A/Notes: Wow… I'm astounded that anyone actually read this story, let alone
reviewed it. Thanks a lot to you who did! Hopefully this story won't end up
sucking completely, lol. Thanks again, I appreciate it!
Chapter Three
Gaz ran through the torrential downpour. She wasn't certain about anything. Who was she? What was she? Was she really somehow causing all this bedlam? She was barely two blocks away from her home, and already she was as thoroughly soaked through as if she'd jumped into a swimming pool fully dressed. She was aware of the wind, but didn't feel cold. No sensation of chill touched her at all. Instead, it felt as if there was an active volcano inside of her, molten stone raging like a stormy sea. It rose, threatening to erupt and spill burning destruction over everything in sight. She ran on, refusing to cry, denying the urge to show some weakness. She didn't know where she was running to, but she kept throwing herself down the sidewalk as if borne on the steep wind itself.
Dib tugged at his coat collar. This weather was crazy! Icy freezing wind that threatened to grab him aloft and throw him out into the sky, away from the reassuring shelter of the ground, and the rain! When it had begun, it had been like icicles flung from the sky, but now it was warm. Too warm, in fact. The precipitation was almost hot, in fact. The hot water soaked into his clothing, making him uncomfortable, and the wind that screamed past tore at his exposed skin, chilling him to the bone.
This was more incredible than any paranormal phenomena he'd ever heard of, save only perhaps for spontaneous combustion. 'How is Gaz doing all this?' he wondered as he clung to a swaying lamp post. The rain increased in intensity. He pushed his dripping, dangling hair away from his face and blinked at the scene through his all but useless glasses. 'What happened to her that she can do these things?' He realized, belatedly, that it shouldn't have been such a shock to have Gaz's strange inclinations confirmed. Hadn't he felt and seen evidence of strange abilities off and on her whole life? The angry fog that would trail her when she was irritated but biding her time, her strange ability to seemingly hover in mid-air?
'Gee Dib,' a voice glibly called from the back of his mind, 'For such a darned paranormal expert, you're really inobservant!' Dib thumped himself in the back of his head. 'Ow!' the voice responded, 'Don't get so touchy! I'm just pointing out that it should have been obvious!' Dib shook his head and continued his slow, half-blind search for his sister. "Just shut up in there unless you've got something useful to say!" He pulled off his glasses in an attempt to see past the rivulets that streamed down both sides of the lenses. He blinked, swiped at his face again, and quietly swore as he put them back on. Better to be half-blind than totally lost in an unfocused fog, he decided.
As he staggered along down the street, he watched the people scrambling out of the unholy weather back to the safety of their homes. He realized suddenly that he really had no way of tracking Gaz other than to try and keep track of where the foul weather was localized. It stood to reason that as the source of the disturbances, she would be in the center of them. He staggered under a neighbors car port and swiped at his glasses again, trying to get a decent look at the sky. Dark, angry clouds were moving towards the tall jagged skyline that marked the downtown area.
That pesky inner voice chose that moment to pipe up again. 'You know, Gaz would make an excellent specimen for..' "SHUT UP!" Dib screamed aloud. No one could have heard his cry in the raging storm, but he found himself looking around quickly anyway. "Gaz is no experiment! She's my sister!" he whispered to himself fiercely. 'But she WAS an experiment, wasn't she?' the voice persisted. Dib shook his head sharply. "Once, back so far I didn't know she existed, maybe she started that way. But Dad introduced her to me as my sister, and from that moment on, that's what she was." His voice grew louder and he realized a moment later that he was shouting. "Gaz is my SISTER! And she always WILL BE!"
A new thought occurred to him as he paused, throat hoarse and lungs aching for breath. If some other paranormal investigator, one not as attached to Gaz as he was caught wind of these strange happenings… was it possible that they might attempt to capture her? Suddenly a world of terrifying possibilities for his sister opened up, and Dib was once again running desperately after the worst part of the tempest.
Zim's eyes, shielded only by contact lenses, darted back and forth between his side of the large, slightly greasy window and the scene on the outside. Which was worse? Having the last of his paste-shield battered off of his sensitive skin by the incomprehensibly raging elements and then dying a horrible death being dissolved by the caustic, hateful water… or remaining where he was. The alien gulped nervously, looking back at the display of freakish dancing puppets and mindless gorging that was Bloaty's Pizza Hog Restaurant. Madness. Utter madness. His frantic eyes darted back to the world on the other side of the glass. Well, better madness than screaming death by precipitation.
As he backed away from the booth window, Zim gave a small involuntary shudder. What sort of despicable world was this, where acid rained from the sky? He made a very embarrassing squeaky noise of surprise as first a pig- like hat and then the head of the small robot that it was resting up popped up from underneath the table. "Gummy gum! Want some?" GIR asked giddily, pleased with his rhyming capabilities and the wealth of pre-chewed substance he'd discovered on the underside of the table.
Zim shuddered again. "This is worse than your nauseating… pizza… stuff." GIR's head cocked slightly to the side, not quite comprehending his master's words. "I'll share with yoooouuuuuuu!" he promised, again extending a wad of the stuff in his small metallic hand towards the revolted irken. "GIR! Do you realize that… that FILTH has been in some human's mouth!?" Zim cried, gingerly swatting at the offering in an effort to get it away from him. GIR's tongue popped out of his mouth in a silly- looking smile as he vigorously nodded.
Zim felt a big wad of gagginess building up in the back of his throat. "Just keep it away from me," he growled in irritation. "And put your suit back on!" he hissed as an afterthought. Had Zim not been slouched down in resigned fury at being a prisoner of the elements in such a demented house of madness, he might have noticed that a small girl had just entered the restaurant. Then again, given his generally dim view of humans and their trifling affairs, he might not have at that.
