Scarecrow 345: Thank you (^.^) Even without the animation, the original had a lot of tension to it, so I was hoping some of that would come through, even if the stakes aren't quite as high. But yes, Torque's one of the more decent skool children, surprisingly...Also I admit I find it funny how in the original episode he just doesn't comment on Zim's alleged threat to beat him up; he just doesn't even try doubting that tiny Zim could take him on. I'm happy you enjoyed the ending too, I love writing the sweeter moments.
And I didn't end up getting the job since it was more of a senior position, but the people I spoke with were impressed enough to call me personally and tell me they were keeping my resume on file in case something else came along.
EarthPup: Don't worry, I understand (^.^) Actually the timing of this review was really good, it was posted on my birthday.
In all fairness, those are my favourite parts to write, but I'm glad that you liked the ending; after all the tension from the first half we need a good fluff scene or two to unwind with. But yes, I'm planning to do a few chapters based off unfinished episodes, they're definitely an interesting change of pace since I have fewer concrete points to work from, but that gives me a little more flexibility. And yes, though I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the two chapters to be posted so close together; chapter 2 of "Misadventures of a Project Child" was written long before even the first chapter was posted, I knew they were both going to have the same reference but it just worked out that way that they both went up relative close.
And that's really sweet of you to say (and reminds me I still need to leave a review for your story as well, I've already started reading it)
First of all, I'm glad a lot of you are still reading after the huge gap between the last chapter and the one before it, I was a little worried since it was so sudden (^.^')
The past few weeks have been going well, it was my birthday on the 11th, which was nice; I got an airbrush, which will be great for some projects I've wanted to do, and had a store bought cake for the first time since I was about 4, I believe, since I have celiacs it's a bit of a big deal for me. I've shuffled a couple of chapters around so the next two are going to be a bit longer than usual, but today's is the same one I had planned before: Voting of the Doomed (or alternately, Skoodge experiences sweetie's first moral dilemma), I remember the writing process for this one being a little different since I wasn't really working on the other in-progress chapters for most of the time spent on it.
Either way, I hope all of you enjoy it
It had been some time since Dib first came to Earth, more than half a year now, but even after so much time it still managed to surprise him with new discoveries.
Today was one of the regular 'school spirit rallies', something Dib had seen a few of but still found more than a little odd, in part because it was difficult to find anything to compare it to. He could understand taking pride in your school's accomplishments, even if it was simply basking in the reflected glory of a team you weren't part of, schools back home would celebrate such things as they happened and had spaces dedicated to archiving past achievements. But the school did that too, and this was….different.
The best analogy he could make was archive footage he had seen once of an event that involved mass brainwashing and had ended in prison time for the people in charge, which was definitely worrisome, but he couldn't really think of anything else like this.
This whole event was based on the children standing around as one of their peers talked about how great their school, and by extension, the students were without anything backing it up besides her own say so and mechanical cheerleaders sparked in the background chanting "Yay School". Apparently they used to have real ones on stage, but began using robotic ones after 'the incident'; something nobody would elaborate on besides it having happened decades ago and involved a 7 year girl getting an organisational job on a technicality.
It was when the school president halted her spoken puff piece to comment on the state of the dirty bathrooms and that everything went wrong. The girl twitched and shuttered for a moment before collapsing on stage, clutching her head in pain as several guards and medical professionals swooped in and ferried her away.
"Not to worry children! Your school president is just having a small crisis of school spirit" one of the doctors said nervously "With a little time she should be fine with minimal long term side effects" an awkward chuckle followed as flying robots poured into the room and began buzzing around. "However she won't be able to continue her duties as school president, which means new one will have to be elected, good luck. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go perform delicate neurosurgery" and with that the surgeon was gone as quickly as he came.
Almost as if on cue, Zim began jumping about, waving and screaming to catch the machines' attention; there was no way he was going to pass on an opportunity to be in charge of people, no matter how small or suspicious it was. He was practically buzzing with excitement as one flew over and scanned him. A dinging noise sounded and his smile grew even brighter as it announced that he had been approved as a candidate, or at least he was happy enough to ignore that the machine insulted his judgement in doing so.
"Yes! Victory for Zim! Zim shall rule you all!" He cheered as the machines began searching for a second candidate, there was no doubt in his mind that he'd win against whoever they chose; the fact that nobody volunteered was promising enough, whoever they chose clearly wouldn't want the job and likely only make a half-hearted effort. His confidence only grew when candidate two turned out to be Willy.
