrane. It was entirely justified, of course, but still. That was going to take some getting used to. "I hope you and your stupid science rot in Hell! I hope your experiments all blow up in your face and you burn to death, screaming in agony as some flesh-eating drug eats you alive!"

"Your tempers are getting the best of you." The professor stated, plainly. "I'll only ask you one more time; please control yourselves."

I was on the edge of killing someone. Namely Membrane. Looking at Dib, seeing him writhe because of something Membrane had done- maybe my dad had gotten something right with us. We were close. But we could never be close like he wanted us to be. Not even if he chained us to chairs and threatened our lives. Dib had too many morals to ever think about just forgetting our sibling bond and running with- ugh, I couldn't even think about it. It made me physically sick, all the images that I'm sure my father had thought many times about, hoping for, praying for, if he believed in a God. I was positive no God had created this severely twisted man in front of us. No one had even wanted to grace him with kids, so he'd had to make them himself. And now he was trying to coerce them to have sex with each other.

"You can't even have kids anyways." He said suddenly, breaking my thoughts, looking increasingly frustrated. "Neither of you can. Oh, well, Dib can, if he was so inclined, but Gaz," he looked at me, turning his attention from Dib. "Some unexpected mutation happened with you in your final stages of turning into a fetus. You can't concieve on your own, at least, not naturally. Even if I had succeeded with you and your brother's relationship, we would've had to use your egg and his sperm and put them together manually."

"Fertilization." Dib said, as if contemplating the science of it.

I had once again been thrown. Not outwardly, as I was still pissed, but some natural base instinct inside of me had stilled. I hated kids. I'd never wanted to be a mother. But . . . that was my choice. I should've had the option to refuse to have a baby. Now it had been taken from me.

And amazingly, that's what did it. Before I could control myself, that motherly instinct inside that had never even been acknowledged, the kind that lifted cars off of their babies and whatnot, just flicked me over the edge with a final nudge, and I was charging at the Professor without any warning whatsoever. Even to myself, actually. I didn't even realize I was running at him until I suddenly found myself face to face with him, my hand shooting at his face with a speed and precision that even alarmed me, subconsciously. Of course, I was too mad to even ponder that thought at the moment. It was only later that I realized how unnatural that my attack was, human-wise. I should've known better. I should've controlled myself.

Unfortunately, this was revealed to me all too late.

My father's palm flipped up at the last second, in a scrambled haste. Apparently even the great Professor Membrane hadn't a mind to anticipate my abrupt attacks. But he managed to catch me just before my fist was introduced to his face, and as my hand collided with his glove, a crack rang out in the air. I couldn't contain the vicious grin as I realized that was no doubt I'd broken something. And by the pained expression on his face, I guessed it was his wrist. My triumph was short lived though, as my smile evaporated when a strange vibration started from his palm and shook its way onto me. I once again figured out what he was doing a split second too late, and didn't have time to pull back before a shock ran its course through my body.

I refused to scream, but the gasp of pain was unrestrainable. It only lasted for a few seconds, and then I'd collapsed to my knees, shaking all over. I felt like I was convulsing from how hard I was shivering, and Dib was screaming so many curse words and foul phrases that I could barely think straight with his voice ringing in my ears. I felt like I know had an accurate estimate of how people who had been tazered felt. And I can assure you, it wasn't pleasant. I felt like peeing myself but somehow managed to contract my muscles enough not to.

This was bad. This was very bad.

Damnit, Zim, where are you when I need you?

To my eternal chagrin, I cried out as Membrane harshly managed to pull my arm behind my back, clamping what felt like handcuffs on my wrist. The only reason I was making any noise at all was because of how absolutely excruciatingly painful everything felt to touch. And there weren't any words unseemly enough to describe how my back was currently feeling. I managed to control enough muscles to pull on the handcuffs, if only slightly, only to find I didn't have a lot of room to do so. There was maybe an inch separating one from the other before I felt the snap of the chains refusing to move anymore. Well shit. If I got Dib killed, I didn't think I could ever forgive myself, and vise versa. Damn Membrane!

"There." He huffed, indignantly, after standing up again. "You won't be getting anywhere with those on."

