A/Note: Wow, 59 reviews already!? I'm astonished. Sorry this chapter's so
short, but I like the ending of it. So here comes the other concept of
mine… right at the end. Thanks again to you reviewers! Well, I wouldn't go
so far as to say that Zim and Gaz hate each other in this story, Joyous
Garde, or at least that wasn't my intention for it to seem that way.
They're both just really irritated nearly all the time in this so far, and
being such strong personalities, they clash with each other a little. Lol,
well if you can find some powdered (dehydrated) water, Unknowner, you
probably could make an anti-Irken weapon of surprising potency. Heh, no
moosey fate here, PRHG! I think you'll be surprised at the big revelation.
But hopefully not disappointed…?
Thanks also you the rest of you guys, Ivory, Kami and Daegon, Soleia Nova, Unknowner, Sanely Challenged, Ivy and Kat23a! And just for you Kat, a excerpt from Dib's role as Curly:
"There's a bright golden haze on the meadow!
And it makes all the crop circles shine and glow!"
Good heavens, I'm picturing this… Dib in a cowboy hat and that trenchcoat.. Well anyway, here's the comparatively short chapter nine!
Chapter Nine: Attack of the Dib
"Can't you run faster!?" Dib wheezed as he half-guided half-dragged Enforcer Quev down the seemingly endless alien corridor. "NO!" Quev screamed back, "I'm an Irken, look it up! Short legs! SHORT!" Dib staggered around another corner and saw what he'd been looking desperately for ever since he'd first set be-spectacled eyes on the gooey slavering monster that was pursuing them- a big, sturdy looking door.
According to Quev's limited knowledge of the creatures, howler leeches were relatively slow unless they got really hungry, which apparently this one had. It had steadily increased its speed since it began chasing them. They also were supposed to be relatively weak due to their lack of skeletal structure, so they couldn't break down a door or wall of any decent thickness. And since the monster had no appendages, it couldn't use the handles on the antiquely official portal.
Quev was at the end of his rope and watching the threads fray. So far, at least his terrifying companion was able to keep them a few steps ahead of the huge howler leech, but even an Irken unfamiliar with the alien's physiology could tell that the pace was wearing hard on the eerie creature. 'At least he felt compelled to save me for the time being,' Quev mentally reminded himself as he felt Dib sharply change directions.
---------------
"I say we honey-roast them to death."
"I didn't come all this way, missing all my favorite shows, just to watch you get over your height issues!"
"I never said I thought deep-frying was the ultimate form of food preparation."
"My Tallest, shouldn't we try to…"
"But if we don't destroy them, the consequences…"
All conversation in the great receiving hall of the Almighty Tallest came to an abrupt end as the huge heavy (and by tradition, manually operated- ever try to slam an electronic door?) doors were desperately shoved open by a dark, hollow-eyed figure with a deathly pallor and flapping extension behind him that at first the panicked Irkens in the room mistook for leathery wings. The hideous creature was wheezing and foaming, exuding a startling bacony-cheddar scent, and seemed to be dragging the body of an unfortunate Enforcer along with one of its scraggly, claw-like extensions.
"Leeches! Hideous! Blood-sucking! BIG!" Dib coughed asthmatically as the previously limp form of Enforcer Quev came to life and struggled free of his faltering grasp to push the heavy doors closed and drop the electronic barrier to lock them.
"What IS it!?" Purple whimpered from his vantage point behind the startled Red. "LEECHES, you FOOLS!" Dib reiterated before staggering towards Zim with a look of deadly determination on his sallow face. Zim stood impassively watching Dib's approach, much to the astonishment of the Tallest. "You.. menace…" Dib wheezed before lurching to an abrupt halt and holding his side in agony. "Lungs… burning… skeleton… turning to… gelatin! Oooold… runny… GELATIN!"
Zim sneered his evilest and was about to launch into a lengthy tirade about the humans inferior organs when he felt Gaz step on his right foot heavily. He winced almost imperceptibly and squinted in her direction. "Don't start again." She muttered softly, but there was a small amused smile on her face. Zim settled for smirking at the gape-mouthed Tallest and Enforcer Snalz, who was currently occupied trying to pry her repentant partner loose from her gun arm. "I saw them! Leeches! In the corridors!" he insisted, caught between horror and delight now that he was safe from their slimy grasp. "Shut UP, Quev!" she replied.
"Oppose me not, my former Tallest, for I ZIIIIM have come home to conquer!" Zim declared, savoring the moment. "And if you should be so foolish, I shall have no choice but to use the unsavory attack Dib on your wretched souls!" Red and Purple glanced at each other, then at the gasping, snarling monstrosity that shambled beside Zim. "What is it again?" Red asked skeptically. "Do not question the Dib!" Zim cried. "Go Dibby!" GIR squealed excitedly. Gaz smiled again ever so slightly and raised a speculative eyebrow at her sibling, waiting to see what he would do.
