Chapter 4: Showers
Little flakes of cereal floated aimlessly in the bowl filled with low fat milk, idly pushed around by the boy's spoon, held loosely between his thumb and index fingers. His mouth was hung open like an unlocked door, and Dib realized that he must have looked pretty stupid, one hand propped beneath his chin, and he felt as if he were reliving yesterday's bus ride to skool. His glasses began to slide off his face, but he didn't bother to recover them, as he continued to indolently play with his disregarded food.
"Hey, stupid, are you looking for some buried treasure?" sad Gaz as she finished her glass of soda, glaring at Dib from across the circular table with narrowed eyes. "Cause if you are, I'll be more than happy to assist you.."
"That's okay, Gaz," placing his spoon next to untouched breakfast, Dib drew himself to his feet, knowing fully well that Gaz's idea of "help" would be to him on a one-way trip into his cereal bowl. "I think I'm going to go check up on our neighborhood menace..he's got to be up to something..he's been ~way~ too quiet lately.."
"Tell it to someone that cares," dismissing him with a single hand, Gaz quickly left the kitchen, Game Slave in one hand, her Diet Poop soda in the other. Dib watched as she left, until her image was lost behind the tan walls, and he felt relieved that he had been spared the wrath of Gaz. She must have been in a good mood; not even one punch or kick.
"I bet he's forming an evil plot right now..." Dib said quietly, as he started to gulp down the last of his orange juice, trying with all his self- control to think of some sort of preemptive move on his part..some way to gain the upper hand right from the start. But his mind remained null and void, and before he knew what was happening, Dib felt the cool, juice beginning to spill down the front of his shirt, splattering onto the tiled floor. "Shit!"
Silently fuming, Dib snatched a napkin and began dabbing the citrus liquid from his shirt first, and then getting onto all fours to clean the sullied floor, the spilled juice fast becoming sticky. It didn't take long for Dib to notice that the puddle was just large enough to create a wobbly reflection, and he seemed to lose himself in this citrus representation of himself.
His mirror image painted in shades of orange stared back at Dib with eyes that screamed tedium and a sense of detachment.
~Stop kidding yourself, dumb ass..you could care less if Zim was about to blow up the planet..you said so to yourself last night..~ his reflection seemed to reveal, and Dib, furious at himself for being so clouded, began to hastily wipe away this other voice, this nagging awareness.
But even with the pond of fruit juice sponged away, the thought loitered in his mind like a pack of mall rats..
Why was he pretending to be interested in what Zim was or wasn't doing? Yeah, he ~was~ somewhat concerned about the fate of the world and all that, blah blah blah. But what was really stapled into his brain; what preoccupation was keeping him from the task at hand? His own spitting image had betrayed his innermost feelings...he knew it portrayed the truth..but why was he still denying it, he couldn't run anymore..
~Damn her..damn her for making me so uncertain..I don't fucking need this..~ he though crossly, eyebrows taut with doubt.
But there was her face, still locked deep within his mind. That sad, dejected face that was simultaneously serene and intimidating; there it was looking at his from the inside out, making his stomach ache like the aftermath of taking an uppercut to the gut.
What glue held her visage so tightly affixed in his brain? Guilt? Pity?
Something he longed to understand?
Peeling his hands off the sugar-coated ground, each palm making a sickly, sucking noise as it was lifted, Dib made his way outside, aimlessly passing by the couch Gaz was sitting at. He didn't pause to tell her he was leaving, even if it would cause her undo delight, and when the door shut behind him, Dib wasn't surprised to see somber rain clouds in the sky. They frowned down at him, like shadowed faces, and as the breeze began to pick up again, he wrapped himself tighter within his trench coat. His state of mind seemed to be replicated by the fall weather, as he trudged down the sidewalk, not quite sure where he was headed..he wasn't going in the right direction if he aimed to confront his puke-green skinned rival..
He barely registered that there was a person following him. Stalled by his mind's puzzles, his body didn't even flinch when a set of fingers wrapped themselves around the collar of his coat. It just felt like a strong current smashing from both sides, holding him in place momentarily, and he patiently waited for it to die down.
