Dib then felt the presence of someone sat besides him, he turned his head to
come face to face with a young man, dressed entierly in red. Well, probably the
whole suit he wore was once a different colour, for it seemed to be dripping
with a red substance, and Dib was already afraid to ask. The pale boy grinned
at Dib, atop his head was a lop-sided crown. Wild, crazed eyes made Dib feel
very uncomfortable, and he shifted in his seat, which was hard to do with the
dress he wore.
"You look very nice." Said the young man, presumably a king or prince.
"Uhrm…" Did really didn't know what to say, no one had called him 'nice'. Sure,
idiot, big head, stink-worm etc. were some names he had been called, but never
nice.
"Where did you come from?" asked the young man, "And where are you going?
C'mon, sit up straight, shoulders back, chest out! Be a pretty boy-girl thing
and speak clearly!" Dib just looked confused, but got the idea this guy was
royalty, so he did his best to do what he ordered. He explained he had lost his
way, and was about to explain how he got there, when the young man interupted
him.
"I don't know what you mean by your way, big headed boy-girl thing, all the
ways here belong to ME… but why did you come out here at all then huh? Huh??"
the man poked Dib in the ribs, then blinked and put a hand to himself. "I'm the
Red King by the way, Nny the Red King. You can call me Red King."
"I… I'm Dib, you can call me Dib…" Dib replied, trying to fight the resist to
bark back that he didn't own a big head – but this guy might have the power
that the Queen of Hearts had, and he didn't want to have his head lopped off.
"And…" he was about to answer, but the Red King put a hand to his mouth,
smothering his mouth in the red stuff.
"It's too late to answer now! I gots another question for you. How would you
like to become a King-Queen thingie like myself and Steve the White King?" Red
King asked, removing his hand from Dib's mouth. Dib was too spooked to find out
what now made his face mesy, so just answered.
"I.. I would like to be a King… then, then no one would ignore me, or think my
information on Zim is all made up! That'd show them, they'd all bow to me and
I'd get Zim jailed and autopsied on a table and have his guts all over the
table and floor, and then I'd show them ALL!" Dib stopped when he realised he
was now ranting, and coughed. "Yeah I'd like to be a King."
"I thought so!" squeed the Red King. "Now listen carefully. "You're a Pawn,
right now. But to become King, you have to move. I shall explain, but here, I'm
just gonna be doing some measurements." The Red King got to his feet, and
pulled a red-soacked knife from his pocket, and threw it across from them. It
landed in the darkness, a scream was heard. Dib's hair stood on end, and with his
scythe, you can imagine what that looked like.
"I shall give you directions! You're a pawn. A pawn goes two squares in its
first move, you know that! So you'll go very quickly through the Fourth Square
– by this railway here!" at this, Red King threw what looked like a butchers
knife into the darkness, another scream. He turned his head back to Dib. "I see
by the look on your face you've been at Square Three, that was Tweedle Red and
Tweedle Purple. Such charming fellows, they read poetry very well!" he threw
again, what looked like a cahinsaw. Another slam, another scream, another turn
back to Dib. "Anyway – once you get off this train you will find the Fifth
Square is mostly water, you won't find the Tweedles there. They HATE the
stuff!" he then threw what looked now like a simple butter knife, which caused
the loudest noise and scream yet. "And the Sixth belongs to Squee, he's quite
the funny little fellow, younger then you, he just loves siting on his roof
with that teddy bear of his!" then he threw a scythe into the darkness, which
made a small squeak. "Stupid mice. Anyway! Square Seven is all forest, however
one of the Queens will show you the way, hopefully Red Queen, she's so NICE."
Red King once again threw something, but this looked like a bomb, it landed,
but didn't blow up. Dib now wanted to run, and quickly before it blew up. Red
King turned his head back to Dib, grinning wildly, "By the Eigth Square… you'll
be a King… and we shall feast all together and have FUN!"
Dib couldn't help but scream, for at that moment the bomb went off, and the
whole room vanished in a flash of white, black, red, and other assorted colours
Dib couldn't point out. The little boy sat all scrunched up in a foetal
position in his seat, but squeaked as he felt someone poke his side. He
cautiously opened his eyes, to see he was in another cart now, and was being
poked by a Train Ticket Holder, whose name tag red "Slabrankle".
"Now then! Show me your ticket you little FREAK!" he said, looking at Dib. Then
Dib heard voices, that of other 'people' sat in the cart with him.
"Oh come on, don't keep the man waiting! You deny me freshmaker?! Oh the
pitifulness that is existance…"
"I… I don't have one…" Dib said in a frightened tone, freaked by Slabrankle's
face. "There, there wasn't a ticket-office where I came from…I actually don't
even know where I came from now." The confuzzled boy could just rant for now,
trying to remember where he came from, but that memory seemed to be gone.
"Don't make excuses! Do you have a problem with understanding the rules? Well?
Do you? DO YOU?! You're meant to have a ticket! You should have bought one from
the engine-driver!!" By now, Slabrankle was looking at Dib through a
microscope, and then threw an opera glass. Then he said, "You're traveling the
wrong way." Then he shut th window, and went away muttering about 'being there
for his baby'.
Dib binked in confusement, this place was giving him a bigger headache then the
last place! Suddenly he looked across from him, to see a man who looked very
similar to one of the Men in White Coats, but now his entire suit was made from
newspaper.
"So, young a child! You ought to know which way he's going, even if he doesn't
know his own name!" sat besides the Man in White Newspaper Coat, was a stick
figure. A very angry looking stick figure, who simply scrached his head.
