The smell of burnt flesh crawled along the brown grass of the valley.
Standing proud, Zine looked around at the field of destruction before her.
A cold dark shadow crept over her body. A shiver going down her spine, Zine
looked around again, this time in shock. Suddenly, she was thrown into a
deep, swirling vortex. Screams of agony ringed in her head. Rotting hands
reached out. Bellow her was a pool of fire and lava. Closer and closer she
came, until finally…
=============
Zine woke with a shock as her alarm clock went off with an annoying, high-pitched beeping. Her head pounding with the thoughts of her latest frightening nightmare, Zine turned off the alarm clock, got up out of her test tube-like bed, and began to suit up in uniform while waiting for the morning announcements.
"This is Kitty with your morning announcements on the Scollex10 space station," Zine heard from the speaker above her head. "Today we congratulate Ms. Bennett for winning her second Nobel Prize in physics, as we grieve for Mr. Monette for he is in Sick Bay from, yet another, nearly fatal explosion…"
As the announcements went on, Zine headed out of her dorm and trudged down to the Mess Hall. Many other scientists, working on the space station as well, walked by with their heads hanging down, each one looking less awake than the last. But Zine walked through with her head higher than she usually carried it. Today, she would test an invention that could lead to other worlds.
In the Mess Hall, tons of people, of many different races, sat and talked among one another with their morning meal in front of them. As Zine walked in, the room became silent. She was used to this, as was every one else. When she walked by, many people turned their heads, watching her and staring in confusion. No one really understood Zine. She was different; the way she looked, the way she walked, her constant ramblings of explaining the unknown, which she simply called "the paranormal." Many thought of her differences as a weakness for the strange, outcast of a girl, but it was quite an achievement from Zine's point of view.
When she finally made it to the other side of the room, the people once again began their chatter. As she sat down, by herself, a young man came up and tapped her on the shoulder. Zine turned to him. He was in uniform as well, but not the same as Zine. She wore the female style: a pair of black vinyl pants with a matching halter top, it's straps crisscrossing over her stomach, and a pair of black boots making her even more abnormally taller than she was to start with. The young man wore a pair of the same pants, a white shirt under a black vest, and another style of boots. His smile was warming, but Zine knew he was one of them: One of the people who taunted her day and night.
"Are you Miss…um…" he looked a paper he held in his hand, "Z-eye-n?"
Zine sighed. "It's pronounced 'zeen' and yes. Yes, I am."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's alright. No one seems to be able to use the correct pronunciation. Waddaya need?"
The young man cleared his throat. "Ms. Lippens, the head manager for the testing of new inventions, has requested to see you, as soon as you can come, for your latest assignment."
Zine chuckled a bit. "Little mister official, I presume?" she asked sarcastically. "Any way, tell her I'll be over in a few minutes."
The young man turned on his heals and walked out.
After she finished up, Zine made her way down to Jenn Lippens' office. Jenn was one of the very few people who understood Zine. She didn't disrespect Zine or tell her she was a freak, at least not seriously.
"Hey, Zine!" Jenn exclaimed merrily as her friend walked through the door. "Wuzzup?"
"Not much," Zine responded. "We all good to go?"
"Mm-hmm!" Jenn exclaimed. "Just need you!"
"Kay."
"Here," Jenn handed Zine a packet of papers. "These are your mission plans."
Zine flipped through the papers. She already knew exactly what she was doing. She had been planning this for a few years now. The anticipation was overwhelming for her. Zine shook with excitement.
"Let's just go over this again, shall we?" Jenn started. "Your job is to see if the theory of black holes leading to alternate dimensions is true or false." Zine beamed with glee at such a thought. She loved these kinds of things: space, alternate dimensions. These types of things had fascinated the scientist since she was a very small child.
Jenn went on, "You will take a small ship to the nearest black hole we have found, careful not to get too close, send a probe into the black hole, and come back home. The probe is equipped with a cordless camera and microphone with a speaker that we have tested and should be able to transmit all the way back to us. Okies?"
"Heh, yeah!" Zine shouted out, her eyes wide.
"So-whenever you're ready," Jenn told her, smiling.
"Let's go!" Zine exclaimed. Then she thought for a moment. "Wait….who's the head mission…director…person?"
"Oh," Jenn said slowly. "Um…you got two guys working that job…erm…I'm really sorry but it's…"
"Who?"
"VanOpdorp and Stitch."
Zine stood silent for a moment. "What?" she asked slowly, looking up at her good friend. Jenn just nodded sadly.
Steven VanOpdorp and Cody Stitch, Zine thought. She had known these two young men since before she came to work on the Scollex10. They were all friends, but more the kind of friends who constantly torture one another. They're going to make this mission miserable. "Oh, well." She said.
"Well…let's get you going." Jenn said in a reassuring voice.
When every thing was ready to go, Zine awaited permission from Jenn to depart.
"Good luck!" greeted Cody as he walked over to Zine.
"Yeah," Steven sarcastically agreed, following Cody. "You'll need it."
Zine glared at him.
"I'm kidding," he said. "You'll do great."
"Thanks," Zine said, smirking.
As she went to board her small ship, loaded with the probe, she waved to Jenn, Steven, Cody, Kitty, her friends Shay and Ashley, and every one else.
"See ya!" she shouted out as the doors closed behind her.
=============
About 13 days later, Zine was ready to launch the probe into the black hole.
"Alright," she heard Cody say through her earpiece. "You just need to get a little closer, then you can launch the probe."
"Aren't I close enough?" she asked.
"No," Steven said. "If you launch now, the probe wont have enough momentum."
"Why do I need to be right there?" Zine asked into her microphone. "Shouldn't the gravitational pull of the black hole bring the probe toward it?"
"Yeah," said Cody. "But you're still not close enough."
With a bad feeling in her stomach, Zine edged her ship in the direction of the black hole. In her mind, she saw herself being destroyed.
"Guys? Are you sure I should go any closer? I have a bad feeling about it."
"Don't worry," Steven assured her. "We know what we're doing."
"A little closer," Cody directed to Zine.
"Now?" she asked.
"Closer."
"Now?"
"More."
"NOW?"
"Oh, shoot!" Steven yelled. "Zine! Pull up! You're too close!"
"What?" Zine looked at the screen. She was too close. The scientist tried as hard as she could to pull out of it, but the gravitational force of the black hole was stronger than her ship.
"You'll have to use an escape pod," Cody said, his voice quavering.
"Are you crazy?" Zine yelled. "Those things would do worse than this."
Alarms went off in her ship and all the lights began to show red. Zine swore under her breath as she tried her hardest to pull herself away from her fate.
"C'mon Zine!" Steven and Cody yelled.
Zine was thrown out of her seat. She tried to reach up again. This theory better be proven true, she thought.
=============
Zine woke up, her body aching. Am I dead? was her first thought. She looked around. Her ship was trashed, as if a hurricane just got done with it. The girl pulled herself up. She felt for microphone, which was half on her head and tilted to the side. "Please, please work," she whispered to the microphone.
"Hello?" she said into it. Nothing. "Hello? Someone answer!"
After waiting for a few minutes, she sighed and took off the devise. Zine walked over to her chair, which was now barely recognizable, and sat to think.
"The probe!" she said happily to no one, a little later on. She hopped up and ran over to where the probe was kept for launch, tripping over various pieces of metal on her way. She dug out the probe and grabbed for the microphone. "Hello! Answer! Someone!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Oh my God!" she heard Cody say faintly through the speaker.
"Zine?" Steven asked. "That you?"
Feeling happier then she ever had in her life, Zine yelled, "You freaking imbeciles! What were you thinking? I could have gotten killed!"
"Uh-" Steven started.
"We're really sorry," Cody said.
"Humph," Zine directed to the microphone.
"Well, look at it this way," Steven said. "You did prove that theory."
"Woop-de-doo," Zine responded. "Now how am I supposed to get back?
"Erm…we…weren't planning for this." Cody said in a low voice.
"Wait." Zine demanded. "You mean you have no way do get me back home."
"Do you even know where you are?" Steven asked.
Zine sighed. "Tell Jenn to fire you. I'll be back in a while." She threw down the microphone and dug through the mess, over to the door.
When she stepped out, she saw a small city. It looked like Earth, but then absolutely nothing like it. Zine looked around. It was early morning, warm and sunny. A few people walked along the streets. A sign read, "The Goat Whats You!" Another said "Z?" She stared at them. "Oookay," she said. The people looked different too, more comic than realistic. They didn't notice her too much. This scared Zine. She didn't look like them and she just came out of a ship that crashed, but they didn't seem to really care. Shaking her head, the scientist walked out to the streets leaving her ship and her link to true civilization behind her.
Slowly and thoughtfully, Zine walked along the sidewalk and studied the town around her. This strange place felt so familiar to her. She stopped walking. An eerie feeling went up her spine and enveloped her body. The strange, lost girl looked over her shoulder to where the feeling was coming from. It was a small, glowing green house with misshapen windows and an enormous satellite dish. From the sides of the house sprouted metal tubes of all sizes, going straight into the neighboring houses. In front of the house upon the green grass stood large and odd looking lawn gnomes, a pink flamingo, two pink puffer fish, and a flag that said "I ( Earth!"