I did the only thing I could think to do; I threw back my head and screamed my frustration. And much to my shock, the noise rang out high and clear, almost like a banshee. I mean, sure, Hell has nothing on a woman scorned, but this was kind of ridiculous. I could've sworn I saw some of the glass starting to crack. Despite being so far from me, Dib looked physically pained, but Membrane was practically writhing in agony. I ran out of breath or I would've continued, my chest wracking with coughs. That scream hurt. More than hurt, it almost burned. Like I'd just spat out any oxygen I'd had, and now I was paying for it.

"Gaz!" Dib shouted, still look pained as he began struggling again. "Are you okay?"

"She's fine," Membrane interrupted for me. "That's perfectly natural for her to do."

Threw my coughs, I shot him the most wicked look I could manage. He glared back at me and I turned away, inhaling deep, shuddery breaths. I tried to swallow and found, quite uncomfortable, that it was slightly difficult. My eyes widened as I tasted bile in my mouth, knowing what was about to come next. I'd been jogging, I'd been electrocuted, and I was still sick. I should've expected this.

Well. I was glad I was doing it in his nice little lab.

Tears sprang in my eyes as I vomited all over the floor, blurring my vision. Somehow I'd managed to bend over and avoid getting any of it on me, but the fact was that I was throwing up. And it burned. As if I wasn't uncomfortable or deprived of my oxygen enough. I could feel whatever it was passing through me, every inch making its way from my stomach to my throat and out my mouth with a simple contraction of muscles that took about two seconds. It was awful. At least Dib had stopped shouting though. I guess even he was too disgusted to be concerned. I didn't blame him; this stuff smelled like ass.

I blinked my tears from my eyes when I was done, unable to use my restrained hands. I shuddered again, swiping my tongue through my mouth and spitting without any regard to my surroundings. I cursed immediately afterwords, regretting not having aimed at Membrane.

"Gaz . . . What the . . ." Dib murmured, catching my attention. My eyes flicked to his wide ones, surprisingly devoid of disgust. But he wasn't even looking at me. He was looking at . . . ew, that was gross, was he looking at my vomit? My own gaze flicked down, and I understood why.

'What the hell?' didn't even begin to cover it. In fact, it wasn't even appropriate for what was quite literally beginning to hover in front of my face.

The truly foul thing was that I was absolutely positive that this was what had just come out of me. Mainly because of the truly abhorrent smell that radiated in the air around it. The fact that this floating, misty, admittedly kind of pretty thing drifting around the air in front of my face had just been spewed my intestines was both disturbing and a little cool. How had that even happened? Vomit was liquid, sometimes solids, but it definitely wasn't gaseous. I think my body was getting it's states of matter mixed up here . . .

And despite this initial shock of having my vomit get confused on me, I was increasingly aware of how strange I felt. Empty, but in a good way. Like after you threw up when you had a stomach flu; that the parasite was out. And better yet, my back wasn't hurting. Or, well, and icy chill was ripping up my back. Like someone was applying some sort of Icy-Hot to my wound and now it was experiencing the cold part. It was far more pleasant than the previous burning sensation.

. . . What had I done?

"You . . . coughed it up." Membrane said, seeming at a loss for words. I turned my head towards him, and watched as his eyes widened behind his goggles and he gasped, inhaling deeply and slowly and, oddly enough, holding his breath, staring at the gas.

And I knew exactly why.

I scrambled hastily and jerked my knees up to my chest, covering my nose and mouth with my knees and ducking my head into them, inhaling slowly. The mist wasn't vomit, it was a portion of whatever Membrane had used to create me. To make me not human, somehow. Or, at least, that's what I guessed. That toxic odor surrounding the thing gave me the feeling that this was the reason I was constantly in pain. And I had coughed it up.

"Breathe it back in!" Membrane snapped, risking the exposure only a moment before ducking down again, covering his hand and speaking quietly, like it could hear us, as the silvery substance flitted in a circle around itself. It made me wonder what current was making it move. "You're the only one it won't hurt."

I glared at him, refusing to say anything for fear of inhaling . . . whatever that was. My gaze flicked to Dib, who also seemed to be holding his breath and waiting for something to happen.

I watched as, in a very jellyfish-like movement, the mist made its way behind me, towards where my back was. I inched away from it, but that only seemed to encourage it more, as the wind currents jerked it in my direction far quicker than it had previously moved. It truly acted like some sort of thick, slightly translucent smoke that had gotten loose in the air. I cringed as it flitted against my back and squirmed when it began to seep into my clothes.

