A/Note: Wow, this took a long time to get out. And it's short and stuff.
Maybe it's at least got a little suspense, though.
Chapter Nine: Calamity
Gaz stared dully out the pinkish sphere of the Voot's transparishield. A dim relection of herself gazed silently back past her, perhaps at the alien pilot who she knew was glancing up at her with increasing nervousness as the trip progressed. The other Gaz looked so angry, so. enraged. As if she could explode at any moment. Her reflection was a stranger now. The person she saw in the puddles of water on the street, staring back from the windows of the stores and restauarants and now even Zim's laughably small spaceship was not someone she recognized.
She felt.. strange.. almost..
Empty. That was how she felt. Hollow and empty. It was as if the mirror-Gaz, the horrible characture of herself that stalked her in her reflection and stepped alongside her in her very shadow was draining her of all feeling. Her emotions were threadbare and felt worn out. Like an old winter coat that had seen too many uses, and no longer could warm the body on a cold morning.
She had run from the truth, she'd screamed in fury until her lungs felt raw enough to bleed. Now she felt strangely calm. Resigned, she supposed. She'd decided what she would have to do. It all seemed perfectly. logical. There was only one thing to do. She could count on Zim's support, for what little aid he'd actually be. After all, she was giving him what he said that he wanted. As for his idiot robot, who was still insistently hugging her leg, he was obviously going to be of no help.
Gaz's eyes looked up over the head of her glassy counterpart, to see the alien piloting the small magenta craft. Zim glanced at her, then hastily back to the view outside of the ship.
"Do I make you nervous, Zim?" She smirked slightly as the alien jumped, his black antennae springing erect in startlement.
Zim coughed, then sneered in return. "You're dripping toxic acidic fluid. I'd say I have a right to be concerned about that." Gaz didn't turn, electing instead to continue studying him through the pink-hued mirror of the ship's dome. "Perhaps," she replied. The alien felt distinctly warm a few seconds later, and hastily swerved the voot downward towards the city park. Convinced that the ship was overheating and about to explode, he pressed the pilot eject button. Eating a face full of nasty smelly Earth dirt filth was preferable to being a brief colorful explosion.
"EJECT COMMAND INITIATED!"
"AAGHHHH-WHUMPH!"
*p-tooie!* "Ugh.. that is.. SO NASTY!" Zim blinked, suddenly remembering that his cruiser was about to go ka-blooey, and threw himself back down into the dirt, attempting to cover his head and sensitive antennae with his arms and bringing forth his spidery mechanical legs from his backpod to arch over his body and give it some additional protection.
After a few tense moments, Zim noticed that the ship had failed entirely to explode in a huge wave of heat and debris behind him and sat up. The cruiser wavered slightly in the air, coasting back around slowly in a great circle, and finally landing perfectly a few feet away from where he crouched expectantly in a freshly plowed trench on his own making. The figure behind the controls stood and swung a leg over the boarding hatch.
"How.. how is it possible?" he whispered, staring at the girl in shock. "How is it that you, a mere.. Earth-monkey can pilot like that?"
Gaz's expression didn't change as she responded. "Practice."
Zim stood shakily, retracting his metallic extensions as he regained his feet. The Gaz was a bizarre enigma, he decided. The girl jumped down from the voot, walking a short distance away and staring off into the distance. "There," she announced. "That is the most ideal place." Zim growled and dusted himself off, waving away his robot assistant.
"Aw, I wanted a dancing hat, too!" GIR pouted, pointing at a large gob of grass and squirming worms that sat at a jaunty angle atop his master's head.
Zim tossed the mass at the robot and looked back in the direction that the Gaz had indicated. A large electrical transformer loomed behind a safety fence a few yards beyond the scenic walkway. Anxious to see how the destruction of the pitiful human race would be accomplished by this unexpected traitor. Zim decided not to fight the urge to grin like a maniac. How fitting that it was the sister of his self-proclaimed rival who would bring about his victory. He followed the girl towards the fence.
Gaz stared up at the transformer with wide eyes, wrapping her fingers around the chain link wires. She could feel it. The energy and power. It was intoxicating, invigorating. She knew what had to be done, and soon it would all be over. They would all pay with their lives.