Zine now knew exactly where she was.
She ran up to the house and began to laugh to herself, for on the door of the tiny house was a men's restroom sign. Beaming, Zine looked behind her and laughed at her own stupidity of not realizing where she was earlier, while the looming lawn gnomes glared back at her, seemingly ready to strike at any moment. Zine pressed the doorbell. The door creaked open automatically after she did so.
"Welcome home, Son!" a human father android said to her as sparks shot out from his joints. Zine pushed him out of her way and walked into the strange house. "Zim? G.I.R.?" she called out, addressing the owners of the house, only to receive no answer. The cartoon characters are gone, she thought, remembering all the countless nights of sitting in front of the television when she was young, seeing the house that she was in now, except it was then accompanied by a small green alien, bent on the conquest of Earth, and a small, insane robot, meant to help the alien.
She began to look around. The ceiling was covered in wires and metallic tubing. Above the couch was an extremely odd and deeply disturbing picture of a monkey-type creature. Zine strangely felt an urge to go look into garbage can. She shook her head at such a strange thought. "What is wrong with me?" she asked. However, not seeing anything else that she could do at the moment, she went by her instincts and made her way over to the trash container. To her ultimate surprise, the garbage can did not hold garbage, but seemed more of a form of transportation, like an elevator.
Oh, yeah! Zine thought. I remember now! This is a way that Zim gets down to his labs beneath the house. She, out loud, said, "I'm so freaking stupid," stepped into the "garbage can" and began to travel downward, beneath the house. As Zine stepped out after the elevator stopped, a small robot with light blue eyes and a silver metallic body ran up to her, his unattached legs going as fast as they could, and shouted out, with a high- pitched voice, "HI!"
Zine stood there for a moment. She knew this cute little robot. Smiling, the scientist responded, "Hello, G.I.R."
Smiling and laughing, G.I.R. ran off, his hand wielding a rubber piggy. Zine giggled to herself and walked into the room. She looked around, dumb-stricken by what she saw. The young scientist was in an enormous laboratory, completely decorated in the colors of purple and red with black and gray accents.
Zine walked up to the largest computer. She could tell that this was the main computer and figured that it might control some of the things in the lab and house. Curiously, Zine began pressing the keys in hope of finding a way to get her back to her own dimension. She looked up at the screen and, sadly, only found it to be filled with writing in a different language that she couldn't read. The girl sighed. "Why couldn't Zim be Extanian instead of Irken?" Zine said, remembering creating an alien race for her own use. "At least, then, I would have an idea of what all this said." Disappointed, she walked off, her eyes wandering about.
As she walked, Zine heard a much too familiar voice from the house above her shout, "G.I.R.! G.I.R., report immediately!"
Frightened that Zim, the owner of the voice and the lab she was in, might find her, a stranger, in his base, Zine searched around for a place to hide as Zim's footsteps came closer to the entrance to his labs. Her head pounding, she threw herself against the metal floor, under a table. Breathing hard, the trapped scientist heard Zim, in the labs now, say, "G.I.R., what are you doing now?"
The wide-eyed robot looked up from his now Cyclops of a toy pig, to his short, green-skinned master, and around the lab. "Where did your friend go, Master?" G.I.R. asked.
Zim pondered this a moment. "Friend?" he asked back, the words coming out like a cold, fierce storm.
"Yeah!" the robot shouted with delight. "That lady that was here?"
The green alien became frantic. "You let someone in here? Never mind that. Why didn't the computer notice?"
Zine began to shake violently. Zim stopped his ranting and looked over right at her. The frightened girl froze. Just because I worshipped him, she thought, doesn't mean he isn't going to try to destroy anyway.
As Zim looked away, Zine tried to move her right arm, which was going numb, but knocked over a large, purple metallic devise in doing so. The sound caught Zim's attention and he began to storm over. Swearing under her breath, Zine jumped up from beneath the table.
"Computer!" Zim shouted, pointing at Zine. "Intruder Alert!"
Startled, Zine looked up to find two, large robotic arms coming toward her from the ceiling. Her mind racing, the scientist tried the only thing that she could think of. "No, computer! Not ZIM!" she said in her best imitation of Zim's voice while pretending to be the small alien. She pointed at the real Zim and said, "He is the one who has infiltrated the base!"
The cold, metal arms abruptly stopped inches from Zine, turned their directing, and grabbed Zim, holding him like a hostage.
"What Earth trickery is this?" he choked out.
Zine stared, in amazement as well, at what she had done. This computer was programmed to answer to only Zim's exact voice. She ignored the impossible phenomenon. "Zim, I need your help!"
"What? No!" the alien shouted. "I would never help a human! No matter what the circumstances come to be!"
Human. The fiery Irken invader said this word with absolute disgust. He hated humans more than anything.
"Why?" Zine demanded.
"Because I-" Zim started, but was interrupted by G.I.R., randomly shouting out, "I drink Windex! It's goooood!"
"Right…" Zim said as Zine laughed. "Because I was assigned to destroy all humans. You are my enemy and…wait…how'd you know who I was?"
"It's a long story," she said. "I'm not really from here."
"Well, yeah, I figured that, but how'd you know who I was?"
"Uh…you're on TV where I come from."
Zim stared at the girl. Zine expected him to go into a non-stop freak out, but he just stared.
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"Well, I am from Earth, but not this one."
Zine explained how she was from another dimension and accidentally got here. She also added how she absolutely loved his show. Zim listened with a questioning look in his eye.
"But," Zine finished, "you probably think I'm just a nut case."
"Hmm, you are a nut case, but none the less, I may be able to help you, if you help me in return."
"Oh! Thank you, Zim!" Zine shouted as she hugged him. Zim cringed.
"Get off! If you watched my show, you should know not to do that, human!" he said angrily. "How can I trust you that you did watch my show?"
Zine beamed and took a deep breath. "You are an extremely short Irken invader, sent to conquer Earth by the Almighty Tallests Red and Purple. G.I.R. was given to you instead of the usual S.I.R., and G.I.R. used to be a frozen-yogurt machine. His brain consists of garbage from Purple's pocket. Dib is your enemy. He is the only one, except for the Saucer Morons, that knows you're an alien. Well, Gaz knows, but she doesn't care."
Zim stared, his striped, snake-like tongue hanging out.
"You're allergic to water. G.I.R. is addicted to candy. On Halloween, you and Dib ended up in his head and got chased by the 'Halloweenies.' Keef is your best friend. Well, not really. It was a way for you to fit in. But you decided to fire him. You were on TV here once. You were on Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery, which is Dib's favorite show and-"
"Okay!" he said, cutting her off. "It seems you know much more than you should."
"Like how you sing Lady Marmalade backstage?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Longer story."
"Hmm. I will have to think this over. But you may be able to get back to your own Earth."
Zine smiled. "Oh, thank you!"
"IF you cooperate."
"Kay."
The doorbell rang. "Zim, you security system didn't do anything!"
Zim sighed. "Well I need to see who it is."
"Good idea, genius!" Zine said as she walked off.
"Idiotic Human! Computer, let me down."
Up in the house, Zim walked over to the door. He turned to Zine.
"Don't say anything, human."
"I HAVE A NAME!"
"That's nice," Zim said as he opened the door. He made a disgusted noise. "Hello, Dib."
"Zim," the raven haired, junior paranormal investigator said, "we have a meeting to go to."
"Wait!" Zine interrupted. "You two are enemies! You aren't supposed to be talking like this to each other!"
"I told you to be quiet!" Zim shouted at her.
"Who's she?" Dib asked.
"I am Zine! The Dead Lord of all Humans!" she yelled triumphantly.
"The what?" Dib and Zim both asked.
She laughed. "Um…I'm Zine."
Zim looked down and shook his head. Dib snickered.
"Ooooh, Zim!" he sneered.
Zim glared at his enemy. He and Zine explained to Dib the whole long story of how the scientist got here.
"I knew it!" Dib shouted as the two finished. "I'm not the only one who has thought that traveling to alternate dimension was possible!"
"Dib," Zim said in a low voice, losing his patients, "didn't you say we had somewhere to go?"
"Oh yeah. We have a meeting with all those other guys."
"WAIT!" Zine shouted at the top of her lungs. The boy and the alien stared at her. G.I.R. ran back into the scene. "I don't get this!" she went on. "What are you two talking about? What meeting? What other guys? Why are you getting along better than usual? On most episodes, you're about ready to kill each other!"
Zim and Dib looked at the other. Dib looked at his watch. "Oh. We have to go."
Zim whispered to Dib. Zine leaned over, trying to see what Zim was saying. She leaned further and further, until she fell onto the floor.
"I dunno," Dib finally whispered. "Are you sure she's not a spy or something?"
"A spy?" Zine asked.
