Disclaimer: I only own Zoe, Skitt, the storyline, and all other original ideas contained within the confines of this fic. Now, read, reeead…
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Skitt
and Zoe continued home from the health club. Zoe was walking on her birdlike
legs, making for a fairly unusual gait. When they finally arrived at the house,
they shed their disguises. Zoe jumped onto the couch and flicked on the TV, a
really, really big flat screen that some how floated above the floor.
The Irken joined her. "What're you watching?" she asked as she sat down on the squishy sky blue couch. Although through peripheral vision and from where Skitt and Zoe were you could see Dib looking through the window, but the two did not.
"Prooobing
the Membrane of Sciiiience…" Zoe crooned, blinking and staring at the
screen. Skitt's interest quickly waned, but after a few moments, she leaned
toward the TV.
"Zoe,
do you know anything about this…Professor Membrane person?" Skitt asked, now
standing and walking nearer to the television. She held a pose that indicated
deep thought.
The
SIR stood up and saluted. "Yes, master! Professor Membrane is the father of the
human Dib! Probing the Membrane of Science is filmed right in this city,
and is on at--"
"That's
enough information, Zoe. What must one do to see this show?"
"Aaaam….you
go to the studio down…that way..."
Skitt
considered this. "This science show sounds interesting. I think it would be
a..I don't know… Zoe, what's a good reason for going to this TV studio?"
Zoe
stared blankly for a moment and Skitt just stared at the SIR. Then, the robot
snapped out of the daze and grinned. "It would be a good way to study the human
way of perceiving science, sir!" After giving her master another little salute,
she once again sat down and watched the show.
"Hhm…then
I will go. Zoe, stay here, go somewhere, I don't care." Skitt grabbed her
lenses from the black-carpeted floor and carefully placed them in her eyes,
then placed the purple mass of hair back on her head and over her antennae
carefully.
After
walking down the steps, she cast a glance to her left and right, and turned her
head when she saw Dib struggling to get away from the two red Venus flytraps.
She walked over to him.
"Having
a little trouble, Dib?" Skitt asked innocently.
The
human boy shot her a glare as he swung his camera at the plant. "I've got
pictures, Skitt. I just took pictures of your and your…robot-thingy watching
TV. And…I'm not going to let you interfere with our TV's, whatever you've got
planned for my dad's show!" he said, triumphantly.
The
Irken gave a smug look. "Pictures? Really?" She clapped her hands once, and the
Venus flytraps lunged not for Dib, but for his camera. The two plants wrestled
for it, tearing pieces off and making a mess of the grass.
"…Well,
I've a prior engagement, so, better luck next time, Dib." Skitt turned and
walked off while Dib scrambled to get out of the alien's yard. He stood up,
brushed blades of grass off his black trench coat, and decided that he had to
follow Skitt to his father's TV studio and take the two tests over again.
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When
she was only one block away from the TV studio, Skitt stopped on the sidewalk
and slid into a nearby alley. Once concealed by the shadows of a dumpster, she
allowed her communication device to slide from her backpack.
"Zoe,
are you there?" she asked into the microphone.
There
was a moment's silence, then a voice responded, "Yessssss…" It sounded
as if Zoe had a bunch of food in her mouth. Just then, another robot voice
chimed in.
"Hello!!"
it said.
Skitt
moved back half a step. "Zoe, who's that?"
"Uhm…GIR,"
Zoe replied.
"Just
GIR, right? No ZIM."
"A-yep."
"Ah.
Good. Now, Zoe, what other information can you give me, if anything?" Skitt
waited for her robot's response.
A
faint whirring sound was heard over the microphone. "You will have to take two
tests, sir. One is about science, math, and Professor Membrane. The other one
is two battles using science tools and blinky light things as…scorey things.
The first is just a regular fight. The second is called 'Pyrochaos.' The
tiebreaker involves piloting a spider-like… 'Cybernetic death machines.'" The
sound stopped. "That's all I know, master."
Skitt
gave a confused look to the microphone. "Zoe, how'd you know all that?"
Zoe
laughed. "I used my x-ray sight to read Dib's journal 'cross the street. He's
been there before."
On
her end, Skitt laughed too. "Yeah, and he's also following me." A crash was
heard from further down the alley. "Listen, Zoe, I need you to get more
information about Membrane so you can help me with that part. I can get the
transmitter to work while there, but you're going to have to keep your voice
down.
"Okay!
Listen, when you're done, you should watch this show on this channel. The
chaaaanel is Comedy Central and…ooh, it's back on! Gotta go, master! Have fun!"
