WOO! New chapter time! I told you that I'd have a new one up! But did you believe me?....uh. I dunno, I can't read minds. But here it is! Read on!
Chapter 5
Dib reported at Zim's house exactly at 2. He was a little anxious about the whole thing, wondering if Zim was planning something against him. He stood in front of Zim's fence for a little while, deciding if he should go or not.
'What if Zim and that ghosty Shadole thing are working together? What if Zim was pretending the whole thing and the ghost I saw pop out of him was a hologram?' he thought to himself, and he scratched his head nervously. The gnomes were watching his every movement. 'Zim's probably watching me. I guess there's no turning back now. If I run off, he'll probably hunt me down.' He took a deep breath and marched across the path to the house's door, the gnomes watching him as he went.
Dib reached for the doorbell, and just as he went to ring it, the door swung open and Zim pulled him in. Dib stared at him, mouth open, surprised by the fact that Zim wasn't wearing his disguise or trying to act human.
"What the heck were you doing?! Vapor probably saw you and knows what we're doing! He could be planning a counter attack! What good are we then?!" Zim said hotly. He didn't look angry, but frightened. If Zim was pretending everything, he was doing a great acting job.
"Uhm...sorry?" was all Dib could think of to say. Zim shook his head and sighed.
"Whatever...come on," Zim said, grabbing Dib around the wrist and leading him to the kitchen. He tapped his foot twice and a staircase formed, leading to the second floor of the house. Zim let go of Dib's wrist and headed up the stairs.
"What...aren't we going into your lab?" Dib asked, going up a few steps then stopping. This could still be a trap. Zim stopped and looked down at him.
"We can't," he said sternly and started up the stairs again.
"Why?"
"I'm.....Vapor's down there," Zim said, his voice shaking slightly. "Now come on, we have to get this done," he said quickly, covering up what Dib thought was fear. Dib smiled slightly and followed up the stairs, glad to see a weakness in his enemy at last.
'So...it is possible to frighten Zim. That proves he isn't a total idiot,' Dib thought to himself, and he stored this information in his mind for later use. They reached to top of the steps and found themselves in a room which resembled an attic. There was a large table in the middle of the room with a pile of papers scattered on it and a computer in the corner.
"I've got everything planned out pretty much. You're going to put on a hologram of me and walk around stupidly. I'll be watching you and following you around, but you won't see me. When Vapor finds you, which will probably only take a few minutes, I'll thrown this little doo-hicky at him," Zim said, and he pulled an oval shaped contraption out of his backpod. There was a hole on one side and what looked like a window on the other. The window let off a purple glow.
"What's that?" Dib said, pointing.
"I haven't really thought of a name," Zim said, scratching at his head. "See, this thing will electrocute Vapor and then it will suck his arms and the lower half of his body into here, locking him in place. He'll be totally defenseless." Zim grinned and held the machine out to Dib proudly.
"Have you tested it?" Dib said, taking the machine in his hands and inspecting it.
"Uhm..," Zim mumbled, looking down at his boots. Dib looked up at him angrily.
"You're risking MY life for YOUR race and you don't even know if this will work?!" Dib yelled angrily, throwing the machine at Zim. Zim caught it, sat it on the table, and pulled at one of his antenna.
"Well...I haven't actually had time to find a Shadole to test it on," Zim said, laughing nervously.
"Oh, I am so out of here," Dib said angrily, and he stomped off toward the stairs.
"But," Zim said quickly, chasing after him. He got in front of Dib and blocked the stairs. "You can't leave! You'll only be destroying yourself!" Dib kicked Zim hard on the shin then pushed him down to the ground. He quickly got on top of him and pinned him by his shoulders.
"I bought it for a while, Zim, but I knew you were just acting. I have to admit though, you were a good actor. But did you think your little trick would work? 'Oh, Dib, suddenly I need your help even though you're a stupid, puny human with the brain of a cockroach,'" Dib said mockingly. Zim stared up at him, his antenna flat against his head. "Oh please. Zim, you must think I'm really dumb to fall for that type of thing. Your trap didn't work. Too bad, so sad."