It was only when he heard ~her~ voice that he snapped out of his dreamlike trance.
"Hello?"
Dib twisted his neck abruptly, so that two pairs of brown eyes met, the smallest of gaps forming between their faces.
"What do you want?" unexpectedly, Dib spoke with a little more bite than he had wished for, and quickly toned down his voice, once he saw how alarmed Nel was. "Sorry..I'm sorry I scared you..now a-and..and be-before.."
A wallow of some unspeakable insecurity had lodged itself in Dib's throat. He tripped over his own words now, as if he were walking over a field of banana peels, and the girl seemed as speechless as he was growing to be, her chin tucked in gently, a hand still clasped onto his trench coat tentatively.
"Listen..I feel bad about what I did..but I have to go..." it felt awkward to have another person's hand touch his beloved coat..touching him..Dib wanted to brush it off callously and forget anything had ever happened.
~And where are you going, Dib? Back home to your "loving family?" Stop playing the fool..~
Nel remained locked in silence. It was starting to annoy Dib.
"I said I was sorry...don't you have anything to say?" repeating his haphazard apology with enhanced bother, the bespectacled boy placed his hand upon the girl's ready to dislodge it from his lapel. But the instant his skin touched hers, the notion dissolved like sugar in water.
It was so cold.
Her hand was so cold.
"Cripes...what's wrong with you?" said Dib, now fully turned to face Nel. Looking confused, as if she herself could not feel how chilled her own hands were, she cocked her head to one side innocently, her hand sliding so that it rested on his slumped shoulder.
"Nothing..." the first words to leave her mouth since her initial "hello" were just as subdued; the harrowing look on her face was more tangible than this. "Nothing is wrong.."
A low rumble, like that of a lion's growl, thundered out from the suspended clouds, and without warning they opened like a pair of cupped hands separating, releasing their contents right on top of both Dib and Nel. Neither of them ran to find shelter, neither of them moved an inch from where they stood.
And then Dib did something even he couldn't have seen coming: he reached his arm forward, slowly and carefully....he felt weighed down, but he didn't want to stop..he felt all of the Earth's gravity fighting him, but he fought back..
He touched her face..whether out of curiosity or some other hidden agenda, Dib couldn't reason.
"You're as cold as a cadaver," finding her cheek to be of an unearthly temperature, Dib quickly took his hand of off her face, his skin paled with disbelief. "Why don't you get out of this rain or something....why are you here?"
~Shouldn't you be the one asking that to yourself, Dib? ~
"I came...to ask for your name..." she said softly, not at all fazed that Dib was so disenchanted by her skin's lack of warmth. Teeth gnawing at her lower lip, Nel finally removed her hand, letting it hang stupidly next to her exposed thigh.
"My name? You came all the way out here, to ask for my name?" her motives seemed above suspicion, but they seemed so...childish...no one these days simply strolled the streets with the sole intention of discovering a person's name. Dib eyed the girl warily, eyebrows slanted and rain dripping off of his face, and Nel merely returned the inspecting glance, peering at him with a naïve nature. It caused unease to worm its way deep into his mind; he shuddered, a lock of raven hair fastened to his damp skin. Noticing how dreadfully sodden the girl's dress was he began to feel a little guilty for keeping them out in the rain.
But wasn't it just as much her fault? Wasn't it her own damn fault that she wanted to know his name?
Try as he might, Dib couldn't bring himself to spite the girl, and it crippled him mentally....he couldn't explain himself..maybe he didn't want to; wasn't he always interested in the unknown anyway?
"My name..my name is Dib," finally spouting the reply the girl had been seeking, Dib was quickly beginning to see the effects the rain had on the girl, as her entire body was starting to tremble. Why couldn't he call her foolish...why was he standing here?
A thousand conflicting actions were fighting a war within him, and when it was finally resolved, Dib slid out of his trench coat, mouth closed tightly, as if he wanted to say the words that would stop himself, but couldn't. Draping it over her small shoulders, Dib helped the girl slide into the garment, and although the sleeves were too long and the shoulders were horribly misplaced, it sure beat standing in the rain in a periwinkle dress.