Chapter Three
Gaz ran through the torrential downpour. She wasn't certain about anything. Who was she? What was she? Was she really somehow causing all this bedlam? She was barely two blocks away from her home, and already she was as thoroughly soaked through as if she'd jumped into a swimming pool fully dressed. She was aware of the wind, but didn't feel cold. No sensation of chill touched her at all. Instead, it felt as if there was an active volcano inside of her, molten stone raging like a stormy sea. It rose, threatening to erupt and spill burning destruction over everything in sight. She ran on, refusing to cry, denying the urge to show some weakness. She didn't know where she was running to, but she kept throwing herself down the sidewalk as if borne on the steep wind itself.
Dib tugged at his coat collar. This weather was crazy! Icy freezing wind that threatened to grab him aloft and throw him out into the sky, away from the reassuring shelter of the ground, and the rain! When it had begun, it had been like icicles flung from the sky, but now it was warm. Too warm, in fact. The precipitation was almost hot, in fact. The hot water soaked into his clothing, making him uncomfortable, and the wind that screamed past tore at his exposed skin, chilling him to the bone.
This was more incredible than any paranormal phenomena he'd ever heard of, save only perhaps for spontaneous combustion. 'How is Gaz doing all this?' he wondered as he clung to a swaying lamp post. The rain increased in intensity. He pushed his dripping, dangling hair away from his face and blinked at the scene through his all but useless glasses. 'What happened to her that she can do these things?' He realized, belatedly, that it shouldn't have been such a shock to have Gaz's strange inclinations confirmed. Hadn't he felt and seen evidence of strange abilities off and on her whole life? The angry fog that would trail her when she was irritated but biding her time, her strange ability to seemingly hover in mid-air?
'Gee Dib,' a voice glibly called from the back of his mind, 'For such a darned paranormal expert, you're really inobservant!' Dib thumped himself in the back of his head. 'Ow!' the voice responded, 'Don't get so touchy! I'm just pointing out that it should have been obvious!' Dib shook his head and continued his slow, half-blind search for his sister. "Just shut up in there unless you've got something useful to say!" He pulled off his glasses in an attempt to see past the rivulets that streamed down both sides of the lenses. He blinked, swiped at his face again, and quietly swore as he put them back on. Better to be half-blind than totally lost in an unfocused fog, he decided.
As he staggered along down the street, he watched the people scrambling out of the unholy weather back to the safety of their homes. He realized suddenly that he really had no way of tracking Gaz other than to try and keep track of where the foul weather was localized. It stood to reason that as the source of the disturbances, she would be in the center of them. He staggered under a neighbors car port and swiped at his glasses again, trying to get a decent look at the sky. Dark, angry clouds were moving towards the tall jagged skyline that marked the downtown area.
That pesky inner voice chose that moment to pipe up again. 'You know, Gaz would make an excellent specimen for..' "SHUT UP!" Dib screamed aloud. No one could have heard his cry in the raging storm, but he found himself looking around quickly anyway. "Gaz is no experiment! She's my sister!" he whispered to himself fiercely. 'But she WAS an experiment, wasn't she?' the voice persisted. Dib shook his head sharply. "Once, back so far I didn't know she existed, maybe she started that way. But Dad introduced her to me as my sister, and from that moment on, that's what she was." His voice grew louder and he realized a moment later that he was shouting. "Gaz is my SISTER! And she always WILL BE!"
A new thought occurred to him as he paused, throat hoarse and lungs aching for breath. If some other paranormal investigator, one not as attached to Gaz as he was caught wind of these strange happenings… was it possible that they might attempt to capture her? Suddenly a world of terrifying possibilities for his sister opened up, and Dib was once again running desperately after the worst part of the tempest.
Zim's eyes, shielded only by contact lenses, darted back and forth between his side of the large, slightly greasy window and the scene on the outside. Which was worse? Having the last of his paste-shield battered off of his sensitive skin by the incomprehensibly raging elements and then dying a horrible death being dissolved by the caustic, hateful water… or remaining where he was. The alien gulped nervously, looking back at the display of freakish dancing puppets and mindless gorging that was Bloaty's Pizza Hog Restaurant. Madness. Utter madness. His frantic eyes darted back to the world on the other side of the glass. Well, better madness than screaming death by precipitation.
As he backed away from the booth window, Zim gave a small involuntary shudder. What sort of despicable world was this, where acid rained from the sky? He made a very embarrassing squeaky noise of surprise as first a pig- like hat and then the head of the small robot that it was resting up popped up from underneath the table. "Gummy gum! Want some?" GIR asked giddily, pleased with his rhyming capabilities and the wealth of pre-chewed substance he'd discovered on the underside of the table.
Zim shuddered again. "This is worse than your nauseating… pizza… stuff." GIR's head cocked slightly to the side, not quite comprehending his master's words. "I'll share with yoooouuuuuuu!" he promised, again extending a wad of the stuff in his small metallic hand towards the revolted irken. "GIR! Do you realize that… that FILTH has been in some human's mouth!?" Zim cried, gingerly swatting at the offering in an effort to get it away from him. GIR's tongue popped out of his mouth in a silly- looking smile as he vigorously nodded.
Zim felt a big wad of gagginess building up in the back of his throat. "Just keep it away from me," he growled in irritation. "And put your suit back on!" he hissed as an afterthought. Had Zim not been slouched down in resigned fury at being a prisoner of the elements in such a demented house of madness, he might have noticed that a small girl had just entered the restaurant. Then again, given his generally dim view of humans and their trifling affairs, he might not have at that.