Chapter Thirteen: Risen From the Dead
Mel awoke to Gir tugging her hair, screaming "WAKE UP!" Unaware of her surroundings, she grumbled and reached for her glasses. As her vision focused, she saw a clock; it read 10:30 a.m.
"What the heck?! Oh, shoot, I'm late for skool!" Since she was still in her skool clothes from the day before and half asleep, she didn't bother to do anything but grab her backpack and run out the door. She arrived at about 10:40. Upon her arrival in class, Ms. Bitters growled.
"You're late! Do you realize that skool began almost three hours ago?!"
"Yes, yes, I do realize that," Mel panted as she dragged her thirty-pound backpack to her seat. "And I'm very sorry, I just found out that Gaz and Professor Membrane are aliens and I had a fight with Dib and fell asleep before I could set the alarm, so...here I am. Um...did I just say that aloud?" She was still tired, and hadn't quite thought out what she was going to say. The children stared at her awkwardly. "Whatever. Morons." As she ambled over to her desk, she noticed that Zim's seat was no longer empty: Zim, the alien presumed dead, sat in his own desk as though everything was just as it should be.
Zim frowned as she stared at him, but Mel merely held surprise and disbelief in her eyes. What on Earth had happened? Had Zim never really been dead after all? Or was this his spirit, coming back for revenge? Whatever the answer might've been, Mel stood transfixed. Noticing that she had her hand balled into a fist, Mel relaxed her grip on the tardy pass she still held and handed it to Ms. Bitters.
"Uh...here you go." She quickly slapped it onto the aged teacher's desk and scurried toward her seat. Zim--that name--that name that had invoked so much emotion. Zim--the one who had single-handedly given her friend both confidence in himself and misery. Zim--yet another alien she knew.
"What, human?"
"How can you call me human? Not even I'm sure of that anymore."
"What do you imply to Zim?"
"None of your business!"
"Tell me!"
"If you really must know, Dib and I are no longer friends. He's become something...different. Something I can't quite explain."
A girl in class took the opportunity to revive a rumor: "So there is a problem between you and Dib!"
"As far as I'm concerned, I never knew him, and you need not know more than that." Mel finally sat down, drawing pictures all the while, mostly of Zim. However, her drawings differed greatly from Dib's, for hers usually didn't depict him being dissected. Not paying attention to a word of Ms. Bitters's lectures, Mel sat and drew all day long.
"Stop drawing and listen!"
"Look, there couldn't possibly be anything that you could teach me, so why don't we just break for lunch?"
"Go home now!" Everyone shrugged and crawled out of skool, through windows, doors, garbage shoots, wherever there was an opening leading to the outside. Mel and Zim, however, walked out the main entrance.
"Zim...what is wrong with Dib?"
"What are you talking about, human, I did nothing to your precious, bigheaded Dib."
"I don't mean that, Zim. I mean that something is wrong with him, and though you may not be the culprit, I do suspect that you'd know more about it than me."
"Well, now that you put my superiority into light, I might be able to help you."
"Just shut up Zim and get on with it! Why is Dib so apathetic?"
"Yes, he is very pathetic, isn't he?"
"You heard me correctly; don't play any foolish games of yours."
"All right already!"
"He doesn't care about any of the things he used to, he doesn't seem to acknowledge his true loss anymore, and he's altogether different. At least he's not a ruthless killer, like you."
"I am NOT a ruthless killer!"
"What about destroying planet Earth, Zim? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that wiping out humanity is mass murder?"
"No, I guess I never thought about it."
"Well, there are a lot of things to be realized it you think."
"Hmm...true. You seem to see more than most humans."
"Please, don't go on about adoring me. All of that mushy nonsense is just plain sickening, alien or not."
"Then how come you write about it?"
"How would you know that?"
"I read."
"Well, you see that's due to a--hey, you're diverting attention! Very clever tactic, by the way, but it's not gonna fool me."
"I almost had you there."
"Yeah. ALMOST."
"Mel, do you know where Gir is?"
"Yeah, he's at my house."
"You filthy thief!"
"Relax, Zim! I just kept him for a bit because I thought you were DEAD! Don't accuse me of stealing! After all, no offense, but I don't know how you can stand that robot 24/7. I'm sorry, but it's miraculous you've lasted a day."
"Pitiful creature! I could stand that robot longer than you!"
"Wanna bet?"
"You're in?"
"Well, I happen to be a very competitive person when challenged, Zim. It just so happens that I've endured indignities for a ridiculously long amount of time to prove myself to someone who calls me for a bet. If I ever ramble off-subject, just let me know."
"You're rambling off-subject."
"Good. I hope it weakens your constitution so as to allow me to beat your arrogant attitude and gain me an advantage or two."
"You're taking Dib's place?"
"Zim, you have a really twisted misconception of the mechanizations that run this reality, you know that?"
"Twisted, am I? It is you who requires the intimidation of speaking with the full extent of your vocabulary to feel superior."
"I deny that accusation!"
"See!"
"For your information, I speak as I like and there's nothing you can do to prove a word you said. I rely on seeing past a foe or competitor for superiority, not on just talk. I'm afraid that that is your specialty. Consult yourself if the need be." Zim fumed.
"Do not enrage Zim!"
"Why?"
"Ugh...! Because I said so!"
"And...do you have any reinforcement?" A pause. "I didn't think so."
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"You challenged me to a competition, and I am now weakening your confidence and altering your perception of me so you understand just how formidable an opponent I would pose, if you choose. So, really, when you think about it, I'm doing a favor and letting you determine whether or not you'd like to declare me your enemy and have me fill the nemesis that has left. You feel the need to concentrate your hatred on one force, and you are sizing me up as a potential enemy. Don't think you can hide that. You can't."
"Fine. I admit it. I find you a worthy opponent of mine."
"Oh? Really? I cannot express to you how gratefully I accept this! Now, I would feel MUCH better if I had the honor of kissing your foot!" she said sarcastically.
"Sure, I'd like that, enemy."
"No!" Mel kicked him in the shin, and he fell down. "If you just announced us to be adversaries, do you REALLY think that I'd offer to kiss your feet? Ha! You've much to learn, Zim. I think that you could benefit from a little training."
"Zim needs training from no human!"
"Well, whether you officially call it 'training' or not, still, you'll learn just by my tactics I teach you during battles. Soon enough, you won't even regard me as a normal human anymore."
"I don't."
Respect from others is not nearly as important as keeping that respect in check so as to not become conceited.
--Invader Mel's Diary of Perception.
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