"I can't..." Nel started to take the coat off, lips barely parted, blond bangs nearly overshadowing her eyes they were so water-laden.
"Don't worry about it...." Dib felt like laughing, at how chivalrous he was acting, at how stupid he was for lending out his jacket like this; perhaps if it were anyone else he would have been more reluctant..but there was that certain something..that familiar sadness he had felt at one time or another? "Just make sure you return it, okay?"
Saying nothing but letting a nod instead express her thanks, Nel started to walk away, hugging herself, warm in Dib's trench coat. An urge to speak trembled in her throat, halfway from being emitted, and Nel stopped in her tracks, turning around, a hand raised. A smile that was creeping up on her faded the moment quickly after it had begun to materialize.
Dib was already well out of ear-shot, walking in the opposite direction, away from her, hands shoved into his pockets and the rain beating on his back, his form shuddering every few steps from the cold. He wasn't going to stop and look over his shoulder.
But she waved anyway, waved without a smile, without a purpose.
A black car pulled up beside her on the road, and one of the passenger doors opened mechanically. Taking one last peripheral glance down the sidewalk, Nel slowly entered the vehicle, whispering to herself.
"I'm sorry...Dib..can you forgive me? I didn't make it rain.."
Down beneath the Earth's muddy shell, where there was no need for a plastic bubble of security or a shield of paste, Zim was patiently waiting, antennae twitching with expectancy. His surveillance probes had been gone for more than 24 hours, more than enough time to scan and locate any alien remnants; what was keeping them? He hoped GIR hadn't screwed things up again, sending them to find him an unlimited supply of tacos or chocolate. With a growl, his sharp Irken teeth bared, Zim swiveled his chair around, checking to see if any crafts had returned. There were none, just as it had been five minutes ago when he last had checked.
~Perhaps I've sent them on a wild goose chase...there might not be any other extraterrestrial artifacts on this filthy planet after all..~ ruby eyes shining with malice, the invader began to tap a single clawed finger on the metal console, the rhythmic beat droning out the steady whirr stemming from the machinery that swamped Zim's secret base. ~I guess I'll have to devise another plan to eradicate the huma-~
"Sir!" a clear-cut voice rang through the fortresses' intercom system, and Zim at first had forgotten that his faulty SIR unit would sometimes lapse into a more dependable robot slave.
"What is it, GIR? Have the probes found anything? Tell me!" Zim spoke eagerly, back rigid, hands clenching the armrests with the force of a pit bull's bite.
"They have, Sir!" the little automaton responded swiftly, "They have already started to download the requested information!"
"Good work, GIR..it's good to see you not being so incredibly stupid for once.." mouth curling into a feral smile, Zim input various commands into his computer's keypads. Pressing a large circular button, several separate windows started to appear before him, each making a faint "blip!" noise at it was uploaded. "Let's see...one of the probes found a very cleverly hidden station..Excellent! The coordinates show that it's not far away..actually, it's..it's.."
On the screen, there was a very odd looking home with a purple roof, a host of cheesy lawn ornaments dotting the front lawn. Zim slapped his forehead.
"By Irk! This is ~our~ base!" eyebrows jerking simultaneously, Zim quickly viewed the rest of the pictures one by one, finding that each one was almost exactly identical. "GIR, why are all these images of the base?! I give you a simple order and you go mess it up!"
In an instant's time frame, the very same robot Zim was seething at had zoomed into the war room, sitting on his lap with a guilt-stricken look on its face. Zim glared down at him, about ready to back-hand it off of his knees and into a pile of trash.
"But, Master, I did what you told me to..I didn't even tell them to buy me food or stuffed pigs!!" he divulged with a whining tone of voice, his now blue-eyes sloped sorrowfully, "And looky! The last picture thingy isn't of the house, see?"
Examining the photographs more carefully, Zim couldn't believe his alien eyes that what he was seeing could be true: it was a picture of some desolate sidewalk, the potholes in the ground as real as the horrible grey clouds above.