Willy, to put it bluntly, was not smart, not by any means. He did not give the impression of being so, and taking the time to get to know him revealed no hidden brilliance, nor buried talent beyond making raspberry noises with his arm. When the machines selected him, he was in the middle of tasting his own shoe.
This moment marked an important realisation for the assembled students: that the democratic process only truly works if those with a stake in the outcome get involved. It would all be very well to complain about Zim being in charge, or for now that they didn't want either candidate to win, but by collectively refusing to step up and volunteer for the position, they had all worked to create this situation. Or at least, even the less judgemental among them had to agree that Willy, for all his….Willyness, was unlikely to win against Zim, who actively wanted the position.
Dib had spent the past few minutes standing there, completely dumbfounded: just when the culture shock he always experienced at one of these rallies had started to die down somewhat, the incident with the school president had happened. Then not only was it brushed off as if it were nothing, but the process to choose candidates for her replacement that immediately followed and was over before it had begun. As such Dib only barely registered being ferried off by a selection robot and deposited in one of the candidate rooms alongside Willy.
"You're Dib Membrane, correct?" The machine asked, to which Dib nodded numbly in response "We have you registered as Willy's tutor, as such you are automatically registered as his campaign manager"
"Don't I get a say in this?" Dib ventured, when he signed up as a tutor in the school's 'study buddy' program, nobody had said anything about this.
"Not really" the robot answered, somehow managing to sound bored "If you don't like it, you're free to throw the election" Dib was fairly sure the school shouldn't be encouraging that, but held his tongue as a stack of papers outlining the process and his role in it were dropped into his hands. Zim was not going to be happy when he found out about this.
This had been one of the rare days where, despite a lack of any after school activities, Zim and Dib had not walked home together.
After the headache of going through the papers he'd been given, trying to prepare Willy for the first presentation the next day through a mixture of coaching and attempts at coaxing a set of ideas at least bore some resemblance to a campaign platform out of him, as well as hammering out a rough draft of the speech, he was exhausted. The moment school had let out he dragged himself back home and let himself sink into the sofa; too tired to debrief or unwind with his usual research, he settled for switching on show about automated factory production and just let the tranquil voice of the narrator wash over him as she explained the production of pontoon boats.
At one point he got a notice from Zim asking if he was going to help with his own campaign and Dib responded with a quick message that he had a headache. It was true, but also convenient; chances were Zim would not take the news well, he knew it was inevitable that the boy would find out, but he was glad he'd have the opportunity to delay it until he'd thought of how he could smooth things over.
Not to mention there was a good chance screaming would be involved, and at the moment he just didn't have the bandwidth to deal with it.
Zim, on the other hand, had bolted out the door as soon as he could to begin work on his own campaign, he'd already put together a rough mockup of some of his materials and dropped it off at the printers before going to pick up Gir. Dib was unfortunately unavailable, but Skoodge had managed to pick them up and bring them over as he found himself being drafted into Zim's cause. Currently the group was making the first batch of signs to be hung around the school, writing out the letters above images of Zim, while the boy detailed his plan to win the election.
"By the time the final debate comes, I should have swayed the entire student body" he said as he wrote on the large dry erase board he had set up in front of the table "But just to be safe, this is where I plan to offer everyone zombie dogs. People love dogs! Are there any questions?"
Between being focused on their task and how long winded the boy's monologue had become, Skoodge & Gir hadn't heard half of what he said, Zim chose to interpret their silence as them having understood.
"Anyway, how are the signs coming?" Zim asked, first checking the one Gir was making and staring at it for a minute; it definitely didn't look right, there wasn't a single actual word on it, but it didn't look completely random either "Gir. What is this?"
"You said to copy the letters" Gir explained, smiling proudly up at his brother "You didn't say in what order"
Zim's eye twitched at Gir's leap in logic, but the child looked so proud of his poster that he couldn't bring himself to actually get mad about it "Fine, it's fine. That can be our subliminal messaging poster" While Gir cheered excitedly, the concern Skoodge felt kept him from mustering up the same enthusiasm.
"Zim, I'm not sure this is such a good idea" he finally said "I remember what Margaret used to be like, she….changed after being elected" There was a noticeable chill in his voice as he recalled the sudden transformation that had taken place in her; seemingly overnight she had not only abandoned all of her interests, including her plans to improve the school, but denied those improvements had ever been needed in the first place.
