The world outside was more amazing than I could have imagined, yet at the same time it made my insides churn.

The fresh air felt good as I stepped outside into the concrete prison chamber. That's what it looked like anyway, with all of the ragged and torn humans in the street. Many were using newspapers and cardboard boxes as shelters and had bottles of unnamed liquids lain by their holy boots.

I gazed up at the sky for the first time in what seemed like ages. Even if I couldn't see the stars, being outside and at least a little closer to them was enough. It was a wonderful feeling. I almost felt free again.

I was quickly reminded however, that I was a prisoner. Dib tugged hard on his retched leash and beckoned me to follow him. Unless I wanted to be choked, I was forced to keep in time with his steps.

The streets of this filthy city were even filthier than I remembered them. There must have been hundreds of stink beasts lying in the road. There were moments when I couldn't help but stare.

" Don't look at them." Dib warned me, " They'll only eat you alive."

I wondered for a moment whether that statement was literal or not. He had mentioned something about their cannibalism previously. Unfortunately, I was granted a perfect opportunity to witness this, as I saw two human-beasts, a male and female, fighting for what looked like the remains of a small child. Just the thought of it made me twitch in revoltion.

" They're monsters." Dib reinforced this fact, " They'd do anything, even slaughter their loved ones for a bite to eat."

He laughed in a horridly hollow way, " But then again…weren't they always?"

For once, I had to agree. The humans had always held a potentially monstrous quality to them. Apparently, they really were a vicious race, despite their primitiveness.

Our stroll through the ruins of civilized society was interrupted by two men who stopped in our path. They were haggard and worn like the rest of the scum in the streets, but apparently had the strength to stand, even if they were a bit wobbly.

" Hey pretty…" One of them said, reaching out to stroke my wig, " Why don't you come with me an' my friend here?"

" Yeah…" The other said, making a move for my hips, " We'll show ya a real good time…"

I could feel my attentae poking up at my wig in a natural horrified response. Before I even had time to react though, Dib's hand was at my collar and he quite literally growled at the men.

Of course, the two men decided to taunt Dib, ignoring his threats and adding their own. Before they even knew what had happened, they had been sliced open by a concealed blade. The moves had been so precise and deep that through the spurting blood, their intestines could be seen. Dib had to tug at the leash to snap me out of my stupor.

" Come on." He said, stepping over the corpses, " We don't have all day."

It was amazing how he could kill and not feel any emotion at all. Granted, I would have done the same thing, but this…this was Dib. Humans had always seemed to have trouble when it came to murder.

…Then again, these human-monsters in the street killed daily. Perhaps it was true that humans could transform into monsters, even out of the streets.

The streets were littered with many more filthy creatures, but no more of them bothered us. Apparently, news spreads quickly.

I couldn't help but wonder about Dib's motives though. Why would he…why would he bother taking me outside? Ever since that night about a week ago, the lines between enemy and…and…non-enemy I suppose, had blurred incredibly. There are still moments where I'm unsure of exactly what is happening anymore but at this point, I don't think it really matters. I'm no threat to anyone and I never have been. Not even to Dib, as he's proven to me many times.

Soon I found the streets becoming more and more familiar to me. I still had no idea where I was being led to, but I knew I'd been on these filthy streets before. It was difficult to tell exactly where the Dib-human had been taking me, because of all the destruction that had never been taken care of from The Impact.

Through the wreckage though, I could see one monument that hadn't been destroyed. That alone was amazing, since it had always looked as though one touch would knock it over like the pitiful human toy it was.

It was the strange welded metal climber of mine and Dib's elementary skool.

I couldn't help but stare in wonder as I was pulled along. Of all Earthly places…why would the Dib want to go back there? Why would he want to have me accompany him? It was very strange.

I winced as I wondered if he had some sort of secret torture waiting for me there. It really wasn't impossibility or even an improbability. Dib was always very unpredictable like that. He and his monster were two sides to the same coin I think.

When I voiced my confusion to the Dib-human, he just laughed at me. Not his usual cold chuckle or maniacal cackle either…but a real laugh.

" Ah, wait until you see the brilliance of it all…" He said mysteriously.

I shot a suspicious glance in his direction as I was tugged along toward the horrid greasy skool building. It was obvious that it had been shot at with lasers and been partially bashed in, but it had not been knocked down entirely. It looked as though there were still rooms that could be used within its inner confines.