"Hmmm," Zim looked at her. "Do you like Klasky-Csupo?"
"The company that owns all those cartoons?" she said. "No, not really. They used to be okay. Until they got into the new Rugrats and had more cartoons than they deserve. Then, they bombed and became really…icky."
"How about 'Butt Ugly Martians'?" Dib asked her.
Zine almost fell over. "Oh my gawd! No! That show is horrible! It should burn in-"
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend!" G.I.R. sang out.
The three stared at the robot.
"Eh. Whatever," Zine said sickly.
"Okay," Dib told Zine. "We'll explain what's going on-" he turned to Zim, "-on the way there."
They all walked out the door: Zine, Dib, Zim, and G.I.R. As they traveled down the road, Dib explained what was happening.
"You know how 'Invader Zim' is getting cancelled right?" he asked.
"Uh-huh," Zine answered sadly.
"Well, so are a lot of other cartoons. But Nickelodeon isn't touching the Klasky-Csupo cartoons, which are taking a serious turn for the worse, in most people's opinion. And Nick just brought in that stupid cartoon 'Butt Ugly Martians.' Many cartoons, mostly one's that are from Nick, but some others as well, were getting tired of the Klasky-Csupo and 'B.U.M.' guys running around and thinking they're all that.
"We all got together in a small committee, to stop these other guys. That...um…wasn't too good an idea. Since then, the Klasky-Csupo and 'B.U.M.' guys have been pretty much taking over our space. We all are working against this." He sighed. "It sorta turned into an all out war between GOOD cartoons and the so-called 'good' cartoons."
"Wow!" Zine said. "Zim and you were right, Dib; your explanations ARE boring!"
Zim tried as hard as he could to silence his laughter. G.I.R. joined him. Dib glared at them.
"So, " Dib went on, despite the rudeness. "Zim was thinking, since you seem to be on our side of this, that you would be able to help out."
"Gee," Zine said sarcastically. "I'm not sure…"
"Well if you don't want to," Zim said, walking off ahead.
"No!" the scientist shouted. "I was kidding. I'll help."
=============
The two humans, the alien, and the robot continued walking until they came to a large building. The building looked like something out of a horror movie, like where the vampire dwelled in the daytime, or where the evil sorcerer practiced magical spells. Tall towers loomed over the dark yard. An eerie glow came from the windows. A cold wind crept through and sent shivers up the four's spines.
"What is this place?" Zine asked.
"Ahem, it's our…um…headquarters." Dib said looking at his feet.
Zine snickered. "Oh…erm…it's very…interesting."
"It wasn't my idea." Dib protested.
"Sure, it was the Grim Reaper's idea," she said sarcastically.
"Actually," Zim said as they all walked to the door. "It was."
Zine looked at him questioningly. The short, green alien slipped a card through a devise next to the door. The door opened quickly and the foursome walked through. Zine gasped in amazement. The interior of the spooky mansion headquarters was metallic and brightly lit. The ceiling had huge round lights going down the hallway. It reminded Zine of…
"'Men In Black!'"
"What?" asked Dib as they all stopped walking.
"This looks like the headquarters in 'Men In Black!' 'Men In Black' was a movie about a bunch of guys protecting Earth from aliens and stuff. Mmm. It had Will Smith!"
"These…Men In Black sound like a bunch of amateurs." Zim sneered.
"And they dress in black!" G.I.R. said.
"Right on," Zine laughed, giving G.I.R. a high-five.
"Whatever," Dib said, pushing open a door. "Here we are."
Inside was an enormous, silver, oval shaped table. At the table, many various cartoon characters sat. There were characters from "Grim and Evil," "Courage the Cowardly Dog," "Time Squad," and many others, including the almighty comic "Johnny, the Homicidal Maniac."
"Oooooooh!" Zine said staring at her favorite cartoon characters.
"Wow Dib," Mandy, a short young girl, said. "What did you do to your poor sister?"
"No, she's not Gaz." Dib said. "This is Zine. She has agreed to help us."
"Hi!" Zine said to them, waving.
They all took a seat at the table as a few of the cartoon characters watched Zine closely.
"I dunno, Dib." Larry, a quite intelligent robot said. "No offence or anything, but how do you know that she can be trusted?"
Zine glared at him. Dib explained what happened to Zine from when she left her space station to where she was sitting. While he was talking, Zine silently edged away from the person sitting next to her: Johnny, who was well known for killing people.
"Ah," said Larry when Dib finished. "I see."
"But is she isn't what you say she is," piped up Evil Con Carne, who was a small brain, attached to a bear's head, since he lost in own body, "it'll be your…disturbingly huge head, Dib!"
"My head's not big!"
"Why don't you people believe us?" shouted Zine as she stood up on her chair. "I am as loyal as a pet dog! I cannot fail you for I worship your creators! Geez!" The entire room stared at her. The young scientist sat down, quietly. "I'm fine," she said looking at her folded hands. Johnny snickered. He seemed to be amused.
"Ahem," The Grim Reaper, most commonly known as Grim, said, breaking the silence. "It's so…nice to meet you."
=============
For quite awhile, the cartoon characters talked about what was to happen. Apparently, Dib was right, they had pretty much gone to war. It was GOOD cartoons against the "good" cartoons. This little war had been going on for quite a few years. Slowly, cartoons from either side die off, and new ones join in for the fight.
Their next idea was for someone to sneak into the "good" cartoons' base. They had pinpointed its exact location on a map, but no one had ever wanted to go. While they talked, Zine and G.I.R. played with a paper football, until Johnny got mad.
"Some one has to go and infiltrate the enemies' base!" Zim said. "Come on people!"
"Not me," Courage said.
Johnny nudged Zine with his elbow. She looked up at him. He had his hair in the same way she remembered him to have, a mess of black spikes, and the shirt, never saying the same thing twice. Zine shrugged.
"Me! I'll go!" she said, waving her arm in the air.
They all looked at her. A few of them looked worried, but most seemed to like the idea.
"Please?" she begged.
"How about it?" Dib asked Evil Con Carne.
Evil looked back. After a few minutes, he said, "Ah, what the heck!"
"Yay!" Zine said. What am I getting into? she thought.
The cartoon characters gave Zine a map and a backpack full of many strange devises. After she was ready, they sent her off. She walked for what she thought to be forever, but was only about a day, until she came to a large building painted…
Yellow? Zine thought, staring from behind a large bush. What idiots!
As carefully as she could, she snuck to the door, which was guarded by sleeping Teletubies. Just as she opened the door, one Teletubie moved. Zine froze. She waited to see if he'd move again, but he did nothing. The scientist crept through the door.
Slowly and quietly, Zine snuck through the unsuspecting enemies' base. Plastered against the wall, she looked around at the pastel colored interior. These light colors sickened her. Zine felt something rub against her leg, looked down, and found a hamster wearing a party hat. The small rodent looked up at her. "M-Mr. Snuggles?" she whispered. "What are you doing here? You've got to leave."
As Mr. Snuggles, the approximately 10-year-old hamster, made his way out, Zine crawled along the light blue wall, searching for a door leading to a room that was valuable to the "good" cartoons. Finally, she came to a light pink door with the name "Csupo" on it. I guess this is where Gabor Csupo is, she thought. She began to open the pathetically decorated door, but found it to be locked. Zine glared at the door. "Shoot." The annoyed girl studied the door and found the hinged to look fairly weak. She slammed her body against the door and checked for any achievement. She slammed against the door again. And again she hit the door. One more time she threw herself. Zine busted through the door like a rabid beast.
The scientist stood in the room, ready to strike at the first thing that moved. Puzzled, she noticed that the room was empty except for a piece of paper taped to the pastel purple walls. She walked up to the paper and read "Invader Zim Sucks!" Zine, astonished by the sickening insult from the paper, stumbled back a bit. She stood up tall and, without thinking of the consequences, cursed at the paper at the top of her lungs. Once she realized what she was doing, the insane young scientist clasped her hands over her mouth and became stiff while she listened closely, wondering if anyone heard her. Out of nowhere, Zine was struck, hard, in the back of her head, from an unknown source. She fell forward, unconscious.
=============
Zine opened her eyes and tired to see, but her vision was blurred and her head was pounding. She found herself sitting in a chair, her wrists and ankles strapped down. Once again, she opened her eyes, letting them adjust. The trapped girl was in a white room, completely white. If anyone knew Zine, they'd know she absolutely couldn't handle a lot of white. There were some "people" in the room standing around. Zine recognized some of them: the three aliens from "Butt Ugly Martians" and the Dummi Bears from "Rugrats." She starred in horror.
"Whoa. WOA!" exclaimed one of the aliens. "She's awake. SHE'S AWAKE!"
"I think we get the point." Another alien said to the first, obviously annoyed. Zine kept starring.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the second alien directed to Zine.
"Yeah," Zine announced, sounding drunk. "What the hell?"
The Dummi Bears clasped their mouths in horror at their prisoner's foul mouth.