Zoe's connection was cut off and static was heard on Skitt's microphone.
The
transmitter slid back into the backpack. "Well, I'd better be off." Skitt
turned and walked the extra block to the TV studio, Dib following not far
behind.
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"This
is the Professor Membrane audience admissions exam," a robot said, handing a
test to Skitt. She took it and noticed that Dib was a few seats ahead of her.
The
girl directed her eyes toward the paper. It was so incredibly simple that she
wouldn't need Zoe's help. The science and math equations were hopelessly
childish; any Irken engineer, such as herself, for example, would be insulted
by being asked to solve them. Skitt thought she had better tell Zoe she
wouldn't need assistance. The communication device came slowly from her
backpack. It wormed its way into the purple braid that hung behind Skitt and
over her chair. When the transmitter was comfortably placed on top of her head
in the purplish bundle of hair, she turned it on.
"Zoe?"
she whispered quietly, turning the transmitting volume up and the receiving
volume down.
"Yes,
master? Ready for the answers?" Zoe replied, quite loudly.
Skitt
picked up the pencil and began quickly jotting down the answers. "No, Zoe. You
just keep doing whatever, I've got this covered." There was a noise of
understanding and the connection was broken.
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Skitt
looked up at the pipe that was using sucking her into it. As she whirled
through the pipe, she was outfitted with a battle suit not unlike Dib's stealth
outfit. Seconds later, she was inside a gigantic battle dome, and oversized
items were in front of her, and she chose a big Q-Tip.
Just
then, Dib, wearing the old 'Battle Dib' outfit, rose up from the floor on a
platform.
"Let
the battle begin!!" a voice boomed over loudspeakers.
Before
Dib could even say anything, Skitt was lunging at him. The boy barely had
enough time to duck from the head-smashing blow of a Q-Tip that came. He then
jumped to avoid Skitt trying to trip him, and then had to roll away to avoid
being stomped on. After a few more moments of rapid dodges, Dib finally moved
too slow and got whacked in the right side of the head. H realized the glass of
his helmet was cracked as he landed on his stomach on the metal floor.
A
shrieking battle cry was heard and Dib's head flashed upward to see Skitt in
the air, jumping, and everything seemed to slow. She was glaring down at him
coldly, but with a little bit of bloodlust thrown in. She was twirling the big
Q-Tip above her head, and he estimated she would aim for his spine, so he
scrambled up and got out of the way in the nick of time. Skitt turned and
paused for a moment, Q-Tip grasped by two hands and a feral look in her eyes.
Dib then noticed that an antenna was sticking out her wig, but Skitt didn't
seem to be aware of that.
"I
don't know why Invader ZIM hasn't defeated you yet; this is too easy. By the
way you move I'll have you beat in less than ten minutes. Heh, not only was a
technological genius, but also a champion fighter. Ready?" Skitt grinned. It
wasn't a question, and in seconds she was coming again.
Skitt
ran toward Dib, and as she did, the boy turned and ran away. She stopped. After
a few moments, Dib paused warily. Then the alien was no longer there, but
rather up in a midair somersault. Skitt landed behind Dib and took a moment
glance at his ankle. The human was just turning as Skitt slammed the stick part
of the Q-Tip into the back of his right foot. The was a soft crunching sound,
the dislocating of Dib's ankle cushioned by the material of his boot. The boy
collapsed onto the floor and held his right foot in pain.
The
alien just stood above Dib for a moment, surveying his fury-mingled pain. Beads
of sweat had formed on Skitt's brow, and, despite the intense hurt in
his foot, Dib could see two white with purplish eye color lenses lying not too
far away. Skitt threw her head back and laughed, her fake hair falling off.
Then, the spider legs slid out of her backpack slowly and she rose up on them,
hovering above the writhing human boy. What the triumphant Irken failed to
note, however, was that she was completely out of disguise and using her
obviously not-human spider appendages.
"I
really think, Dib, you should've quit while you were ahead. I will give you a
chance now, though." Skitt dropped to the ground, extra limbs folding silently
into her backpack. She took up the Q-Tip and, with the same speed and accuracy
as before, she whacked the injury and there was another crunching sound. The
bone had been relocated, and Dib gingerly stood up.
"Do
you give up? I'm giving you this one and only chance." Skitt waited, but Dib
just grinned. A mechanical swishing sound was heard as doors opened up in the
dome's wall. Two workers with helmets that had M's on them walked toward Dib,
but stopped short when they saw Skitt.
"Come
on, boy, you need medical attent- Is…is that an alien?!" one of the two
said. Dib recognized him as the cattle prod-toting guard that had shocked him
out of a simple entry to see his dad before.
