A/Note: Cripes, how long has it been since I updated? Huh. That long? Well
this story's not dead, just having difficulty progressing. I know where the
characters are and where I want them to go, but I've had some trouble
getting them there. Finally I had to buy Dib bus fare to get him to his
next stage in the story! That cheapskate. he'd better pay me back! Okay, on
with the story.
Chapter Seven: The Invisible Grip
Gaz staggered to a halt in an unfamiliar neighborhood, too exhausted to continue running from the monstrousity that casually kept up with her. She fell forward heavily onto her hands and knees, scraping her palms on the rough, damp pavement. Her face felt hot, her perception was hampered by dizziness, and she could feel tears brimming forth from her eyes from the pain both within and without.
From deep within she found a bubble of resolve and latched onto it desperately. Gaz pushed herself up into a sitting position, arms trembling with the effort. "I won't be beaten by this," she whispered softly. "I won't! If it is me that's doing this, then I can control it! Somehow." She winced slightly as she wiped her stinging palms on her dress; and hugged her knees to her chest as she sat on the sidewalk. Strange tall houses loomed over her, but she could detect no trace of the otherworldly apparition that had stalked her through the alleys.
The street was deserted, not a soul was in sight. While the truth of the matter was probably that the citizenry had retreated indoors from the bizarre weather that had stalked through the town all evening, the effect was that Gaz was completely and totally alone. Barricaded outside by the "normal" people. They feared the unknown, the strangeness of it all. And thus, it followed that they must fear her as well.
She gazed silently around her in consternation, thoroughly lost; thoroughly miserable. Gaz finally turned her gaze down to the ground. She'd always known that she was different. Unique. A freak? People had always regarded her with at least a little trepidation. Those younger than she had shrank back from her with respectful fear. The ones her own age had ostracized her, classifying her as an outcast. And nearly everyone older than herself looked at her as if she had some terrible deformity that it wasn't polite to mention, but so glaringly obvious that they couldn't help but stare at it.
It seemed that her father had no time for her after he discovered that he could hire a babysitter to tend to her needs until she and Dib were old enough to take care of themselves. In fact it was a rare occurrence for the siblings to have so much as a meal with their father more than once a year. And of course, to the savior of all humanity, those family functions were always expendable to the siren song of a crisis in some all but unheard of country on the other side of the world.
Her brother, Dib, had been there for her at first. To hold her hand when she was crying and assure her that Daddy would be home soon and make whatever was bothering her better; to come in with a flashlight to chase off nightmares on the nights when their father *still* wasn't home yet. But then he'd stopped caring too. He thought of her as a sidekick or just an audience when he thought of her at all.
The small girl sitting on the curb choked back a small sob. Traitors, both of them. They would rather save the rest of humanity, the people whose intelligence they questioned daily, than have anything to do with her.
She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry.
Gaz pressed her forehead against her knees, rocking back and forth slightly. What had she done to turn them against her? Certainly she'd fought with Dib a lot. But it was because he did stuff to her first that bugged her. Had she done something so terribly wrong to him that he'd forsaken her? And alienated her father in the process?
Why did she have to be this way? Why? She'd never asked for this. Never, ever wanted it! She sat there rocking slowly on the sidewalk until she lost track of time, caught up in a confusing maelstrom of existential unhappiness.
A strange sound caught her attention, bringing her out of the depressing whirlpool of self-questioning for a moment. She raised her head slightly, glancing guardedly to the left and right in search of the source of the humming noise. Seeing nothing unusual only deepened her conviction that something was wrong. She leaned back, preparing to stand and face the unseen threat.
When a falling robot wearing a green puppy suit landed roughly in her lap, she knew she had a pretty good idea what the source of the disturbance was. She looked up to see the rounded shape of a small alien spaceship with it's even smaller alien owner leaning out of it.
"GIR! What are you doing! Get back up here this instant!" Zim shouted, readjusting his wig from where it had slid just slightly down his forehead. The robot stood, saluted, and began jumping up and down with all its' might in an earnest attempt to reach the ship hovering overhead. Zim sighed heavily. "Nevermind, GIR. I'll just land the ship." He muttered. The robot ceased his frenetic leaping up and down with a happy hum, and turned to stare in a disturbingly unblinking way at the girl he'd landed on.