"Stupid elephants in box-office engine-room drivers pancreas wagging their
banana bottoms, don't know alphabet!" he screamed, thus folded his arms and bit
his lower lip. Dib blinked in confusement. Sat besides the stick figure, was a
bug. A bug, which we know to be one that MiMi had used to attack Zim's base,
but Dib doesn't know this. So it's just a bug.
"He'll have to go back from here as luggage! Stupid!" he piped up. Suddenly,
Dib heard a voice coming quietly from his ear.
"I hope not… this red
stuff tastes very nice…" said the voice. Dib turned his head to see who
was there, but no one was there.
"Oh nevermind those other people little boy thing," said the Man in White
Newspaper Coat, who leaned over to Dib. "You can just get a return-ticket every
time the train stops. That'd answer your problem."
"I won't!" Dib said, shifting in his seat, freaked out by all the voices he
could hear, and still disturbed by Nny the Red King from earlier. "I don't even
belong on this train! I was in the forest before, then I met a King but I would
prefer being back outside again." He explained, to be met by a blank stare from
the Man in White Newspaper Coat.
"You might make a joke
on that," said the tiny voice Dib had heard previously, "Something about 'you
would' or something… look I know you're a friend, you've given me so much nummy
drink that's on your dress, and I know you won't hurt me, even if I am a lice."
Dib's eyes widened as he heard what it was, but remained calm. For all
he knew it could probably grow to gigantic proportions and eat him alive right
now.
"Oh, r-really?" asked Dib, the little lice was about to respond, but it was
drowned out by a sudden loud screech of th whistle, making everyone jump,
especially Dib who's nerves were already torn and stretched out of shape.
Suddenly, the spooky-dog with the scar on it's head looked into the window.
"It's only a brook we have to jump over!" it barked, and vanished again. Dib
then remembered what Nny the Red King had said, this will take him into the
Fourth Square, and that's good… suddenly he felt the whole train leap up, and
tried to grab onto something, the nearest thing, was the stick man's single
hair on his head – but it melted away as Dib grabbed a hold of it…
Now Dib was sitting under a tree! And his clothes were back to normal, his
usual trenchcoat, not-so-smiley face shirt, black slacks boots, glasses… and
the lice was now sat on the ground besides him, and it was a very BIG lice now,
the size of a small dog. Dib jumped in his seat seeing it sat there, and it was
sucking on the dress Dib had been wearing.
"…then you don't like insects at ALL?" asked the lice, throwing the now drained
dress away, looking at Dib, which was hard seeing it was blind, and it somehow
had dark sunglasses over where it's eyes would be.
"Uh, I like them when they can talk…" Dib decided it would be best to avoid
harm, even if it meant complimenting a blood-sucking lice.
"You don't rejoice in insects do you? DO YOU?" the lice got up onto it's legs,
glaring at Dib.
"O-oh my, look at the time, I must be going now!" Dib got to his feet and ran
off, he didn't care if this was rude or not, he didn't want to end up like the
dress, drained of all colour including the red patches. He didn't dare glance
over his shoulder either, to see if it was following. He passed a sign, he
didn't see the sign, or the warning it read.
"Warning! All those who enter this forest forget who they are and what they're
all about, until you come out the other end that is. Duh!"
Dib kept running, and eventually came to a stop. Where had he been running to,
and why? He wasn't sure, heck, he wasn't sure what he was! He looked around
where he was, he didn't even know where that was.
"Hello?" he called out, surprised that he still knew how to talk. He started
walking through the small woods, jumping at every sound and movement he heard
or saw. Suddenly he saw a figure walking towards him, the bush in front of the
creature parted, and there stood Zim. Normal Zim, green skinned, red eyed and
in his uniform. The two stared at each other for a while.
"…what do you call yoursef?" Zim asked gently, looking at Dib with what would
be called large gentle eyes, if you can call his eyes that. His voice shown no
anger, or resentment, and he shown no signs that he might attack Dib, and the
same went for Dib to.
"I wish I knew… nothing just now." Dib replied, scratching his head while
looking at the green skinned person. Zim walked over the bushes, and walked up
to him.
"Think again then!" he said, but just received a blank stare from the human.
"Uhrm… well could you tell me what you call yourself?" Dib asked, he might as
well know what this thing was he was talking to.
"I'll tell you, but only if we keep walking." Zim replied, "I…
I just can't remember here." He thus pointed at the ground where he stood, and
Dib followed his finger – now looking at the oddly coloured green grass.
"Okay." Dib replied. So the two walked together in the woods, not talking, but
then taking each other by the hand as they walked. Possibly out of fear of the
woods, or just for something to do. Zim and Dib continued walking along through
the woods, then they came out into the open field, and out of the woods. At
this, Dib and Zim both blinked, then looked down at their hands holding the
other. Zim let out a petrified screech and let go of Dib, quickly backing away.
"ARGH! I am the mighty Invader ZIM and you, stink bug! How dare you hold
my iron fist of DOOM!" Zim yelled at Dib, but before Dib coul reply, Zim's pod
legs activated and he quickly ran off. Dib stood there for a while, blinking.
"…okay what just happened here?" he shrugged and turned to walk away, deciding
not to follow Zim – considering what happened to him last time he did that, and
he wanted to become a King. But then a sudden gust of wind began to howl, and a
familiar stench filled the air. Dib's eyes widened with fear so much, you'd
think his glasses would fall off!
"…Jabberwocky!" he cried, and quickly ran away from the
woods, knowing that if he went back there he'd be back to square one again, so
he ran, ran from Nny the Red King, the Lice, Zim, the Woods, and especially the
Jabberwocky, but as he rounded a corner in the woods a shawl flew out of
nowhere, and slapped him right in the face, knocking him onto the ground.
Ooo who could the shawl belong to?! Will the Jabberwocky get his Dib-kabob? You
shall see!