Cognitive Dissonance
An action packed romantic Invader Zim epic
By LejindaryBunny
A/N: Sorry this is a day late, FFNET wouldn't let me into my account
yesterday. I nearly blew up the computer.!. First off, chapters from
here on will come with titles. I also went back and titled the first
three, sorry if thatannoys anyone.
Woo, I finally got my scanner for Christmas so so some of my artwork
is now up! Anybody have a nice website where I can put it up? It's at
http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/agal.php?id=61483 (most of it's for
this fic, there's one of the Oranges, and one of a scene form this
chapter and more!) but I think somewhere Zim related to put it might be
pretty nice. Speaking of pretty, glad everybody liked the ending for l
ast chapter. I was rather partial to itm'self.
So we're getting into the more slashy stuff here like I
promised, at least in concept. I like mushy romance but I always have
to build up to and explain it and give it time, otherwise it feels
really fake and forced. Not that fluff isn't nice and won't be here at
all, but well, you can probably tell I like plot and theme etcetera.
Skragg, I called it an epic, didn't I? And that's what it will be.
Enough blabber, read the chapter!
Disclaimer: Maybe we fan writers could all donate five dollars and
buy the rights to Invader Zim from Nickelodeon together!
Chapter IV...In which there is yet more angst, Kiir goes to school,
the Orange aliens make there nasty reappearance and Zim does several
somethings which are unexpected.
Zim was standing on the bridge over the canal. He had meant to head
back to the base, but he had lingered walking so slowly as to barely be
moving at all, until he had just stopped, leaning over and watching the
water as it flowed away. It was water that might flow out into some
Earth sea, or simply out of a human tap to be imbibed or just poured
down the drain, and he'd would never know. He remembered the oceans of
Irk, vast expanses of a silvery liquid that humans called mercury,
which was poisonous to them. But he'd never see those oceans again,
unless he had a death wish.
He glared down at the dark substance, reft of it's blue color by the
lack of sunlight, and he was suddenly filled with an irrational anger
towards the Earth itself. For a moment he entertained the idea of
destroying it all with one great explosion, the vision of fire and
death briefly bringing a twisted grin to his lips. But it was just a
fantasy, infeasible and more likely to create problems than actually
solve any of his current ones. Much as he hated the pathetic human
stink monkeys Earth was the only place he knew at all besides his
home world. No, if there was anyone the wanted to wreak slow and
terrible vengeance against, it was the Tallest.
Zim's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched as the treasonous thoughts
permeated his mind. Yes, bringing screaming agonic doom to those two
would be sweet, he could envision it, the two of them cowering before
him, begging for their lives, begging for the end to be quick. But Zim
would have no mercy. He saw himself laughing as the Massive's self
destruct mechanism counted down. Certainly he could come up with a
masterful plan that he could bring to such a crescendo, the question was
only in the carrying out. Kiir, with similar goals in mind had had a
thousand or more at her back and look where it had gotten her. Of
course Kiir was no where near as brilliant as he was.
He grimaced, suddenly hearing Dib's voice in his mind, taunting as
always.
'Oh yeah, Zim?' the Dib-thought sneered. 'If you're so smart and
powerful why did they get rid of you? How come I beat you every time?'
He glared back down at the water. Why was it always that one's face
that haunted him, the pitiful human, the only thing that ever stood
between Zim and his goals. He should have killed him long ago, it would
have been easy to make it look like an accident, or Dib's own stupidity.
It had crossed his mind a thousand times, that course of action, and
yet it was always only idle speculation, never a truly considered
action. Something always stayed his hand.
He could have done it done it a few minutes ago, at the human's door
step, with the searing pain of loss still fresh within his veins.
'Would you...like to come in?'
Oh, he could have throttled him then. What did the human think he was
playing at? How dare he? He didn't know what he was saying, he couldn't.
Because Zim had never said anything, never done anything...Not when it
would endanger, maybe even destroy his mission. And not when Dib hated
him, anyway.
He sighed. There was what always kept him from killing the human, no
matter how much easier it might have been to conquer the Earth. Despite
the fact that he could never admit it, despite the fact that there was
absolutely no sane reason for it to be so, for the longest time he had
been in love with the human creature called Dib.
Zim rolled his eyes, crossing his arms on the bridge rail and resting
his chin on them. How stupid was that? He, Zim, the great and terrible
had fallen for a human. Oh, how the Tallest would laugh if they new
that. That alone would justify his banishment. Not that it mattered
what the they thought anymore. But what was he supposed to do about it?
Even supposing that, since his mission was a skragging FRAUD and he
could confess his true feelings, what would he say?
'Oh, yes, hi Dib, I know you're out to kill me and everything, but
did you know I'm madly in love with you?'
Feh, to Dib he was some sort of bug eyed monster to be dissected on
an autopsy table and make him famous. Wasn't he? Now he didn't know.
"Do you want to come in?" he mimed in a mocking imitation of Dib's
voice. "I'm just, sorry." He shook his head and muttered. "Dear Tal-"
he stopped grimacing and glared now, at the stars. "Dear GOD," he
snarled vengefully upward, "Do you hear that? I'm using human curses!
HUMAN! Do you hear that?! DO YOU!?" he yelled and shook his fist. "HA!
Hahaha! HA!!"
He snapped his gaze around and shook his hand in a quick, dismissive
gesture, turning to face the street and lean on the rail. It didn't
matter whether they could hear him or not, he'd made up his mind right
then. He didn't know quite what he would do but there was no point in
trying to go back for either redemption or vengeance. He turned his back
on the Tallest as they had turned on him. For better or for worse the
Earth was his home now.
He snorted, and with one last glance at the canal that had begun his
flow of thoughts he pushed off the guard rail and started back towards
his house, letting his ties to the Empire slip away like water down an
Earth drain.
***
Dib's alarm clock buzzed with a terrible fury, jarring him from
peaceful repose and forcing him to swat at it blindly and indeftly
hoping one of his blows would cease it's time keeping retribution.
After six or so tries the digital beast's cries were silence but if he
had finally broken it or simply managed to shut the thing off for
another twenty-four hours he didn't know. He didn't particularly care
either. He felt around on the table for his glasses, and upon finding
them, sat up stiffly and with bleary, morning difficulty. He forced the
spectacles roughly into place on his nose, the world once more coming
into scientifically wrought focus, visually at least.
For a moment the morning was like any other, but, yawning and running
a hand through the tangled mess that he grudgingly consented to call
his hair, Dib remembered something. The events of the last evening came
flooding back like the bursting of a dam, the disappearing orange
aliens, Kiir, Zim's bad news and his own personal revelation. He
closed his eyes and fell back into bed with a 'flump', his head,
thankfully hitting the pillow and not the wall. he sighed, wonderful.
He was just sooooo glad he'd remembered that.
Well, it couldn't be helped he supposed. One couldn't simply unthink
things, especially when they were, nng...true. It didn't change
anything anyway, since the emotions had been there before, if nameless.
Although he wasn't likely to ever be able to look Zim in the face again.
Zim probably wouldn't be in school today anyway. Which reminded him,
what the heck was he going to do with Kiir while he was gone all day?
He didn't feel quite secure leaving her in the house, just in case, but
she didn't have any sort of disguise. Well, he shrugged, sitting up
again, no one ever noticed Zim and his disguise was minimalist at the
very best. Kiir at least had real hair, she could just put her antennae
back and if he came in and announced to everyone that she was an alien
no one would give her a second thought.
Dib rolled his eyes. Funny, how that worked. Just because he said
something it was automatically 'wrong'. He stood up and pulled on a pair
of jeans, his t-shirt and boots. he ran a hand though his hair, it
never got much less messy than that anyway. He walked out his door and
knocked on that of the guest room a few paces later.
Kiir opened it immediately, eyes bright behind her strange glasses and
a grin on her face. "Well, it looks like I did find somebody who can
sleep longer than me."
Oh, dear. How long had she been up? "Um, sorry. How long do you
sleep?"
She shrugged. " Up to six or seven hours if I'm feeling really,
REALLY lazy. I only need three or so, and I can run on one if I drink
a pot of coffee."
Dib nodded, then he stopped, blinking. "Wait, you have COFFEE in
outer space?"
She rolled her eyes, leaning on the doorway. "Kid," she said with a
patronizing smirk. "EVERYBODY has coffee, Ugclusian stench slugs have
coffee. It's like, one of the natural elements of the universe."