Zim glared up at him. "Do you actually think that I would sink that low?" he said, his voice low and angry. Dib laughed scornfully. Zim watched him, feeling a deep hatred grow inside of him. He forced Dib off of him and kicked him in the stomach.
Dib got up quickly and ran at Zim, trying to tackle him. Zim dodged him, sticking his leg out so Dib would trip. Dib fell over and slid into the wall, doing a headstand. Zim came running at him, but Dib kicked at him and hit his cheek. Zim was sent to the floor from the force of the kick, and Dib was on top of him again.
"Children, children," a voice said, chuckling. "You must settle down." Zim and Dib stopped fighting and saw Vapor floating by the computer. He grinned, seeing Zim's face go white. Zim hastily pushed Dib off of him and scrambled toward the stairs. Vapor cut him off.
"Come now, we mustn't play this little game," Vapor said, and he glared at Zim. "You've caused me enough trouble already." Zim backed away slowly, then turned and broke into a run. He stopped abruptly, for Vapor was already in front of him.
"...uh...Dib?" Zim called out shakily, backing away from Vapor. Vapor was stretching out his body so he surrounded Zim completely. He grinned at Zim, his periwinkle blue eyes sparkling. Zim didn't know what to do. "Dib..." he called out again, panic showing in his voice. "Dib...Dib!"
Vapor lunged toward him. Zim shrieked and popped a wire out of his backpod, electricity flowing through it. Vapor laughed. "Did you think you could shock me again? You poor little Irken, you," he said, and he swatted the wire back at Zim. Zim screamed in pain as he was electrocuted, then collapsed to the floor when the wire finally retracted into the backpod.
While this was going on, Dib was watching intently, trying to decide if what he was seeing was a hologram or not. Zim had seemed honestly surprised when Vapor appeared, and frightened as well, but Dib still had his doubts and didn't answer Zim's desperate cries.
Vapor tightened the circle around Zim, who struggled to a standing position. This time he had two wires popped out of his backpod. Vapor shook his head, annoyed now. "Some people just never learn," he said sighing. He lunged at Zim again, easily dodged the wires, and forced himself into Zim's body.
At first, Zim just stood there, looking like a zombie and feeling numb. But then a horrible burning pain spread throughout his body as Vapor attempted to control him. He felt every pore in his skin ripping open, and something was blocking his throat. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think or see.
"NO! DIB! HELP!" Zim cried desperately, and he grabbed at his head and fell to his knees. Inside his mind, Vapor was laughing. Zim could hear nothing else, just Vapor's horrible laughter. It went on and on, taunting him. He had to make it stop. It only grew louder. He couldn't bear to hear it much longer. It had to stop. His head throbbed. He was choking.
Dib didn't know what to do. He got up and ran toward the table to get the egg shaped machine, but wasn't sure how to work it or if it would work at all. He stared at Zim and watched as he pushed at the sides of his head and pulled at his antenna. Dib looked down at the machine in his hand and back at Zim. "I don't know what to do!" he said, feeling helpless.
'What's wrong? Feeling a bit overwhelmed?' Vapor chimed in Zim's head, and he forced Zim's arms away from his head. 'No...' Zim thought weakly. He could feel himself fading. He couldn't be taken like this. He had to fight. 'NO!' he thought again, and he fought Vapor and took control of his arms again, grabbing at his antenna. Zim saw Vapor sneer in his mind, and could feel his annoyance.
Dib was creeping toward Zim, being cautious about his movements. He might end up hurting Zim more, or he could be attacked. Dib stood about 10 feet away Zim. He closed one eye and took careful aim. "Catch, Zim!" he yelled loudly, and he threw the machine at Zim. The words echoed in Zim's mind and it took Zim a moment to fully understand what they meant. He stuck his hands out just in time and caught the machine.