"Huh?" Dib responded intelligently. Zim face-palmed in exasperation. "Yay, Dib." Gaz sighed resignedly. Dib belatedly caught on and assumed a moderately threatening pose before the four Irken captives. "Um, grr?" he said questioningly. "Huh?" GIR responded intelligently. The hostages stared steadily at him, rather unimpressed. "Uh, Zim… what exactly are you wanting me to do..?" he asked anxiously. Zim began to jump up and down in a frustrated temper tantrum. "Be a ravening murderous hellbeast or something!" GIR waved his arms giddily. "Be a kitty! Be a Dib-kitty!"
Dib nodded slowly, ignoring GIR's suggestion. "Uh yeah… I guess I can do that." In the midst of a vicious snarl, however Dib's aching lungs spazzed and he accidentally inhaled instead of swallowing. Immediately he began coughing and choking as his already aching lungs erupted in fresh agony.
Quev and Snalz immediately found themselves being called upon to catch the startled Tallest as the duo jumped fearfully away from the saliva-induced spasming display. "Aw, I wanted him to be a kitty." GIR pouted, and kicked a stray pebble that had once been part of the exterior wall away sulkily. His bright cyan eyes followed the small stone as it bounced across the floor and struck a tapestry with a light metallic 'ping'. GIR blinked and ran that memory again. Curtains didn't ping unless he stuck Pig in the dryer with them. He kicked another little rock, and again the ping sound came. Ignoring the pleas of the Tallest for Zim to call off his coughing gagging monster and Zim's demands for cheddar peppers and galactic domination, GIR trotted over to the wall hanging. Reaching up to firmly grasp the shiny fabric with a small metallic hand, he pulled.
Three sets of yellow photoreceptors stared back at him. From behind the robot, the sounds of struggle ceased as finally Dib managed to regain control of his organs, and the confused look on his face as he looked up in GIR's direction caused everyone else to look as well. "What in the heck?" Snalz asked confusedly as the organics in the room stepped closer to examine GIR's discovery, which appeared to be three standard information retrieval units, apparently spying on the proceedings and entering data into small handheld screens. "Pay no attention to the tall Irkens before you," the closest of the three declared, "WE are the true leaders of Irk- the great and mighty SIRs!"
*peeks to see if anyone's still reading* So were you surprised? Shocked? Insulted? Heh heh, hopefully not the last one… So what's the deal with the robots? And how about that leech thingy outside? Poor Dib, his potential as a weapon is barely touched on before he has stuff like this happen to him, lol.
Next time: Meet the robots! Red and Purple are offended, GIR gets a boo- boo, and a lot of strange exposition goes on.
Thanks also you the rest of you guys, Ivory, Kami and Daegon, Soleia Nova, Unknowner, Sanely Challenged, Ivy and Kat23a! And just for you Kat, a excerpt from Dib's role as Curly:
"There's a bright golden haze on the meadow!
And it makes all the crop circles shine and glow!"
Good heavens, I'm picturing this… Dib in a cowboy hat and that trenchcoat.. Well anyway, here's the comparatively short chapter nine!
Chapter Nine: Attack of the Dib
"Can't you run faster!?" Dib wheezed as he half-guided half-dragged Enforcer Quev down the seemingly endless alien corridor. "NO!" Quev screamed back, "I'm an Irken, look it up! Short legs! SHORT!" Dib staggered around another corner and saw what he'd been looking desperately for ever since he'd first set be-spectacled eyes on the gooey slavering monster that was pursuing them- a big, sturdy looking door.
According to Quev's limited knowledge of the creatures, howler leeches were relatively slow unless they got really hungry, which apparently this one had. It had steadily increased its speed since it began chasing them. They also were supposed to be relatively weak due to their lack of skeletal structure, so they couldn't break down a door or wall of any decent thickness. And since the monster had no appendages, it couldn't use the handles on the antiquely official portal.
Quev was at the end of his rope and watching the threads fray. So far, at least his terrifying companion was able to keep them a few steps ahead of the huge howler leech, but even an Irken unfamiliar with the alien's physiology could tell that the pace was wearing hard on the eerie creature. 'At least he felt compelled to save me for the time being,' Quev mentally reminded himself as he felt Dib sharply change directions.
---------------
"I say we honey-roast them to death."
"I didn't come all this way, missing all my favorite shows, just to watch you get over your height issues!"
"I never said I thought deep-frying was the ultimate form of food preparation."