Gaz stared back, unsure what to make of the unpredictable robot. GIR leaned forward, and made a shushing motion at her as if he were about to divulge a worlds-shattering secret. She waited as he glanced back at his master's landing ship, then leaned back towards her again.
"Lemmings are devouring my innards!" the dysfunctional SIR unit whispered softly, then GIR stepped quickly back away from her with a small satisfied smile. Gaz blinked. "Whatever."
Zim's disguised eyes flitted back and forth across the street. It went against his every instinct to just land his Voot cruiser out in plain sight like this. Making certain that he had indeed parked the craft in a legal space (it would be horribly embarrassing for an invader to have his personal ship towed, after all), he turned back towards GIR and Dib's sister. The Gaz was a much, much more dangerous specimen than her brother. He knew that already. He'd encountered her seldom, but after the briefest of glances, even a fool knows a predator from a pebble.
But still. there was Dib's behavior to consider. The human filth was so anxious about his sister. So concerned that he, the great Zim, might find her first. It had to be important, Zim reasoned. It HAD to be worth the risk. Steeling his nerves, he decided to make as impressive an approach as he could.
Gaz's eyes actually widened a bit as she watched Zim disembark from his ship. The front hatch slid effortlessly open and the alien's admittedly bad disguise lost any semblance of humanity as four long metallic jointed legs suddenly seemed to sprout from his back. As they carried him to the ground with a strange arachnid motion, she recalled Dib's voice from a conversation not too long past.
"If I'm not back in time, call this number and tell them that the Mothman is caught in the Spider's web."
'I wondered where he came up with the spider analogy..' she thought to herself with a grim smile as she watched the mechanical legs carry her brothers' otherworldly classmate across the sidewalk in a strange skittering motion before retracting impossibly into the device he wore on his back.
Zim stood over her, expectantly watching as he spoke. "Well, my fellow.. outsider.. it seems that we have something to discuss."
A/Note: Why has GIR been swallowing live lemmings? And why am I so surprised that he would be.? And where's Dib gotten to? Some of the answers next time.
Chapter Seven: The Invisible Grip
Gaz staggered to a halt in an unfamiliar neighborhood, too exhausted to continue running from the monstrousity that casually kept up with her. She fell forward heavily onto her hands and knees, scraping her palms on the rough, damp pavement. Her face felt hot, her perception was hampered by dizziness, and she could feel tears brimming forth from her eyes from the pain both within and without.
From deep within she found a bubble of resolve and latched onto it desperately. Gaz pushed herself up into a sitting position, arms trembling with the effort. "I won't be beaten by this," she whispered softly. "I won't! If it is me that's doing this, then I can control it! Somehow." She winced slightly as she wiped her stinging palms on her dress; and hugged her knees to her chest as she sat on the sidewalk. Strange tall houses loomed over her, but she could detect no trace of the otherworldly apparition that had stalked her through the alleys.
The street was deserted, not a soul was in sight. While the truth of the matter was probably that the citizenry had retreated indoors from the bizarre weather that had stalked through the town all evening, the effect was that Gaz was completely and totally alone. Barricaded outside by the "normal" people. They feared the unknown, the strangeness of it all. And thus, it followed that they must fear her as well.
She gazed silently around her in consternation, thoroughly lost; thoroughly miserable. Gaz finally turned her gaze down to the ground. She'd always known that she was different. Unique. A freak? People had always regarded her with at least a little trepidation. Those younger than she had shrank back from her with respectful fear. The ones her own age had ostracized her, classifying her as an outcast. And nearly everyone older than herself looked at her as if she had some terrible deformity that it wasn't polite to mention, but so glaringly obvious that they couldn't help but stare at it.
It seemed that her father had no time for her after he discovered that he could hire a babysitter to tend to her needs until she and Dib were old enough to take care of themselves. In fact it was a rare occurrence for the siblings to have so much as a meal with their father more than once a year. And of course, to the savior of all humanity, those family functions were always expendable to the siren song of a crisis in some all but unheard of country on the other side of the world.