"How can this be..I was not in this area on the date this picture was taken..it was taken just 3 hours ago and there's not even a building here, just a street.." he ruminated, scratching his soft, green flesh carelessly, not caring that every time he accidentally scraped one of his wiry feelers, it would send a minute jolt of pain through his entire body. "Computer, tell me if there were any life forms in this vicinity of this particular probe at the moment it collected this information! Also, see how much alien vestige is in the area..I want to make sure this piece of information is viable enough to pursue.."
"Processing..the probe number 38643 has detected that there were 2 Earthinoids in documented area," a metallic voice answered in a matter of seconds, which did not shed any light on Zim's predicament. "1 possible alien artifact found."
"2 worm-babies? I only see a blur of pavement..curse this planet's scummy weather conditions!" Zim scowled, livid with displeasure and not at all liking how his plan was slowly coming undone. "Computer, I don't ~see~ anything here! Are you sure the probe didn't make a mistake?"
"Probe 38643 was in working condition at time of data retrieval."
"There's nothing here! Nothing except cement and that little black spot in the top, left-hand corner of the screen!" Zim abruptly ceased his harangue, mouth agape at this sudden revelation. "Little black spot..what is that..Zoom out from that sector of the image, slowly!"
An obscure blob of could at first been considered nothing insignificant suddenly became a bit of tire, which then turned into a tire belonging to some vehicle. Out of the blue, a black car emerged onto the screen, a small person just about to enter it, cloaked in an all-too familiar black trench coat.
"Computer..is...is ~this~ the piece of Alien matter?!" Zim, for the first time in ages, felt a tremor of fear, not doubt, bore its way into his head, as a dry gulp rolled down his throat.
"Cannot discern."
"My suspicions might have been right after all...it felt all too...unnatural at first.." falling restlessly into his chair, fingers intertwined, Zim's eyes darted up to the picture that was causing him so much unease. "I never thought one could make their disguise so..eerily accurate.."
He painstakingly remembered the first things that had crossed his mind when the girl had entered his classroom: ~She does not belong. ~ Everything about her was not human; she reeked of the abnormal with the same stench Zim himself permeated, although it went unnoticed to the ignorant. It surprised Zim that the Dib-human hadn't caught on as quickly as he did, but what could he expect? He ~was~ just another worm-baby, even if he had seen through what Zim considered to be a superior costume. She had entered and exited that particular Friday and been safe from discovery.
"But no more.." Zim said, with a tint of anticipation rising within him, "I should have known better than to think such a prime target of the Irken Armada like Earth would have gone unnoticed by any other alien race.."
"What's that?" GIR absentmindedly pointed at the screen, a puddle of drool formulating out at his metal feet, as he sat on the back of Zim's chair, head lolling about inanely like an idiotic sock puppet.
"That GIR, is the Nel-human..our new rival.." entering a few commands so that the screen focused in on the girl's withdrawn face, Zim began to carefully inspect her features, and seemed not too impressed, "She's not much..but we can't let our guard down. It seems as if she's come into contact with the Dib-human; who knows what Earthly rubbish he's implanted in her mind..it's such a pity that another Alien race has to be subject to such an thick-headed example of the human-race..
"Although I must say I find this a formidable challenge for my untouchable skills, I can't take any risks..if she is indeed not of this Earth's population, then I must find out her origins, and use that as lead to expose her weaknesses..weaknesses that will lead to her undoing..
"This planet was assigned to me..it is mine for the taking, and no other legion will take it out of my hands, or else be crushed like giant..giant wiggly substances under the sole of my mighty boots! Look at them! Are they not mighty?"
Shaking one of his feet defiantly in the air, GIR seemed to be at a loss for words, which for GIR wasn't that uncommon, as he was still looking at the screen, and not his Master.
"GIR!" shouting the robot into obedience, Zim brought his elevated foot down with an unexpected stomp, "We have much to do, so much with such little time to waste doing wasteful stuff! Let us prepare.."
"How about we just make some pie!" a pink tongue hanging from his mouth, GIR outstretched his arms emphatically. "We can make meat pie!"
"No, GIR, we aren't going to make pie; we're going to the equipment room to prepare. Now let's go!" Zim ordered, marching over to the elevator. GIR gave a hearty sigh as he followed suite.