A contemplative look crossed Zim's face; it seemed that Skoodge's words had given him something to think about "We need a girl on the team" he finally said "That way we can put posters up in the girls' bathroom" Skoodge buried his face in his hands, evidently it wasn't the last school president's fate that had caught his attention, but the places she could access.
"Zim, I'm pretty sure we're not allowed to put up posters in the bathrooms" the larger boy sighed "But I do have one question: if we have to make the posters ourselves, what was in the box you had me pick up?"
"Handouts, Skoodge!" Zim grinned as he pulled a couple out of the box for emphasis "I have pamphlets, door hangers, and calendars to give out at my speeches; people love to get free things, and paper ones can be produced quickly and cheaply enough to use for this"
Things continued on for a few hours longer as Zim enthused about his plans while Gir and Skoodge busily worked, the latter despite a nagging feeling that all was not right.
The next day was the first of the campaign proper, you could tell the moment you stepped through the door, as Zim had arrived early to begin placing his signs around the school until he had no signs left to place. As Dib arrived at school, he noticed the many images of Zim greeting him, and made a mental note to print a batch for Willy after class before making his way to the yard by the playground where the first presentation was to be held.
It was a beautiful, sunny morning: warm, bright sunlight streamed from the vibrant blue sky decorated with a few white, fluffy clouds like a bit of leftover summer in the fall. Below, a few birds chirped in the balding trees, it was pleasant enough to make even the shabby stage that had been wheeled out from storage look good.
Naturally this made Miss Bitters even more miserable than usual "Hurry up and give your speeches before I burn" she hissed from beneath her protective cloak, which served to emphasise her wraith-like appearance, especially as her eye glasses gleamed from within the shadow her hood cast. Seeing her like this, more than a few students wondered if by 'burn' she meant that her pale skin was more prone to sunburns than most, or whether she really was a creature of darkness that could not survive long in sunlight. Either way, the students collectively decided that they were better off not knowing.
The two candidates were already on stage and as usual, Zim started "My fellow students, if elected I promise a reign unlike any this school has ever known!" he stated to an underwhelming response. Something that shouldn't have been surprising given that many of the students had spent their entire academic careers watching him turning everything into either a competition he had won by default, or an opportunity to show off that often ended in the fire department being called.
"I have a vision of a bold new world, one where all humanity has had its eyes surgically removed" he continued undeterred despite the unsure silence that followed "And replaced with ones that can fire lasers"
The audience seemed to take to this one; laser eyes did sound cool and well worth unnecessary surgery to the majority of them. Zim himself was unconcerned about having to meet these demands after winning, in part because he knew how short an attention span many of them had, and in part because he could always modify those mechanical eyes he had made during the Keef incident just in case the red head went too far.
"Yes, and everyone's legs will be replaced with mechanical ones made of pure gold!" he grinned. The audience loved this, and Zim already had a solution to this one; it was entirely possible to turn other metals into gold, sure it was radioactive gold, but bananas were radioactive and that didn't stop most from eating them. Besides, it would prevent any attempts to overthrow him as gold was far too soft to make functional robotic legs out of. As Zim spoke Skoodge scurried around the crowd, tossing some of the freebies for everyone to grab at.
Dib was more than a little bothered by this. If it were any other child he'd see these as empty promises being spouted to win the election, which spoke to an entirely different set of problems, but Zim possessed the perfect mix of technological know how and disregard for the consequences of his actions to actually make good on them.
Now it was Willy's turn to speak, one that he squandered by making raspberry noises with his arm while laughing. "Pretty good, huh? Listen to this" Willy smiled before adding to it by blowing regular raspberries, all strung together to create something that vaguely resembled a melody. The audience was too stunned to reply, while Dib buried his face in a hand, and Zim grinned confidently; this debate couldn't have gone better if he'd planned it.
Once the speeches were over the two candidates left the stage on their respective sides and Dib found himself faced with Willy, along with the overwhelming feeling of awkwardness that came from having just watched a person botch something horribly without realising it. He was Willy's campaign manager after all, and more importantly, his tutor, it was only right that he offer praise and support. But still, that 'speech' was so...
"Good job" Dib grinned uncomfortably, giving a half-hearted thumbs up "That was really...sincere" That settled it, Zim was going to win.
Speaking of, Zim had made his way around to the other side of the stage with Skoodge in tow, eager to gloat about his assured victory, when he spotted the two of them standing together.