"Oh." He blinked and shook his head slightly. Okay then, there went
his sense of the normal order of things for the morning. "Well uh,
sorry to keep you waiting for so long then."
"Oh, that's alright. I took apart you clock and then put it back
together again."
"...does it still work?"
"Aheh, define work."
Dib just looked at her for a minute and then dropped the subject. He
could probably fix whatever she'd done to it later anyway. "Don't worry
about it. Uh, would you mind coming to skool with me today?" He hoped
she wouldn't object.
She squinted one eye. "Skool? Whasat?"
He forgotten that she didn't know. "It's a place where human children
and adolescents go TO learn things." Or to be tormented, he thought
privately.
"Hnnnn, seeing as I'll probably be stuck on this planet for a while
that's probably not a bad idea. But won't other humans be freaked out
by the way I look?" She raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression
that your Earthers hadn't made interstellar contact yet."
"Ah, yeah, I thought of that already. Just pull your antennae back,
tell them you're my cousin. I'll take care of the rest." He fished a
hair band from his pocket and handed it to her.
She regarded the ting incredulously for a moment, then taking it
fastened her hair back with her antennae, into a cute little poof
pony-tail with two longer black bits.
She pursed her lips. "Somehow this seems just a bit inadequate."
"You'd be surprised how stupid most humans are," he said darkly.
She raised her eyebrow, smirking. "You don't think very highly of
your own race."
"Never mind," he shook his head. She probably wouldn't have a very
high opinion of them either after a day of Hi Skool. "Come on, we have
to go. My car sometimes times takes a few minutes to start."
She gave him a curious look but followed him down the hall and out
the front door.
His car, a sleek, black thing that had been a piece of junk when he'd
gotten it, was parked on the street. He'd been working on it the three
months since he'd gotten his license; it looked nice now, and had all
sorts of fancy equipment and it ran quite well...provided of course that
he could get it to start. He would have offered Gaz a ride but she had
started going to a Gurlz Skool since year before last.
Dib unlocked the door.
"This is an Earth transport?" Kiir asked interestedly.
He nodded. "It doesn't fly I'm afraid." He was working on it though.
"You get in that door," he said, indicating the passenger's side. "Just
pull the handle."
He got into the driver's seat as she entered opposite him. He
fastened his seatbelt, showing the alien how to do the same. He turned
the ignition key.
The car growled. Aside from that, nothing happened.
Dib's gaze darkened and he sighed. Evidently it was going to be one
of those days.
***
When Did hadn't shown up by the time the bell to begin class rang,
Zim wondered if there had been a point in coming today. He wasn't
really studying the human race anymore, he had no 'social life' and
classes were simply torment upon torment. Granted he no longer had to
put up with the doom that was Ms. Bitters since starting Hi Skool and
that was a blessing. He drummed his gloved fingers on the desk, bored
even before the beginning of homeroom.
Mrs. Drone, the short, dumpy teacher was standing at the front of the
classroom as usual, eyes vacant. Today however there was someone beside
her, a new student, he supposed. Zim regarded the class addition. It
was male, and there would have been absolutely nothing remarkable about
him except for the fact that he was so utterly and completely normal as
to be unreal. He had to have been exactly average height, with the most
singularly uninteresting brown hair and eyes ever seen. His skin was
neither dark nor light and there were no visible birth marks. He wore
no glasses and his clothes were a nondescript grey t-shirt and jeans.
He looked like a diagram of the quintessential human. It was weird,
people like that just didn't happen. Zim stared.
"Class, this is our new student," Mrs. Drone said flatly. "His name
is John Doe."
"Hello," John said. "It's nice to meet you." He smiled, his eyes
however stayed completely vacant and devoid of emotion.
It was the creepiest thing Zim had ever seen. What ever that guy was
he was NOT human, there was no way. It was just, wrong.
"Take your seat please John," she nodded to a vacant seat in the back
of the class.
He walked down through the rows of desks, smiling at Zim as he passed.
Zim shuddered, watching him sit down. The rest of the class he noticed
was completely devoid of interest. Zim shook his head, how could they
think that, that thing, whatever it was, was their own species? In a
lot of ways the thing was more obviously not human than he was!
"Alright class, remember your year book order forms are due-"
The door flew open and all attention fell to it as Dib walked into
the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he said irritated, "My car wouldn't start."
Oh, of course, Zim thought, that car of his.
The teacher sighed. "Have a seat Mr. Membrane, and introduce us to
your guest if you please."
Zim now caught sight of the figure lingering behind him, it was Kiir,
of course, and she didn't look particularly disguised, except that her
antennae weren't visible.
Dib gave a triumphant looking grin. "This is Kiir, she's, an ALIEN."
Zim's eyes grew wide, he thought Dib wasn't going to TELL anyone! So
he'd just been saving it for skool?
He saw Kiir roll her eyes, "I'm his COUSIN," she said in practiced
tones. "You're such a freak Dib," she whapped him on the shoulder
lightly.
The rest of the class murmured in agreement and went back to minding
it's own business, heedless now, of anything unusual.
Ah, now Zim understood, it was what humans called reverse psychology,
tricking people into b doing or believing what you wanted by telling
them to do the opposite. Dib must have decided that since no one ever
believed what he said about Zim no one would believe him this time. It
was solid logic actually.
But Dib's appearance reminded him of something he'd almost completely
forgotten. The aliens from the night before, who had apparently
disappeared and quite possibly still be on the planet. What if one of
them was in the class right now? He looked over at John Doe.
***
Dib sat down, noticing, with some surprise, that Zim WAS in class. He
looked quickly away, a slight blush as he had feared, coming to his
cheeks. He looked around the rest of the class room, glad that Kiir had
remembered what he told her to do and hoping the rest of the day went
as smoothly. His eyes searching for a more Earthly and less embarrassing
target fell on someone he'd never seen before. It was the most
uninteresting person he'd ever seen, so utterly common place that his
eyes almost didn't recognize the fact that he was there. It was like
someone was saying, I'm supposed to be here, don't bother looking at me.
It was the strangest sensation Dib had ever felt. Despite the strange
urge to look at something else he now watched the boy, curiosity and
suspicion aroused.
He raised his hand.
"Yes Dib?" the teacher asked.
"Ah, do we have a new student Mrs. Drone?"
She nodded, and gestured to him. "John Doe, if you'd been here
earlier Dib, you'd know that."
John smiled at him. "Hello Dib, it's nice to meet you." His voice was
like some perfect computer imitation of a normal, pleasant voice.
Something about it gave Dib shivers. There was something not right at
work here, he could feel it. There was something bent about the space
that 'John Doe' occupied, something that made Dib's heart go ice cold
with the aura of wrongness. It was a feeling Dib could swear he'd had
before. His eyes bored metaphorical holes into the back of the 'new
student's' head. And as though he knew he was being watched John slowly
turned around to look back at him.
For just a moment their eyes met, searching amber against vacant
brown, John smiled at him and Dib's stomach turned to lead. In the
instant before it turned back around Dib knew the creature that was
sitting in the desk. The cold brown eyes were no different than the
staring spherical white orbs of the Orange aliens.
Dib looked away, looked out the window, feeling somehow tainted and
drained. That was no new student, that was definitely one of the scary
aliens he'd met the night before. He realized he'd never asked Kiir
about them. Should he do that now? It looked as though the Oranges
must be shape shifters or something, and that made them who knew how
many times more dangerous. And one thing was clearly apparent now,
these things were definitely NOT benign.
***
Kiir tapped her pencil boredly on the notebook Dib had given her.
Places of learning? Please, she'd been to more interesting funeral and
more enlightening prisons. These human things were very, not, much,
just in general, not much to look at, not much to talk to. She'd tried
to start up a conversation with the girl in the seat next to her but
the creature had only said something about 'cheerleaders' not talking
to 'goths'. Apparently the Earthlings had some sort of social caste
system in effect that Dib had failed to mention. So she'd just doodled
on her paper for a while, as whenever she tried to listen to the
teacher she started to fall asleep. It had been maybe two or three
hours by the clock that somehow seemed to work twice as slowly as the
ones she'd seen in Dib's house. She tore a page out of the spiraled
notebook and scribbled a message on it.
/Hey Zim, do we EVER get to leave? This is worse than the Academy.