A bright purple light filled the room, and yellow bolts of electricity came out of the machine. They all headed directly at Zim, but when they hit him, it didn't seem to hurt. Vapor was the only one screaming. Zim could hear it in his mind, and it grew louder and louder with every second. Zim was afraid his head would burst, but then the machine began to vacuum Vapor into it, and Zim breathed deeply when he was finally extracted from his body. He sighed and flopped down on the floor, resting.
The machine finally shut off, locking Vapor in place. Vapor panted for a moment, then yelled angrily and struggled to get loose. Dib fell to a sitting position in pure relief and rubbed his forehead.
"Let me go this instant!" Vapor shrieked from the machine, his shoulders, neck, and head the only things visible. He tried to pull free once again, and the machine shocked him as punishment. I mechanical arm reached down from the ceiling and picked up Vapor and the machine. It brought him up to the roof and placed it in a shelf for later use.
Dib sighed and looked over at Zim. His chest was moving up and down quickly, and he was trembling. Dib pulled himself up and slowly walked up to him. Zim sat up and rubbed his head, his eyes closed and his face pale.
"Uhm...Zim...I," Dib stuttered trying to think of something to say. He didn't want to apologize to his enemy, after all, Zim was an alien, but he did feel bad for whatever happened to him.
Zim groaned and hugged his stomach. "You can go home now," Zim said softly, and he laid down again. Dib nodded and headed for the steps, but a thought hit him. Zim was very weak right now - Dib couldn't ignore this advantage.
'I could easily put him in a bag or something..,' Dib thought scratching at his chin. He smiled, remembering that he'd brought a duffel bag with him just in case something like this should happen. He started to get it out, but his conscious stopped him.
'No...it wouldn't be right,' he thought. '...but..I can't let this opportunity slide away from me! I'll never get another chance like this!' He was arguing with himself. It wasn't until he was outside that he realized Gir had led him away.
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"I told you Vapor was an idiot," Puck said, slamming his fist on the computer. Purple nodded in agreement. "He's wasting valuable time! We have to get all of this possession stuff BEFORE the star explodes!" He threw the deactivated SIR unit at the wall.
"Please settle yourself, Ink. There's no use getting upset over things out of your control," Purple said, although he seemed even angrier than Puck. "We'll let you decide his punishment, and then you can kill the Irken who's causing him so much trouble as well."
"Thank you, my Queen," Puck said, satisfied with this new information. "I promise Vapor will never make another mistake like this again. The miserable Irken will learn not to mess with the Shadole empire."
Purple nodded. "You can make those plans as we wait for Vapor to contact me," he said, scratching at his arm. Red suddenly appeared at his side, sucking on a soda. He saw Puck on the video screen and groaned in disgust.
"You know Ink, I never knew it was possible, but that body you're in right now is uglier than you are," he said, taking a sip out of his soda. Puck clenched his fists in anger.
"I would watch was I say if I were you, Screwball. I'm only 4 possessions away from beating the record," Puck said, grinning. Red's eyes got big, and he became angry.
"Yeah..well...I'm with the Queen, and you're not!" Red said, grabbing Purple's arm. Purple glared at him, then punched him hard in the stomach, knocking him down.
"Don't you ever touch me!" Purple yelled, and Red pulled himself up.
"But..h-he was insulting me, my Queen! He had to be taught! I'm better than him!" Red said, upset.
"Oh, Screwball, you'll never amount to anything but a butler," Purple snapped back at him.
Puck smiled, watching the two fight. "I'll leave you guys alone. Ink out."
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~glee~ I got the new chapter done already! Wow! How fast was that! I once again apologize for lack of updates lately, hopefully I'll have a new chapter up of Dib-ario and this during Christmas vacation. I hope you're liking this story. ^_^
-Crystal