Heya! Yet another (painfullly short) chapter up! I would have tacked on more sooner, but some small details are being revamped since the Wormbaby crash... (For those of you who don't know what that is, pray you never find out...) For that reason, the posts might be a bit... er... erratic or something. Meh. I need sleep.
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Zim shivered against the cold walking home from Skool. The first real chill of fall had finally set in during class, and he was really feeling it now. He cut through an open gate in someone's back yard. He figured it'd be faster if he took the most direct route--a relative straight line that led him through a network of back yards, alleys and driveways. He and Dib had parted ways after class; Dib had homework, and Zim had some more experiments to do anyway. So far, he was having no luck with the work he had done in the past week or so. His own bloodwork had shown some growth hormones that were usually only found in smeets, but why they were running through his veins NOW, he had no idea.
He had tested everything: From air and water supplies to his own genetic composition, and had found nothing really "wrong" beyond the scope of an alien ecosystem. His lack of progress was at once aggravating and worrisome. He was having dreams lately of finding himself with eyeballs on his palms and other, more bizarre mutations. Just thinking bout it made him shudder more than the cold.
Zim eventually abandoned the maze of side-paths and narrow streets to return to the sidewalk, and was snapped out of his train of thought by a strange sound, echoing over the ugly brick buildings lining the street. A very fast, tapping sound like something hard and sharp hitting concrete over and over again. He suddenly had the feeling that there was someone out there, watching him. He glanced nervously behind him, and found nothing there. Zim shook his head, berating himself for being paranoid. Even if there were someone following him, there was still nothing any human can throw at him that he couldn't handle. Maybe he'd just been working too hard. The pressures of keeping up a facade at skool, coupled with his recent experiments, were probably starting to get to him. He turned and continued walking home. Turning into an alley, he first glanced around him to make sure there was no one there. He scoffed at his own behavior, and plunged into the alley.
For some reason, the narrow street seemed longer than normal. Zim seemed to jump at every sound. What caused him to stop, though, was a rhythmic tapping sound echoing between the buildings. Footsteps. He stopped walking. "All right! I know you're here, stalker creature! I know you've been following me! Show yourself!" Zim yelled, feeling both ridiculous and justified in his actions. The echoes stopped. "Who is that? Dib, if that's you, you're in for the probing of your life, you hear me?" He said aloud. He turned around just in time to see a shadow disappear behind a corner. "Hey!" He yelled, taking off after the phantasm. He rounded the corner into another alley, flanked on either side by apartment buildings and crisscrossed up above by rusted fire escapes. There were dumpsters and boxes littering the street, but he didn't see anyone. Taking a few steps forward, he visually scanned the ground. He knew there was no way that the guy would be able to climb, but he absentmindedly looked up anyway, to see what looked like a giant spider latched onto the brick wall above him. He reeled back in shock, and the shadow took off up the building on four legs.
Mechanical legs. Spiderlegs.
"Hey!! Dib, are you crazy?! Where are you going??" Zim yelled, glanced around him nervously, and sprouted his own spiderlegs and gave chase, clinging to the fire escape for added support and speed. He clatter the iron structure made didn't bother him as much as the fact that the both of them were headed for the rooftop, where everyone would be able to see them. He overtook him quickly and moved a couple of yards to the side--the better to mess with his sense of distance. What was Dib thinking? Surely he knew better than this...
Reaching the top of the building, Zim quickly crouched on the metal appendages like a cat ready to pounce, and leapt directly into the shadow's path as it emerged over the side of the building. At the nucleus of his pursuer's spiderlegs was a mess of oversized clothing, with no identifiable features. He neglected to see Zim coming, and was tackled by the little green Irken and knocked to the roof of the building with a fleshy thud, his metallic legs scraping the concrete. Zim lay there beside him for a second, panting. Whoever it was he hit was breathing heavily, too. Zim lifted his head to look at him. The sporadically twitching metal legs showed that he was stunned. Still a little dizzy himself, Zim got up and stagger-crawled his way to him. He reached down and grabbed him by the oversized hooded sweatshirt, and knelt down to his face, which was still covered by the hood.
"What the hell was that all about?! It doesn't take a genius to figure out NOT to use these things in public. This baggy fabric you're wearing isn't going to make you any less conspicuous, either! You're so stupid, Dib! I oughtta--"
The hood fell back, and Zim gasped in shock. Instead of Dib's oversized glasses, Half-open crimson eyes were blinking at him, set into a green face. "Uhhh..." A female voice uttered. "...Anyone get the number of that cruiser?"