"My Tallest, shouldn't we try to…"
"But if we don't destroy them, the consequences…"
All conversation in the great receiving hall of the Almighty Tallest came to an abrupt end as the huge heavy (and by tradition, manually operated- ever try to slam an electronic door?) doors were desperately shoved open by a dark, hollow-eyed figure with a deathly pallor and flapping extension behind him that at first the panicked Irkens in the room mistook for leathery wings. The hideous creature was wheezing and foaming, exuding a startling bacony-cheddar scent, and seemed to be dragging the body of an unfortunate Enforcer along with one of its scraggly, claw-like extensions.
"Leeches! Hideous! Blood-sucking! BIG!" Dib coughed asthmatically as the previously limp form of Enforcer Quev came to life and struggled free of his faltering grasp to push the heavy doors closed and drop the electronic barrier to lock them.
"What IS it!?" Purple whimpered from his vantage point behind the startled Red. "LEECHES, you FOOLS!" Dib reiterated before staggering towards Zim with a look of deadly determination on his sallow face. Zim stood impassively watching Dib's approach, much to the astonishment of the Tallest. "You.. menace…" Dib wheezed before lurching to an abrupt halt and holding his side in agony. "Lungs… burning… skeleton… turning to… gelatin! Oooold… runny… GELATIN!"
Zim sneered his evilest and was about to launch into a lengthy tirade about the humans inferior organs when he felt Gaz step on his right foot heavily. He winced almost imperceptibly and squinted in her direction. "Don't start again." She muttered softly, but there was a small amused smile on her face. Zim settled for smirking at the gape-mouthed Tallest and Enforcer Snalz, who was currently occupied trying to pry her repentant partner loose from her gun arm. "I saw them! Leeches! In the corridors!" he insisted, caught between horror and delight now that he was safe from their slimy grasp. "Shut UP, Quev!" she replied.
"Oppose me not, my former Tallest, for I ZIIIIM have come home to conquer!" Zim declared, savoring the moment. "And if you should be so foolish, I shall have no choice but to use the unsavory attack Dib on your wretched souls!" Red and Purple glanced at each other, then at the gasping, snarling monstrosity that shambled beside Zim. "What is it again?" Red asked skeptically. "Do not question the Dib!" Zim cried. "Go Dibby!" GIR squealed excitedly. Gaz smiled again ever so slightly and raised a speculative eyebrow at her sibling, waiting to see what he would do.
"Huh?" Dib responded intelligently. Zim face-palmed in exasperation. "Yay, Dib." Gaz sighed resignedly. Dib belatedly caught on and assumed a moderately threatening pose before the four Irken captives. "Um, grr?" he said questioningly. "Huh?" GIR responded intelligently. The hostages stared steadily at him, rather unimpressed. "Uh, Zim… what exactly are you wanting me to do..?" he asked anxiously. Zim began to jump up and down in a frustrated temper tantrum. "Be a ravening murderous hellbeast or something!" GIR waved his arms giddily. "Be a kitty! Be a Dib-kitty!"
Dib nodded slowly, ignoring GIR's suggestion. "Uh yeah… I guess I can do that." In the midst of a vicious snarl, however Dib's aching lungs spazzed and he accidentally inhaled instead of swallowing. Immediately he began coughing and choking as his already aching lungs erupted in fresh agony.
Quev and Snalz immediately found themselves being called upon to catch the startled Tallest as the duo jumped fearfully away from the saliva-induced spasming display. "Aw, I wanted him to be a kitty." GIR pouted, and kicked a stray pebble that had once been part of the exterior wall away sulkily. His bright cyan eyes followed the small stone as it bounced across the floor and struck a tapestry with a light metallic 'ping'. GIR blinked and ran that memory again. Curtains didn't ping unless he stuck Pig in the dryer with them. He kicked another little rock, and again the ping sound came. Ignoring the pleas of the Tallest for Zim to call off his coughing gagging monster and Zim's demands for cheddar peppers and galactic domination, GIR trotted over to the wall hanging. Reaching up to firmly grasp the shiny fabric with a small metallic hand, he pulled.
Three sets of yellow photoreceptors stared back at him. From behind the robot, the sounds of struggle ceased as finally Dib managed to regain control of his organs, and the confused look on his face as he looked up in GIR's direction caused everyone else to look as well. "What in the heck?" Snalz asked confusedly as the organics in the room stepped closer to examine GIR's discovery, which appeared to be three standard information retrieval units, apparently spying on the proceedings and entering data into small handheld screens. "Pay no attention to the tall Irkens before you," the closest of the three declared, "WE are the true leaders of Irk- the great and mighty SIRs!"
*peeks to see if anyone's still reading* So were you surprised? Shocked? Insulted? Heh heh, hopefully not the last one… So what's the deal with the robots? And how about that leech thingy outside? Poor Dib, his potential as a weapon is barely touched on before he has stuff like this happen to him, lol.
Next time: Meet the robots! Red and Purple are offended, GIR gets a boo- boo, and a lot of strange exposition goes on.