Part II: Shopping
Zim had managed to get himself up off the ground and was half running to keep up with Gir in the crowded mall.
"Gir, why did you agree to such a thing?! This place is so busy, we have no money, we'll never find our way out! Gir, are you listening? Gir?!" Zim yelled, his left eye twitching slightly as he followed the pint-sized android into a toy store.
"Uh-huh! We gonna go get some PRESENTS!!" Gir replied excitedly.
"Nngh…" Zim sat down on a small bench, exhausted, as Gir ran about the little store in a frenzy, knocking things off shelves and making small children cry.
"I'm gonna get this one, and this one, and this one, and- … no, not that one. This one, and this one…" Gir babbled excitedly as he yanked miscellaneous boxes from the shelves and tossed them into a large cart.
Zim sighed heavily and was about to get up and demand that they leave when he spotted two familiar faces right outside the store.
"Dib…" he hissed as he watched the large-headed boy and his sister walk past and into the gaming store next door. "What if HE's at this… 'party' as well?! I must be alert!"
Gir walked over to the bench, a huge sack in each hand, and grinned. "Aaaaall ready! LET'S GO!!!"
* * *
"Gaz, would you please hurry?" Dib begged as he followed his sister around the gaming store. It was bad enough he had to miss "Mysterious Mysteries" tonight; being in the mall made things worse. He hated the mall.
"Shut up," his scary sister shot back as she picked up the latest hand-held console, the Game Slave 3¼.
Dib gave up and turned his back to her, surveying what he could of the rest of the mall through the doorway. Suddenly something caught his eye: a green kid with a pompadour walking with a dog of the same color.
"Zim! What's he doing in the mall?" Dib scratched his chin in thought, cocking his head to one side before realization dawned on him. "I bet he's coming to the party…! After all, why WOULDN'T Kris invite him?"
Gaz awoke him from his thoughts with a sharp kick to the back of the knee.
"OW! What was that for?!"
Gaz glared at him. "I'm done. Let's go."
* * *
Nny stared at the large double-doors leading into the mall and shivered. He couldn't stand this place. So many ignorant and self-absorbed people… But he wasn't very good at making gifts, so this would have to do.
"I wonder who all will be there…" he said quietly to himself as he crossed the threshold, his head bowed as he made his way to one of those billboard-esque mall maps.
He stopped a few feet short of the map and stood stark-still, momentarily frozen in place. He had heard a familiar voice. A familiar female voice.
He lifted his head a bit and chanced a quick gaze, confirming his suspicions.
Devi.
Devi and her weird friend with the skeleton doll, only a few yards away from him. Fortunately, Devi's back was turned so she couldn't see him and run away.
Johnny hung his head once more and kept walking, forgetting to check the map. Seeing Devi again had gotten him a bit depressed.
I wish I could just… go back in time and fix it to where that whole thing never happened… That was so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Nny smacked himself in the head a couple of times. But I suppose I can't change the past… I've tried apologizing… But how do you apologize for trying to kill someone?
Nny shook his head wandered into some inane shop called "So You Want to Collect Milk Cartons!"
* * *
"I just LOVE the mall! Don't you, Spooky? *Squeek!*" Tenna commented as she and Devi stopped somewhere near the center of the mall's first floor.
"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this…" Devi muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want to go to this party…"
"Sure you do! *Squeek!*"
"No. I don't."
Tenna pouted. "Well why not? It'll be good for you! Get you out of the house for a change!"
Devi just glowered at her friend.
"Okeedokie, let's go buy stuff!" Tenna raised Spooky above her head like a sword. "Forward march!"
The two girls wandered the mall, picking up a variety of gifts, as they weren't really sure who all would be attending this little soiree.
"Tenna…" Devi said quietly, looking up at the ceiling of "Candles, Incense, and Other Smelly Things."
"Yeah, Devi?"
"… What if he's there?"
Tenna turned to look at her friend. "You mean that crazy guy that tried to kill you?"
"Yeah, Johnny…"
"Well, um… er… I denno. You kicked his ass before. I'm sure you can do it again."
Devi bit her bottom lip lightly and prayed to whatever god was out there that Johnny was somewhere far, far away, and would remain that way.