How are you feeling by the way?/
She wadded up the paper and flicked it in her fellow alien's
direction. It hit him in the back of the head. He turned around and
glared at her. She grinned and waved lazily at him, he was always so
serious all the time. She pointed at the paper on the floor. 'Pick it
up,' she mouthed, 'it's a note.'
He squinted and pursed his lips irritatedly but picked it up. She
watched the back of his head as he read it and wrote back. She looked
away, attention span depleted for the moment, and watched the human
Dib writing something. Then the ball of paper hit HER in the head. She
grabbed the note and stuck her tongue out at Zim, who smirked smugly
back. So maybe he wasn't serious ALL the time.
She uncrinkled the note and read it.
/Lunch is in ten minutes. Whatever you do, DO NOT eat the food,
whatever you DO! I MEAN it. I'm just fine. Dib hasn't tried to dissect
you has he?/
She blinked. Dissect her? Don't eat the food? She chewed on the end
of her pencil.
/Why not, is their something wrong with the food? You don't LOOK
fine. You look edgy. Dib said he didn't think you'd be here. Is
something wrong? You can tell me. Dissect me? Why the frakk would he
do that?/
She tossed it back and this time he caught it midair. She kept her
eyes on him this time and did the same thing a moment later when he
tossed it back. Zim looked disappointed that he hadn't hit her again.
/YES! It's practically poison! I'm FINE! Honestly, well as fine as I
can be. Dib's an alien fanatic, he's tried to dissect me a few times.
Glad to hear you're still in possession of your squeedly-spooch./
Kiir glared irritatedly at Zim and then looked back at Dib. He LOOKED
harmless enough.
/You skragging jerk! You sent me to his house thinking he might do
that?! When I get my hand on you I'm gonna
"Ms. Kiir!" a voice snapped.
She looked up to see the teacher standing over her. "Yeah?"
"I don't know how it is in YOUR school but here we do not pass notes.
Give that to me now."
She frowned. This human thing thought she could tell High Commander
Kiir what to do? "No," she said firmly.
"No? That's it missy, I don't care if you ARE a visitor, you are
staying right here during lunch where I can keep an eye on you."
"What?!" she clenched her fists. Then she glanced over at Dib, he
was making a jerking motion across his throat. She realized that any
violence done against this teacher worm would probably result in him
being punished for it. Which would probably result in her getting
kicked out of his house. She slumped back in the hard, fiberglass chair.
"Fine," she snapped sullenly, "I don't want any of your skraggy Earth
lunch anyway."
The teacher gave her an odd look, then glanced over at Zim, shook her
head and marched back to the front of the classroom.
***
Dib sighed, dropping his head onto his notebook painfully. Of course
Kiir would have to go and back talk the teacher. It was lucky that she
hadn't gotten him in trouble as well. He wondered what had been on the
note she and Zim were passing. But he didn't have time to think about
that, he had only five minutes before lunch to come up with how he was
going to confront 'John'. He figured that if it was in the middle of
the cafeteria the alien wouldn't be able to do anything TOO scary and
evil. And those were definitely the words that Dib would use to
describe the Oranges, scary and evil.
He wondered if Zim could tell that John was an alien, he didn't know
if the Irken would be able to pick up on the subtle inhumanities of the
thing. Even if he did notice, would he care? He didn't think somehow
that he would be in the sort of mental place for anything except anger
or depression. Dib thought a good parallel for what Zim must be going
though would be if he suddenly found out that Zim really WAS just a
kid with a skin condition. Except that Zim didn't look that much more
unhappy than usual.
The lunch bell rang and Dib practically shot out of his chair and
to the door. Outside he pressed himself against the wall at the left,
watching from the corner of his eye as everyone filed out. And then
there was John, padding out of the classroom with a strange stiff sort
of ease. He didn't seem to notice Dib as he followed the other students
down the hall. Once the creature was several paces ahead Dib carefully
started after him, stifling his footsteps and staring intently at his
hopefully unsuspecting quarry. Once they were safely in the lunch room
he could spring his denouncement on the alien.
But the thing in human guise didn't go all the way to the cafeteria
with the other students, he took a left turn down the seldom used
hallway that had once belonged to the art department, before they'd
added on the new wing. Dib stared suspiciously. Where did he think he
was going? The self proclaimed paranormal investigator looked around,
and seeing no one else did something foolish. He followed the malignant
being down the empty corridor alone.
***
Zim didn't linger in the room as he usually did at lunch time, as
soon as he saw 'John Doe' rise from his seat he climbed from his own,
intent on discovering this non-human's secrets. He followed him slowly
from the room, giving Kiir a negligent wave as he left. He'd ambush him
in the hallway, before he got to the safety of the cafeteria. But just
before he exited the room he saw someone swing into position behind the
John-thing ahead of him. It was Dib. So it seemed that he too had
recognized the 'new student' as well. Zim had thought he might. In his
mind Zim rearranged his plans. He would follow them both, see what Dib
did and adapt to the situation. Maybe that way he could learn something
with out announcing his own presence. He grinned, striding silently
behind them. Neither of them seemed to notice.
Zim saw the human balk as the creature turned down an empty passage.
Would Dib keep following him. If this 'John' was as advanced and not
good as he seemed it was a potentially very dangerous situation for Dib
to be alone with it, especially, if as he was wont to, Dib announced
his intentions to it. Honestly, sometimes the human just wasn't that
bright. Zim shook his head.
And of course Dib did indeed follow John down the corridor. No weapon,
no back up, no knowing what he was getting into. Didn't he realize that
the creature probably KNEW it was being followed? Zim hurried after the
two.
***
'John' had picked up his pace and Dib didn't dare walk any faster for
fear of being heard, and so he'd fallen well behind when he saw the
brown haired figure disappear around a corner. Afraid he would lose him,
the goth picked up the pace just a little and swung around the same
sharp right turn. What he found there was nothing, a dead end, and no
one there. Dib looked around. Had the thing just disappeared again?
There were no classrooms to be ducked into, and he'd seen them make an
entire ship disappear the night before.
Dib was about to turn around and go back to the cafeteria when he
felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up, and his skin trembled
with goose bumps. Something grabbed him.
He screamed.
Seven orange tentacles wrapped themselves around his body, holding
him two feet in the air as he struggled to get loose. The coils curled
all over his body, covering his mouth and slinking around his chest,
holding him, pulling him in the tightest grip he had ever felt. But
that wasn't all they were doing. From deep inside him Dib could feel
his strength being drained from, he was growing weaker, his kicks
becoming more feeble with each second that ticked away. His vision was
dimming, it had only been maybe five seconds and he was already about
to fall unconscious.
Something whizzed past his head and the tentacle creature reeled and
gave an inhuman wail, dropping him to the floor where he landed
heavily and painfully on his side. Through dim vision he saw someone's
booted feet.
He heard a laser fire again, and the beast's howl.
"Eat this!!" the booted shooter yelled. It was Zim's voice. He fired
again.
Dib could see orange appendages flailing above him, and the thing
gave one last shriek of fury before winking out of existence.
***
Zim hadn't been around the corner yet when he'd heard Dib yell, but
he'd come running. The sight he beheld was a gruesome one, a sticklike
orange monster with thick, ropy tentacles help a limply kicking Dib
in it's grasp, and seemed to be pulsing as if sucking something from
the human it had caught.
The Irken hadn't thought, just reacted, whipping his laser out of his
pak and firing. Though the setting had been on kill, the beast hadn't
been felled, but it thankfully dropped Dib so that he could get a
clearer shot.
"Eat this!!"
The monster shuddered, and Zim was almost on the verge of panicking.
What sort of creature was unaffected by Irken death pistols?
Desperately he shot one more time, hoping the weapon would have SOME
affect. Thankfully it seemed to at least cause the thing pain because,
whip like tentacles flailing it suddenly turned two blank white eyes at
him and vanished.
He stared a moment at the space where the creature had been. How
could it just disappear like that? It wasn't possible!
Dib coughed. Zim hurried towards and stood over him, looking down at
the shuddering form. "Are you injured Dib-human?" He asked, unable to
keep the sharp note of concern form his voice.
The boy gave another weak cough and forced himself into a sitting
position, wincing, Zim assumed, from pain. "I'm...fine." He rubbed the
back of his head.
Zim squinted an eye. "You do not appear fine," he criticized.
Dib scowled. "That thing, jumped me. What are you doing here anyway
Zim?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I was attempting to discern the nature of our 'new friend', he was
obviously not one of you pathetic humans." Now, what it actually WAS
was the question of the moment.
