Gaz is Spirited Away
Written by: Cartman's Girl

Notes: I'd like to thank all of you who were kind enough to comment on the first chapter. My apologies to those of you who haven't seen the movie yet; because this will travel down the same road as the story. I'm not sure if this will result in a Zim/Gaz relationship, since personally I didn't see Haku or Chihiro as a couple. I personally believe their 'love' was the love of friendship. I mean, she is ten after all… but, view it anyway you want. I'm just gonna have both Zim and Gaz recoil at the 'L' word. Heh…

Now, we continue!

~*~

Chapter Two: Broiler Man with Soot Workers

Hearing a noise ahead, she lifted her gaze. Not far from the top of the stairs, riding boldly on the river was a boat. A very big, fancy boat. One of those boats rich people ride up and down rivers on. It was at his point; Gaz looked down at her feet. They were see-through. Her eyes widened in shock and she stood up quickly, and realised her whole body was se-through.

The boat docked, and the gang-plank lowered. The riders of the boat began to exit he boat, and boy, were they a weird looking bunch. A bunch of them looked like people wearing giant red tablecloths from head to toe, with a white mask on their faces and carrying – with invisible hands – a white booklet. Others looked like chubby, giant penguins with ice cubes on their heads. Gaz didn't stick around to see more, she ran off before anyone of them would see her.

She found herself sitting on the grass, behind a wall. In all her life, she had never hidden before, but there's a first time for everything. A finger suddenly poked her side, startling her. She came face to face with the same creature as before.

"I see you didn't make it in time." He scoffed, "What more would I expect from a human." Suddenly he held up a red berry. "Eat this." It wasn't a request, it was an order. Gaz just glared at him. "Tch, it won't turn you into a pig."

"No! Go away!" Gaz went to punch him in the face, but found her fist and entire arm went through his body.

"Eat it, before you disappear." Gaz went to answer, but found he had pushed the berry into her mouth. She scowled at him, but ate it either way. He watched, with an air of 'I told you so' wafting around him. "There now, you're all better. See?" he held up his hand; but Gaz punched him clear in the jaw; sending him back.

"THAT'S for getting me stuck here." She snarled. He was up quicker then she hoped, and had shoved her against the wall all of a sudden. His hand clamped over her mouth, as his eyes stared sky-ward. She also glanced up, and there she saw a bird, a bird which had a human head. It flapped its wings, circling above before flying away.

"That bird is looking for you." He said, not sounding at all angry that she punched him.

"Oh really, and why is that?" she asked.

"Because you're a human. Humans aren't welcomed here." He explained. "Everyone will be looking for you now. So, we have to get you somewhere safe."

"And why are you helping me, exactly?" Gaz asked.

"Something to do." He shrugged.

"Oh." Gaz said. "And can I have your name? Or is that asking too much?" Gaz suddenly found they were walking through the back streets of the restaurants. When they started walking, she didn't know. The green 'boy' stared at her.

"Zim." He replied. They had come to a small latch gate; across the gate were the bizarre creatures Gaz had seen before. Zim opened the latch.

"Hold your breath when we cross the bridge. No one will see you, so hold onto my arm. But if you breathe, EVERYONE will see you; and probably kill you." Zim explained casually. Gaz eyed him, but nodded. She didn't want to be killed, that's for sure. They passed some bizarre frog-like creatures holding lanterns. All throughout this time, they had been greeting the guests as they approached the bridge.

"Welcome back Master Zim!" one cried happily.

"YES. I have returned from my mission. Praise me!" he added quietly to Gaz, "Hold your breath… now." And she did. They made their way across the bridge, as they did the passed a figure not moving on with the guests, or moving back. It was all purple, with a pale green mask on its face. It seemed to stare at Gaz, which creeped her out.

Just as they were approaching the end of the bridge a frog leapt out at hem. It too, was dressed. It was grinning, even though it had no teeth.

"Master Zim! YOU'RE BACK!" it had startled Gaz so much, she breathed. The frog stared blankly, "A HUMAN!" he cried. Zim pulled his hand up and smacked the frog up the head. It paused in mid-leap, and hung in mid-air.