There was random rubble scattered about though, as I saw the old fountain and various other yard accessories broken into pieces. Again, it was a shock that the dangerous metal poles of death were still intact. The door was barricaded crudely with nailed planks of wood, so Dib brought me around the side to a tiny basement window.

The Dib motioned for me to crouch down, so that I could peek inside. It was an incredibly stupid move on my part though. I realized this when he shoved me through the tiny opening.

I landed hard in a dark hallway and Dib landed beside me a moment later. There were lanterns lit and hung everywhere, yet it remained dark and dank. It was very primitive looking…

" I don't remember this being in the school…" I questioned Dib.

" Well…we've made improvements, if you can call them that." He said.

I found I really couldn't. The skool looked no better than it had when I had attended. The walls were still drippy and it still held a very creepy feel. There were more important questions on my mind though.

" We?" I asked.

" The Earth Defense Alliance." Dib revealed, " Or E.D.A. if you prefer."

Many possibilities ran through my mind. Maybe he was finally turning me in? Maybe he was sick of me and would leave me to be torn apart by pointy needles? Suddenly, I didn't want to be torn up by pointy needles.

The Dib human loomed in and I heard something unclamp. I tentatively touched my neck and found that he had only removed the leash and not the collar.

" Be careful." The Dib human said softly, as though he was not sure if he wanted me to hear, " Your disguise may have fooled the street-rats, but it won't fool anyone here. After all, we just fought your people a week ago."

I nodded vaguely, wondering what kind of horrors were awaiting me. It took me a few minutes to remember to walk on my own, but I followed closely behind the Dib.

The hallway was lined with many doors, but we were the only ones outside. It seemed very empty and quiet. Almost too quiet.

" The rooms are sound proof." Dib seemed to read my mind, " We made them sound proof and they work as excellent bomb shelters. Almost a perfect place for something like this, isn't it?"

He seemed very proud of their hard work, but I still thought that they hadn't changed the rooms much. I gazed over at him again and he seemed to be counting the doors. I thought it was rather strange…

Finally, he seemed to spot the right one and opened it. He motioned for me to come with him into the room with him, but I was very cautious. Eventually, he grabbed my arm and pulled me in.

…Somehow it wasn't at all what I expected. I had been expecting a militarian war room or something to that effect, but the room was more like a lounge than anything else really. It was brighter than the hall was, because of a lamp that Dib said ran on batteries. There were comfy looking chairs and even couches. The wall held emblems of everything from noise-making humans to people with cheese on their heads. While the décor was a little odd, it wasn't menacing.

There were only two in the room though. Were they the only three in this entire army? …That couldn't be right; there must be people in other rooms.

There was a pink haired girl lying down on the couch and she had an unusually large abdomen. Her hair was brought into tight piggly-tails and her shirt made her look like a candy cane. She also had a pink dress on and flippy-flops.

The last one in the room was a boy, a very small boy. He couldn't have been any taller than I was. His attire was decked out in red and purple, two colors I didn't want to think about at the moment. I saw he purple-sleeved arm reach up from his slouched position and toss something across the room lazily. He was tossing darts at an alien drawing tacked to a board. I winced as one pierce through the alien's spleen.

" Nice shot." The Dib complemented him.

" Dib! You're back!" The pink haired woman exclaimed when she saw him.

" Sure took him long enough." The dart boy said, flinging a dart at the paper alien's spleen.

" Ha ha, very funny." Dib said bitterly, " I can assure you, I was very busy on my projects, if that's what you were worried about."

" Don't be like that Dib…" The woman on the couch sat up and scolded, " We were worried about you! You were gone a week. For all we knew, you could have been dead!"

" Well, I'm obviously not, Tavisha." Dib rolled his eyes at her, " If you were really that concerned, you could have sent Hal out for me."

This 'Tavisha' person just looked to the ground and a silence so loud it could send the walls crashing to the ground entered the room.

" So he's dead?" Dib assumed.

The Dib human shoved his hands in his coat and held himself in a way that said he wished this 'Hal' creature good riddance.

" Man, I should really be more on top of things than this…" Dib mused to no one in particular.

Nobody said anything. I pretended nobody could see me.

" You would be if you stayed here like everyone else." The Dart boy spoke up.

" I can't." Dib laughed coolly, " You'd all drive me nuts."

" You already are, remember?" The boy picked a fight.

" Then I'd just be more so." Dib shrugged.

" Well, sometimes we just get sick of sending people for you!" he shouted, " You come whenever you damn well please and you never stay more than a day or two! You realize we need you here, right?"