"Dib! What are you doing, fraternising with the enemy!?"
A pained look crossed Dib's face, he knew this moment would come, he may as well get it out of the way "The school appointed me as his campaign manager because I'm his tutor" he stated in as neutral a tone as he could manage.
"Et tu Dib!" Zim shouted "After all we've been through, you would betray me like this and work for my unworthy opponent!?" This was actually better than Dib expected it to go.
"It's school policy, Zim. I didn't have a choice either way, it was just sort of dropped into my hands" Dib sighed, being careful in how he chose his words to avoid both getting Zim even more worked up than he already was, or potentially hurting Willy's feelings. True, the latter was currently distracted by some birds, but still.
"Fine then! Zim needs no help managing this campaign!" he declared, amazingly without drawing any attention to himself "Come on, Skoodge!" Zim turned with a huff and stormed off, grabbing Skoodge's hand and leading him away. The larger boy gave Dib an apologetic smile as he was dragged off, which was returned with an understanding nod and mutual waving; both knew this was going to happen, and it was best to just let things run their course.
Once the pair was out of sight, Dib turned to see Willy jumping to try and reach a nest more than twice his height off the ground, Dib gave another sigh: this was going to be a long week.
"Can you believe that Dib!?" Zim fumed as he had been for the entire half hour the day's planning session had gone on for "Is it too much to expect a little loyalty!?"
"Didn't he say that he hadn't volunteered for this?" Skoodge ventured to say "I checked the guidelines, student tutors really do have to act as campaign manager if the person they're tutoring runs. I don't think he's any happier about this than you are"
"He could sabotage Willy's campaign!" Zim retorted "Why didn't he offer to do that!?"
Skoodge held back from pointing out he had never given Dib the chance to offer, as well as the fact that Willy clearly did not have the same….dedication to the election Zim possessed and instead settled for a shrug.
"Maybe he didn't think of it? He's pretty by the book in how he deals with things"
"It doesn't matter" Zim stated, his temper in a slow boil, now it was personal "I've ordered more posters, more paper goods, and a package of labels we are going to stick onto mini potato chip bags" he turned dramatically as if he were in a movie "We will campaign harder than anyone in the history of this school and crush Willy so thoroughly he will rue the day he ever deigned to campaign against Zim"
Things continued on like this for the rest of the week with Zim's speeches being peppered with grandiose promises and hastily produced freebies, while Willy's were….not.
Tensions continued to mount with each passing day of campaigning and every debate & rally held as Zim poured himself into working on the campaign, coming out with new promises and goodies each day, littering the floor with flyers, and plastering every inch of available wall space with posters.
Meanwhile, Dib found the whole situation stressful and frustrating. On top of being dragged into the seemingly futile pursuit of trying to help Willy with the election, something he had neither the interest nor aptitude for, Zim interpreted his staying on the campaign as a personal slight. He wasn't exactly mad at the child, just bothered by his impulsiveness and disregard for the consequences of his actions.
Sure he recognised that this was clearly something that was very important to Zim and that his reaction largely stemmed from that, but it didn't occur to him to check; for all Zim knew, Dib could be furious, and he would have no idea.
No, Dib wasn't mad at him, but found it more than a little distressing that Zim would potentially jeopardise one of the few genuine friendships he had and risk, for lack of a better word, alienating the one adult actively looking out for him all to win what was looking to be an empty title, and one he could only hold for the relatively short time until graduation at that.
Either that, or he was secure enough in his friendship with Dib that he felt comfortable being at odds with him without losing his support as a result; Dib sincerely hoped it was the latter.
At the same time Skoodge found himself growing increasingly worried; something wasn't right here, what he had witnessed in the aftermath of the last election still tugged at the back of his mind, but Zim seemed completely uninterested in hearing about any of it. While this was only relevant if he won the election, that was looking to be a very real possibility, and Skoodge's anxiety grew alongside Zim's lead. There was just too much he didn't know: he wasn't sure what exactly had happened to Margaret, whether it was something specific to her or that happened to all school presidents, and whether it could potentially happen to Zim.
That settled it, after school tomorrow he was going to go and get some answers from the one person who could provide them
This trip had taken well over an hour, and Skoodge didn't especially want to be at his destination: first he'd had to go to Margaret's house to find out which hospital she was in, then travel to said hospital, and finally find her room.
