Rejection

Chapter Three

DISCLAIMER: All the characters except Libby belong to Jhnen Vasquez (I heard he murdered the 'o' in his name)

Dib awoke the next morning to the smell of smoke. Gaz had lit the kitchen on fire again, and she didn't bother to douse the flames. Dib put out the fire, nearly burning his eyebrows off. He dragged himself back upstairs and got dressed. After he checked to make sure that the house wasn't going to burn down, he grabbed his camera and set out towards Zim's house.

"Another perfect Saturday," he thought. "Maybe I'll get some real proof today!"

As he turned the corner, he heard someone shouting.

"Zim, get off me! I'm not this Tak piece of filth!"

"You are Tak! And you're trying to take my mission! Or my robot bee!"

"What are you talking about? What "mission" are you talking about?"

That voice was unmistakable. Zim had cornered Libby again, and he was about to be severely injured, according to Libby's tone of voice.

"Zim!" Dib shouted, sounding unnecessary, "Leave Libby alone!"

Libby glared at him, her eyes colder than they'd ever been, if that was even possible.

"I can handle him myself. Why are you here?"

"Uh, wrong turn?"

"Get away, Dib-monkey," Zim snapped. "Tak, stop denying that you are here to defeat the great- ACK!"

Libby knocked Zim down, and kicked him across the street. In doing so, she knocked off one of his contact lenses. As she was about to kick him again, Zim opened his eyes. Libby stared, and then pulled off the other lens.

"What ARE you?" she asked, all confidence leaving her voice. Zim's wig fell of, and he lay on the ground stupidly, exposed.

"Ha!" Dib shouted. He began snapping pictures of Zim rapidly. Libby turned and knocked the camera out of his hands.

"Forget that! What is this thing?"

"He's an alien! And you just destroyed my proof!"

"How could you be so inconsiderate?"

As Dib and Libby argued, Zim dragged himself up.

"GIR, get me inside!"

GIR came running out, also not disguised.

"May the bird of paradise fly up your nose!" GIR shouted gleefully, then activated his jet boosters and dragged Zim to his house, which was right across the street.

"I live next door to an ALIEN?" Libby screamed, and promptly fainted. Dib caught her, and he took her back to her house. After Libby's mother had taken her inside, Dib ran home, forgetting his camera.



"Dib, get up you lazy sloth!"

"Gaz?"

"No, Bigfoot. Of course it's me, moron. There's one of your so called friends waiting for you downstairs."

Gaz left, and Dib sluggishly got up, and went downstairs. His hair was a mess and his glasses were hanging off one ear, so he didn't recognize the visitor.

"Dib, I need to talk to you."

"Libby?"

"It's about that Zim thing. What on earth is he?"

Dib put his glasses on correctly, and looked at Libby.

"You really do live next door to an alien. He's trying to conquer Earth, but he has yet to succeed in anything he's done."

Dib realized what he'd said. Although he had never given it much thought, Zim was a complete and total failure.

"And he has tried a lot of things. Giant hamsters, tampering with the past, and on one occasion, he turned me into human bologna."

Libby raised an eyebrow at that statement, and Dib smirked stupidly.

"It's true, I swear. After seeing him without his costume, you've got to believe me. I certainly hope you do, because no one else does."

She didn't respond.

"You know, I really like you."

That got her attention. Libby glared at him; the attitude present in her eyes. Why did Dib tell her that, of all stupid things he could have said?

"I'm leaving."

"Libby, let me say one thing. Don't tell anyone about Zim, they won't believe you, and you'll run the risk of ending up like me."

"I don't want that to happen."

With that final statement, she left. Dib immediately returned to his room and began banging his head on the wall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"