Dib just shrugged and sat down in a chair. Suddenly I had no cover. Suddenly I was vulnerable.

Suddenly someone noticed me.

" Who's your green friend?" asked Dart Boy suspiciously.

" Oh." Dib said as though he'd just remembered, " That's Zim."

"…I thought we killed all the Irkens?" The Dart Boy raised an eyebrow at me.

" He's a special case Spoog, let him be." Dib said from behind a book he'd picked up, " Take a look at his neck if you don't believe me."

Indeed, this 'Spoog' hopped off his chair and strode over to me. He turned out to be no taller than I was, which was funny because he seemed the most in charge out of the four humans there. His fingers gracefully danced around my neck and traced the words on the tag.

" …Why do you have such a horrible disguise?" Spoog asked me harshly, " Any human could see through it."

Before I could answer, Dib opened his big mouth.

"Old habit." His eyes never left the book, " He's been here since before The Impact."

" I WAS ASKING ZIM!" Spoog shouted at Dib, who only shrugged.

" …That is amazing though." Spoog turned to me again, " You've been here that long? No wonder your disguise used to work…"

I nodded and thought hard, " I've been here…nine years I believe."

" NINE?" Spoog's eyes were wide, " And nobody caught you?"

" Well…" I spoke softly, " …he did."

I pointed at Dib, " He chased me from Day 1. He caught me…er…"

" Five years ago." Dib informed me, " It's been five years."

" …That was during The Impact." Spoog realized.

I nodded, for there was nothing else to be said.

" …You're a bastard, Dib." Spoog decided.

I'm sure that the Dib was smirking behind his book. Spoog just looked frustrated with him.

Tavisha spoke up at this time, " Um…Dib, we've got the showers working again and if you'd like-"

"-Thanks." He said, not giving her a chance to finish, " But before I go, I must ask. How is the baby Tavisha? It's healthy I assume?"

" I keep telling you to call me Tavi." She said irritably, holding her large tummy protectively, " And she is fine, thank you very much."

" Well that's good." Dib said, " After all, it's quite possibly the first baby of a new era."

" SHE." The Tavisha/Tavi creature hissed.

The Dib ignored her frustration, " Let's go Zim."

I followed with obedient footsteps. I was unsure of what to make of the humans I'd seen. They had sure seemed nice enough, but I had never been one to trust very quickly. The 'Spoog' human was especially suspicious. Tavi didn't seem much of a threat if she was really somewhere in the human reproduction cycle. Theoretically, she could be hiding some sort of weapon under her clothes.

My main question then though, was why Dib wanted me to accompany him to the showers.

" I can't guarantee your safety if I leave you there alone." He said, pulling me by the hand, " After all, someone else could walk in there and not everyone would be keen on having an enemy at base.

It was unclear whether Dib wanted to protect me or save his own slimy skin. All I knew was that I was being pulled toward an unknown part of the skool base. Dib's scythe shaped hair danced in front of my eyes as he moved us quickly and quietly through the dimness.

I could hear various things as we passed by doors to what were probably Science laboratories. Electric sparkles shone in the windows above some doors and I could hear the whir and churn of human machinery. Soon enough though, I heard a terrifying sound that made me realize what I was possibly getting into.

Running water.

Suddenly my mind was racing with terrifying thoughts of the Dib-monster shoving me into the poison waterfall and my body sizzling and frying and my screams of pain would bounce off the walls.

The filthy Dib human eventually led me to the gymnatorium of the school. It had once been huge, but the ceiling had been bashed in, leaving one gaping hole. I stared for several moments, hoping that maybe for once, I could see the stars. As usual though, they hid the shiny brightness from me. What I could see though, was the group of black bird that had taken refuge in the roof. They were sitting in that gap…the whole scene was oddly peaceful really.

…Until, of course, I was dragged away to the boy's showers by Dib. The sound of water echoed off the icy blue walls. I noticed that cupboards had been installed above the sinks and each separate showerhead had been transformed into a stall that hadn't been there before.

Dib released my wrist and stepped into a shower. I have to say, I was mildly surprised that he wasn't planning on having me tortured.

" Catch." He said simply, his voice making echoey sounds off the walls.

He began to throw his clothes one by one over the top of the shower stall, including his glasses. I made hasty moves to grab them all and nearly let the glasses clatter to the ground. The water began to rain down and I winced simply from the sound.

