The Mystery Girl

Zim clamped his claws to his temples in agony to make the horrible vision stop.

The girl sat on the sofa and wept miserably.  Zim felt lost and scared.  Besides, the ashes had worn out and he had no paste nearby. He tried in vain to make her tears stop. "No! Not on the sofa!  Please, I beg you, don't cry on the sofa. You'll make it all wet and…stuff."

Zim swallowed his fear of tears and grimaced as he carefully stepped forward to throw some tissues at her.  She gratefully took the tissues and Zim continued to comfort her, "Hey! Hey, if you stop crying, I promise I won't tamper and experiment with your vital organs."

The girl sniffed and said desperately, "They're after you, Zim."

"Ah!" Zim yelled in panic, "You know my name.  How dare you know my name!" 

"Sorry." The girl sniffed again.

"Who's after me? Is it the…F.B.I.?" Zim asked impatiently and muttered, "That miserable Dib…"

"No, it's the whole city.  They're coming with the search dogs--"

"NOT the DOGS!" Zim flinch as he remembered the prisoner's fate.

"Yay! I'll make cupcakes!" Gir suggested eagerly.

"We must fortify ourselves," Zim said emphatically, "Computer—"

"Not so fast, Zim!" Dib, the alien with his head wrapped in a towel, entered the room.  Dib leaped with celerity to tackle Zim.

"Gah! I forgot the lawn gnomes!" Zim's claws balled into fists defensively.

As Dib slashed through the air, Zim dodged Dib's assault but tumbled over Gir's cosmetics.  Instantly, Dib pinned Zim to the ground.

"They're coming here any minute now, and you're going to protect me." Dib's ragged face darkened as the sound of an angry crowd and bloodthirsty hounds became suddenly noticeable.

"I'll never save you from your disemboweled fate!" Zim and Dib glared at each other in a deadlock. Zim struggled to speak, "Computer, remove the--"

Suddenly barking and snarling sounds of the hounds assailed Zim's door.  As if on cue, Dib snatched Zim's disguise and flung it out the window, and the slobbering dogs ferociously shredded the mask.

"Now, they won't know the difference between you and me.  They've found your base!  Listen Zim, they'll have us both on an autopsy table!" Dib spat.

Gir sang some little ditty, as he went to mix some batter.  Meanwhile the girl grew confused as she shifted her gaze from Zim to Dib and then to Zim.  She went to the window and saw the angry mob ranting at Zim's door.  Many carried torches and others carried signs protesting, "No more onion breath!"

"Well?" Dib asked triumphantly into his face. "What's your plan now?"

Zim grunted and smacked Dib aside.  He narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Computer, remove the intruder!"

Dib braced himself for the robotic defenses.  Indeed, three robotic limbs glided through the air and seized the girl at the window.  She screamed as limbs swallowed her.

"No, not that one," Zim shouted sternly, "The other one!"

The limbs dropped the girl from midair and immediately assaulted Dib.  He ran toward the door shrieking as one arm removed his towel-made turban.  Backed against the door, he evaded the second arm but flew into the path of the third arm.  Dib soon found himself locked in the cold embrace of metallic limbs.

"I'm not abandoning the base, but I have a most delicious plan." Zim said stoically and left for his Voot Cruiser.

"NO!" Dib cried in agony but stopped short, "Oh wait…"