Arco X
She glanced around the room she was in for a moment, obviously lost in sleep amnesia, but
slowly the memories came flooding back. Her eyes rested on Dib who was still sleeping
peacefully on the ground next to her. She almost hated to wake him up to the awful reality, yet
knowing he had to get up sooner or later. Reaching over, she tapped his shoulder lightly, causing
the boy to stir.
"Dib? I know I've said this a hundred times, but we have to find a way out," Red said weakly.
Dib's eyes slowly adjusted on her and he sat up.
"I know," he said horsily before rising to his feet. They remained in a silence, for both were in
deep thought. Red glanced around again and noticed something a rye. There was a small amount
of fog bubbling up from the far left corner.
"Dib, I think you should look at this," the girl announced standing to her feet rather quickly. Dib
whirled around just in time to see the left side of the floor erupt into steam.
"What is that!?" he shouted as the mist slowly ate away the floor's tiles. Dib and Red stayed as
far away from the fog as possible, but the jets of acidic vapor grew closer and closer with each
passing minute. The boy was becoming weary and ideas were blurred in his rest deprived mind,
but he had a plan that just had to work.
"Let me see your trench coat."
"Okay." Dib and Red both took off their jackets just as the mist increased its speed. The pale
one quickly grabbed both coats and knotted them together. He then took his boots off, one at a
time.
"Hurry, your shoes," he demanded, which in turn Red took her tennis shoes off. Dib grabbed the
laces and went to the task of tying the pairs of footwear to the trench coats.
"Alright you see that hook right there," Dib said pointing to a piece of the ceiling that jutted out.
Red nodded.
"When I string it through, grab it and climb fast," Dib instructed as the burning steam was only
feet away from eating them alive. Dib swung back the makeshift grappling hook, and prayed that
his aim was true. He let it fly, but it missed by a few inches. Red, knowing that they only had
seconds left, snatched the coats and shoes and threw with all her might. This time the boats and
tennis sneakers wrapped around. Giving it a goo tug before climbing, Red scrambled up the
coats followed closely by Dib. When they reached the top, both children watched as the acid fog
past, leaving them unharmed.
"Good mourning, sorry did that wake you," a voice echoed through the room.
"I'm tired of these stupid tricks!" Dib shouted with rage.
"Uh-huh, well, I have a surprise test for you today," the voice taunted, now unmistakably known
as Qui's. A gapping hole slide open just below the pair, and with a blink of an eye, the hook
disappeared sending the two down the long, dark drop. When they did eventually reach the
bottom, they were surprised to find it was soft, however not soft enough to prevent minor injury.
Both humans groaned in pain as their eyes tried to adjust to the dark pit. Suddenly objects began
raining down on the two, causing them to shriek in terror.
"What is it," Red shouted scrambling to her feet. Dib braved to bend down and pick one up, to
notice its familiar shape and feel.
"It's a peach," Dib said. Red took one of the fruits that rested on the ground. Both their stomachs
growled, wanting the prizes that they held in their hands.
"It has to be a trick," the girl spat knowing, to well, the trappings of this place. The pale boy
sniffed the food carefully, even though it was hard to resist the temptation of biting into the fresh,
juicy fruit. He could smell the familiar scent of peach, but also the tainted stench of an acidic
nature.
"You are right," he proclaimed sadly, as he dropped the food. Red did the same action with the
same mood. Both hadn't eaten for hours let alone had something to drink. Then, as if
responding to their last thought a cool, refreshing waterfall poured out from the walls. The
children tensed up, remembering the last time liquid entered their space. However, this time the
liquid drained into the soft cushion under them. Dib almost wanted to charge the sweet drink,
but he knew better, as so did Red. With a heavy sigh, they both turned their backs to the whisks
of water. Unknown to them, two figures watched their every move.
"See how he can avoid such danger, I know it's him for sure now," Qui laughed wickedly. Zim
looked down and tried to laugh as well, but for some reason, this wasn't as fun as it had once
been. Qui seemed to notice his distress and quickly boosted his confidence in his decision.
"Will it not be great Zim, a second chance to prove you really are a great invader," she said.
