Chapter Five - Stage Hog
Panting, Miz finally caught up with Zim. She stopped to catch her breath, and them looked at him, trying to figure out why he was running from her.
But Zim spoke before she did. "Miz...are you ready?"
(What is he talking about?) "Ready for what?"
Before Zim could answer, he was cut off by the sound of metal being dragged across the ground. There was a ship of some sort...it resembled an
Irken ship as far as the design went, but it couldn't be an Irken ship. The symbol wasn't an Irken symbol. The ship was grinding against the concrete
towards Zim. Miz silently cursed at her feet to move, but they felt as if they were glued there. Miz watched in horror as the ship slammed into Zim,
sending him into the wall behind him. Unaffected by the impact, the ship continued to fly, and a few seconds it hit Zim again, crushing him against
the wall. Miz screamed. "Zim, noooo!" She screamed again, louder this time.
Then she figured out she was dreaming.
Panting heavily, Miz turned to the photograph next to her stasis pod. It was still there; the framed memory of the two Irken kids with the same wish -
to someday prove to be worthy invaders, if not to themselves, then to each other.
Miz held her head in her hands. "That dream...that stupid dream..." she looked up, teary eyed. "...What does it mean...?" Miz glanced at the clock
to find it was 3:17 A.M. (Much too early for skool yet...) She softly stepped over to the window and glanced at the star-lit sky outside. A shooting
star passed over her. Miz knew that wishing on shooting stars was a long-time human custom, and decided to give it a shot. Her wish was a simple
one. "I wish..." she whispered, "I...I wish..." she cleared her throat, "I wish, "she said firmly, "that this stupid nightmare I've been having never comes
true." She tip-toed lightly back to her pod. "After all," she smiled softly as she climbed in, " someone has to protect you, Zim." She hugged the photo.
"And it may as well be me."
Nezram's Mothership
Nezram scowled at the sight. One of his best soldiers, now nothing but a memory. "She was caught under a falling roof, that I can understand, but...
the reason the roof fell is what baffles me! The beam was hit by a robot! A rather STUPID robot at that..."
"I doubt it could have been THAT stupid to defeat someone as great as Mirra, my lord..."
"Shut up, Hamm." Nezram grumbled at the shadow in the doorway. "You have nothing to comment on this situation. You never liked Mirra that much
anyway."
"Ah, I suppose you are correct, my lord." The figure stepped foward from the shadows, revealing a rather ugly pig with a human face. He still had a
rather hideous snout, and was dressed in a Shakespearean-type outfit. His name was Hamm, etiquette extrordinare. True, his consistant obsession
with perfect manners drove Nezram mad at times, but at least he was never rude. Stepping gracefully on his two hind legs, Hamm approached his
leader. "She wasn't anywhere as superior as myself or the rest of us..."
"What are you trying to get at, Hamm?"
"I am merely suggesting that I attampt to dispose of the troublesome Irkens...with your permission, of course, my lord."
(My lord...) Nezram smiled. How nice it would be to hear that from more that his followers. "Of course, you may, Hamm. But I will warn you in advance
to gather more information on these two. Mirra's mistake was underestimating them. Do not follow in her footsteps."
"Yes, as you wish. I will be sure to report any imformation I gather to you immediately, my lord." Hamm bowed humbly and left for the vehicle storage
bay to depart for Earth.
Nezram smiled evilly. "Good." Hamm may not have exactly been a key fighter, but he was smart, Nezram would give him that. Intellegent and
cunning, Hamm was sure to be victorious. Still... "CHEETOR!! GET IN HERE!!!!
One can never be TOO careful.
On Irk
"...and the mastermind behind this ordeal in unknown. But...we are looking into this matter further as I speak." Zim's voice came through loud and
clear on the transmisson.
Almighty Tallest Red and Purple exchanged glances. He couldn't mean the...'Gir' thing, could he? "Uh, what do you mean by 'we', Zim?"
A shuffling sound was heard, and then Miz's form stepped up to the moniter. "Uh...he means me, your Tallest. I'm here too."