"You picked up on that too, huh?" he leaned against the wall, looking
uncomfortable. "That's exactly what I was doing."
Zim snorted. "And you were doing an inferior job of it as always. You
are fortunate I was here to rescue you or I doubt you would still be
living."
Dib furrowed his brow, looking confused. It was an oddly charming
expression. "Yeah, um, WHY exactly did you do that? Wouldn't I have
been out of your way then?"
Zim didn't speak for a moment, on the verge of saying something
stupid. He frowned. "The Earth is Zim's territory, I will not allow
any others to intrude on it." That was the truth, basically.
"Oh, but um," he seemed to be struggling with something. "Does that
mean you're still going to take over the Earth even though-"
"The supposed goals of my former superiors no longer concern me," he
snapped, cutting Dib off. "Your stupid Earth monkeys are safe, from me
anyway." He glanced at the place where the orange creature had been.
"But you said-"
"The Earth is my territory," he smirked. "Don't think you can be rid
of me so easily."
***
Dib was more than a little confused. Maybe he had hit his head a
little too hard, because he was pretty sure that Zim had just not only
saved his life but announced that he was going to stay on Earth without
conquering it. Was Zim deliberately trying to throw him off his guard or
something? He looked up at the human clad figure much more familiar and
reassuring with his confident smirk than the creepy, malignant 'John Doe'.
If Zim stopped trying to take over the world what was he going to do
on Earth? What was Dib going to do with his time? "Does, this mean we
have a, truce, or something?" he ventured cautiously.
The alien regarded him, and he felt his face growing slightly hot. He
looked down at the ground.
"You would honor such a truce?" Dib heard him ask. "No more spying or
threats of autopsy?"
He thought about this. Without his campaign against Zim his would be
very, very different. But maybe if they had a truce... He looked up,
and nodded. "I promise."
Zim smirked down at him, and he could have sworn that it was almost,
but not quite, a genuine smile. "Done then. The war is finished." He
paused, and then spoke again. "Was that one of the aliens from the ship?"
"Yeah," Dib nodded. "It had less arms last night though. I think it
can shape shift."
"That will make it a difficult opponent," Zim sat down against the
opposite wall of the corridor. "When it had you, it was doing,
something, was it not?"
"It was like it was sucking out all of my energy," he said
uncomfortably. Recalling the sensation was not pleasant, he shivered.
He ran a hand through his hair, still feeling unusually weak. He looked
up at Zim. Was he really not going to attack Earth anymore? And was Dib
right in thinking that he had implied that he would help against the
Oranges? It certainly seemed so.
The alien looked thoughtful. "There are certain parasite species that
siphon energy from their hosts, but none that I know are more complex
or dangerous than your cockroaches. Likewise there are some
shape shifting creatures that can take small and simple forms, but I
have never seen anything that did both, or either on the scale that this
appears to."
"These," Dib said, remembering the night before. "There were two that
I saw, one with white eyes, this one I think, and one with blue eyes.
It was like they could see right through the bushes I was in and to me.
And then they disappeared, like just a minute ago."
Zim frowned. "Such teleportation should not be possible without a lot
of equipment. If there were two where is the other?"
"With the ship?" Dib suggested, "Wherever that is. I was going to go
back to check out the landing sight this morning but with Kiir and all
I didn't get around to it."
It was so strange, sitting there with Zim exchanging information
instead of threats or insults or blows. Not wrong, just strange. Maybe
this was the way things were supposed to be. They were allies now, or
so it seemed. Could they be friends? Or even- He cut his own thought
off, looking away. Don't spoil it! he thought furiously.
"Perhaps you should go this evening. I will come with you, I have
scanning equipment that you do not have access to. We will bring Kiir."
Dib looked up. Zim was taking charge just like that, his strong,
arrogant personality seeming adapting to the new situation quickly and
easily. "Since when are you leader?" he demanded, though there was very
little edge in his voice.
"Since I said so," Zim quipped with a grin. "Do you have a problem,
Dib-human?"
Dib pouted, crossing his arms. "I adamantly refuse to take any orders
from you, that I don't like," he said. After all, he really didn't want
to make him decide that the truce was a bad idea. If Zim wanted to play
leader, why shouldn't he let him, as long as it didn't get them killed.
Zim pursed his lips. "Fine, but you will have no cause to object to
my superior leadership."
Dib rolled his eyes. "Still the same Zim. You always think you're
sooooo special."
"Think? I am the great Zim! I AM special!" he sneered.
"Yeah?" he snorted.
"Yeah." Zim crossed his arms.
Dib laughed and shook his head. Well, he was certainly SOMETHING, all
right. God, I'm such an idiot, he thought to himself. In love with
a space invader. It sounds like the plot for a bad sci-fi soap opera:
'Attack of the Curse of the Revenge of the Return of the Brain Sucking
Soul Stealers from Irk, Part VII a Love Story'. He laughed again.
"Something funny, human?" Zim demanded curiously.
Dib shrugged, smiling. "We're not trying to kill each other. Don't
you think that's a little weird, funny even?"
He watched Zim think for a moment, and then nod. "You are right. It
is rather humorous in an ironic way. Would you prefer to be plotting
each other's respective deaths?"
"No," he said immediately, this was much better.
Zim surprised him by agreeing right away. "Neither would I. So don't
complain."
"I wasn't complaining," Dib insisted, "just commenting."
"Well fine then."
"Fine."
"Fine." Zim stuck his tongue out. "Nyah."
Dib returned the gesture. "Nyah nyah!"
"You think you can out 'nyah' Zim?!" he stood up, leering down at him.
"Yeah! Nyah!" Dib tried to stand up a little to quickly forgetting
the drain he'd suffered and he toppled back down painfully. "OW!" He
winced.
"Are you alright?" Zim asked, his expression changing from amused
disdain to, was that concern or had Dib hit his head again?
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, wincing again. "That thing just took more
out of me than I thought."
Zim rolled his eyes. " Do you require assistance, Dib-Human?"
[A/N: this is the scene with the pic!]
"No!" he insisted, trying to heave himself up under his own power
and failing, sliding back to the floor.
Zim gave him a condescending glance and, overriding Dib's sputtered
objections, grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him to his feet. Dib
blinked. The skinny alien was a lot stronger than he looked. He turned
away, hoping to god that Zim had NOT seen him blush.
"Do you need to see the skool nurse, Dib?" he heard Zim ask behind
him.
Dib, his blush under control now turned around. "No, I'm fine really.
You know, you confuse me Zim. I think I have you all figured out and
then you go and change on me."
Zim just stood there, looking at him, and Dib wondered what was going
on in his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then the
bell to end lunch rang. He shook his head. "Come on Dib, or we'll get
detention for being late to class."
To be continued...
Well, thanks for waiting for the chapter. *grin* Hope ya liked it. As
of right now it's ten at night on Christmas. And since the chapter's
over I feel free to blather all I want about my Christmas. I got a
hundred bucks total from various relatives. My friend Bridget and I are
going out to the mall Saturday to blow it all. (She got a genuine
Italian leather jacket! I'm jealous!) We're gonna go to Hot Topic of
course. Along with the scanner I got a stylus interface thingy. It's
basically a mouse shaped like a pen so I can do better art on the 'puter.
My brother got a PS2 (finally!) and I plan to highjack it as soon as
possible. I spent most of the day watching him play Kingdom Hearts.
(Which, by the way is tres cute.) He got Final Fantasy 10 and Lord of
the Rings Two Towers. Heh, gee, can ya tell who told mom what games to
get for 'him'? (For me is more like it!) I got a couple of CDs I wanted.
The Eminem show, (I love 'Hailie's Song') System of a Down: 'Steal this
Album'. (It really looks like a burnt CD, it's funny!) and the new
3 Doors Down: 'Away from the Sun'. (I love them, I saw a concert last
summer, don't make fun of me!)I got sketchbooks from all my cheap ass
relatives, but that's okay, I go through the paper faster that you could
believe. Well, maybe you could believe it if you draw too. That's
pretty much it. I guess the scanner and stylus were pretty expensive.
Did I mention you need to go look at my art? Oh wait, no, I remember,
in my stocking my dad gave me a hand puppet of a chicken. I put a
spiked bracelet around it's neck, an earring in it's comb and named him
Mister Cluck-cluck. Who thinks I should take him to school and pretend
I think he's a real person?
Well that's all for now. More soon. Very soon.