Skitt
paused, and then slowly gazed down at the purple wig and the lenses. Then, a
focused look appeared in her eyes. In an instant, the battle clothes were
shredded and she was back in Invader garb. She dropped onto her right knee and
unfolded the spider legs once again. The guards jumped at her, but Skitt used
the spider legs to bounce onto the wall, swing off, and run out the open door.
After
a few moments of running on the spider appendages, knowing she was pretty much
doomed to failure and to the same fearful and humiliating death at the hands of
human scientists that Invader ZIM feared. Skitt finally found a dark corner and
turned, finding an empty hallway. It was dark, however, and that was what
counted. She got the transmission device out of her backpack.
"How
could I have been so careless?!" she hissed, clenching her teeth as the device
fully unfolded, and she spoke into it. "Zoe! I'm in danger, humans have seen
me, I need to get me now!!"
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Zoe,
out of disguise, saluted. "Yessir!" GIR made a whining noise from behind her.
He was on the couch in dog guise and Zoe was off the couch in front of the TV.
"Move,
I can't see the Teeee-Veeeeeee…" GIR said, making a little 'move it'
motion with one hand while holding a slice of pizza in the other.
The
SIR turned looked at him, pulling on her parrot costume at the same time. "I
gotta go. Master's in trouble." As she said that, four little jets popped out
of her back and ignited with purple flames.
GIR
stared. " 'Ju have to go? Scary Monkey is just comin' on!!"
"Yessh…but
I'll be back soon! Master has money, and we get some more pizza!" Zoe said
brightly. She floated off the ground.
GIR
went to the door and smiled inanely as she left. "And tacos!" he called after
her.
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Skitt
stood rigid, back to the wall, blanketed in shadow. Dib was right around the
corner, yelling things at the people running around trying to find the alien.
"You
couldn't find an alien if it was right in front of you, for crying out loud!
Come on, I can help!!" Dib had been told to stay out of it, as the alien was
reportedly dangerous according to the guards that had seen her.
Zoe
crashed through a wall, in her full parrot outfit, and floated above the
ground. Purple flames were being emitted out of her back. Skitt smiled. From
the nearby gasp, though, Skitt guessed Dib had seen what just happened.
"I
found the alien! She's right here!! C'mon you guys-"
Dib
didn't finish, for Skitt had put her gloved hand over his mouth and wrapped one
spider leg around his arms to prevent mobility. The Irken leaned in closer to
him, her mouth right by his right ear.
"I
could destroy you now. Wouldn't that be the logical thing to do?" she whispered
to him.
Dib's
eyes widened as he attempted to get away, and Skitt continued. "But I won't,
for defeating you in front Invader ZIM will mean so much more." Something slid
out of Skitt's backpack with a quiet 'whirr.' "Now, Dib, have a nice rest." The
alien moved the boy's right sleeve up a little.
At
the end of a jointed gray metal line was a syringe with green liquid inside.
The syringe jabbed into Dib's arm and emptied, and within seconds the human was
out cold.
Skitt
climbed onto Zoe and they blasted out into the hall and into the battle dome.
Skitt picked up the disguise and the two left.
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The
guard ran down the hall. An alien! An actual alien, on his
shift!! He turned a darkened corner to find a curious hole in the wall shining
the light of a setting sun onto an unconscious pale boy. He looked for a pulse,
and when he found one, he went out into the halls to look for medical
attention.
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"Zoe,
remind me never to do that again." Skitt slumped onto the squishy couch
next to GIR. Zoe sat on her left side.
The
SIR smiled brightly. "Don't do that again."
GIR
turned his head to Skitt. "I want a pizza! And tacos!!"
Zoe
jumped up and down on the couch. "Me too! Me too!"
Skitt
reached under on of the cushions and found enough money to buy a pizza and taco
dinner for an Irken engineer and two insane robots. She spilt the money in
semi-equal halves, and then gave one half to each of the two robots.
"GIR,
you get tacos. Zoe, you get pizza. Let's have a party!" Skitt smiled as the two
robots ran around excitedly, then headed out the door. She slumped down onto
the couch and turned on the TV. She was happy to be home.
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Forgive
me if I missed something technical, like you can't dislocate an ankle or
whatever. So, I am happy to announce that chapter eight will most likely be
written on a new computer ( which I think I'll be naming 'Spooky' for no
reason.. ::hugs Spooky, the thing what squeaks:: ). Anyway, see you next
chapter, hope you're enjoying my fic, because I'm sure enjoying writing it.