Chapter Nine: Calamity
Gaz stared dully out the pinkish sphere of the Voot's transparishield. A dim relection of herself gazed silently back past her, perhaps at the alien pilot who she knew was glancing up at her with increasing nervousness as the trip progressed. The other Gaz looked so angry, so. enraged. As if she could explode at any moment. Her reflection was a stranger now. The person she saw in the puddles of water on the street, staring back from the windows of the stores and restauarants and now even Zim's laughably small spaceship was not someone she recognized.
She felt.. strange.. almost..
Empty. That was how she felt. Hollow and empty. It was as if the mirror-Gaz, the horrible characture of herself that stalked her in her reflection and stepped alongside her in her very shadow was draining her of all feeling. Her emotions were threadbare and felt worn out. Like an old winter coat that had seen too many uses, and no longer could warm the body on a cold morning.
She had run from the truth, she'd screamed in fury until her lungs felt raw enough to bleed. Now she felt strangely calm. Resigned, she supposed. She'd decided what she would have to do. It all seemed perfectly. logical. There was only one thing to do. She could count on Zim's support, for what little aid he'd actually be. After all, she was giving him what he said that he wanted. As for his idiot robot, who was still insistently hugging her leg, he was obviously going to be of no help.
Gaz's eyes looked up over the head of her glassy counterpart, to see the alien piloting the small magenta craft. Zim glanced at her, then hastily back to the view outside of the ship.
"Do I make you nervous, Zim?" She smirked slightly as the alien jumped, his black antennae springing erect in startlement.
Zim coughed, then sneered in return. "You're dripping toxic acidic fluid. I'd say I have a right to be concerned about that." Gaz didn't turn, electing instead to continue studying him through the pink-hued mirror of the ship's dome. "Perhaps," she replied. The alien felt distinctly warm a few seconds later, and hastily swerved the voot downward towards the city park. Convinced that the ship was overheating and about to explode, he pressed the pilot eject button. Eating a face full of nasty smelly Earth dirt filth was preferable to being a brief colorful explosion.
"EJECT COMMAND INITIATED!"
"AAGHHHH-WHUMPH!"
*p-tooie!* "Ugh.. that is.. SO NASTY!" Zim blinked, suddenly remembering that his cruiser was about to go ka-blooey, and threw himself back down into the dirt, attempting to cover his head and sensitive antennae with his arms and bringing forth his spidery mechanical legs from his backpod to arch over his body and give it some additional protection.
After a few tense moments, Zim noticed that the ship had failed entirely to explode in a huge wave of heat and debris behind him and sat up. The cruiser wavered slightly in the air, coasting back around slowly in a great circle, and finally landing perfectly a few feet away from where he crouched expectantly in a freshly plowed trench on his own making. The figure behind the controls stood and swung a leg over the boarding hatch.
"How.. how is it possible?" he whispered, staring at the girl in shock. "How is it that you, a mere.. Earth-monkey can pilot like that?"
Gaz's expression didn't change as she responded. "Practice."
Zim stood shakily, retracting his metallic extensions as he regained his feet. The Gaz was a bizarre enigma, he decided. The girl jumped down from the voot, walking a short distance away and staring off into the distance. "There," she announced. "That is the most ideal place." Zim growled and dusted himself off, waving away his robot assistant.
"Aw, I wanted a dancing hat, too!" GIR pouted, pointing at a large gob of grass and squirming worms that sat at a jaunty angle atop his master's head.
Zim tossed the mass at the robot and looked back in the direction that the Gaz had indicated. A large electrical transformer loomed behind a safety fence a few yards beyond the scenic walkway. Anxious to see how the destruction of the pitiful human race would be accomplished by this unexpected traitor. Zim decided not to fight the urge to grin like a maniac. How fitting that it was the sister of his self-proclaimed rival who would bring about his victory. He followed the girl towards the fence.
Gaz stared up at the transformer with wide eyes, wrapping her fingers around the chain link wires. She could feel it. The energy and power. It was intoxicating, invigorating. She knew what had to be done, and soon it would all be over. They would all pay with their lives.