Hospitals could be intimidating at the best of times and this one doubly so; the air in the building was thick with a mixture of medicine, industrial strength cleaners, and suffering, which the handful of doctors and nurses weaving in and out of the rooms seemed to completely ignore. Even without any unpleasant memories of his own associated with hospitals, Skoodge found himself wanting to turn and run away as his footsteps echoed down the cold, impersonal halls until he reached the correct room.
Inside, a girl with copper coloured hair peeking out from under the bandage wrapped around her head, sat propped up on a bed that was slightly too large for her: the previous school president. She turned from the small TV she had been watching when she heard Skoodge walk in and waved to him.
"Hello Maggie" Skoodge greeted warmly "I brought you some apple sauce and a batch of cookies"
"Thanks Skoodge!" Margaret smiled "The hospital food is terrible, they must get it from the same place as the school food- Which is just great!" She finished with the same over enthusiastic tone and unsettlingly wide smile she'd had as school president. Upon realising what had happened and noticing Skoodge's startled expression she shied away slightly "Sorry, the doctors said that might keep happening for the next while, it shouldn't last more than a couple months"
"Are you going to be alright?" Skoodge asked, more than a little concerned.
"It's fine, what about you? You look like something's on your mind"
Skoodge gave her a small frown "This is supposed to be your visit"
"You brought me cookies in the hospital, that alone is enough for me to listen" Margaret chuckled "Seriously, Skoodge, what's bothering you?" The boy gave a worried sigh before he began.
"Well, I have a friend who's one of the candidates to take over for you, and we both have another friend who's the other candidate's campaign manager" He paused for a moment before Margaret nodded for him to continue "He didn't want to be, but he was tutoring the other candidate, and now my first friend is mad at him, and he won't listen to me about it"
He looked towards the corner as he squeezed his arms, as if he were trying to hug someone who wasn't there, or perhaps reassure himself with one "I'm just really worried. The anger's one sided, but I'm worried about their friendship, and getting caught in the middle if he loses, and what will happen if he wins…I just…I don't know what to do"
Margaret set a hand on Skoodge's shoulder and looked at him with a dead serious expression "Sabotage him" she urged "If you care about this person, don't let him win"
Skoodge gave a firm nod, he knew what he had to do, though doing it was another matter entirely.
That night everyone's tensions were running high: Zim was busily pouring over his notes for the final debate tomorrow, still confident in his success, but nonetheless anxiously awaiting the final tally. He could do this, he was prepared, already had a solid lead, and was genre savvy enough not to say anything about how easily bought the other students were until after he'd won and it was too late for them to change their minds.
Skoodge was trying to figure out a way to stop him from winning, what Margaret had told him still weighed on his mind; Zim would be upset about losing, but it would be better than what would happen if he won. It was made even more complicated by the realisation that even if he succeeded somebody still had to win; even if he saved Zim that meant Willy would suffer the consequences instead and he'd be responsible, in a way.
There was no way of rescuing them both and the decision was in his hands, still...he was only friends with one of them. Ben didn't offer any help, not that Skoodge had really expected him to, but he eventually managed to make peace with the situation...and make his decision.
Meanwhile, Dib just wanted this whole mess to be over; he never asked to be involved in any of this, and Willy wasn't the easiest person to build a campaign around, nor was he willing to just let the boy fail, perhaps because he'd applied that same mindset to tutoring him. Between that, Zim's actively avoiding him after the first debate, and the stress of him potentially making good on those campaign promises, he was relieved the end of it was finally in sight.
The next day was largely dedicated to the election, with the final debate taking place in the morning before voting during the afternoon, and the inauguration ceremony for an hour after that. Every child in the school crowded into the auditorium and murmured amongst themselves as they waited for the debate to begin, a few talked about the event itself, while many were simply taking advantage of having what was essentially a day off from class.
A few moments later the two candidates took the stage: Zim grinning and waving at the crowd, clearly relishing the attention, while Willy wandered onto the stage as if he were walking into an especially colourful convenience store.
First the candidates were to go over their platforms once more, just as before, Zim dispensed grandiose promises of invisibility granting shoes and salted nuts for all, while Willy had no counter offer.
Next came what Miss Bitters had referred to as the 'awkward silence' portion, an hour of the candidates standing at their podiums, staring out at the audience. How this time was meant to be used, nobody knew; perhaps as a commentary on the long pauses found in political campaigns, perhaps to give the candidates time to get comfortable on the indoor stage before the final debate began, perhaps there was no reason at all.