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Zim shivered against the cold walking home from Skool. The first real chill of fall had finally set in during class, and he was really feeling it now. He cut through an open gate in someone's back yard. He figured it'd be faster if he took the most direct route--a relative straight line that led him through a network of back yards, alleys and driveways. He and Dib had parted ways after class; Dib had homework, and Zim had some more experiments to do anyway. So far, he was having no luck with the work he had done in the past week or so. His own bloodwork had shown some growth hormones that were usually only found in smeets, but why they were running through his veins NOW, he had no idea.
He had tested everything: From air and water supplies to his own genetic composition, and had found nothing really "wrong" beyond the scope of an alien ecosystem. His lack of progress was at once aggravating and worrisome. He was having dreams lately of finding himself with eyeballs on his palms and other, more bizarre mutations. Just thinking bout it made him shudder more than the cold.
Zim eventually abandoned the maze of side-paths and narrow streets to return to the sidewalk, and was snapped out of his train of thought by a strange sound, echoing over the ugly brick buildings lining the street. A very fast, tapping sound like something hard and sharp hitting concrete over and over again. He suddenly had the feeling that there was someone out there, watching him. He glanced nervously behind him, and found nothing there. Zim shook his head, berating himself for being paranoid. Even if there were someone following him, there was still nothing any human can throw at him that he couldn't handle. Maybe he'd just been working too hard. The pressures of keeping up a facade at skool, coupled with his recent experiments, were probably starting to get to him. He turned and continued walking home. Turning into an alley, he first glanced around him to make sure there was no one there. He scoffed at his own behavior, and plunged into the alley.
For some reason, the narrow street seemed longer than normal. Zim seemed to jump at every sound. What caused him to stop, though, was a rhythmic tapping sound echoing between the buildings. Footsteps. He stopped walking. "All right! I know you're here, stalker creature! I know you've been following me! Show yourself!" Zim yelled, feeling both ridiculous and justified in his actions. The echoes stopped. "Who is that? Dib, if that's you, you're in for the probing of your life, you hear me?" He said aloud. He turned around just in time to see a shadow disappear behind a corner. "Hey!" He yelled, taking off after the phantasm. He rounded the corner into another alley, flanked on either side by apartment buildings and crisscrossed up above by rusted fire escapes. There were dumpsters and boxes littering the street, but he didn't see anyone. Taking a few steps forward, he visually scanned the ground. He knew there was no way that the guy would be able to climb, but he absentmindedly looked up anyway, to see what looked like a giant spider latched onto the brick wall above him. He reeled back in shock, and the shadow took off up the building on four legs.
Mechanical legs. Spiderlegs.
"Hey!! Dib, are you crazy?! Where are you going??" Zim yelled, glanced around him nervously, and sprouted his own spiderlegs and gave chase, clinging to the fire escape for added support and speed. He clatter the iron structure made didn't bother him as much as the fact that the both of them were headed for the rooftop, where everyone would be able to see them. He overtook him quickly and moved a couple of yards to the side--the better to mess with his sense of distance. What was Dib thinking? Surely he knew better than this...
Reaching the top of the building, Zim quickly crouched on the metal appendages like a cat ready to pounce, and leapt directly into the shadow's path as it emerged over the side of the building. At the nucleus of his pursuer's spiderlegs was a mess of oversized clothing, with no identifiable features. He neglected to see Zim coming, and was tackled by the little green Irken and knocked to the roof of the building with a fleshy thud, his metallic legs scraping the concrete. Zim lay there beside him for a second, panting. Whoever it was he hit was breathing heavily, too. Zim lifted his head to look at him. The sporadically twitching metal legs showed that he was stunned. Still a little dizzy himself, Zim got up and stagger-crawled his way to him. He reached down and grabbed him by the oversized hooded sweatshirt, and knelt down to his face, which was still covered by the hood.
"What the hell was that all about?! It doesn't take a genius to figure out NOT to use these things in public. This baggy fabric you're wearing isn't going to make you any less conspicuous, either! You're so stupid, Dib! I oughtta--"
The hood fell back, and Zim gasped in shock. Instead of Dib's oversized glasses, Half-open crimson eyes were blinking at him, set into a green face. "Uhhh..." A female voice uttered. "...Anyone get the number of that cruiser?"