" It's really amazing that we have running water here." Dib called out to me from behind the curtainy veil, " I mean, I wasn't the scientist that redeveloped it, but still…we got it back so soon."

I mumbled some sort of response. I really didn't care. It was just water. Filthy earth poison is what it really was.

All of a sudden, the Dib-human began to hum some song quietly to himself. It must have been some melody from years ago, but somehow it still seemed very serene. I couldn't help but shut my eyes and listen.

As like most good things on this filthy Earth, I heard the water flow suddenly end. Dib poked a wet hand through the stall and motioned to the sinks.

" There are towels in the cabinets." He ordered, " Go get me one. It doesn't matter which."

I did as he said, with a frown stamped on my face. I shoved the white fluffy cloth through the curtain and stepped away fast. I didn't want to have any water land on me after all.

When Dib finally revealed himself, he was dressed in only the white towel wrapped around his waist. His thin frame still looked waterlogged. Also, his hair had fallen out of its usual point and now hung softly to midback, except for a few strands that framed his face. He didn't even look uncomfortable in the slightest. It was just me there after all.

Dib strode past me to the cabinets, and I turned to watch him walk away. Something inside me said I should be ashamed of myself, but somehow I wasn't. Or at least not as much as I should have been. Eventually, I walked over next to him so it wouldn't look too weird.

" …How do you get your hair like that?" I asked Dib, because I couldn't think of anything better to say.

He just laughed and opened one of the cabinets. In it there were rows and rows of bottles all marked with his name. He took out one of these cans and shook it.

" Hairspray." He said simply, "Lots and lots of hairspray."

…I honestly thought his hair looked better down. I didn't voice this though. Not here where he could simply toss me in a small chamber-y thing and turn on the water.

I coughed loudly from the evil hairspray fumes that plagued the air. The Dib didn't seem too affected by it though. Soon enough, he was finished and the fumes began to slowly die.

He motioned for me to surrender his clothes to him. I did as he asked and he left into another stall. Quick as he'd disappeared, he had come back, wearing all of his Earth garments.

Dib had begun to adjust his glasses when something strange happened. It was a siren-like sound that started out soft, but then began to grow louder and louder, till it was ringing in our ears.

" What is that?" I shouted out.

Dib looked horrified. He brought his arms across his chest and shuddered violently, as though he was really frightened. I couldn't see anything that would be quite that spooky though. So I reached over and tried to shake Dib out of his shakiness.

" DIB!" I shouted, " Dib, what's going on?"

It wasn't much, but it was enough to snap him out of his craziness for a few moments. He shook his head hard and then shrugged out of my grip.

" …It's the alarm." He said as calm as possible, even though I could hear his voice shaking.

It was obvious though, that this alarm hadn't been what scared him, but I didn't push it.

" …An alarm?" I asked.

" Yes." Dib said, staring hard at the doorway, " That alarm only goes off…when the base is under attack."

He kept staring at the door. I wanted to know what was there that he could see, but I obviously couldn't.

" …We need to get out of here." He said ominously.

He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me along, leaving the towel forgotten on the floor. We ran through that gymnatorium place, scaring every stupid bird into flying through the roof.

It seemed odd though, that there were no explosions or gunshots. It was oddly quiet, which made it all the more terrifying. It was almost as though no one was there at all.

Eventually, Dib led me to a fork in the hall. He stopped short and looked back and forth, trying to decide which way to go. I watched him reach into his belt and pull something out of an unknown pocket.

It was a gun. A shiny silver human gun that glinted in the dim lights. Before I knew it, it was in my hands and I was being shoved down the left hallway.

" You go that way!" Dib shouted desperately, " I'm going this way!"

" WAIT! What?" I yelled back, confused as he ran the other way.

" Just go!" Dib shouted at me, never pausing, " You'll be safer that way!"

I watched as he disappeared in the darkness. I tilted the gun in my hands. It really was an inferior weapon, but it wasn't like I had a choice. There was one thought still on my mind though.

Yes, one thought wouldn't leave my brain-meats, no matter how hard I tried to push it out. I couldn't ignore it anymore.

Dib…he wanted me to stay safe. He was protecting me. I had no Earthly idea why, but I had a couple of Irken thoughts.

All of a sudden, I didn't want him to go off alone.

(A/N: Bah, I had to reupload this three times! Sorry it's up later than I planned, personal life things got in the way. Next chapter should be be soon, so please R&R. : ) )