Whatever its purpose was, it was safe to say that nobody was using it as intended, as the audience entertained themselves with whatever distractions they could smuggle into the auditorium. Meanwhile the two candidates stood on stage, Zim casually lifting a sign urging people to vote for him whenever a student looked his way, while Dib was making his best effort to prepare some cue cards for Willy, which the boy proceeded to chew on.
Skoodge, on the other hand, was taking the opportunity to follow the path of the electric cables and slip unnoticed under the stage. He held his breath as he did a quick test run, unplugging the cables and listening for the quiet hum of electricity running into the microphone to fade before plugging it back in. Without the candidates speaking, his test went unnoticed; more importantly everything was set, now all he had to do was wait.
He was still waiting when the event resumed; now it was time for the debate proper. First was Willy's turn to speak and, as usual, he remained firmly in a world of his own and failed to draw the favour of the crowd.
Zim didn't hesitate to pounce on this "As usual, my oppo-" just as he was set to begin his final speech, the microphone cut out. He gave a confused hum as he inspected the device; it was switched on, he could clearly see as much, he gave it an experimental tap but nothing happened. Fine, it was fine, he'd just have to do this the old fashioned way.
Just as he was about to resume speaking, Skoodge gave a silent sigh from under the stage "Zim, I am really sorry about this" he whispered before plugging the extension cords back together.
"As I was saying! MY OPPO-"
Everyone covered their ears as the microphone switched back on while Zim was shouting into it. The boy made a couple of brief attempts to deliver his speech, but his voice was distorted by the microphone each time due to Skoodge tampering with the wires, punctuated by a sympathetic wince each time they were plugged or unplugged; it was for Zim's own good, but that didn't make this first major moral dilemma any easier.
After a minute of technical difficulties, Zim lost his patience and switched the microphone off before throwing it off into the wings in a fit of rage; fine, be that way, it wasn't as if he actually needed a microphone to be heard.
"As I was saying: once again my opponent fails to produce a counter platform! By now all of you know who I am and what I stand for!" Zim began, taking full advantage of his 'gifts' for vocal amplification "If elected I can grant you access to experimental technology, the likes of which you cannot imagine, and that only have a minimal chance of exploding!"
As Zim delivered his speech, the theater club silently wished he would take up the performing arts; it was rare to find somebody who could project to the back row without needing to be miked. Rare, and invaluable as the club only had a single handheld microphone at their disposal, two in the right weather.
"Furthermore I will gift all who support me a zombie weiner dog to-"
"How?"
Zim whipped around to face Willy "What do you mean, how?" he countered, having been taken aback by the first coherent point his opponent had made.
"How're you gonna give them all that stuff?"
"Details" Zim scoffed "I can start rolling out supporter rewards after my glorious victory"
"The school's pretty yucky" Willy stated in the innocently blunt way a younger child would "You gonna fix it?"
"Of course I will! But I'm not going to base my platform on it!" Zim replied, having regained his proverbial footing "You can't expect the average person to get excited over clean floors"
"I'd fix it" Willy said "Yeah! The food too!" Everyone's attention turned to Willy, and unexpectedly, they seemed to be interested.
Dib found himself feeling pleasantly surprised; preparing Willy for this speech and just tutoring him in general had felt as thankless as trying to roll a boulder up a hill, now it seemed some of it was finally sinking in. A part of him that still lingered from childhood wondered if Willy was secretly some sort of robot child and had actually been scanning the flashcards when he bit them. Then the parts that had been added in the time since then pointed out there were all sorts of ways that didn't make sense, and that this was exactly the sort of thinking that caused him to break his leg that one time.
"You like that? Then…Then we all go dancing! And have recess all day long! And go home whenever we want!"
Well, baby steps.
"And how do you plan to do all this?" Zim countered, still confident, but with a few small cracks beginning to show.
"We'll all be friends" Willy smiled, while Zim fixed a sour glare on him.
"This isn't over"
This was it: the voting stage and against all odds & everyone's expectations, at this point it was anyone's race.
The ballot box was set up in the lunchroom, behind it was a wide table with the candidates set up on either side to make one last push to be elected. Their banners were taped to the wall behind them, with a copy of their campaign posters hanging off the front of the table, Willy's had been placed upside down.
On the other side of the table, a line of students stretched through the room and down the hallway, so far that it snaked around the corner and out of sight. Near the tables the line split off to two tables where students could mark their ballots before dropping it in the box, amazingly they managed this without two students trying to cast their vote at the same time, as they did Zim would greet them.