I felt like I was choking on Novocaine. An odd, definitely unpleasant feeling. It was as if you were aware of the fact you couldn't breathe, but at the same time, your muscles wouldn't respond to clear yourself of the obstruction. It was awful. Now I knew how Dib felt, where your body wouldn't respond to your demands and all you could do was sit there and hope that it would be over soon. My mouth was open in a silent scream, one that I could feel slowly crawling up my throat.

Dib looked like he was in pain, but I had a feeling it was more mental than physical. "Gaz-!"

The sound of something pounding on the door upstairs interrupted his cry. It made the lab shudder, and I nearly fell on my side at my lack of balance. This was awful. I felt like dying. This was far worse than anything I had been through yet, and considering I'd almost been burned to death and been half drowned, that was saying something. I couldn't make myself pay attention to my surroundings anymore. The mist was now invading my head, and everything was getting increasingly foggy. Briefly, I became disgusted again at the idea something that I'd vomited was now making it's way back inside of me, but I couldn't find enough focus to really feel anything.

Another slam temporarily pulled my from my vision, and I thought I heard shouting. Membrane, to my right, seemed to move towards me, but Dib began making his way up the wall into a standing position, or so I thought. With everything swinging in and out of focus, it was kind of hard to tell whether he was still on the ground or whether he was actually on his feet. Either way, a few seconds later, a heavy explosion rocked the floor and I fell onto my side, just able to use my elbow to lighten the impact before slumping against the ground entirely, eyes half-open in a daze. It wasn't like I could see anything anyways. My hair had fallen over my eyes like a curtain, and nothing but the floor was visible through t sliver.

Roughly, I felt a rather large hand try to grip my shoulder before disappearing, tugging barely as it jerked (or was pulled) away from me. A heavy clang of something slamming against metal filled the air, and a brief flash of what suspiciously (and quite impossibly) looked like lightning filled the room a moment. I still couldn't find myself to move or focus very much. My back felt odd, tingly almost. Not in pain, but almost like I couldn't feel it anymore. There was something there, though, I knew that. But it was almost as if the gas was changing my sensory nerves. I was feeling more than I should, hyper-aware that there was something crawling across my back. I felt like laughing, as the only thing I could compare it too was someone peeing on me.

There was muttering, and my eyes closed in exhaustion. I was receding into my head, surrendering to my senses, but I was still aware of what my physical being was feeling. Someone was rolling me on my back, into someone's arms, and shaking me. I didn't like it. Someone was pleading me, begging me to wake up, and I couldn't tell if it was Zim or Dib. I felt really cold. Unimaginably cold. Freezing. I managed to roll my head to the side, letting my chin fall against my shoulder, but that was about as much resistance as I could mange. I felt like someone was blowing up a balloon in my back, inflating something.

And then I felt my skin tear apart, and something exploded in it, sending my nerves spiraling and drowning my consciousness again as my body and brain tried to make sense of what was going on.

There were two cries of alarm that managed to pierce through the fog, and I felt like my back was bubbling. It tingled like crazy, and everything was pins and needles. I felt my chest expanding and contracting and something of mine was against the floor, but it wasn't my back. I don't know, maybe it was my arm or something. Really, anyone's guess was as good at mine.

"Gaz," a dominant voice rang out, gasping. Of course, I couldn't respond. I felt like something was touching me, but not touching me. There was just . . . too much confusion going on. I wanted all of this to stop. I wanted to wake up.

Please stop. I pleaded, silently, unable to do anything else. Please just stop.

And then, mercifully, I blacked out.

(1) CHAPTER TWO, BITCHES!

OH.

MY.

FUCKING.

GOD.

YESSSS! THIS is the sick shit I've been wanting to come out for, like, EVER! Since the very first time Membrane showed up, I've been giggling to myself about what a twisted little asshole he was. Cause, I mean, come on guys, if you think about it, this isn't too big of a stretch. Membrane was never around to really raise his kids, but he always managed to find events to show them off to, like with PEG and Gaz being placed on display during the Pig-Curse dilemma that I keep finding reasons to mention. I feel like Membrane wouldn't have gotten so freaked out over something like that unless he really had something to lose if Gaz got really hurt. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of security it took to supposedly 'keep people out' instead of 'keep her in a sterile place where she couldn't get any worse'.

Yes, so, there you go. You'll have to see what outwardly happened with Gaz in the next chapter, but shit has gone down, and it's time to freak out.

THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG! Seriously, this took hella days. 7,000+ words, which is 3,000 more than my usual limit.

Till the next chapter!