Her brother, Dib, had been there for her at first. To hold her hand when she was crying and assure her that Daddy would be home soon and make whatever was bothering her better; to come in with a flashlight to chase off nightmares on the nights when their father *still* wasn't home yet. But then he'd stopped caring too. He thought of her as a sidekick or just an audience when he thought of her at all.
The small girl sitting on the curb choked back a small sob. Traitors, both of them. They would rather save the rest of humanity, the people whose intelligence they questioned daily, than have anything to do with her.
She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry.
Gaz pressed her forehead against her knees, rocking back and forth slightly. What had she done to turn them against her? Certainly she'd fought with Dib a lot. But it was because he did stuff to her first that bugged her. Had she done something so terribly wrong to him that he'd forsaken her? And alienated her father in the process?
Why did she have to be this way? Why? She'd never asked for this. Never, ever wanted it! She sat there rocking slowly on the sidewalk until she lost track of time, caught up in a confusing maelstrom of existential unhappiness.
A strange sound caught her attention, bringing her out of the depressing whirlpool of self-questioning for a moment. She raised her head slightly, glancing guardedly to the left and right in search of the source of the humming noise. Seeing nothing unusual only deepened her conviction that something was wrong. She leaned back, preparing to stand and face the unseen threat.
When a falling robot wearing a green puppy suit landed roughly in her lap, she knew she had a pretty good idea what the source of the disturbance was. She looked up to see the rounded shape of a small alien spaceship with it's even smaller alien owner leaning out of it.
"GIR! What are you doing! Get back up here this instant!" Zim shouted, readjusting his wig from where it had slid just slightly down his forehead. The robot stood, saluted, and began jumping up and down with all its' might in an earnest attempt to reach the ship hovering overhead. Zim sighed heavily. "Nevermind, GIR. I'll just land the ship." He muttered. The robot ceased his frenetic leaping up and down with a happy hum, and turned to stare in a disturbingly unblinking way at the girl he'd landed on.
Gaz stared back, unsure what to make of the unpredictable robot. GIR leaned forward, and made a shushing motion at her as if he were about to divulge a worlds-shattering secret. She waited as he glanced back at his master's landing ship, then leaned back towards her again.
"Lemmings are devouring my innards!" the dysfunctional SIR unit whispered softly, then GIR stepped quickly back away from her with a small satisfied smile. Gaz blinked. "Whatever."
Zim's disguised eyes flitted back and forth across the street. It went against his every instinct to just land his Voot cruiser out in plain sight like this. Making certain that he had indeed parked the craft in a legal space (it would be horribly embarrassing for an invader to have his personal ship towed, after all), he turned back towards GIR and Dib's sister. The Gaz was a much, much more dangerous specimen than her brother. He knew that already. He'd encountered her seldom, but after the briefest of glances, even a fool knows a predator from a pebble.
But still. there was Dib's behavior to consider. The human filth was so anxious about his sister. So concerned that he, the great Zim, might find her first. It had to be important, Zim reasoned. It HAD to be worth the risk. Steeling his nerves, he decided to make as impressive an approach as he could.
Gaz's eyes actually widened a bit as she watched Zim disembark from his ship. The front hatch slid effortlessly open and the alien's admittedly bad disguise lost any semblance of humanity as four long metallic jointed legs suddenly seemed to sprout from his back. As they carried him to the ground with a strange arachnid motion, she recalled Dib's voice from a conversation not too long past.
"If I'm not back in time, call this number and tell them that the Mothman is caught in the Spider's web."
'I wondered where he came up with the spider analogy..' she thought to herself with a grim smile as she watched the mechanical legs carry her brothers' otherworldly classmate across the sidewalk in a strange skittering motion before retracting impossibly into the device he wore on his back.
Zim stood over her, expectantly watching as he spoke. "Well, my fellow.. outsider.. it seems that we have something to discuss."
A/Note: Why has GIR been swallowing live lemmings? And why am I so surprised that he would be.? And where's Dib gotten to? Some of the answers next time.