"Vote for Zim or I'll destroy you" he said with the same tone you might use to wish somebody a nice day, heedless of both how inappropriate his message was and the fact that the ballot had already been cast when he said this.
Dib looked preoccupied, normally he was bothered when the appalling standards of the school were brought to his attention, but in this case he found himself sincerely hoping this was a problem specific to this one school. Or at least, this was one time when it was more comfortable to think it was a matter of the school being sub par; if allowing the candidates to threaten the voters was common here, he had…concerns.
Even more so after spotting two familiarly towering figures around the far end of the hall.
He leaned forward and squinted, near sighted or not, he could see them approaching each student in line, whispering in their ear before moving onto the next one: Red & Purple were trying to sway the voters. It was then that Dib realised what was happening, and silently kicked himself for not realising it earlier; here he'd been worried about all the outlandish and dangerous promises Zim had been making, so much that he forgot that his classmates didn't actually like Zim very much.
He wasn't sure where the twins were in the so-called hierarchy the students had sorted themselves into, but it probably wouldn't take much clout to be able to effectively remind everyone what they normally thought of Zim.
Once again Dib found himself unsure how to feel: on the one hand he was relieved there was a low chance of him winning and having to deal with him trying to make good on his campaign promises, on the other he couldn't help feeling bad for Zim. There was no denying the boy had been serious about the election and had given it his best effort, even if some parts of his campaign were questionable, he did feel bad that all of that work was undermined by simply being disliked.
Not to mention if Zim lost that put Willy in charge, which was equally worrisome, albeit for different reasons. That was the one thing he was certain of in all this: deeply hoping that real politics weren't like this where the only candidates were somebody dangerously impulsive and a person who could barely write his own name.
Soon after, the voting ended and the handful of students who had yet to cast their ballots were forcibly evicted from the room. As they were Zim briefly reflected on how his habit of pushing his way to the front of lines had (mostly) served him well; not once had he ever been caught up in the blast of water used to clear the line. He didn't know which part of the plumbing the water came from and didn't want to know, in his experience tap water was inherently untrustworthy anyways.
Everyone involved in the two campaigns anxiously awaited the results as the election robots tallied up the votes, their anticipation growing as the countdown marking the remaining ballots came increasingly closer to zero.
"And the winner is…" the robot began. Zim had already leapt onto his table, still certain of his victory and already fantasising about the start of his budding empire.
"Willy!" the robot sent out a small cloud of confetti over Willy, who happily grabbed at it.
"What!? No he's not-" Zim sputtered "You're lying!" he looked as if he was a few seconds away from pouncing on the machine and dismantling it with his bare hands as it picked Willy up and ferried him over to the principal's office. "Don't think this is over!" he called after them "Come with me, Dib! You were his campaign manager and you're going to help me fix this!" Zim seethed as he grabbed Dib's hand and all but dragged him towards the principal's office.
"Zim demands a recount!" the boy shouted as he kicked the door open dramatically, completely ignoring that he had lost the running by far too large of a margin for one to do any good. He was ignored in turn by a shadowy man in a swivel chair and a counsel of hooded figures: the principal and board of trustees. The group kept their focus firmly on Willy as their leader spoke.
"Congratulations candidate two, we are glad it was you who won, that other child would have been….difficult to work with" the Principal said, stroking what appeared to be a cat curled up in his lap. "But you have so much room for improvement, you will be a splendid class president, one that students will feel comfortable around, and who won't complain"
As the principal said this, a helmet slowly descended from the ceiling and settled on Willy's head. Zim and Dib both went wide-eyed as electricity and lasers began sparking, fight or flight instinct kicked in and both reached for a handle, opening the door just enough to slip out undetected. Any concern they might have harboured for their classmate was drowned out by the overwhelming urge to escape without being noticed and subjected to the same.
The two of them scrambled out of the room, each slamming a door behind him, breathing rapidly as their hearts raced at what they had just witnessed. Before they could fully process what had happened, both were knocked to the floor as the doors burst open behind them and Willy sauntered through the doorway.
"Good day old chaps!" Willy greeted in a newly acquired British accent "Splendid weather we're having"
Zim and Dib felt like they were watching a walking car crash and found themselves following after in stunned silence, if for no other reason than to make sure they weren't imaging the surreal scene playing out before them. Willy continued towards the auditorium, greeting everyone he met like a British gentleman and gathering a growing crowd of shell shocked followers before reaching the podium and delivering his acceptance speech, which was disturbingly similar to the one his predecessor had failed to give the week before.