"Yes, yes it will be," he stated with older charm entering his voice.
"You will be the most rebounded irken," Qui pushed further.
"Yes, I will."
"And your name . . . ?
"I am ZIM!"
"Did you hear something," Chris questioned as he watched the Professor work on the vootrunner.
"No," Gaz answered as she handed her dad a few of his tools. They were now in one of
Membrane's many labs and locations in town. He had ordered that no one bother him at the
moment, and that all appointments be pushed back. Gaz was amazed by the fact, her father had
put science on the back burner. She thought she'd never see the day that he would actually
believe this, an why shouldn't she think that way. For years he had neglected her and her
brother, especially her brother, and now it was very hard to adjust to his sudden turn around in
fatherhood. However, she didn't know the professor side of this story, and what bothered her
particularly were his words 'I didn't think it was true."
"Dad, did you know about this, about the aliens," she said, making sure he understood what she
meant. Chris looked between the father and daughter trying to understand the situation. The
professor almost seemed to ignore her question, not that this surprised her in anyway, however, he
did respond after a moment of silence.
"It was before you were born, only a few days after your brother was. He and your mother
disappeared. At first, we thought she was kidnaped, then it switched to she kidnaped Dib,
missing persons, and after forty-eight hours they were saying it was hopeless." Gaz listened to
his story in shock. She had never been told this before about her mother or brother, and the last
place she expected to hear it from was her father. "They were gone without a trace, no leads, no
evidence, nothing. Then on the third night, I received a call. . .," he paused for a minute, pulling
his attention away from the vootrunner to look at Gaz, " It was your mother, she was on the
corner of fifth and main, holding Dib with no idea how she got there."
"What happened then," Chris asked seemingly drawn into the story.
"Yes, what does this have to do with that," Gaz restated pointing at the spacecraft.
"Well, after getting the details hammered out with the police and a few weeks passed, your
mother started having strange dreams and visions that she swore she could remember happening.
This was also the time period your brother cried most, and wake up shaking and screaming every
day for five consecutive days. She told me they were abducted, but I didn't believe her, at first.
She had been trying to convince me for years up until . . . well anyway your brother was six times
more determined to get me to believe."
"Well, why didn't you," Gaz asked with some annoyance.
"I tried!" He shouted unintentionally. He didn't want to press the subject of the past, being it
hurt so much. A scientist of his stature had no time for that, but it slowly ate away at his being,
day after day, year after year.
"I worked on a space program for a while and found nothing," he restated a little softer.
"This is crazy, how did I get involved in this," Chris stressed.
"Is that why Dib annoys you so much," Gaz said and as a thought knew that's why he annoyed
her.
"No your brother doesn't annoy me," the professor said quickly as he turned his head away to
close the side of the vootrunner. Gaz waited for the answer to her question, but it never came.
Instead he walked out of the lab. Gir, who again was surprisingly quiet, was sitting on top of a
light fixture playing with a moose toy. Chris looked up at the robot and then to the vootrunner.
Thinking about what had just been said, his memory was jarred.
"I remember now, one of those were flying around my house," he practically shouted pointing to
the craft. Gaz turned to him and let out an annoyed sigh.
"Please don't shout, or I'll have to take your head off," she said lowly. This didn't seem to phase
the boy as he just stared back at her with an 'okay' expression.
"I just wanted to say, that I saw it a hour ago, and it was smaller than this one. I though sense
Dib was interested in this stuff he would like to know about it," he restated.
"Well why didn't you say so earlier," Gaz asked.
"I couldn't remember for some reason." Gaz thought about it for a moment before it hit her.
Whoever was behind this had blanked out their memories, maybe to but time to get out of there.
That's why she couldn't understand why she was outside walking with Ms. Jackson, but now it
was coming in clear. She was out trying to find Dib and Red and she did, in a trash can. Before
she could think any further her dad came in holding three helmets and a small bag.
"Let's go."
~*~* Thank you, Faith, for prompting me along. Here is chapter ten for your reading pleasure. Chapter 11 will be the longest and last chapter, I hope. Enjoy.