"And!" the captive scientist shouted out. "You are all horrible singers with bad taste!"
The Martians and bears stared at her insanity.
"By the way," she continued, "why am I strapped to a chair after being hit in the back of the head with an extremely hard object? Huh?"
"Isn't that just a bit obvious?" one of the Dummi Bears responded.
"Well, uh," Zine said. "I get confused easily since I watched your shows and went INSANE!"
"You ungrateful little…thing!" the third of the alien Martians shouted out. "Our shows are over ten times better than that junk you watch!"
Zine tried to stand up, forgetting she was strapped down, and shouted out, "At least they don't sing like some hermaphroditic boy band!"
"Funny you should mention that," the second Martian stated with an evil smirk that made Zine's muscles tense. "Back to your question: you snuck in, so you our rightfully our prisoner of war. We have been informed of the things that could easily show you how wrong you are about the shows you watch. Either that or they'd drive you completely insane."
Not that far a drive for me, Zine thought. Hmmm…what's he talking about?
The second Martian walked over to a pure white tape player and pressed a button. As music began to play, Zine automatically knew what it was. "No!" she shouted at the Martians. "Not your theme song! Sweet jumpin' jelly beans, NO!" But, it was true. The song that was surely written by drunks, that Zine could hardly stand, was blaring at its highest point. Her head pounding, Zine began to tremble. Frightened and sickened by the singing Martians, she shouted out, "What, in the name of Jhonen, is wrong with you people?"
"What's wrong with us?" the first Martian repeated, the music still blaring behind him. "What's wrong with you and those freaks you call an army?"
Zine ignored him. The music was over powering her mind. She could not think as straight as she usually did, which wasn't too straight to start out with. The prisoner thought as hard as she could of something that could block off the insane theme song.
"No," she murmured as her first idea came to mind. "It won't work." But the "Butt Ugly Martians" theme song became louder and louder. She sighed and tested her idea.
"One baby to another says I'm lucky to have met you," she sang out. "I don't care what you think unless it is about me. It is now my duty to completely drain you. I travel through a tube and end up in your infection."
"What is she doing?" the third Martian shouted.
"No!" screeched a Dummi Bear. "She's singing Nirvana!"
Zine squeaked with triumphant delight and went onto a song by another band, "Turn me on. Take me for a hard ride. Burn me out. Leave me on the other side. I yell and tell it that it's not my friend. I tear it down. I tear it down. And then it's born again…"
"Red Hot Chili Peppers?" shouted another Dummi Bear. "Oh my good golly gosh!"
"No! Stop! Aaah!" shouted the Martians and Dummi Bears.
Zine continued, as loud as she could, with her latest fad: Pink Floyd, "We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher leave them kids alone. HEY! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all, it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall."
Scared to death by Zine's insanity, the Martians and Dummi Bears ran out of the room, knocking over and breaking the tape player as they went. Zine stopped singing and began to laugh at her success. Too easy, she thought, so easy, it's sad. She was just about to get up and leave when she once again noticed that she was still strapped down. "Uh-oh." Zine searched for a way to undo her bindings, but, sadly, found nothing. The trapped girl stopped abruptly, hearing a scratching sound from behind her. Slowly, she turned to see a creature that she hadn't seen for what seemed forever.
"Mr. Snuggles!"
The rodent looked up at her.
"You are a god, Mr. Snuggles!"
Mr. Snuggles ate away at Zine's bindings. When the scientist was free, she grabbed the hamster and headed out; thirteen times as careful as the last time she went through the building.
=============
Zine stormed through the doors of the GOOD cartoon's headquarters.
"THAT," she shouted, "was insane!"
Every one rushed over to her.
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"What'd they do?"
"How'd you get back?"
"Did you see Johnny?"
"What?" Zine asked. "Johnny?"
"Yeah," Otto said. "We sent him and Mr. Snuggles out looking for you! Did you see him?"
"…No," she said worried.
"Oh no!" shouted G.I.R. "The scary man got caught!"
All of the cartoon characters went into a stage of fright. They all worried. Some one like Johnny doesn't just 'get caught.' Something terrible must have happened. Something beyond the reach of imagination. Something much worse than what Zine suffered. Something…
"I'm gonna go get 'Nny," Zine announced to the group as she grabbed another backpack.
"What?" protested Courage. "You can't! You just got back from them!"
"I have to! Johnny is important! I can't just let them torture him!"
"Come on," Mandy directed to Zine. "It's just one guy…one seriously insane guy."
"I don't care," Zine shouted, running to the exit. "I have to go get him!"
As she ran out the door, a few people started after her.
"Let the human go," Zim said to them from the back corner where he had been watching. Every one turned toward him. "It's no use trying to stop her."
"What are you saying?" Billy asked.
"You will never convince her to stay," Zim stated.
"Yeah," Dib agreed. "You should have heard her talk on the way here. She kept saying how she'd do anything for the cartoons she loves."
"But…Johnny the Homicidal Maniac?" Larry asked, disgusted.
Dib just shrugged.
=============
Once again in the base of the enemy, Zine snuck along the walls, looked down the hall, and worried that she might get caught. When she came to the same door that led to the room where she was before, she put her ear against the wall and listened hard. She heard two familiar voices quarreling.
"At least none of us have killed a bunch of people called us 'wacky.'" Zine hear Ginger, from "As told by Ginger,' say.
Through clenched teeth, Johnny responded, "Don't say that word."
Why hasn't 'Nny killed her yet? Zine thought. She set down her heavy backpack and leaned closer to the wall.
"What was that?" Ginger asked, on the other side of the wall, as she walked toward the door. Seeing she had nowhere to hide, Zine plastered herself against the wall. As the door creaked open, the scientist against the wall muttered, "I blend," under her breath. Ginger looked up and down the hall, idiotically not noticing the girl against the wall or the backpack on the floor, and stepped back in, closing the door behind her.
Cocking her head to the side, Zine stared at the door, dumbstruck by her enemy's stupidity. She shook her head and thought of what she could do. She looked through her bag for something to help.
Laser weasels. A radioactive chicken, she thought, naming off what was in the bag, a faux fur monkey. A…Bomb?
Zine pulled out a small, red and purple object that was shaped like a hand grenade, accept about the size of a cat. There was black Irken writing all over it. In the bag, there was also a remote that matched the bomb, the same colors and writing. The young scientist smirked, put the other things, beside the bomb and remote, back into the backpack, and put the backpack on. She stood up, the bomb in her hand behind her back. Slowly, she turned the knob of the door and opened it.
"Surprise!" Zine shouted as she jumped in the room.
"Aaah!" Ginger screamed. She ran over to Zine. The scientist slipped off her backpack and knocked Ginger across the head. The enemy lay cold on the floor. Zine stared at what she did. Then, she remembered Johnny. She looked around. No one was there. Where is he? she thought. She heard a low voice from behind her say, "Zine?"
She spun around. "Johnny! Don't scare me like that!"
He laughed. Zine glared at him. "Let's go."
Zine set down the bomb in the middle of the room and held the remote tight. "C'mon," she said to Johnny as she walked out the door.
=============
As soon as they were just barely able to see the enemies' base, Zine stopped. She pulled up the remote and said, "'Nny, when I say 'go,' run as fast as you can toward the headquarters."
"Why?"
"You'll see." The scientist looked carefully at the remote. When she felt satisfied, she pressed a small, blood red button.
"GO!"
Johnny and Zine ran as fast as they could. Back behind them, in the enemies' base, the bomb sat, not drawing any attention to itself.
Go off, Zine thought, Go off, you stupid bomb! Go off!
When Johnny and Zine reached the base, 'Nny asked, "And why ran because…?"
"Well-" Zine started, but Zim, Dib, G.I.R., and every one else ran out shouting, "Zine! You did it!"
The scientist was hit with a mob of cartoon characters. "What did I do?"
"You destroyed the enemies' base!" shouted Larry.
"I did?" Zine asked.
"You did?" repeated Johnny.
=============
The cartoons celebrated. The bomb had gone off, just much longer after Zine had expected. They all congratulated her for her achievement. When everything calmed down, Zine turned to Zim and asked, "Can I go home now?"
Zim looked down and said, "Yes. It's probably time for you to go back."
"What?" G.I.R. cried. "You aren't gonna stay?"
"No, I have to go back where I came from."
Zim took Zine, Dib, and G.I.R. back to his own base after they bid their farewells to the other cartoons. Down in Zim's lab, he showed Zine to a large devise that looked like a tube shaped elevator.
"This will take you back to your own dimension." Zim announced.
"Oh," Zine said sadly. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much! You have no idea how important you all are to me!" A small tear running down her cheek, she gave them each a hug. G.I.R. cried loudly.
"We'll miss you too, Zine." Dib said.
"Yes," Zim agreed. "Maybe not all humans are that bad."
"Awe!" Zine said to Zim. "You're so sweet!"
Zim just glared at the floor.
"Any ways," Zine told them, "I should get going." She stepped into the machine and sadly said, "I'll miss you guys! All right, Zim. Go ahead."
