So I lied again. I promise I'll combine Wednesday and Thursday- Wed. shouldn't take that long and neither should Thurs. Anyway, I hated that other chapter, and so I wanted this one out as soon as possible. It's much better (I hope). And I'm not delusional anymore! Though I still imagine perfectly Zim holding a gun to that evil Ronald clown's head... *ahem* Oh! I changed the secondary genre to humor, since people seem to like that aspect of the fic. I love oxymoronic genres... Drama/Humor ^.^ Anyway, enjoy. It'll get angsty later, just wait until you see what happens *Thursday*.


Chapter 5: Tides That Can't Choose Which Way They Want To Turn (Plans 2-3)

*Tuesday*- Plans 2 & 3

"Because of yesterday's fire," Krystie began, "the fire department has told me to move you kids into some place not so... dangerous. So I decided to let you guys do the teamwork exercise!" She cocked her head to the side. "K?"
"K!" the students chorused.
"Today's adventure," she went on, "Involves an underwater space station. It's your job to put it completely together. In the end, it should look like this!" Krystie pulled out a picture of an intricately detailed model of a space ship.
"Now, you all will be separated into two groups. You can come up for air, but you must complete the space model *under* the water. K?"
"K!"
"Everyone has to wear a scuba diving outfit, too. When you're done, call me and we'll have a test run. K?"
"K!"
"The groups are up on the board. Go for it."
Zim cautiously approached the board where the list was, hoping that he wouldn't be put in the same group as Dib. The list was next to a huge blue poster that said "Swim Or Drown... We Could Care Less Unless You Do It Smoking", and then at the very bottom in white lettering were the words "Philip Morris Co." Ignoring the poster and focusing on the list, Zim scanned the names and his eyes rested on his own name. He belonged to Group 2. He continued down the list, and cursed in his own Irken language when he saw that at the very bottom of the names in Group 2 was his rival's: Dib.
"Say, Zim," the familiar annoying voice said right behind Zim. "I hope you don't burn too much in the water. It'd be a real shame if you... oh, I don't know... DIE?!"
Zim grinned, thankful that he had been smart enough to take a long bath in paste that morning (mostly it was partly thanks to Keef- Zim wanted to spend as little time as possible around the child freak). He would survive. As for Dib...
"Just watch out, Dib," Zim said, turning to the boy, who looked very different without his normal trench coat attire (instead, he was wearing a long white t-shirt that went down to his knees, and a black towel was draped over his right shoulder). "I hope you can swim. My species, of course, are natural born swimmers."
"Oh really?"
"Yes," Zim lied.
"Swim in WHAT? You never knew what water was until you came here."
"We swam in green jelly-o."
"Green Jelly-o?"
"YES," Zim said tersely. "Jelly-o! Stronger than your disgusting jell-o, greener than I am, more delicious with every bite. It tastes like-"
"Chicken?"
"No, Dib. It tastes like... really green jelly-o stuff. Obviously, we were born superior to humans in every way!"
"Because you swam in jelly-o."
"Yes! Mwa ha ha ha ha!"
Dib looked around, but knew it was no good to rant because no one had heard, anyway. Growling, Dib pushed Zim out of the way to the box of scuba outfits. He peeled off his outer T-shirt to reveal dark blue swimming trunks with small, round eyes with red irises as decor around it. He'd got it from the Mysterious Mysteries Official Wear catalogue and was quite proud of it. Slowly, he slipped the scuba-diving outfit on over them, and then trudged toward the water.
Zim followed, repeating the process, but stripped off his outer shirt to reveal chocolate cupcake designed swimming trunks. It had been Gir's idea, obviously, and Zim was still under the impression that the robot was advanced. He pulled on his scuba outfit and followed Dib to their group's side of the pool, slowly peering in. He sat on the edge like that, gazing at the water for a moment.
It was similar to another liquid found on Irk, in a way. The aqua-marine color, the smooth, rippling texture, the way the water flowed from the movement of the atmosphere above it. Of course, the liquid that he was referring to ('Tetrazolion') was much more beautiful, and the liquid wasn't as thick, it was midway between being a liquid and a gas. It also served as their main energy source, much like this 'water' of the humans'.
"YAH!!!" a sudden yell came from behind Zim. He felt a rough push in his back and teetered helplessly off the edge.
SPA-LOOSH!
Zim found himself turned upside down in the water. He flailed his arms and legs, realizing he'd never been completely underwater before and didn't exactly know what to do. His hands bumped something rough, and hard. He opened his eyes for a moment and realized it was the /bottom/ of the pool. He'd been going the wrong way the entire, panicked, thrashing time. He shut his eyes quickly again because for some reason this water stung his eyes, more than the 'rain' water did.
His breathing apparatus (not lungs, because he doesn't have any) burned for air. Zim thrashed again, trying to direct his way upwards, when he felt being pulled up by the waist. He dared not open his eyes to see who it was, but instead relaxed, letting himself be pulled upwards by the unidentified force. He felt himself surface, and tried to breathe in the unhealthy Earthen air (which was much better than the unhealthy Earthen water), but his breathing apparatus was filled with too much with water. He tried to gasp for air again, but couldn't. Finally, he shut his eyes even more tightly and waited as the darkness enveloped him.
********************************
A few seconds later, Zim opened his eyes... to be met face to face with Keef.
"AUGH!" Zim coughed and sputtered, pushing himself up. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO ME?! EVIL... GERM SUCKING CREATURE!!!"
"I was saving your life!" Keef said proudly. "You didn't have any air in your lungs, so I gave you some of mine... buddy."
