Dib shivered fearfully in GIR's grasp praying the robot wouldn't give him to Zim.

"Put me down!" He pleaded.

GIR smiled letting his tongue wag out.

"You're funny looking! Wanna be my pet?"

Dib scowled,

"No, I do not want to be your pet. I want to get out of here."

GIR stared blankly at Dib for a second, then smiled.

"I got a better idea, WEEHOOOOOO!!"

With a sudden jolt Dib found himself tossed into the air. He screamed as the ground rapidly approached. Only a few inches from an impact that could very well make him a Dib- pancake he was saved by GIR grabbing his leg, letting him dangle in the metal claw with his coat over his head.

"Please put me down." He groaned.

GIR ignored his whimpers and flipped the boy over holding him gently around the wrists.

"Hey what are you doing? Let go of me!" Dib cried as GIR lifted his arms up and down as if his were some kind of doll.

"Do the monkey dance!" The robot chirped moving Dib's resistant limbs in dance like motions. "Now cabbage patch. Funky dude funky dude."

"Cut it out!" Dib insisted.

GIR stopped suddenly, he lifted Dib up again from under his arm pits and frowned.

"Aww, I thought everyone liked dancing."


"Well I don't feel like dancing right now..."


"You can't hide forever Dib," Zim called from the other side of the room, "I'll step on you sooner or later!"

Dib froze, it sounded like Zim was headed his way.

"Oh no," he gasped "Zim's coming! I have to hide!"


GIR's eyes lit up with joy.

"I love hide and seek!"

Dib smiled, an idea forming in his head.

"You do? Do you want to help me play?"

"Yes!" GIR grinned.

"Then find me a place where I can hide from Zim."

GIR widened his mouth with the biggest smile possible.

"I know a great place!" He sang lifting Dib upwards. His head opened up revealing all the circuits and empty space inside as he held Dib over his vacant cranium.

"Wait what are you...?

Before he could finish asking Dib found himself dropping into GIR's head and landing on the hard insides.

GIR closed his metal skull and rattled it around whooping,

"EEEHEEEHEEE!!" As he gave his head a few swift punches.

Inside the robot shell Dib tumbled about sliding from side to side.

"Stop that!" He demanded as a stuffed toy moose fell on him.

GIR shrugged and stopped then ran off to find something else to do.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^

"This can't get any worse." Dib moaned pushing the toy moose off his back. The room still swayed as GIR skipped around the lab. The boy could hear the tin can singing a little song as it moved about. He stumbled backwards on some circuits falling back on the moose producing a tiny squeak. Dib looked around, the circuits surrounding him an idea.

"Say I can use Zim's robot to my advantage. Lucky for me I have my laptop with me...or am I lucky that it's shrinking with me?" He shrugged and hooked his portable computer into a nearby conduit and began hacking. Within moments static appeared on the screen and faded to focus.

"It worked!" He smiled "Now I can see what ever GIR sees...yah!" Dib fell back surprised by the sudden clear view of Zim's rear end that appeared on his computer screen.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Zim was crawling around on all fours with a magnifying device in one hand scanning for is missing foe. A tiny giggle behind him signified he was not alone.

"GIR!" he shouted "Stop staring at my buttocks and stay out of my way. I'm looking for something." He leaned back down and continued searching. GIR jumped up and landed on Zim's back gripping his antennae like reigns.

"Gimme a piggy back ride!"

Zim bucked backwards, knocking GIR off his back. Inside the robot Dib tumbled across the circuits.

"GIR please leave me alone." Zim yelled "you can bother me after I've smushed Dib into human paste."

Dib shuddered at the thought of "human paste" as he reclaimed steadiness. GIR skipped off ignoring Zim's frustration and seeming to have forgotten about Dib in his head. After they were a safe distance away from the alien Dib decided to start phase two of his plan.

"Hey GIR." He called.

GIR heard a voice echo in his head.

"Yes?" he paused, antenna sticking straight up.