"Let's move!" Zim seemed to fly, straight under the frog, and the legs of the women who were greeting the guests. The wind caused an up draft; causing the girls to giggle like school girls. The two vanished behind a door, just as the frog fell back to earth. The two were now hiding in some flower bushes, while the sounds of panicking workers filled the bath house. Cries of "Master Zim!" and "A human!" and "We're done for!" and "A human'll stink up the place!" filled the air.

"Huh, great job. All because of a frog." Zim scowled slightly, but sighed. "Still. You did better then I thought."

"So now what do I do?" Gaz asked, hating it when she sounded so helpless. Zim glanced side-ways at her.

"I'm going to have to go in there and calm them all down, but you have to go through that door." He pointed behind her, and Gaz glanced over her shoulder to see the bark. "Head down the stairs until you come to the Broiler Room. There you will find Red Burgundy. But just call him Red, he hates his last name. Ask him for work."

"Ask him for work?" Gaz stared at him blankly.

"Yes. Just keep asking, even if he turns you away, or throws big chunks of coal at you. If you get a job, Bitters can't hurt you." Zim concluded with.

"Bitters?" the names and explanations she was being handed was being met with much confusion.

"She's the powerful witch who runs this whole place. Now I must go." With that, he stood up and walked to the door way which was opened with greetings of "Master Zim! There you are!" he walked in, and the door shut behind him. Gaz sat on the grass for a while longer, then got up and walked to the door. Pushing it open, her eyes widened at how many stairs there were.

"Whoa." Oh well, nothing was achieved by standing around like a wimp. She started heading down the flight of stairs, until one broke. It sent her hurtling down the stairs, unable to stop or weave. She crashed into a wall, which became her breaks. Gaz rubbed her red nose, and started walking down the stairs.

Finally she came to a door marked 'BROILER ROOM – R. Burgundy', and the last name was crossed out poorly with black marker. Touching the door, she discovered the marker was actually soot. Wiping her hands on her other hand, she shoved the door open. Large thick pipes covered the walls, steam hissing loudly and pushing through the tightly welded metal.

Beyond the pipes, was an open door way. A large shadow was working away, and there were noises of something metallic opening, grinding, and shutting over and over again. The heat was immense too. She peeked around the door way.

There, working away was Red Burgundy. He was the same species as Zim, it appeared. But he was much taller. He was simply grinding away at something with his front hands. Another, yes, another pair of arms were reaching out and grabbing colourful hand fulls of coloured 'straw' from three large jars besides his wooden work area. The last pair was moving a large wheel-like device. Two out of the three sets of arms were metallic too. In front of him, was the main Broiler. It was huge, to say the least.

And there was a sunken floor. The walls were filled with drawers, the contents inside were unknown to Gaz. Though on the floor, were workers. It first appeared like the coal was moving itself. Then she caught glimpse of little legs. Were the coals committing suicide? No! At the front of the Broiler, one part kept opening. When it opened, the coal was thrown in. She then saw, they were being carried by little small black soot balls which had arms and legs.

She took in a deep breath, and stepped forward. The workers barely flinched as a stranger entered their work area.

"Are you Red?" she called out. Red ignored her, as one of his back arms suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the drawers. It opened the drawer, vanished inside and reappeared with a handful of more 'straw'. The hand shut he drawer, and went back to work. "Are you RED?" she called. Once again, he ignored her. "Red Burgundy?" she asked.

No sooner had she said that, did the machinery grind to a halt. Red turned his face to glare at her. She now saw why he was called red. His green skin was actually reddish, and his eyes were like flaming fires.

"Don't SAY that NAME!" he screeched, "Who are you? What do you want from a slave to the broiler like me?" he asked, returning to work suddenly.

"My name's Gaz, and I want a job." She said sternly. Red laughed out loud hysterically, even the soot workers seemed to laugh.

"Oh please. I have enough workers." One of his middle arms suddenly rang a bell. "BREAK TIME!" all the soot workers vanished into their holes and were gone. Red stretched his arms out happily. "As I said, all I have to do is cast a spell on the soot, and I have all the workers I need. Now go away." He shooed at Gaz pathetically.

"I'm not leaving until you give me a job." Gaz repeated, folding her arms and glaring at him. Red glared back, even more determined then she was. She was a human, and he'd get into big trouble for helping a human. Suddenly, a chute opened which Gaz hadn't noticed before. On string, three wooden slates appeared and jingled. Red turned to look at it.