Purple cocked an eye at the screen. "...Miz, right? So THAT'S where you've dissapeared to."
Miz looked down. "That's correct,...Sirs."
"What did you leave for? You were the best drink mixer."
Miz rolled her eyes. "I left the recipe right there...and besides, that's not what's important right now."
Red glanced at them. "Mind telling us what is important?"
Zim stepped forward. "Someone knows about our mission, and if they look into matters too much further, it could jepordize the entire plan, and then
it might continue to plod into the other Invaders' business."
The Tallest were silent for a moment, exchanging silent words between them. "Okay, you two," Red finally said, "We'll go into this matter in a while."
Miz beamed. "Thank you, Sirs!"
"Right." The transmission finished. Red turned to Purple. "Do you know why anyone would follow him?"
Purple thought for a moment. "No...unless she had a good reason."
"Then that would mean that Zim just might be useful for something..." Red said quietly. "Argh! What am I thinking?! Zim? USEFUL?!"
Purple waved his hand to dismiss the thought. "Okay, relax. It can't be THAT bad...can it?"
The Tallest exchanged silent words between them for a moment, then at the same time declared, "Nah."
On Earth.
"Oh, come ON, Zim. If you don't go, it'll look bad."
"I don't care. I'm not getting caught up in another skool-oriented project...not after...'Parent-Teacher Night.' " Zim shuddered at the thought.
Miz squinted an eye at him. "It's just a Halloween dance. Very simple. The kids are gonna wear costumes, drink too much punch, get sick on too many
cupcakes---"
Gir popped his head in the room. "Cupcakes?"
Miz ignored him. "And then go home."
Zim frowned. "Costumes...?
Miz flipped a few pages in a book she was holding. "It's a custom...every Halloween, October 31st, kids dress up in costumes and collect candy from
their neighbors. They ring the doorbell and say 'Trick or treat'."
"They do WHAT?"
Miz shrugged. "I don't get it, either."
Zim scratched his head. "That's great, but what's a 'costume'?"
"Uh..." Miz flipped through some more pages. "I think it's like a disguise, but you only wear it on Halloween."
"Can you specify?"
"I'll try." flip, flip, flip "Let's see here...kids dress up like robots, ghosts, mummies, and...aliens."
Zim's jaw dropped. "Aliens?"
Miz nodded. "Yeah, but...maybe we can use it to our advantage, if you know what I mean."
Zim was still skeptical. "I still don't quite comprehend the 'dance' part. Do you mean like the ballroom dancing?"
Miz laughed. "For these brats? Nah. All they do is jump up and down and scream to whatever music is played."
Zim nodded slowly. "You're going, right?"
"Huh? Oh, well, I...I was hoping we could go together. You know, sort of a confidence booster."
Zim was quiet. "Okay. I'll do it. Bot where are we gonna get...'costumes'?"
Miz chuckled nervously. "Well, I can only think of one place...and I don't think you're gonna like it."
The Mall.
Zim examined his surroundings with disgust. "Ugh! So...many...humans...Miz, why did you bring me here?!"
"Hey, I gave you fair warning. It's either this or we risk losing the entire mission to...Dib."
"AHHH!! Don't say that name!!"
Miz shot Zim a weird look. "Woah, soooorry. Chill out a bit, okay? It WILL work. Look, here's the bookstore."
They walked in. Zim followed Miz down the aisles of the store. "What do we need here?"
"I was thinking that if we're going together, we're gonna need costumes that will go together. I'm looking for a book on famous partners in history."
"Oh." There was another awkward silence between them. Miz began to skim through a few books that lined the shelves. "Hmm...what have we
here..."
Zim peered over her shoulder. "Find anything yet?"
"Not yet. I'll let you know when I find something."
Zim looked outside the bookstore and saw a costume shop opposite from where he was standing. "Hey, Miz, I'm gonna look over there."
Miz nodded without looking up. Zim hurried over and browsed quickly. That's when he discovered what he thought was a good idea. He went back
for Miz. "Miz, c'mere. I think I found what we're looking for."