As Zim activated the machine and Zine began to travel back home, she thought to herself, Wont Steven and Cody be surprised? She grinned devilishly, thinking of how she could make their lives miserable.
=============
Zine woke with a shock as her alarm clock went off with an annoying, high-pitched beeping. Her head pounding with the thoughts of her latest frightening nightmare, Zine turned off the alarm clock, got up out of her test tube-like bed, and began to suit up in uniform while waiting for the morning announcements.
"This is Kitty with your morning announcements on the Scollex10 space station," Zine heard from the speaker above her head. "Today we congratulate Ms. Bennett for winning her second Nobel Prize in physics, as we grieve for Mr. Monette for he is in Sick Bay from, yet another, nearly fatal explosion…"
As the announcements went on, Zine headed out of her dorm and trudged down to the Mess Hall. Many other scientists, working on the space station as well, walked by with their heads hanging down, each one looking less awake than the last. But Zine walked through with her head higher than she usually carried it. Today, she would test an invention that could lead to other worlds.
In the Mess Hall, tons of people, of many different races, sat and talked among one another with their morning meal in front of them. As Zine walked in, the room became silent. She was used to this, as was every one else. When she walked by, many people turned their heads, watching her and staring in confusion. No one really understood Zine. She was different; the way she looked, the way she walked, her constant ramblings of explaining the unknown, which she simply called "the paranormal." Many thought of her differences as a weakness for the strange, outcast of a girl, but it was quite an achievement from Zine's point of view.
When she finally made it to the other side of the room, the people once again began their chatter. As she sat down, by herself, a young man came up and tapped her on the shoulder. Zine turned to him. He was in uniform as well, but not the same as Zine. She wore the female style: a pair of black vinyl pants with a matching halter top, it's straps crisscrossing over her stomach, and a pair of black boots making her even more abnormally taller than she was to start with. The young man wore a pair of the same pants, a white shirt under a black vest, and another style of boots. His smile was warming, but Zine knew he was one of them: One of the people who taunted her day and night.
"Are you Miss…um…" he looked a paper he held in his hand, "Z-eye-n?"
Zine sighed. "It's pronounced 'zeen' and yes. Yes, I am."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's alright. No one seems to be able to use the correct pronunciation. Waddaya need?"
The young man cleared his throat. "Ms. Lippens, the head manager for the testing of new inventions, has requested to see you, as soon as you can come, for your latest assignment."
Zine chuckled a bit. "Little mister official, I presume?" she asked sarcastically. "Any way, tell her I'll be over in a few minutes."
The young man turned on his heals and walked out.
After she finished up, Zine made her way down to Jenn Lippens' office. Jenn was one of the very few people who understood Zine. She didn't disrespect Zine or tell her she was a freak, at least not seriously.
"Hey, Zine!" Jenn exclaimed merrily as her friend walked through the door. "Wuzzup?"
"Not much," Zine responded. "We all good to go?"
"Mm-hmm!" Jenn exclaimed. "Just need you!"
"Kay."
"Here," Jenn handed Zine a packet of papers. "These are your mission plans."
Zine flipped through the papers. She already knew exactly what she was doing. She had been planning this for a few years now. The anticipation was overwhelming for her. Zine shook with excitement.
"Let's just go over this again, shall we?" Jenn started. "Your job is to see if the theory of black holes leading to alternate dimensions is true or false." Zine beamed with glee at such a thought. She loved these kinds of things: space, alternate dimensions. These types of things had fascinated the scientist since she was a very small child.
Jenn went on, "You will take a small ship to the nearest black hole we have found, careful not to get too close, send a probe into the black hole, and come back home. The probe is equipped with a cordless camera and microphone with a speaker that we have tested and should be able to transmit all the way back to us. Okies?"
"Heh, yeah!" Zine shouted out, her eyes wide.
"So-whenever you're ready," Jenn told her, smiling.
"Let's go!" Zine exclaimed. Then she thought for a moment. "Wait….who's the head mission…director…person?"
"Oh," Jenn said slowly. "Um…you got two guys working that job…erm…I'm really sorry but it's…"
"Who?"
"VanOpdorp and Stitch."
Zine stood silent for a moment. "What?" she asked slowly, looking up at her good friend. Jenn just nodded sadly.
Steven VanOpdorp and Cody Stitch, Zine thought. She had known these two young men since before she came to work on the Scollex10. They were all friends, but more the kind of friends who constantly torture one another. They're going to make this mission miserable. "Oh, well." She said.
"Well…let's get you going." Jenn said in a reassuring voice.
When every thing was ready to go, Zine awaited permission from Jenn to depart.
"Good luck!" greeted Cody as he walked over to Zine.
"Yeah," Steven sarcastically agreed, following Cody. "You'll need it."
Zine glared at him.
"I'm kidding," he said. "You'll do great."
"Thanks," Zine said, smirking.
As she went to board her small ship, loaded with the probe, she waved to Jenn, Steven, Cody, Kitty, her friends Shay and Ashley, and every one else.
"See ya!" she shouted out as the doors closed behind her.
=============
About 13 days later, Zine was ready to launch the probe into the black hole.
"Alright," she heard Cody say through her earpiece. "You just need to get a little closer, then you can launch the probe."
"Aren't I close enough?" she asked.
"No," Steven said. "If you launch now, the probe wont have enough momentum."
"Why do I need to be right there?" Zine asked into her microphone. "Shouldn't the gravitational pull of the black hole bring the probe toward it?"
"Yeah," said Cody. "But you're still not close enough."
With a bad feeling in her stomach, Zine edged her ship in the direction of the black hole. In her mind, she saw herself being destroyed.
"Guys? Are you sure I should go any closer? I have a bad feeling about it."
"Don't worry," Steven assured her. "We know what we're doing."
"A little closer," Cody directed to Zine.
"Now?" she asked.
"Closer."
"Now?"
"More."
"NOW?"
"Oh, shoot!" Steven yelled. "Zine! Pull up! You're too close!"
"What?" Zine looked at the screen. She was too close. The scientist tried as hard as she could to pull out of it, but the gravitational force of the black hole was stronger than her ship.
"You'll have to use an escape pod," Cody said, his voice quavering.
"Are you crazy?" Zine yelled. "Those things would do worse than this."
Alarms went off in her ship and all the lights began to show red. Zine swore under her breath as she tried her hardest to pull herself away from her fate.
"C'mon Zine!" Steven and Cody yelled.
Zine was thrown out of her seat. She tried to reach up again. This theory better be proven true, she thought.
=============
Zine woke up, her body aching. Am I dead? was her first thought. She looked around. Her ship was trashed, as if a hurricane just got done with it. The girl pulled herself up. She felt for microphone, which was half on her head and tilted to the side. "Please, please work," she whispered to the microphone.
"Hello?" she said into it. Nothing. "Hello? Someone answer!"
After waiting for a few minutes, she sighed and took off the devise. Zine walked over to her chair, which was now barely recognizable, and sat to think.
"The probe!" she said happily to no one, a little later on. She hopped up and ran over to where the probe was kept for launch, tripping over various pieces of metal on her way. She dug out the probe and grabbed for the microphone. "Hello! Answer! Someone!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Oh my God!" she heard Cody say faintly through the speaker.
"Zine?" Steven asked. "That you?"
Feeling happier then she ever had in her life, Zine yelled, "You freaking imbeciles! What were you thinking? I could have gotten killed!"
"Uh-" Steven started.
"We're really sorry," Cody said.
"Humph," Zine directed to the microphone.
"Well, look at it this way," Steven said. "You did prove that theory."
"Woop-de-doo," Zine responded. "Now how am I supposed to get back?
"Erm…we…weren't planning for this." Cody said in a low voice.
"Wait." Zine demanded. "You mean you have no way do get me back home."
"Do you even know where you are?" Steven asked.
Zine sighed. "Tell Jenn to fire you. I'll be back in a while." She threw down the microphone and dug through the mess, over to the door.
When she stepped out, she saw a small city. It looked like Earth, but then absolutely nothing like it. Zine looked around. It was early morning, warm and sunny. A few people walked along the streets. A sign read, "The Goat Whats You!" Another said "Z?" She stared at them. "Oookay," she said. The people looked different too, more comic than realistic. They didn't notice her too much. This scared Zine. She didn't look like them and she just came out of a ship that crashed, but they didn't seem to really care. Shaking her head, the scientist walked out to the streets leaving her ship and her link to true civilization behind her.
Slowly and thoughtfully, Zine walked along the sidewalk and studied the town around her. This strange place felt so familiar to her. She stopped walking. An eerie feeling went up her spine and enveloped her body. The strange, lost girl looked over her shoulder to where the feeling was coming from. It was a small, glowing green house with misshapen windows and an enormous satellite dish. From the sides of the house sprouted metal tubes of all sizes, going straight into the neighboring houses. In front of the house upon the green grass stood large and odd looking lawn gnomes, a pink flamingo, two pink puffer fish, and a flag that said "I ( Earth!"