"Aw man! Three soap tokens at once?! I've only got six hands!" he rang the bell again, "C'mon you stupid little soots! BACK TO WORK!" and, as if nothing had happened, the soot workers repapered; dragging or carrying their coals.

"Just give me a JOB!" Gaz cried out as the soot worked around her.

"NO!" Red whined as he poured more powder down another chute. Gaz had to eventually get out of the way for the soots, and sat off to the side. It figured that where she stood, was where Red needed to get straw from. One of his metallic arms stretched out, grabbed her by the back of the shirt, set her down again and pulled some straw out, followed by another drawer.

Gaz watched the soot people work, until one tripped and fell. The giant piece of coal splattered the worker. She stared blankly, as its little arms and legs flailed helplessly as its fellow workers walked around it. Gaz sighed and leant down to pick up the coal. It was heavier then she thought. Really heavy, like dragging a big bag of coal then just one. She managed though, the little soot worker popped out of the ground; then vanished into the walls again.

"Hey wait! You don't expect me to carry this thing do you?" she called after him. Red glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Finish what you started human." He grinned, showing zipper-like teeth. Gaz shrugged slightly, it was what she was asking for. She walked; similar to how a crab walks, carrying the coal. After a bit she got to the opening of the broiler, and threw the coal in. She found herself sweating something fierce, and wiped her forehead. The soot workers stared at her, and one by one… began dropping their coals on themselves. Red whirled around, glaring down at the workers.

"AY! GET BACK TO WORK YOU LOUSY SODS! YOU WANNA TURN BACK TO SOOT?! Look at what you did!" he poked at Gaz, and just as she was about to answer, a door she hadn't noticed opened and a guy appeared. Once again, the same species as Zim. But he was chubbier, and a tad taller. Wearing pink, he was a sight all right.

"What's happening in here? Are you fighting again?" he asked in an inquisitive voice. The coals, which had begun gathering around Gaz's feet, were abandoned as the workers heard the voice. The soot workers hopped over to where he was, squeaking happily. "Red, where's your bowl? I always tell you to leave it out…" Red smacked his lips together as they had lunch break, and took a bowl of assorted food from the guy, and passed him an empty one.

"Yum." He grinned as he dug into the food. The feeding of the soot workers with candy stars begun, until Gaz was noticed.

"The human!" he cried, pointing an accusing finger at Gaz, "Everybody's looking for you, you are in BIG TROUBLE!"

"She's my granddaughter." Red piped up suddenly, causing everyone (including the soot balls) to stare at him.

"Granddaughter?" he asked. "I don't see a family resemblance."

"Says she wants to work here. I think she should go see Bitters though, she's tough. She can handle it." Red mumbled with a mouthful of donuts. Gaz raised an eyebrow, but looked at the guy.

"Yeah, I can handle it!" she enthused. The first response was the rolling of eyes.

"Will you do it for this deep-fried taco?" one of Red's arms extended, holding out the said item with a napkin. There was a long pause, "C'mon Skoodge, I know how much you love em." The one known as Skoodge eyed the taco, and then quick as lightning snatched it from Red's hand and shoved it into his shirt.

"All right, fine! C'mon little human. I'll take you up to see Bitters." He dumped the load of candy stars on the workers, before opening his door again and vanishing into it. He paused, half vanished into the door and looked out at Gaz. "Can't you even say a yes sir?" he asked. Gaz groaned.

"Yes sir."

"And leave your shoes, you won't be needing them. And your socks." He added as Gaz took off her shoes. She scowled, but pulled her knee-high socks off and left them on the floor. The workers gathered around her shoes and socks, observing like they were pure gold of sorts. Gaz climbed after Skoodge, before he turned to her again. "Thank the Broiler man human, you don't know how much he's ticking his neck out for you."

"Ugh. Thanks… Mr. Broiler Man." Gaz gurgled. Red looked at her, and gave her six thumbs up.

"Good luck!"

[Gaz is off to see Ms. Bitters, the horrible Witch of Oz! …wait, wrong story. Well, what shall befall Gaz now? Tune in next time! Same CG Site, same CG web server!]