Read it? Review it!
An action packed romantic Invader Zim epic
By LejindaryBunny
A/N: Sorry this is a day late, FFNET wouldn't let me into my account
yesterday. I nearly blew up the computer.!. First off, chapters from
here on will come with titles. I also went back and titled the first
three, sorry if thatannoys anyone.
Woo, I finally got my scanner for Christmas so so some of my artwork
is now up! Anybody have a nice website where I can put it up? It's at
http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/agal.php?id=61483 (most of it's for
this fic, there's one of the Oranges, and one of a scene form this
chapter and more!) but I think somewhere Zim related to put it might be
pretty nice. Speaking of pretty, glad everybody liked the ending for l
ast chapter. I was rather partial to itm'self.
So we're getting into the more slashy stuff here like I
promised, at least in concept. I like mushy romance but I always have
to build up to and explain it and give it time, otherwise it feels
really fake and forced. Not that fluff isn't nice and won't be here at
all, but well, you can probably tell I like plot and theme etcetera.
Skragg, I called it an epic, didn't I? And that's what it will be.
Enough blabber, read the chapter!
Disclaimer: Maybe we fan writers could all donate five dollars and
buy the rights to Invader Zim from Nickelodeon together!
Chapter IV...In which there is yet more angst, Kiir goes to school,
the Orange aliens make there nasty reappearance and Zim does several
somethings which are unexpected.
Zim was standing on the bridge over the canal. He had meant to head
back to the base, but he had lingered walking so slowly as to barely be
moving at all, until he had just stopped, leaning over and watching the
water as it flowed away. It was water that might flow out into some
Earth sea, or simply out of a human tap to be imbibed or just poured
down the drain, and he'd would never know. He remembered the oceans of
Irk, vast expanses of a silvery liquid that humans called mercury,
which was poisonous to them. But he'd never see those oceans again,
unless he had a death wish.
He glared down at the dark substance, reft of it's blue color by the
lack of sunlight, and he was suddenly filled with an irrational anger
towards the Earth itself. For a moment he entertained the idea of
destroying it all with one great explosion, the vision of fire and
death briefly bringing a twisted grin to his lips. But it was just a
fantasy, infeasible and more likely to create problems than actually
solve any of his current ones. Much as he hated the pathetic human
stink monkeys Earth was the only place he knew at all besides his
home world. No, if there was anyone the wanted to wreak slow and
terrible vengeance against, it was the Tallest.
Zim's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched as the treasonous thoughts
permeated his mind. Yes, bringing screaming agonic doom to those two
would be sweet, he could envision it, the two of them cowering before
him, begging for their lives, begging for the end to be quick. But Zim
would have no mercy. He saw himself laughing as the Massive's self
destruct mechanism counted down. Certainly he could come up with a
masterful plan that he could bring to such a crescendo, the question was
only in the carrying out. Kiir, with similar goals in mind had had a
thousand or more at her back and look where it had gotten her. Of
course Kiir was no where near as brilliant as he was.
He grimaced, suddenly hearing Dib's voice in his mind, taunting as
always.
'Oh yeah, Zim?' the Dib-thought sneered. 'If you're so smart and
powerful why did they get rid of you? How come I beat you every time?'
He glared back down at the water. Why was it always that one's face
that haunted him, the pitiful human, the only thing that ever stood
between Zim and his goals. He should have killed him long ago, it would
have been easy to make it look like an accident, or Dib's own stupidity.
It had crossed his mind a thousand times, that course of action, and
yet it was always only idle speculation, never a truly considered
action. Something always stayed his hand.
He could have done it done it a few minutes ago, at the human's door
step, with the searing pain of loss still fresh within his veins.
'Would you...like to come in?'
Oh, he could have throttled him then. What did the human think he was
playing at? How dare he? He didn't know what he was saying, he couldn't.
Because Zim had never said anything, never done anything...Not when it
would endanger, maybe even destroy his mission. And not when Dib hated
him, anyway.
He sighed. There was what always kept him from killing the human, no
matter how much easier it might have been to conquer the Earth. Despite
the fact that he could never admit it, despite the fact that there was
absolutely no sane reason for it to be so, for the longest time he had
been in love with the human creature called Dib.
Zim rolled his eyes, crossing his arms on the bridge rail and resting
his chin on them. How stupid was that? He, Zim, the great and terrible
had fallen for a human. Oh, how the Tallest would laugh if they new
that. That alone would justify his banishment. Not that it mattered
what the they thought anymore. But what was he supposed to do about it?
Even supposing that, since his mission was a skragging FRAUD and he
could confess his true feelings, what would he say?
'Oh, yes, hi Dib, I know you're out to kill me and everything, but
did you know I'm madly in love with you?'
Feh, to Dib he was some sort of bug eyed monster to be dissected on
an autopsy table and make him famous. Wasn't he? Now he didn't know.
"Do you want to come in?" he mimed in a mocking imitation of Dib's
voice. "I'm just, sorry." He shook his head and muttered. "Dear Tal-"
he stopped grimacing and glared now, at the stars. "Dear GOD," he
snarled vengefully upward, "Do you hear that? I'm using human curses!
HUMAN! Do you hear that?! DO YOU!?" he yelled and shook his fist. "HA!
Hahaha! HA!!"
He snapped his gaze around and shook his hand in a quick, dismissive
gesture, turning to face the street and lean on the rail. It didn't
matter whether they could hear him or not, he'd made up his mind right
then. He didn't know quite what he would do but there was no point in
trying to go back for either redemption or vengeance. He turned his back
on the Tallest as they had turned on him. For better or for worse the
Earth was his home now.
He snorted, and with one last glance at the canal that had begun his
flow of thoughts he pushed off the guard rail and started back towards
his house, letting his ties to the Empire slip away like water down an
Earth drain.
***
Dib's alarm clock buzzed with a terrible fury, jarring him from
peaceful repose and forcing him to swat at it blindly and indeftly
hoping one of his blows would cease it's time keeping retribution.
After six or so tries the digital beast's cries were silence but if he
had finally broken it or simply managed to shut the thing off for
another twenty-four hours he didn't know. He didn't particularly care
either. He felt around on the table for his glasses, and upon finding
them, sat up stiffly and with bleary, morning difficulty. He forced the
spectacles roughly into place on his nose, the world once more coming
into scientifically wrought focus, visually at least.
For a moment the morning was like any other, but, yawning and running
a hand through the tangled mess that he grudgingly consented to call
his hair, Dib remembered something. The events of the last evening came
flooding back like the bursting of a dam, the disappearing orange
aliens, Kiir, Zim's bad news and his own personal revelation. He
closed his eyes and fell back into bed with a 'flump', his head,
thankfully hitting the pillow and not the wall. he sighed, wonderful.
He was just sooooo glad he'd remembered that.
Well, it couldn't be helped he supposed. One couldn't simply unthink
things, especially when they were, nng...true. It didn't change
anything anyway, since the emotions had been there before, if nameless.
Although he wasn't likely to ever be able to look Zim in the face again.
Zim probably wouldn't be in school today anyway. Which reminded him,
what the heck was he going to do with Kiir while he was gone all day?
He didn't feel quite secure leaving her in the house, just in case, but
she didn't have any sort of disguise. Well, he shrugged, sitting up
again, no one ever noticed Zim and his disguise was minimalist at the
very best. Kiir at least had real hair, she could just put her antennae
back and if he came in and announced to everyone that she was an alien
no one would give her a second thought.
Dib rolled his eyes. Funny, how that worked. Just because he said
something it was automatically 'wrong'. He stood up and pulled on a pair
of jeans, his t-shirt and boots. he ran a hand though his hair, it
never got much less messy than that anyway. He walked out his door and
knocked on that of the guest room a few paces later.
Kiir opened it immediately, eyes bright behind her strange glasses and
a grin on her face. "Well, it looks like I did find somebody who can
sleep longer than me."
Oh, dear. How long had she been up? "Um, sorry. How long do you
sleep?"
She shrugged. " Up to six or seven hours if I'm feeling really,
REALLY lazy. I only need three or so, and I can run on one if I drink
a pot of coffee."
Dib nodded, then he stopped, blinking. "Wait, you have COFFEE in
outer space?"
She rolled her eyes, leaning on the doorway. "Kid," she said with a
patronizing smirk. "EVERYBODY has coffee, Ugclusian stench slugs have
coffee. It's like, one of the natural elements of the universe."