Zine now knew exactly where she was.
She ran up to the house and began to laugh to herself, for on the door of the tiny house was a men's restroom sign. Beaming, Zine looked behind her and laughed at her own stupidity of not realizing where she was earlier, while the looming lawn gnomes glared back at her, seemingly ready to strike at any moment. Zine pressed the doorbell. The door creaked open automatically after she did so.
"Welcome home, Son!" a human father android said to her as sparks shot out from his joints. Zine pushed him out of her way and walked into the strange house. "Zim? G.I.R.?" she called out, addressing the owners of the house, only to receive no answer. The cartoon characters are gone, she thought, remembering all the countless nights of sitting in front of the television when she was young, seeing the house that she was in now, except it was then accompanied by a small green alien, bent on the conquest of Earth, and a small, insane robot, meant to help the alien.
She began to look around. The ceiling was covered in wires and metallic tubing. Above the couch was an extremely odd and deeply disturbing picture of a monkey-type creature. Zine strangely felt an urge to go look into garbage can. She shook her head at such a strange thought. "What is wrong with me?" she asked. However, not seeing anything else that she could do at the moment, she went by her instincts and made her way over to the trash container. To her ultimate surprise, the garbage can did not hold garbage, but seemed more of a form of transportation, like an elevator.
Oh, yeah! Zine thought. I remember now! This is a way that Zim gets down to his labs beneath the house. She, out loud, said, "I'm so freaking stupid," stepped into the "garbage can" and began to travel downward, beneath the house. As Zine stepped out after the elevator stopped, a small robot with light blue eyes and a silver metallic body ran up to her, his unattached legs going as fast as they could, and shouted out, with a high- pitched voice, "HI!"
Zine stood there for a moment. She knew this cute little robot. Smiling, the scientist responded, "Hello, G.I.R."
Smiling and laughing, G.I.R. ran off, his hand wielding a rubber piggy. Zine giggled to herself and walked into the room. She looked around, dumb-stricken by what she saw. The young scientist was in an enormous laboratory, completely decorated in the colors of purple and red with black and gray accents.
Zine walked up to the largest computer. She could tell that this was the main computer and figured that it might control some of the things in the lab and house. Curiously, Zine began pressing the keys in hope of finding a way to get her back to her own dimension. She looked up at the screen and, sadly, only found it to be filled with writing in a different language that she couldn't read. The girl sighed. "Why couldn't Zim be Extanian instead of Irken?" Zine said, remembering creating an alien race for her own use. "At least, then, I would have an idea of what all this said." Disappointed, she walked off, her eyes wandering about.
As she walked, Zine heard a much too familiar voice from the house above her shout, "G.I.R.! G.I.R., report immediately!"
Frightened that Zim, the owner of the voice and the lab she was in, might find her, a stranger, in his base, Zine searched around for a place to hide as Zim's footsteps came closer to the entrance to his labs. Her head pounding, she threw herself against the metal floor, under a table. Breathing hard, the trapped scientist heard Zim, in the labs now, say, "G.I.R., what are you doing now?"
The wide-eyed robot looked up from his now Cyclops of a toy pig, to his short, green-skinned master, and around the lab. "Where did your friend go, Master?" G.I.R. asked.
Zim pondered this a moment. "Friend?" he asked back, the words coming out like a cold, fierce storm.
"Yeah!" the robot shouted with delight. "That lady that was here?"
The green alien became frantic. "You let someone in here? Never mind that. Why didn't the computer notice?"
Zine began to shake violently. Zim stopped his ranting and looked over right at her. The frightened girl froze. Just because I worshipped him, she thought, doesn't mean he isn't going to try to destroy anyway.
As Zim looked away, Zine tried to move her right arm, which was going numb, but knocked over a large, purple metallic devise in doing so. The sound caught Zim's attention and he began to storm over. Swearing under her breath, Zine jumped up from beneath the table.
"Computer!" Zim shouted, pointing at Zine. "Intruder Alert!"
Startled, Zine looked up to find two, large robotic arms coming toward her from the ceiling. Her mind racing, the scientist tried the only thing that she could think of. "No, computer! Not ZIM!" she said in her best imitation of Zim's voice while pretending to be the small alien. She pointed at the real Zim and said, "He is the one who has infiltrated the base!"
The cold, metal arms abruptly stopped inches from Zine, turned their directing, and grabbed Zim, holding him like a hostage.
"What Earth trickery is this?" he choked out.
Zine stared, in amazement as well, at what she had done. This computer was programmed to answer to only Zim's exact voice. She ignored the impossible phenomenon. "Zim, I need your help!"
"What? No!" the alien shouted. "I would never help a human! No matter what the circumstances come to be!"
Human. The fiery Irken invader said this word with absolute disgust. He hated humans more than anything.
"Why?" Zine demanded.
"Because I-" Zim started, but was interrupted by G.I.R., randomly shouting out, "I drink Windex! It's goooood!"
"Right…" Zim said as Zine laughed. "Because I was assigned to destroy all humans. You are my enemy and…wait…how'd you know who I was?"
"It's a long story," she said. "I'm not really from here."
"Well, yeah, I figured that, but how'd you know who I was?"
"Uh…you're on TV where I come from."
Zim stared at the girl. Zine expected him to go into a non-stop freak out, but he just stared.
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"Well, I am from Earth, but not this one."
Zine explained how she was from another dimension and accidentally got here. She also added how she absolutely loved his show. Zim listened with a questioning look in his eye.
"But," Zine finished, "you probably think I'm just a nut case."
"Hmm, you are a nut case, but none the less, I may be able to help you, if you help me in return."
"Oh! Thank you, Zim!" Zine shouted as she hugged him. Zim cringed.
"Get off! If you watched my show, you should know not to do that, human!" he said angrily. "How can I trust you that you did watch my show?"
Zine beamed and took a deep breath. "You are an extremely short Irken invader, sent to conquer Earth by the Almighty Tallests Red and Purple. G.I.R. was given to you instead of the usual S.I.R., and G.I.R. used to be a frozen-yogurt machine. His brain consists of garbage from Purple's pocket. Dib is your enemy. He is the only one, except for the Saucer Morons, that knows you're an alien. Well, Gaz knows, but she doesn't care."
Zim stared, his striped, snake-like tongue hanging out.
"You're allergic to water. G.I.R. is addicted to candy. On Halloween, you and Dib ended up in his head and got chased by the 'Halloweenies.' Keef is your best friend. Well, not really. It was a way for you to fit in. But you decided to fire him. You were on TV here once. You were on Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery, which is Dib's favorite show and-"
"Okay!" he said, cutting her off. "It seems you know much more than you should."
"Like how you sing Lady Marmalade backstage?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Longer story."
"Hmm. I will have to think this over. But you may be able to get back to your own Earth."
Zine smiled. "Oh, thank you!"
"IF you cooperate."
"Kay."
The doorbell rang. "Zim, you security system didn't do anything!"
Zim sighed. "Well I need to see who it is."
"Good idea, genius!" Zine said as she walked off.
"Idiotic Human! Computer, let me down."
Up in the house, Zim walked over to the door. He turned to Zine.
"Don't say anything, human."
"I HAVE A NAME!"
"That's nice," Zim said as he opened the door. He made a disgusted noise. "Hello, Dib."
"Zim," the raven haired, junior paranormal investigator said, "we have a meeting to go to."
"Wait!" Zine interrupted. "You two are enemies! You aren't supposed to be talking like this to each other!"
"I told you to be quiet!" Zim shouted at her.
"Who's she?" Dib asked.
"I am Zine! The Dead Lord of all Humans!" she yelled triumphantly.
"The what?" Dib and Zim both asked.
She laughed. "Um…I'm Zine."
Zim looked down and shook his head. Dib snickered.
"Ooooh, Zim!" he sneered.
Zim glared at his enemy. He and Zine explained to Dib the whole long story of how the scientist got here.
"I knew it!" Dib shouted as the two finished. "I'm not the only one who has thought that traveling to alternate dimension was possible!"
"Dib," Zim said in a low voice, losing his patients, "didn't you say we had somewhere to go?"
"Oh yeah. We have a meeting with all those other guys."
"WAIT!" Zine shouted at the top of her lungs. The boy and the alien stared at her. G.I.R. ran back into the scene. "I don't get this!" she went on. "What are you two talking about? What meeting? What other guys? Why are you getting along better than usual? On most episodes, you're about ready to kill each other!"
Zim and Dib looked at the other. Dib looked at his watch. "Oh. We have to go."
Zim whispered to Dib. Zine leaned over, trying to see what Zim was saying. She leaned further and further, until she fell onto the floor.
"I dunno," Dib finally whispered. "Are you sure she's not a spy or something?"
"A spy?" Zine asked.
"Hmmm," Zim looked at her. "Do you like Klasky-Csupo?"
"The company that owns all those cartoons?" she said. "No, not really. They used to be okay. Until they got into the new Rugrats and had more cartoons than they deserve. Then, they bombed and became really…icky."