"Not now, Zim, I---"
Zim rolled his eyes. There was no time for babble. "Just come on!" He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her onto the shop. "Look. There."
Miz rubbed her arm, annoyed. "I don't know what you---oh!" She saw what Zim had found. A pair of costumes, one was a prince outfit, the other was
a princess outfit. "I love it. It's cute."
Zim nodded, grateful. "Great. Now let's just get them and get out of here."
Outside the Mall
Gir and Kir were chasing each other, Gir in his traditional dog disguise, and Kir in a calico cat dusguise. At lats, the two collapsed on the ground with
contented sighs, exhuasted, but happy.
Gir looked at Kir. "I just love Chocolate Bubblegum, don't you?"
Kir mewed. "Yeah. Let's go get another."
But before they could go in, Zim and Miz came out. "Alright, you two," Zim said. "We're going home."
Gir put on the sad face. "But I want another Brainfreezie."
"Later." Miz picked up her "cat", put it on her shoulder, and started walking . "Right now we have a mission to think about."
Gir followed Zim back to the base, grumbling the entire way. "Mission, mission, mission. That's all you ever think about..."
The Dance
Dib tapped his foot impatiently. "What is taking so long?"
Gaz glared at him through her hippie glasses. "Will you just forget about them for once?"
Dib folded his arms and returned the glare. "NO! I can't. If I do, the entire fate of the world will be lost to an alien race....Besides, I want to see what
they dress up as."
Gaz picked up her glass and smirked at her brother. "Maybe they're dressing up as aliens." She walked away, laughing hysterically.
Dib twitched. "That's not funny, Gaz!"
"Yes, it is!" cried her distant voice.
Dib growled under his breath. He had decided to come as something easy - an Alien Hunter. At least to him, it was easy. He recalled his earlier
conversation with Gaz over the costumes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dib walked into the hallway where Gaz was putting on her shoes. "What are you supposed to be?" he asked her.
"The first video-game playing hippie." She examined her brother. "What about you?"
Dib stood up proudly. "I'm going as an alien hunter."
Gaz clenched her fists. "You can't even forget about the whole alien thing for two minutes, can you, Dib? You know that I, as well as the whole world,
am really getting tired of this 'alien' ordeal. And now you'e going as yourself to a costume party. How original. Just don't expect to win any awards
for the 'Most Original' costume. I know lots of people who will be going as freaks." With that she left for the dance, slamming the door so hard behind
her the house shook.
Dib dropped to his knees in defeat. "She just doesn't get..." he sighed. "No one gets it." He stood up. "But someday, somehow, I'll prove to the world
that I'm not crazy...hopefully before it's too late."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sighing again, Dib turned around---
And screamed.
By now, a lot of kids had arrived and were dressed up as various creatures. How was he going to tell which one was Zim or Miz? This was going to
take some real careful planning.
At this time, Zim and Miz were just entering the skool cafeteria where the dance was being held. Zim turned to Miz. "You remember the plan, right?"
Miz nodded. "Listen to other people's conversations, and avoid Dib at all costs."
Across the room, a lone figure stood, waiting. Any person there would have thought that this figure was another kid wearing a pig costume...but such
was not the case. He was more. Much more.
He was Hamm, the second officer of Nezram's group of followers known as the Supreme Quartet. And he was here with one purpose, and one purpose
only - to remove Zim and Miz from Nezram's dominating plans in any way nesscessary...even if it ment death. However, Hamm realized with a smile,
fufilling a purpose was hard to do on an empty stomach, and so he preceded to the snack table.
The table itself was laden with chips, tuna dip, cookies, cupcakes, and tacos. And as you all probably know, wherever there are tacos, there's Gir.
Gir was there, alright - he and Kir had secretly followed Zim and Miz to the dance, and were now holding fort under the table, every now and then
reaching a hand out to grab whatever treat off fo the table that he could.
Kir was in her kitten costume again, staring blankly at the food in front of her. "Gir, do we have to do it this way? Why can't we just go get the food off
of the table ourselves instead of being sneaky?"