"Oh." He blinked and shook his head slightly. Okay then, there went
his sense of the normal order of things for the morning. "Well uh,
sorry to keep you waiting for so long then."
"Oh, that's alright. I took apart you clock and then put it back
together again."
"...does it still work?"
"Aheh, define work."
Dib just looked at her for a minute and then dropped the subject. He
could probably fix whatever she'd done to it later anyway. "Don't worry
about it. Uh, would you mind coming to skool with me today?" He hoped
she wouldn't object.
She squinted one eye. "Skool? Whasat?"
He forgotten that she didn't know. "It's a place where human children
and adolescents go TO learn things." Or to be tormented, he thought
privately.
"Hnnnn, seeing as I'll probably be stuck on this planet for a while
that's probably not a bad idea. But won't other humans be freaked out
by the way I look?" She raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression
that your Earthers hadn't made interstellar contact yet."
"Ah, yeah, I thought of that already. Just pull your antennae back,
tell them you're my cousin. I'll take care of the rest." He fished a
hair band from his pocket and handed it to her.
She regarded the ting incredulously for a moment, then taking it
fastened her hair back with her antennae, into a cute little poof
pony-tail with two longer black bits.
She pursed her lips. "Somehow this seems just a bit inadequate."
"You'd be surprised how stupid most humans are," he said darkly.
She raised her eyebrow, smirking. "You don't think very highly of
your own race."
"Never mind," he shook his head. She probably wouldn't have a very
high opinion of them either after a day of Hi Skool. "Come on, we have
to go. My car sometimes times takes a few minutes to start."
She gave him a curious look but followed him down the hall and out
the front door.
His car, a sleek, black thing that had been a piece of junk when he'd
gotten it, was parked on the street. He'd been working on it the three
months since he'd gotten his license; it looked nice now, and had all
sorts of fancy equipment and it ran quite well...provided of course that
he could get it to start. He would have offered Gaz a ride but she had
started going to a Gurlz Skool since year before last.
Dib unlocked the door.
"This is an Earth transport?" Kiir asked interestedly.
He nodded. "It doesn't fly I'm afraid." He was working on it though.
"You get in that door," he said, indicating the passenger's side. "Just
pull the handle."
He got into the driver's seat as she entered opposite him. He
fastened his seatbelt, showing the alien how to do the same. He turned
the ignition key.
The car growled. Aside from that, nothing happened.
Dib's gaze darkened and he sighed. Evidently it was going to be one
of those days.
***
When Did hadn't shown up by the time the bell to begin class rang,
Zim wondered if there had been a point in coming today. He wasn't
really studying the human race anymore, he had no 'social life' and
classes were simply torment upon torment. Granted he no longer had to
put up with the doom that was Ms. Bitters since starting Hi Skool and
that was a blessing. He drummed his gloved fingers on the desk, bored
even before the beginning of homeroom.
Mrs. Drone, the short, dumpy teacher was standing at the front of the
classroom as usual, eyes vacant. Today however there was someone beside
her, a new student, he supposed. Zim regarded the class addition. It
was male, and there would have been absolutely nothing remarkable about
him except for the fact that he was so utterly and completely normal as
to be unreal. He had to have been exactly average height, with the most
singularly uninteresting brown hair and eyes ever seen. His skin was
neither dark nor light and there were no visible birth marks. He wore
no glasses and his clothes were a nondescript grey t-shirt and jeans.
He looked like a diagram of the quintessential human. It was weird,
people like that just didn't happen. Zim stared.
"Class, this is our new student," Mrs. Drone said flatly. "His name
is John Doe."
"Hello," John said. "It's nice to meet you." He smiled, his eyes
however stayed completely vacant and devoid of emotion.
It was the creepiest thing Zim had ever seen. What ever that guy was
he was NOT human, there was no way. It was just, wrong.
"Take your seat please John," she nodded to a vacant seat in the back
of the class.
He walked down through the rows of desks, smiling at Zim as he passed.
Zim shuddered, watching him sit down. The rest of the class he noticed
was completely devoid of interest. Zim shook his head, how could they
think that, that thing, whatever it was, was their own species? In a
lot of ways the thing was more obviously not human than he was!
"Alright class, remember your year book order forms are due-"
The door flew open and all attention fell to it as Dib walked into
the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he said irritated, "My car wouldn't start."
Oh, of course, Zim thought, that car of his.
The teacher sighed. "Have a seat Mr. Membrane, and introduce us to
your guest if you please."
Zim now caught sight of the figure lingering behind him, it was Kiir,
of course, and she didn't look particularly disguised, except that her
antennae weren't visible.
Dib gave a triumphant looking grin. "This is Kiir, she's, an ALIEN."
Zim's eyes grew wide, he thought Dib wasn't going to TELL anyone! So
he'd just been saving it for skool?
He saw Kiir roll her eyes, "I'm his COUSIN," she said in practiced
tones. "You're such a freak Dib," she whapped him on the shoulder
lightly.
The rest of the class murmured in agreement and went back to minding
it's own business, heedless now, of anything unusual.
Ah, now Zim understood, it was what humans called reverse psychology,
tricking people into b doing or believing what you wanted by telling
them to do the opposite. Dib must have decided that since no one ever
believed what he said about Zim no one would believe him this time. It
was solid logic actually.
But Dib's appearance reminded him of something he'd almost completely
forgotten. The aliens from the night before, who had apparently
disappeared and quite possibly still be on the planet. What if one of
them was in the class right now? He looked over at John Doe.
***
Dib sat down, noticing, with some surprise, that Zim WAS in class. He
looked quickly away, a slight blush as he had feared, coming to his
cheeks. He looked around the rest of the class room, glad that Kiir had
remembered what he told her to do and hoping the rest of the day went
as smoothly. His eyes searching for a more Earthly and less embarrassing
target fell on someone he'd never seen before. It was the most
uninteresting person he'd ever seen, so utterly common place that his
eyes almost didn't recognize the fact that he was there. It was like
someone was saying, I'm supposed to be here, don't bother looking at me.
It was the strangest sensation Dib had ever felt. Despite the strange
urge to look at something else he now watched the boy, curiosity and
suspicion aroused.
He raised his hand.
"Yes Dib?" the teacher asked.
"Ah, do we have a new student Mrs. Drone?"
She nodded, and gestured to him. "John Doe, if you'd been here
earlier Dib, you'd know that."
John smiled at him. "Hello Dib, it's nice to meet you." His voice was
like some perfect computer imitation of a normal, pleasant voice.
Something about it gave Dib shivers. There was something not right at
work here, he could feel it. There was something bent about the space
that 'John Doe' occupied, something that made Dib's heart go ice cold
with the aura of wrongness. It was a feeling Dib could swear he'd had
before. His eyes bored metaphorical holes into the back of the 'new
student's' head. And as though he knew he was being watched John slowly
turned around to look back at him.
For just a moment their eyes met, searching amber against vacant
brown, John smiled at him and Dib's stomach turned to lead. In the
instant before it turned back around Dib knew the creature that was
sitting in the desk. The cold brown eyes were no different than the
staring spherical white orbs of the Orange aliens.
Dib looked away, looked out the window, feeling somehow tainted and
drained. That was no new student, that was definitely one of the scary
aliens he'd met the night before. He realized he'd never asked Kiir
about them. Should he do that now? It looked as though the Oranges
must be shape shifters or something, and that made them who knew how
many times more dangerous. And one thing was clearly apparent now,
these things were definitely NOT benign.
***
Kiir tapped her pencil boredly on the notebook Dib had given her.
Places of learning? Please, she'd been to more interesting funeral and
more enlightening prisons. These human things were very, not, much,
just in general, not much to look at, not much to talk to. She'd tried
to start up a conversation with the girl in the seat next to her but
the creature had only said something about 'cheerleaders' not talking
to 'goths'. Apparently the Earthlings had some sort of social caste
system in effect that Dib had failed to mention. So she'd just doodled
on her paper for a while, as whenever she tried to listen to the
teacher she started to fall asleep. It had been maybe two or three
hours by the clock that somehow seemed to work twice as slowly as the
ones she'd seen in Dib's house. She tore a page out of the spiraled
notebook and scribbled a message on it.
/Hey Zim, do we EVER get to leave? This is worse than the Academy.