"How about 'Butt Ugly Martians'?" Dib asked her.
Zine almost fell over. "Oh my gawd! No! That show is horrible! It should burn in-"
"Diamonds are a girl's best friend!" G.I.R. sang out.
The three stared at the robot.
"Eh. Whatever," Zine said sickly.
"Okay," Dib told Zine. "We'll explain what's going on-" he turned to Zim, "-on the way there."
They all walked out the door: Zine, Dib, Zim, and G.I.R. As they traveled down the road, Dib explained what was happening.
"You know how 'Invader Zim' is getting cancelled right?" he asked.
"Uh-huh," Zine answered sadly.
"Well, so are a lot of other cartoons. But Nickelodeon isn't touching the Klasky-Csupo cartoons, which are taking a serious turn for the worse, in most people's opinion. And Nick just brought in that stupid cartoon 'Butt Ugly Martians.' Many cartoons, mostly one's that are from Nick, but some others as well, were getting tired of the Klasky-Csupo and 'B.U.M.' guys running around and thinking they're all that.
"We all got together in a small committee, to stop these other guys. That...um…wasn't too good an idea. Since then, the Klasky-Csupo and 'B.U.M.' guys have been pretty much taking over our space. We all are working against this." He sighed. "It sorta turned into an all out war between GOOD cartoons and the so-called 'good' cartoons."
"Wow!" Zine said. "Zim and you were right, Dib; your explanations ARE boring!"
Zim tried as hard as he could to silence his laughter. G.I.R. joined him. Dib glared at them.
"So, " Dib went on, despite the rudeness. "Zim was thinking, since you seem to be on our side of this, that you would be able to help out."
"Gee," Zine said sarcastically. "I'm not sure…"
"Well if you don't want to," Zim said, walking off ahead.
"No!" the scientist shouted. "I was kidding. I'll help."
=============
The two humans, the alien, and the robot continued walking until they came to a large building. The building looked like something out of a horror movie, like where the vampire dwelled in the daytime, or where the evil sorcerer practiced magical spells. Tall towers loomed over the dark yard. An eerie glow came from the windows. A cold wind crept through and sent shivers up the four's spines.
"What is this place?" Zine asked.
"Ahem, it's our…um…headquarters." Dib said looking at his feet.
Zine snickered. "Oh…erm…it's very…interesting."
"It wasn't my idea." Dib protested.
"Sure, it was the Grim Reaper's idea," she said sarcastically.
"Actually," Zim said as they all walked to the door. "It was."
Zine looked at him questioningly. The short, green alien slipped a card through a devise next to the door. The door opened quickly and the foursome walked through. Zine gasped in amazement. The interior of the spooky mansion headquarters was metallic and brightly lit. The ceiling had huge round lights going down the hallway. It reminded Zine of…
"'Men In Black!'"
"What?" asked Dib as they all stopped walking.
"This looks like the headquarters in 'Men In Black!' 'Men In Black' was a movie about a bunch of guys protecting Earth from aliens and stuff. Mmm. It had Will Smith!"
"These…Men In Black sound like a bunch of amateurs." Zim sneered.
"And they dress in black!" G.I.R. said.
"Right on," Zine laughed, giving G.I.R. a high-five.
"Whatever," Dib said, pushing open a door. "Here we are."
Inside was an enormous, silver, oval shaped table. At the table, many various cartoon characters sat. There were characters from "Grim and Evil," "Courage the Cowardly Dog," "Time Squad," and many others, including the almighty comic "Johnny, the Homicidal Maniac."
"Oooooooh!" Zine said staring at her favorite cartoon characters.
"Wow Dib," Mandy, a short young girl, said. "What did you do to your poor sister?"
"No, she's not Gaz." Dib said. "This is Zine. She has agreed to help us."
"Hi!" Zine said to them, waving.
They all took a seat at the table as a few of the cartoon characters watched Zine closely.
"I dunno, Dib." Larry, a quite intelligent robot said. "No offence or anything, but how do you know that she can be trusted?"
Zine glared at him. Dib explained what happened to Zine from when she left her space station to where she was sitting. While he was talking, Zine silently edged away from the person sitting next to her: Johnny, who was well known for killing people.
"Ah," said Larry when Dib finished. "I see."
"But is she isn't what you say she is," piped up Evil Con Carne, who was a small brain, attached to a bear's head, since he lost in own body, "it'll be your…disturbingly huge head, Dib!"
"My head's not big!"
"Why don't you people believe us?" shouted Zine as she stood up on her chair. "I am as loyal as a pet dog! I cannot fail you for I worship your creators! Geez!" The entire room stared at her. The young scientist sat down, quietly. "I'm fine," she said looking at her folded hands. Johnny snickered. He seemed to be amused.
"Ahem," The Grim Reaper, most commonly known as Grim, said, breaking the silence. "It's so…nice to meet you."
=============
For quite awhile, the cartoon characters talked about what was to happen. Apparently, Dib was right, they had pretty much gone to war. It was GOOD cartoons against the "good" cartoons. This little war had been going on for quite a few years. Slowly, cartoons from either side die off, and new ones join in for the fight.
Their next idea was for someone to sneak into the "good" cartoons' base. They had pinpointed its exact location on a map, but no one had ever wanted to go. While they talked, Zine and G.I.R. played with a paper football, until Johnny got mad.
"Some one has to go and infiltrate the enemies' base!" Zim said. "Come on people!"
"Not me," Courage said.
Johnny nudged Zine with his elbow. She looked up at him. He had his hair in the same way she remembered him to have, a mess of black spikes, and the shirt, never saying the same thing twice. Zine shrugged.
"Me! I'll go!" she said, waving her arm in the air.
They all looked at her. A few of them looked worried, but most seemed to like the idea.
"Please?" she begged.
"How about it?" Dib asked Evil Con Carne.
Evil looked back. After a few minutes, he said, "Ah, what the heck!"
"Yay!" Zine said. What am I getting into? she thought.
The cartoon characters gave Zine a map and a backpack full of many strange devises. After she was ready, they sent her off. She walked for what she thought to be forever, but was only about a day, until she came to a large building painted…
Yellow? Zine thought, staring from behind a large bush. What idiots!
As carefully as she could, she snuck to the door, which was guarded by sleeping Teletubies. Just as she opened the door, one Teletubie moved. Zine froze. She waited to see if he'd move again, but he did nothing. The scientist crept through the door.
Slowly and quietly, Zine snuck through the unsuspecting enemies' base. Plastered against the wall, she looked around at the pastel colored interior. These light colors sickened her. Zine felt something rub against her leg, looked down, and found a hamster wearing a party hat. The small rodent looked up at her. "M-Mr. Snuggles?" she whispered. "What are you doing here? You've got to leave."
As Mr. Snuggles, the approximately 10-year-old hamster, made his way out, Zine crawled along the light blue wall, searching for a door leading to a room that was valuable to the "good" cartoons. Finally, she came to a light pink door with the name "Csupo" on it. I guess this is where Gabor Csupo is, she thought. She began to open the pathetically decorated door, but found it to be locked. Zine glared at the door. "Shoot." The annoyed girl studied the door and found the hinged to look fairly weak. She slammed her body against the door and checked for any achievement. She slammed against the door again. And again she hit the door. One more time she threw herself. Zine busted through the door like a rabid beast.
The scientist stood in the room, ready to strike at the first thing that moved. Puzzled, she noticed that the room was empty except for a piece of paper taped to the pastel purple walls. She walked up to the paper and read "Invader Zim Sucks!" Zine, astonished by the sickening insult from the paper, stumbled back a bit. She stood up tall and, without thinking of the consequences, cursed at the paper at the top of her lungs. Once she realized what she was doing, the insane young scientist clasped her hands over her mouth and became stiff while she listened closely, wondering if anyone heard her. Out of nowhere, Zine was struck, hard, in the back of her head, from an unknown source. She fell forward, unconscious.
=============
Zine opened her eyes and tired to see, but her vision was blurred and her head was pounding. She found herself sitting in a chair, her wrists and ankles strapped down. Once again, she opened her eyes, letting them adjust. The trapped girl was in a white room, completely white. If anyone knew Zine, they'd know she absolutely couldn't handle a lot of white. There were some "people" in the room standing around. Zine recognized some of them: the three aliens from "Butt Ugly Martians" and the Dummi Bears from "Rugrats." She starred in horror.
"Whoa. WOA!" exclaimed one of the aliens. "She's awake. SHE'S AWAKE!"
"I think we get the point." Another alien said to the first, obviously annoyed. Zine kept starring.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the second alien directed to Zine.
"Yeah," Zine announced, sounding drunk. "What the hell?"
The Dummi Bears clasped their mouths in horror at their prisoner's foul mouth.
"And!" the captive scientist shouted out. "You are all horrible singers with bad taste!"
The Martians and bears stared at her insanity.
"By the way," she continued, "why am I strapped to a chair after being hit in the back of the head with an extremely hard object? Huh?"