Zim coughed unnecessarily even longer to get Keef's 'germs' out of his mouth, and slowly stood up, glaring at Dib, who was peering cautiously at Zim from behind another student.
"YOU pushed me in, didn't you?!" he accused.
"No," Dib said, backing away. "I swear Zim I didn-"
"You will pay!" Zim yelled as he leapt at Dib, and the two engaged in an exchange of fists and kicks before they were separated by Mr. Timms and Krystie within moments. The disappointed circle of kids that surround them to watch the fight quickly dispersed.
Zim, his arms held together by the amazingly strong camp counselor, struggled to free himself. "YOU WILL PAY! YOU HEAR ME, COWARD???"
"YOU AND WHAT ARMY, ZIM? HUH? Your little a-lien armada?"
Zim couldn't respond- Dib knew that. Cursing under his breath in his own language, Zim freed himself from Krystie and stomped off. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate HIM!" he said, reaching the building that had all the dorm rooms that they were staying in. He reached his own and swung the door open, too angry at Dib to care that Gir had forgotten to lock it, and slammed it shut.
"Hiya master!" came a muffled voice from under the bed. "I'm playing with BuNny!"
"BuNny?"
"He's my newest friend!" A small, green paw popped out from under the bed. In it was what looked like a crumpled peice of dirty cotton.
"Gir, that is what humans call a dust bunny. It is nothing but-"
"My dust BuNny!" Gir said, the hand disappearing back under the bed. "What's that BuNny?" the robot said, sticking the dust bunny closer to his ear. "Yes, you're so right. I love master too! Guess what master? BuNny loves you!"
"Go to sleep or something, Gir," Zim said, plopping down on the window sill and looking out at the woods that lay before him. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive the rest of the week. It was only the 3rd day, and already he regretted coming here. Something had to be done. Something had to be done now.
**********************************
It was dark out. Dib had just come back from dinner in the cafeteria. He hadn't seen Zim all day since the pool incident, and hoped that the little Irken hadn't decided to leave. He was having a better day than yesterday, and hoped his luck would continue. He might even succeed in getting rid of Zim once and for all this time.
Cockily, Dib started toward his room early. He wanted to get a good night's rest to prepare for tomorrow.
When he reached his door, he found it was open.
"Funny..." Dib thought. "I thought I locked it when I left." Panicked, he flung the door open. His room was *thrashed* completely. The door guard, which was supposed to blast an alarm of warning that could be heard for miles if any intruder walked in without using the lock lay dismantled on the floor. The door of the closet, which used to hold his weapons on things, lay ajar on the side. Gizmos, gadgets, all sorts of things, lay strewn across the floor, broken or severely dented. What was the worst was that a bunch of small parts, bolts and wire, were arranged on Dib's bed, a clear insult by graffiti. The words 'Invader Zim' were formed.
Clenching his fist, Dib ran out the room and down the hall. He didn't know where Zim's room was, but he'd find it. He ran past numerous other doors, down a hall that was in complete darkness but a small light in the back impaling it. Dib ran toward the light and banged his arm on the door.
"Zim! I know you're in there! Come out right now you coward!"
He heard a hushed voice.
"Master! There's someone at the door!"
Then a few snickers. "Of course there is, Gir. Be quiet."
Dib kicked the door, thrashing his arms wildly. "Open this door! Open it now you... you jerk! Open it!"
He gave his fist another try at the door, but instead met it with the hand of Zim, who opened the door and caught it.
"Oh, Dib. I was wondering when you would see my..." he grinned. "Creation."
"You coward! You ruined everything I had! You knew I'd be a threat to you! You knew it!"
"You are no threat to me, stinkbeast. I just wanted to make sure you knew the power of Zim!"
Dib's faced was flushed. Angrily he pushed Zim into the room and slammed the door shut. "You are going to pay, you know that you little alien? I spent a lot of hard work into making those weapons, and working to pay for them!"
"Obviously you didn't spend enough time, or money. That cheap stuff was easy to destroy! It was barely worth the five minutes I spent destroying it."
Dib was in a boiling rage, now. A hundred murderous thoughts toward the alien passed through his mind- the one that stuck was cutting Zim open like a simple piece of fruit while the Irken was still very much alive and screaming, after strapping him to a chair with ropes so tight it would cut off the alien's circulation (if he even had any). Then Dib would drain Zim's blood and watch the color fade from his archrival's face. He'd take his organs out, one by one, and put them in a jar for display. He'd extract the alien's brain, and study it. And worst of all, Dib would then infiltrate the dead alien's lab, and find out where his 'homeworld' was. He'd go there and he'd destroy every last one of those filthy aliens.
But Dib could do none of the sort. He didn't even look at Zim. Instead, he spun around and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Zim looked at the now closed door with a cocked head. It wasn't like Dib to make no threat at all like that. Something was different. Something was up.
But it was no matter. Zim had gotten him back- thrown what he thought at the time was the final blow for their little 'Astro-Camp Battle'.
But the final blow had yet to come.




A quick note: Thanks to all of you who've been reviewing. I don't write unless people review... so... um... keep reviewing! Or this will become a Neverending Story! o.o What an interesting crossover that'd be... Lol, and Arm&Leg, you never know... I was definitely thinking of you when I wrote that comment in that last chapter (you, taitofan, AND taitogurl... one of those three ^.~)