"Awwww, but I love meat pie..." he whined with the drone only a half-witted robot could produce, as he stepped into the transport tube with his Master, the door nearly closing on his tail.
Inside, Zim pondered his position with harsh scrutiny, lips pursed and eyes squinted as his mind went rapidly to work. The Tallest had been right to call him counterproductive at times, but no one could ever deny the fact that Zim possessed one of the most twisted and brooding brains of the entire Irken Empire; he was never one to leave any detail untouched, anal- retentive to a fault.
~How did this piece of inferior trash go undetected..that's what I can't understand. My advanced technology should have traced any signals of otherworldly substance or matter at the point of landing..and why didn't the Tallest inform me of any potential threats to my secret mission? ~ the Irken thought, not paying attention to the spastic contraption that was GIR bouncing off the elevator walls noisily, squealing like a piglet. ~No Matter...I will dispose of this nuisance like the piece of galactic trash that it is, and teach her planet's leaders that no one call interfere with me, Zim!~
A nefarious smile painted on his face with inks and paints of pure wickedness, Zim rubbed his hands evilly, wondering just how unprepared his opponent would be when the time came...
Little flakes of cereal floated aimlessly in the bowl filled with low fat milk, idly pushed around by the boy's spoon, held loosely between his thumb and index fingers. His mouth was hung open like an unlocked door, and Dib realized that he must have looked pretty stupid, one hand propped beneath his chin, and he felt as if he were reliving yesterday's bus ride to skool. His glasses began to slide off his face, but he didn't bother to recover them, as he continued to indolently play with his disregarded food.
"Hey, stupid, are you looking for some buried treasure?" sad Gaz as she finished her glass of soda, glaring at Dib from across the circular table with narrowed eyes. "Cause if you are, I'll be more than happy to assist you.."
"That's okay, Gaz," placing his spoon next to untouched breakfast, Dib drew himself to his feet, knowing fully well that Gaz's idea of "help" would be to him on a one-way trip into his cereal bowl. "I think I'm going to go check up on our neighborhood menace..he's got to be up to something..he's been ~way~ too quiet lately.."
"Tell it to someone that cares," dismissing him with a single hand, Gaz quickly left the kitchen, Game Slave in one hand, her Diet Poop soda in the other. Dib watched as she left, until her image was lost behind the tan walls, and he felt relieved that he had been spared the wrath of Gaz. She must have been in a good mood; not even one punch or kick.
"I bet he's forming an evil plot right now..." Dib said quietly, as he started to gulp down the last of his orange juice, trying with all his self- control to think of some sort of preemptive move on his part..some way to gain the upper hand right from the start. But his mind remained null and void, and before he knew what was happening, Dib felt the cool, juice beginning to spill down the front of his shirt, splattering onto the tiled floor. "Shit!"
Silently fuming, Dib snatched a napkin and began dabbing the citrus liquid from his shirt first, and then getting onto all fours to clean the sullied floor, the spilled juice fast becoming sticky. It didn't take long for Dib to notice that the puddle was just large enough to create a wobbly reflection, and he seemed to lose himself in this citrus representation of himself.
His mirror image painted in shades of orange stared back at Dib with eyes that screamed tedium and a sense of detachment.
~Stop kidding yourself, dumb ass..you could care less if Zim was about to blow up the planet..you said so to yourself last night..~ his reflection seemed to reveal, and Dib, furious at himself for being so clouded, began to hastily wipe away this other voice, this nagging awareness.
But even with the pond of fruit juice sponged away, the thought loitered in his mind like a pack of mall rats..
Why was he pretending to be interested in what Zim was or wasn't doing? Yeah, he ~was~ somewhat concerned about the fate of the world and all that, blah blah blah. But what was really stapled into his brain; what preoccupation was keeping him from the task at hand? His own spitting image had betrayed his innermost feelings...he knew it portrayed the truth..but why was he still denying it, he couldn't run anymore..
~Damn her..damn her for making me so uncertain..I don't fucking need this..~ he though crossly, eyebrows taut with doubt.