How are you feeling by the way?/
She wadded up the paper and flicked it in her fellow alien's
direction. It hit him in the back of the head. He turned around and
glared at her. She grinned and waved lazily at him, he was always so
serious all the time. She pointed at the paper on the floor. 'Pick it
up,' she mouthed, 'it's a note.'
He squinted and pursed his lips irritatedly but picked it up. She
watched the back of his head as he read it and wrote back. She looked
away, attention span depleted for the moment, and watched the human
Dib writing something. Then the ball of paper hit HER in the head. She
grabbed the note and stuck her tongue out at Zim, who smirked smugly
back. So maybe he wasn't serious ALL the time.
She uncrinkled the note and read it.
/Lunch is in ten minutes. Whatever you do, DO NOT eat the food,
whatever you DO! I MEAN it. I'm just fine. Dib hasn't tried to dissect
you has he?/
She blinked. Dissect her? Don't eat the food? She chewed on the end
of her pencil.
/Why not, is their something wrong with the food? You don't LOOK
fine. You look edgy. Dib said he didn't think you'd be here. Is
something wrong? You can tell me. Dissect me? Why the frakk would he
do that?/
She tossed it back and this time he caught it midair. She kept her
eyes on him this time and did the same thing a moment later when he
tossed it back. Zim looked disappointed that he hadn't hit her again.
/YES! It's practically poison! I'm FINE! Honestly, well as fine as I
can be. Dib's an alien fanatic, he's tried to dissect me a few times.
Glad to hear you're still in possession of your squeedly-spooch./
Kiir glared irritatedly at Zim and then looked back at Dib. He LOOKED
harmless enough.
/You skragging jerk! You sent me to his house thinking he might do
that?! When I get my hand on you I'm gonna
"Ms. Kiir!" a voice snapped.
She looked up to see the teacher standing over her. "Yeah?"
"I don't know how it is in YOUR school but here we do not pass notes.
Give that to me now."
She frowned. This human thing thought she could tell High Commander
Kiir what to do? "No," she said firmly.
"No? That's it missy, I don't care if you ARE a visitor, you are
staying right here during lunch where I can keep an eye on you."
"What?!" she clenched her fists. Then she glanced over at Dib, he
was making a jerking motion across his throat. She realized that any
violence done against this teacher worm would probably result in him
being punished for it. Which would probably result in her getting
kicked out of his house. She slumped back in the hard, fiberglass chair.
"Fine," she snapped sullenly, "I don't want any of your skraggy Earth
lunch anyway."
The teacher gave her an odd look, then glanced over at Zim, shook her
head and marched back to the front of the classroom.
***
Dib sighed, dropping his head onto his notebook painfully. Of course
Kiir would have to go and back talk the teacher. It was lucky that she
hadn't gotten him in trouble as well. He wondered what had been on the
note she and Zim were passing. But he didn't have time to think about
that, he had only five minutes before lunch to come up with how he was
going to confront 'John'. He figured that if it was in the middle of
the cafeteria the alien wouldn't be able to do anything TOO scary and
evil. And those were definitely the words that Dib would use to
describe the Oranges, scary and evil.
He wondered if Zim could tell that John was an alien, he didn't know
if the Irken would be able to pick up on the subtle inhumanities of the
thing. Even if he did notice, would he care? He didn't think somehow
that he would be in the sort of mental place for anything except anger
or depression. Dib thought a good parallel for what Zim must be going
though would be if he suddenly found out that Zim really WAS just a
kid with a skin condition. Except that Zim didn't look that much more
unhappy than usual.
The lunch bell rang and Dib practically shot out of his chair and
to the door. Outside he pressed himself against the wall at the left,
watching from the corner of his eye as everyone filed out. And then
there was John, padding out of the classroom with a strange stiff sort
of ease. He didn't seem to notice Dib as he followed the other students
down the hall. Once the creature was several paces ahead Dib carefully
started after him, stifling his footsteps and staring intently at his
hopefully unsuspecting quarry. Once they were safely in the lunch room
he could spring his denouncement on the alien.
But the thing in human guise didn't go all the way to the cafeteria
with the other students, he took a left turn down the seldom used
hallway that had once belonged to the art department, before they'd
added on the new wing. Dib stared suspiciously. Where did he think he
was going? The self proclaimed paranormal investigator looked around,
and seeing no one else did something foolish. He followed the malignant
being down the empty corridor alone.
***
Zim didn't linger in the room as he usually did at lunch time, as
soon as he saw 'John Doe' rise from his seat he climbed from his own,
intent on discovering this non-human's secrets. He followed him slowly
from the room, giving Kiir a negligent wave as he left. He'd ambush him
in the hallway, before he got to the safety of the cafeteria. But just
before he exited the room he saw someone swing into position behind the
John-thing ahead of him. It was Dib. So it seemed that he too had
recognized the 'new student' as well. Zim had thought he might. In his
mind Zim rearranged his plans. He would follow them both, see what Dib
did and adapt to the situation. Maybe that way he could learn something
with out announcing his own presence. He grinned, striding silently
behind them. Neither of them seemed to notice.
Zim saw the human balk as the creature turned down an empty passage.
Would Dib keep following him. If this 'John' was as advanced and not
good as he seemed it was a potentially very dangerous situation for Dib
to be alone with it, especially, if as he was wont to, Dib announced
his intentions to it. Honestly, sometimes the human just wasn't that
bright. Zim shook his head.
And of course Dib did indeed follow John down the corridor. No weapon,
no back up, no knowing what he was getting into. Didn't he realize that
the creature probably KNEW it was being followed? Zim hurried after the
two.
***
'John' had picked up his pace and Dib didn't dare walk any faster for
fear of being heard, and so he'd fallen well behind when he saw the
brown haired figure disappear around a corner. Afraid he would lose him,
the goth picked up the pace just a little and swung around the same
sharp right turn. What he found there was nothing, a dead end, and no
one there. Dib looked around. Had the thing just disappeared again?
There were no classrooms to be ducked into, and he'd seen them make an
entire ship disappear the night before.
Dib was about to turn around and go back to the cafeteria when he
felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up, and his skin trembled
with goose bumps. Something grabbed him.
He screamed.
Seven orange tentacles wrapped themselves around his body, holding
him two feet in the air as he struggled to get loose. The coils curled
all over his body, covering his mouth and slinking around his chest,
holding him, pulling him in the tightest grip he had ever felt. But
that wasn't all they were doing. From deep inside him Dib could feel
his strength being drained from, he was growing weaker, his kicks
becoming more feeble with each second that ticked away. His vision was
dimming, it had only been maybe five seconds and he was already about
to fall unconscious.
Something whizzed past his head and the tentacle creature reeled and
gave an inhuman wail, dropping him to the floor where he landed
heavily and painfully on his side. Through dim vision he saw someone's
booted feet.
He heard a laser fire again, and the beast's howl.
"Eat this!!" the booted shooter yelled. It was Zim's voice. He fired
again.
Dib could see orange appendages flailing above him, and the thing
gave one last shriek of fury before winking out of existence.
***
Zim hadn't been around the corner yet when he'd heard Dib yell, but
he'd come running. The sight he beheld was a gruesome one, a sticklike
orange monster with thick, ropy tentacles help a limply kicking Dib
in it's grasp, and seemed to be pulsing as if sucking something from
the human it had caught.
The Irken hadn't thought, just reacted, whipping his laser out of his
pak and firing. Though the setting had been on kill, the beast hadn't
been felled, but it thankfully dropped Dib so that he could get a
clearer shot.
"Eat this!!"
The monster shuddered, and Zim was almost on the verge of panicking.
What sort of creature was unaffected by Irken death pistols?
Desperately he shot one more time, hoping the weapon would have SOME
affect. Thankfully it seemed to at least cause the thing pain because,
whip like tentacles flailing it suddenly turned two blank white eyes at
him and vanished.
He stared a moment at the space where the creature had been. How
could it just disappear like that? It wasn't possible!
Dib coughed. Zim hurried towards and stood over him, looking down at
the shuddering form. "Are you injured Dib-human?" He asked, unable to
keep the sharp note of concern form his voice.
The boy gave another weak cough and forced himself into a sitting
position, wincing, Zim assumed, from pain. "I'm...fine." He rubbed the
back of his head.
Zim squinted an eye. "You do not appear fine," he criticized.
Dib scowled. "That thing, jumped me. What are you doing here anyway
Zim?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I was attempting to discern the nature of our 'new friend', he was
obviously not one of you pathetic humans." Now, what it actually WAS
was the question of the moment.