"Oh my gods" Dib breathed once the initial shock died down "Willy"
"It's fine. He's better off this way" Zim assured with all the tact of a sledgehammer.
"How can you say that!? They brainwashed him!" Dib replied in a harsh whisper out of concern at being overheard by any lurking faculty members; he knew Zim didn't think very highly of his peers, but still.
"You tutored him! Surely you noticed Willy was never going to make the Mensa society" Zim stated "He didn't really lose anything he was using, and he gained several dozen I.Q. points"
"Don't you feel at least a little bad about-"
"If it hadn't been him it would have been me, Dib! Would you have preferred that?" Zim spat before turning to storm off.
"I didn't want it to happen to anyone Zim, not to you or Willy" Dib sighed "Are you going to be alright?"
Zim froze before turning around "Of course I'll be fine, I am Zim! This is just a minor setback" even someone unfamiliar with the child's usual habits could detect the false bravado in his tone, and that not being in charge wasn't the real problem here.
Skoodge soon made his appearance and, after Dib assured him that all was well in their friend group again, both agreed to give him some space to process everything that had happened, while still staying close by if needed. Zim tended to need a little time to himself after a stressful situation; he had trouble accepting help at the best of times, and even more so when he was on edge and likely to interpret it as a lack of faith in his abilities. Still, he had dodged an enormous bullet this time and neither wanted to leave him completely alone.
A heavy, uncomfortable silence reigned over the trip home, with no practice today, Zim and Dib were taking the same route. Well, Dib supposed he could skip stopping by Gir's preschool, but he didn't want to leave things as they were; the frustration from the past week still hadn't been addressed, and with the events of the day piled on top, the air was in desperate need of clearing.
Zim was the first to break the silence "What happened to Willy was…Unexpected, and upon giving it some thought, decided it was for the best that you weren't on my campaign and that the position went to him" Despite his formal choice of words, his tone was uncertain and for good reason; this was the closest he typically came to an apology, and even then it was a rare enough occurrence for him not to be entirely comfortable giving one.
"I understand" Dib replied with a nod, he really did, both from knowing the child well enough to recognise what he was trying to do, and from having grown up with a father and sister who still struggled with opening up emotionally. "I know this was important to you, you'd waited for a long time to have a chance to run, and then it turned out to…not be what you expected"
"I know! You'd think being school president would come with some actual power instead of being a glorified sock puppet!" Zim was gearing up for a monologued rant and Dib was quietly relieved that everything was returning to normal.
Zim would continue to vent his frustrations for the rest of the trip, even after Gir had been picked up, he still loudly proclaimed how 'Zim is nobody's figurehead!', and later it would be one of those nights when he would fall asleep watching his parents' show on the sofa with Gir, once the events of the day caught up to him again.
In between there would be dinner with Dib & Gaz, as well as an eagerly accepted offer for a lesson in Vortian. Admittedly this was a mixture a genuine offer, the need be together after a crisis, and the result of everything that happened before; the past week had been consumed entirely by the election and all that had come with it, since this was the first visit they'd had since it started, both wanted it to last a bit longer. That doing so postponed letting the day catch up with them was a welcome bonus.
Nobody minded though, as a bit of normalcy was regained while the excitement of knowledge exchange washed away the stress of the week.
So there we are. I have to admit I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with notes for this one, but since the original episode focused on Dib trying to keep Zim from winning, I wanted to give more attention to Zim's campaign for this one, and I was really glad to be able to give Skoodge a moment to shine a little too. A couple of inspirations for this one include the joke about Gir messing up the signs being a nod to an episode of The Brady Bunch, and one story I read for a completely different series giving me something for for Zim's reaction to what happens with Willy. The story had a similarly impulsive character working through the aftermath of an accident at her workplace and her initial reaction coming off as insensitive, since she was relieved it wasn't her (her shift had been switched at the last minute with the person that had the accident); that initial reaction of pushing through "That was almost me" in favour of "At least that wasn't me" seemed fitting for him, in a way.
Please let me know what you think (especially since I've been a bit worried about the chapters from after the break I had still feeling like the ones from before, I'd really appreciate knowing if you think so or not). As always, thank you to all of you for your support, stay safe, and I'll see you in a few weeks (^.^)/