"See that console over there?" dib asked "the one with the round dish thingy sticking out of it?"

"I once put coleslaw in that dish." GIR smiled.

Dib rolled his eyes,

"Uh yeah, look, can you take me over there?"

"Ok voice in my head!" GIR squeaked and began skipping over to the console singing "Do de do do do."

"Good robot." Dib praised. "Now there should be a connection wire somewhere around here."

GIR stared ahead blankly pulling on his tongue.

"Are you looking for it?"

"Looking for what?"

Dib sighed,

"The connection wire."

"Oh that." GIR looked around and picked up a skinny wire off the ground. "Here yah go." He fed the wire into his head. Dib grabbed it and plugged it into the robot's circuits. Using GIR as an adapter he could use his laptop to access the telecommunications console.

"Alright!" He rejoiced "It's working! Please Gaz, still be watching TV."

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

She was. And she was enjoying it. The sights and sounds of dancing midgets prancing around mud wrestling pigs. It had been an hour since her brother had left the house, not that she cared. She was relaxing on the couch watching her shows without any distractions.

Just as one of the mud pigs had taken a bite out of one of the midgets the picture suddenly failed, breaking away to static. She growled throwing herself off the couch. The remote control wasn't working; every channel was bringing her interference. She knocked the side of the television cautiously with her fist, no response. She slammed it harshly, still nothing. She punched it violently, just static lingering, mocking her.

"What's wrong with this thing?" She snarled.

"Gaz!" A voice shouted behind the static. A familiar voice. A voice Gaz didn't want to hear.

"Dib?" She raised an eyebrow "What did you do to the TV?"

Dib's face fuzzed in and out of focus amid the buzzing snow as he spoke.

"I've been captured by Zim! I'm transmitting from inside his robot." Some static crackled through the picture, "You have to get here and rescue me."

Gaz frowned, unhappy that her brother was now bossing her around.

"Dib, I'm watching my shows. Put the TV back the way it was."

"What was that Gaz?" Dib called over the static "This signal isn't very good. You need to come and get me." The room around him increased in size another square inch. "And hurry! I think my shrinking is getting worse." As he finished his sentence the toy moose once again fell on him.

"My shows Dib, I want them back. Go away." Gaz snarled.

The screen crackled fragmenting Dib's signal as he spoke.

"I'm going to try to get Zim's robot to take me outside. Meet me there..."

A light poured down on Dib as GIR's head suddenly opened up and his small metal hand reached in and picked Dib up by the collar of his coat.

"Ollie ollie oxen free!" The robot shouted pulling Dib out of his head.

Dib clung to his laptop trying to anchor himself to no avail. The wires snapped away from GIR's circuitry severing the connection between brother and sister.

Back in the Membrane household sparks flew from Gaz's beloved TV. The sudden cut off had caused some kind of short circuit effect in the television. The picture went black. Grabbing the remote control Gaz pressed all the buttons waiting for some response but she was rewarded with nothing. She threw the remote to the ground snarling. All she wanted to do was watch her shows. Now because of Dib she couldn't and he had to pay dearly for this sin.

"He will know the true meaning of pain." She growled stomping out the door.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

GIR plucked Dib from his head ready to play again despite the boy's protests.

"Let's play house!" The robot squealed happily.

"How about not?" Dib offered dreading GIR's definition of "house". He was now so small the robot could wrap one hand around his waist and do whatever he wanted to the human with the other. A metal finger poked his belly.

"Gah! My kidney!" Dib cried.

"Make a squeaky." GIR told him poking again.

"Squee..." he moaned.

The sound of GIR's giggles wafted through the lab and landed on the hearing organs of a certain irken.

"I like you..." Zim could hear GIR claim. His attention perked, he wandered over to where his robot was.

"GIR, who are you talking to?"

Like a guilty child sneaking a cookie GIR his Dib behind his back.

"No one." He smiled.

"The what are you hiding?" Zim asked.

"Nothing."

"Could it me a certain human I've been looking for?"

GIR looked around nervously.