Gir cocked his head. "Good idea!" Gir jumped out from his hiding spot and onto the table, where he came face to face wiht Hamm, who was delicately
biting at a taco. Gir shook his head wildly at this action. "NONONONONO!!! You're doing it wrong!"
Hamm cocked an eye at the green puppy in front of him. It seemed strangely familier, yet he couldn't place his finger on exactly where. "How am I
doing it wrong, young pup?"
Gir beamed. "Like this!" He picked up a taco and shoved it into his mouth in one bite.
Hamm took a step back, slightly repulsed. "You...do that all the time?"
Gir clapped his hands. "Yeah! It's fun. See?" Gir picked up a taco and shoved it into Hamm's mouth.
Hamm swallowed, surprised that 'being a pig' was actually fun. He decided to try it for himself, after all, no one he knew was there to see him. He
picked up a taco and started to eat.
Gir cheered him on the entire time. "Yay! You're doing it!"
Across the room, Zim was walking around cautiously, eyeing everyone suspiciously. "We need to watch out for Dib. He could be behind any one of
these...masks, as they call them."
Miz brushed some dust off of her pink gown and pointed. "Oh, you mean like over there?"
"Huh?" Zim looked over to where she was pointing.
At the same time, Dib noticed where the two where standing. "Ah-ha! There you are."
Miz folded her arms as Dib approached them. "What do you want now, Dib?"
Dib looked her dead in the eye. "Oh, you know what I want. I want to preserve the Earth in it's current state, and simultaneously become noticed for
my efforts to prove the existence of paranormal beings."
"................................whatever."
"Wha---?! Why you..." Dib held up a fist. "You'll see. Someday, you'll regret that you ever heard of the planet 'Earth'."
Zim squinted an eye at him. "Oh really, Dib? And what makes you so sure of that?"
But before Dib could reply, he was cut of by a shrill scream, followed by a high-pitched voice crying: "HE'S GONNA BLOW!!!!!!!"
Zim and Miz looked up. "Gir?!" they both cried at the same time.
Apparently, Gir's persuasive methods had been so effective on Hamm, that he couldn't stop eating. The tiny green puppy hopped off of the snack
table and ran away from the continually growing pig-person, screaming his head off.
Zim grabbed Gir, then put his hand in front of Miz. "Hurry! Get down!" he cried.
Seconds later there was an explosion. After it ended, Zim and Miz slowly stood up to analyze the situation. Gobs of taco goo covered the skool
cafeteria, but where Hamm was, there was a book. Zim motioned for Miz to go over there with him.
Miz picked it up cautiously. "What...is it?"
"I don't know," Zim replied, taking the book, "but we'd better take it into our custody." He stood up. "Gir!"
Gir sqeaked over to where Zim was standing. "Yes...?"
"Gir, get this back to our base IMMEDIATELY, then report back here. I don't want this to get into the wrong hands...whatever it is."
Miz pulled her patchwork kitten out from under the table. "Kir, you go with him."
"Okie-dokie." The two little robots activated their rocket boosters and flew of into the night, laughing insanely for no good reason.
Miz and Zim turned to each other, annoyed looks on their faces. "We're not going to see them for a while, are we?" Miz asked.
"Nope." Zim replied.
At this point, the kids had started to stand up and scream again to the music that was playing. Some were bothering the D.J., and others were puking
in the wastebaskets. Yet, in spite of it all, Zim found a reason to smile. He turned to his partner ans offered his arm to her. "Well then...shall we dance?"
Miz smiled in return and sliiped her arm through Zim's. "Let's."
The two walked onto the dance floor.
(Hello! This is your authoress speaking. I'm sorry that this took so long to get up. Inspiration had been avoiding me lately, and when it hit, I couldn't get
to my computer!! Oh well. At least I finally got to update. Okay, I know that there hasn't been much of Dib in this fic, but I promise you that he plays a
big role in the story later on. I've got a spot for Gaz too...though it's not as big. The next chapter may not be real long, as I've had a bit of difficulty
trying to write, but that's what math class is for! I will post Ch. 6 A.S.A.P. Gotta run!)