"Isn't that just a bit obvious?" one of the Dummi Bears responded.
"Well, uh," Zine said. "I get confused easily since I watched your shows and went INSANE!"
"You ungrateful little…thing!" the third of the alien Martians shouted out. "Our shows are over ten times better than that junk you watch!"
Zine tried to stand up, forgetting she was strapped down, and shouted out, "At least they don't sing like some hermaphroditic boy band!"
"Funny you should mention that," the second Martian stated with an evil smirk that made Zine's muscles tense. "Back to your question: you snuck in, so you our rightfully our prisoner of war. We have been informed of the things that could easily show you how wrong you are about the shows you watch. Either that or they'd drive you completely insane."
Not that far a drive for me, Zine thought. Hmmm…what's he talking about?
The second Martian walked over to a pure white tape player and pressed a button. As music began to play, Zine automatically knew what it was. "No!" she shouted at the Martians. "Not your theme song! Sweet jumpin' jelly beans, NO!" But, it was true. The song that was surely written by drunks, that Zine could hardly stand, was blaring at its highest point. Her head pounding, Zine began to tremble. Frightened and sickened by the singing Martians, she shouted out, "What, in the name of Jhonen, is wrong with you people?"
"What's wrong with us?" the first Martian repeated, the music still blaring behind him. "What's wrong with you and those freaks you call an army?"
Zine ignored him. The music was over powering her mind. She could not think as straight as she usually did, which wasn't too straight to start out with. The prisoner thought as hard as she could of something that could block off the insane theme song.
"No," she murmured as her first idea came to mind. "It won't work." But the "Butt Ugly Martians" theme song became louder and louder. She sighed and tested her idea.
"One baby to another says I'm lucky to have met you," she sang out. "I don't care what you think unless it is about me. It is now my duty to completely drain you. I travel through a tube and end up in your infection."
"What is she doing?" the third Martian shouted.
"No!" screeched a Dummi Bear. "She's singing Nirvana!"
Zine squeaked with triumphant delight and went onto a song by another band, "Turn me on. Take me for a hard ride. Burn me out. Leave me on the other side. I yell and tell it that it's not my friend. I tear it down. I tear it down. And then it's born again…"
"Red Hot Chili Peppers?" shouted another Dummi Bear. "Oh my good golly gosh!"
"No! Stop! Aaah!" shouted the Martians and Dummi Bears.
Zine continued, as loud as she could, with her latest fad: Pink Floyd, "We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher leave them kids alone. HEY! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all, it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall."
Scared to death by Zine's insanity, the Martians and Dummi Bears ran out of the room, knocking over and breaking the tape player as they went. Zine stopped singing and began to laugh at her success. Too easy, she thought, so easy, it's sad. She was just about to get up and leave when she once again noticed that she was still strapped down. "Uh-oh." Zine searched for a way to undo her bindings, but, sadly, found nothing. The trapped girl stopped abruptly, hearing a scratching sound from behind her. Slowly, she turned to see a creature that she hadn't seen for what seemed forever.
"Mr. Snuggles!"
The rodent looked up at her.
"You are a god, Mr. Snuggles!"
Mr. Snuggles ate away at Zine's bindings. When the scientist was free, she grabbed the hamster and headed out; thirteen times as careful as the last time she went through the building.
=============
Zine stormed through the doors of the GOOD cartoon's headquarters.
"THAT," she shouted, "was insane!"
Every one rushed over to her.
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"What'd they do?"
"How'd you get back?"
"Did you see Johnny?"
"What?" Zine asked. "Johnny?"
"Yeah," Otto said. "We sent him and Mr. Snuggles out looking for you! Did you see him?"
"…No," she said worried.
"Oh no!" shouted G.I.R. "The scary man got caught!"
All of the cartoon characters went into a stage of fright. They all worried. Some one like Johnny doesn't just 'get caught.' Something terrible must have happened. Something beyond the reach of imagination. Something much worse than what Zine suffered. Something…
"I'm gonna go get 'Nny," Zine announced to the group as she grabbed another backpack.
"What?" protested Courage. "You can't! You just got back from them!"
"I have to! Johnny is important! I can't just let them torture him!"
"Come on," Mandy directed to Zine. "It's just one guy…one seriously insane guy."
"I don't care," Zine shouted, running to the exit. "I have to go get him!"
As she ran out the door, a few people started after her.
"Let the human go," Zim said to them from the back corner where he had been watching. Every one turned toward him. "It's no use trying to stop her."
"What are you saying?" Billy asked.
"You will never convince her to stay," Zim stated.
"Yeah," Dib agreed. "You should have heard her talk on the way here. She kept saying how she'd do anything for the cartoons she loves."
"But…Johnny the Homicidal Maniac?" Larry asked, disgusted.
Dib just shrugged.
=============
Once again in the base of the enemy, Zine snuck along the walls, looked down the hall, and worried that she might get caught. When she came to the same door that led to the room where she was before, she put her ear against the wall and listened hard. She heard two familiar voices quarreling.
"At least none of us have killed a bunch of people called us 'wacky.'" Zine hear Ginger, from "As told by Ginger,' say.
Through clenched teeth, Johnny responded, "Don't say that word."
Why hasn't 'Nny killed her yet? Zine thought. She set down her heavy backpack and leaned closer to the wall.
"What was that?" Ginger asked, on the other side of the wall, as she walked toward the door. Seeing she had nowhere to hide, Zine plastered herself against the wall. As the door creaked open, the scientist against the wall muttered, "I blend," under her breath. Ginger looked up and down the hall, idiotically not noticing the girl against the wall or the backpack on the floor, and stepped back in, closing the door behind her.
Cocking her head to the side, Zine stared at the door, dumbstruck by her enemy's stupidity. She shook her head and thought of what she could do. She looked through her bag for something to help.
Laser weasels. A radioactive chicken, she thought, naming off what was in the bag, a faux fur monkey. A…Bomb?
Zine pulled out a small, red and purple object that was shaped like a hand grenade, accept about the size of a cat. There was black Irken writing all over it. In the bag, there was also a remote that matched the bomb, the same colors and writing. The young scientist smirked, put the other things, beside the bomb and remote, back into the backpack, and put the backpack on. She stood up, the bomb in her hand behind her back. Slowly, she turned the knob of the door and opened it.
"Surprise!" Zine shouted as she jumped in the room.
"Aaah!" Ginger screamed. She ran over to Zine. The scientist slipped off her backpack and knocked Ginger across the head. The enemy lay cold on the floor. Zine stared at what she did. Then, she remembered Johnny. She looked around. No one was there. Where is he? she thought. She heard a low voice from behind her say, "Zine?"
She spun around. "Johnny! Don't scare me like that!"
He laughed. Zine glared at him. "Let's go."
Zine set down the bomb in the middle of the room and held the remote tight. "C'mon," she said to Johnny as she walked out the door.
=============
As soon as they were just barely able to see the enemies' base, Zine stopped. She pulled up the remote and said, "'Nny, when I say 'go,' run as fast as you can toward the headquarters."
"Why?"
"You'll see." The scientist looked carefully at the remote. When she felt satisfied, she pressed a small, blood red button.
"GO!"
Johnny and Zine ran as fast as they could. Back behind them, in the enemies' base, the bomb sat, not drawing any attention to itself.
Go off, Zine thought, Go off, you stupid bomb! Go off!
When Johnny and Zine reached the base, 'Nny asked, "And why ran because…?"
"Well-" Zine started, but Zim, Dib, G.I.R., and every one else ran out shouting, "Zine! You did it!"
The scientist was hit with a mob of cartoon characters. "What did I do?"
"You destroyed the enemies' base!" shouted Larry.
"I did?" Zine asked.
"You did?" repeated Johnny.
=============
The cartoons celebrated. The bomb had gone off, just much longer after Zine had expected. They all congratulated her for her achievement. When everything calmed down, Zine turned to Zim and asked, "Can I go home now?"
Zim looked down and said, "Yes. It's probably time for you to go back."
"What?" G.I.R. cried. "You aren't gonna stay?"
"No, I have to go back where I came from."
Zim took Zine, Dib, and G.I.R. back to his own base after they bid their farewells to the other cartoons. Down in Zim's lab, he showed Zine to a large devise that looked like a tube shaped elevator.
"This will take you back to your own dimension." Zim announced.
"Oh," Zine said sadly. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much! You have no idea how important you all are to me!" A small tear running down her cheek, she gave them each a hug. G.I.R. cried loudly.
"We'll miss you too, Zine." Dib said.
"Yes," Zim agreed. "Maybe not all humans are that bad."
"Awe!" Zine said to Zim. "You're so sweet!"
Zim just glared at the floor.
"Any ways," Zine told them, "I should get going." She stepped into the machine and sadly said, "I'll miss you guys! All right, Zim. Go ahead."
As Zim activated the machine and Zine began to travel back home, she thought to herself, Wont Steven and Cody be surprised? She grinned devilishly, thinking of how she could make their lives miserable.