"Maybe."

Dib struggled to get out of GIR's grip. If Zim caught him now he may never get home.

"Hand him over GIR." Zim laid out his open palm before his robot.

"Mmm...can't." GIR smiled quickly peeking behind his back.

"And why not?" Zim asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"He's gone." GIR presented his empty hands.

"Hmmm?!?" Zim's eyes nearly popped from their sockets spotting Dib scampering away behind GIR.

His endless fervor had paid off. After all that squirming Dib had squeezed out of GIR's hands and was getting as far away from the playful robot as he could as fast as he could. But Zim had now seen him opening up a whole new set of possibilities for suffering.

Using his spider legs for an extra boost Zim jumped over his runaway foe and landed directly in his path nearly squashing him in the process.

"Fee fi foe fum," Zim smirked "I smell the stink of a filthy human!"

Dib trembled in the shadow of the alien fiend creeping slowly after him. He turned to escape but GIR was right behind him smiling goofily. Taking a risk Dib sprinted through the space between GIR's legs. It seemed to work until a tug on his trench coat told him to postpone any celebration. Once again Dib found himself in the grips of Zim's robot slave.

"You're silly." GIR chuckled holding Dib at eye level.

"Good work GIR." Zim praised. "Now hand Dib over."

GIR tucked Dib closely to his chest.

"But we're not done playing yet." the little metal one said.

"No GIR, no more playing. Give me Dib now."

The infantile robot only hugged Dib closer, tears forming in his blue eyes.

"But," he sniffled "I love him."

Zim frowned with surprised eyes. He would not have tolerated this sort of resistance except that at that moment he was Dib's discomfort being hugged by GIR so tightly.

"Can't... breathe..." the human choked.

Zim smiled,

"Well GIR, seeing as how you 'love' him, I guess it would be alright for you to keep him for the time being."

GIR beamed,

"YAY!"

Dib frowned,

"no..."

"I'll be back at work figuring out a way to destroy the planet." Zim said sauntering back to his consoles.

"Kay." GIR smiled. He turned back to Dib who was trying to pull himself free of the robot's hold. "I'm gonna play with your hair!"

Dib squinted as a tin colored hand came down on his head and mussed up his spiky hair.

"Hey stop that!" He protested.

GIR continued running his hand over Dib's head, petting him like some kind of animal at a petting zoo. Giggling childishly GIR rubbed Dib's head over his face ignoring the boy's cried of pain and distress. Dib groaned wondering what the mechanical sadist had in mind for him next. He let out a pitiful whine as GIR lifted him to his open mouth.

"Oh no..."

Plunged into darkness, his head in a pitch damp chamber with a metal tongue licking his head. His body on the outside struggling to pull his cranium out from between metal lips clamped gently down on his neck. After a few seconds GIR finally pulled a now soggy headed boy out of his mouth. Dib gasped heavily, his hair frazzled and glasses askew.

"Ugh, how can you have that much drool?" He asked drawing breath.

"I like drool." GIR answered, "Now lets play airplane!" Dib was lifted high above the robot's head and spun around. GIR mimicked engine noises oblivious to Dib's on setting nausea.

Zim was elated by the sounds of Dib's wailing under GIR's attention.

"You know Dib," he said, "Anything GIR can do to you will be far less painful then when you shrink so small air molecules will be too big for you to breathe."

Dib may have been upset by that remark but her was far too dizzy and suffering from bodily harm to hear it.

"I'm gonna be sick." He moaned holding back a heave.

"What do ya wanna do know?" GIR asked the tipsy Dib.

"Go to the hospital?" The boy muttered.

GIR stared blankly. Dib shook his head to regain his senses.

"Uh, I mean, uh, I know a game we can play."

"OOH!" GIR shouted excitedly, "What?"

"It's a fun game, but you have to take me outside first."

GIR paused a moment as if in thought.

"OK!"

As Zim remained distracted by his work he failed to notice his robot slave taking his mortal foe up the elevator and out of the lab.