"You picked up on that too, huh?" he leaned against the wall, looking
uncomfortable. "That's exactly what I was doing."
Zim snorted. "And you were doing an inferior job of it as always. You
are fortunate I was here to rescue you or I doubt you would still be
living."
Dib furrowed his brow, looking confused. It was an oddly charming
expression. "Yeah, um, WHY exactly did you do that? Wouldn't I have
been out of your way then?"
Zim didn't speak for a moment, on the verge of saying something
stupid. He frowned. "The Earth is Zim's territory, I will not allow
any others to intrude on it." That was the truth, basically.
"Oh, but um," he seemed to be struggling with something. "Does that
mean you're still going to take over the Earth even though-"
"The supposed goals of my former superiors no longer concern me," he
snapped, cutting Dib off. "Your stupid Earth monkeys are safe, from me
anyway." He glanced at the place where the orange creature had been.
"But you said-"
"The Earth is my territory," he smirked. "Don't think you can be rid
of me so easily."
***
Dib was more than a little confused. Maybe he had hit his head a
little too hard, because he was pretty sure that Zim had just not only
saved his life but announced that he was going to stay on Earth without
conquering it. Was Zim deliberately trying to throw him off his guard or
something? He looked up at the human clad figure much more familiar and
reassuring with his confident smirk than the creepy, malignant 'John Doe'.
If Zim stopped trying to take over the world what was he going to do
on Earth? What was Dib going to do with his time? "Does, this mean we
have a, truce, or something?" he ventured cautiously.
The alien regarded him, and he felt his face growing slightly hot. He
looked down at the ground.
"You would honor such a truce?" Dib heard him ask. "No more spying or
threats of autopsy?"
He thought about this. Without his campaign against Zim his would be
very, very different. But maybe if they had a truce... He looked up,
and nodded. "I promise."
Zim smirked down at him, and he could have sworn that it was almost,
but not quite, a genuine smile. "Done then. The war is finished." He
paused, and then spoke again. "Was that one of the aliens from the ship?"
"Yeah," Dib nodded. "It had less arms last night though. I think it
can shape shift."
"That will make it a difficult opponent," Zim sat down against the
opposite wall of the corridor. "When it had you, it was doing,
something, was it not?"
"It was like it was sucking out all of my energy," he said
uncomfortably. Recalling the sensation was not pleasant, he shivered.
He ran a hand through his hair, still feeling unusually weak. He looked
up at Zim. Was he really not going to attack Earth anymore? And was Dib
right in thinking that he had implied that he would help against the
Oranges? It certainly seemed so.
The alien looked thoughtful. "There are certain parasite species that
siphon energy from their hosts, but none that I know are more complex
or dangerous than your cockroaches. Likewise there are some
shape shifting creatures that can take small and simple forms, but I
have never seen anything that did both, or either on the scale that this
appears to."
"These," Dib said, remembering the night before. "There were two that
I saw, one with white eyes, this one I think, and one with blue eyes.
It was like they could see right through the bushes I was in and to me.
And then they disappeared, like just a minute ago."
Zim frowned. "Such teleportation should not be possible without a lot
of equipment. If there were two where is the other?"
"With the ship?" Dib suggested, "Wherever that is. I was going to go
back to check out the landing sight this morning but with Kiir and all
I didn't get around to it."
It was so strange, sitting there with Zim exchanging information
instead of threats or insults or blows. Not wrong, just strange. Maybe
this was the way things were supposed to be. They were allies now, or
so it seemed. Could they be friends? Or even- He cut his own thought
off, looking away. Don't spoil it! he thought furiously.
"Perhaps you should go this evening. I will come with you, I have
scanning equipment that you do not have access to. We will bring Kiir."
Dib looked up. Zim was taking charge just like that, his strong,
arrogant personality seeming adapting to the new situation quickly and
easily. "Since when are you leader?" he demanded, though there was very
little edge in his voice.
"Since I said so," Zim quipped with a grin. "Do you have a problem,
Dib-human?"
Dib pouted, crossing his arms. "I adamantly refuse to take any orders
from you, that I don't like," he said. After all, he really didn't want
to make him decide that the truce was a bad idea. If Zim wanted to play
leader, why shouldn't he let him, as long as it didn't get them killed.
Zim pursed his lips. "Fine, but you will have no cause to object to
my superior leadership."
Dib rolled his eyes. "Still the same Zim. You always think you're
sooooo special."
"Think? I am the great Zim! I AM special!" he sneered.
"Yeah?" he snorted.
"Yeah." Zim crossed his arms.
Dib laughed and shook his head. Well, he was certainly SOMETHING, all
right. God, I'm such an idiot, he thought to himself. In love with
a space invader. It sounds like the plot for a bad sci-fi soap opera:
'Attack of the Curse of the Revenge of the Return of the Brain Sucking
Soul Stealers from Irk, Part VII a Love Story'. He laughed again.
"Something funny, human?" Zim demanded curiously.
Dib shrugged, smiling. "We're not trying to kill each other. Don't
you think that's a little weird, funny even?"
He watched Zim think for a moment, and then nod. "You are right. It
is rather humorous in an ironic way. Would you prefer to be plotting
each other's respective deaths?"
"No," he said immediately, this was much better.
Zim surprised him by agreeing right away. "Neither would I. So don't
complain."
"I wasn't complaining," Dib insisted, "just commenting."
"Well fine then."
"Fine."
"Fine." Zim stuck his tongue out. "Nyah."
Dib returned the gesture. "Nyah nyah!"
"You think you can out 'nyah' Zim?!" he stood up, leering down at him.
"Yeah! Nyah!" Dib tried to stand up a little to quickly forgetting
the drain he'd suffered and he toppled back down painfully. "OW!" He
winced.
"Are you alright?" Zim asked, his expression changing from amused
disdain to, was that concern or had Dib hit his head again?
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, wincing again. "That thing just took more
out of me than I thought."
Zim rolled his eyes. " Do you require assistance, Dib-Human?"
[A/N: this is the scene with the pic!]
"No!" he insisted, trying to heave himself up under his own power
and failing, sliding back to the floor.
Zim gave him a condescending glance and, overriding Dib's sputtered
objections, grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him to his feet. Dib
blinked. The skinny alien was a lot stronger than he looked. He turned
away, hoping to god that Zim had NOT seen him blush.
"Do you need to see the skool nurse, Dib?" he heard Zim ask behind
him.
Dib, his blush under control now turned around. "No, I'm fine really.
You know, you confuse me Zim. I think I have you all figured out and
then you go and change on me."
Zim just stood there, looking at him, and Dib wondered what was going
on in his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then the
bell to end lunch rang. He shook his head. "Come on Dib, or we'll get
detention for being late to class."
To be continued...
Well, thanks for waiting for the chapter. *grin* Hope ya liked it. As
of right now it's ten at night on Christmas. And since the chapter's
over I feel free to blather all I want about my Christmas. I got a
hundred bucks total from various relatives. My friend Bridget and I are
going out to the mall Saturday to blow it all. (She got a genuine
Italian leather jacket! I'm jealous!) We're gonna go to Hot Topic of
course. Along with the scanner I got a stylus interface thingy. It's
basically a mouse shaped like a pen so I can do better art on the 'puter.
My brother got a PS2 (finally!) and I plan to highjack it as soon as
possible. I spent most of the day watching him play Kingdom Hearts.
(Which, by the way is tres cute.) He got Final Fantasy 10 and Lord of
the Rings Two Towers. Heh, gee, can ya tell who told mom what games to
get for 'him'? (For me is more like it!) I got a couple of CDs I wanted.
The Eminem show, (I love 'Hailie's Song') System of a Down: 'Steal this
Album'. (It really looks like a burnt CD, it's funny!) and the new
3 Doors Down: 'Away from the Sun'. (I love them, I saw a concert last
summer, don't make fun of me!)I got sketchbooks from all my cheap ass
relatives, but that's okay, I go through the paper faster that you could
believe. Well, maybe you could believe it if you draw too. That's
pretty much it. I guess the scanner and stylus were pretty expensive.
Did I mention you need to go look at my art? Oh wait, no, I remember,
in my stocking my dad gave me a hand puppet of a chicken. I put a
spiked bracelet around it's neck, an earring in it's comb and named him
Mister Cluck-cluck. Who thinks I should take him to school and pretend
I think he's a real person?
Well that's all for now. More soon. Very soon.
Read it? Review it!