But there was her face, still locked deep within his mind. That sad, dejected face that was simultaneously serene and intimidating; there it was looking at his from the inside out, making his stomach ache like the aftermath of taking an uppercut to the gut.
What glue held her visage so tightly affixed in his brain? Guilt? Pity?
Something he longed to understand?
Peeling his hands off the sugar-coated ground, each palm making a sickly, sucking noise as it was lifted, Dib made his way outside, aimlessly passing by the couch Gaz was sitting at. He didn't pause to tell her he was leaving, even if it would cause her undo delight, and when the door shut behind him, Dib wasn't surprised to see somber rain clouds in the sky. They frowned down at him, like shadowed faces, and as the breeze began to pick up again, he wrapped himself tighter within his trench coat. His state of mind seemed to be replicated by the fall weather, as he trudged down the sidewalk, not quite sure where he was headed..he wasn't going in the right direction if he aimed to confront his puke-green skinned rival..
He barely registered that there was a person following him. Stalled by his mind's puzzles, his body didn't even flinch when a set of fingers wrapped themselves around the collar of his coat. It just felt like a strong current smashing from both sides, holding him in place momentarily, and he patiently waited for it to die down.
It was only when he heard ~her~ voice that he snapped out of his dreamlike trance.
"Hello?"
Dib twisted his neck abruptly, so that two pairs of brown eyes met, the smallest of gaps forming between their faces.
"What do you want?" unexpectedly, Dib spoke with a little more bite than he had wished for, and quickly toned down his voice, once he saw how alarmed Nel was. "Sorry..I'm sorry I scared you..now a-and..and be-before.."
A wallow of some unspeakable insecurity had lodged itself in Dib's throat. He tripped over his own words now, as if he were walking over a field of banana peels, and the girl seemed as speechless as he was growing to be, her chin tucked in gently, a hand still clasped onto his trench coat tentatively.
"Listen..I feel bad about what I did..but I have to go..." it felt awkward to have another person's hand touch his beloved coat..touching him..Dib wanted to brush it off callously and forget anything had ever happened.
~And where are you going, Dib? Back home to your "loving family?" Stop playing the fool..~
Nel remained locked in silence. It was starting to annoy Dib.
"I said I was sorry...don't you have anything to say?" repeating his haphazard apology with enhanced bother, the bespectacled boy placed his hand upon the girl's ready to dislodge it from his lapel. But the instant his skin touched hers, the notion dissolved like sugar in water.
It was so cold.
Her hand was so cold.
"Cripes...what's wrong with you?" said Dib, now fully turned to face Nel. Looking confused, as if she herself could not feel how chilled her own hands were, she cocked her head to one side innocently, her hand sliding so that it rested on his slumped shoulder.
"Nothing..." the first words to leave her mouth since her initial "hello" were just as subdued; the harrowing look on her face was more tangible than this. "Nothing is wrong.."
A low rumble, like that of a lion's growl, thundered out from the suspended clouds, and without warning they opened like a pair of cupped hands separating, releasing their contents right on top of both Dib and Nel. Neither of them ran to find shelter, neither of them moved an inch from where they stood.
And then Dib did something even he couldn't have seen coming: he reached his arm forward, slowly and carefully....he felt weighed down, but he didn't want to stop..he felt all of the Earth's gravity fighting him, but he fought back..
He touched her face..whether out of curiosity or some other hidden agenda, Dib couldn't reason.
"You're as cold as a cadaver," finding her cheek to be of an unearthly temperature, Dib quickly took his hand of off her face, his skin paled with disbelief. "Why don't you get out of this rain or something....why are you here?"
~Shouldn't you be the one asking that to yourself, Dib? ~
"I came...to ask for your name..." she said softly, not at all fazed that Dib was so disenchanted by her skin's lack of warmth. Teeth gnawing at her lower lip, Nel finally removed her hand, letting it hang stupidly next to her exposed thigh.
"My name? You came all the way out here, to ask for my name?" her motives seemed above suspicion, but they seemed so...childish...no one these days simply strolled the streets with the sole intention of discovering a person's name. Dib eyed the girl warily, eyebrows slanted and rain dripping off of his face, and Nel merely returned the inspecting glance, peering at him with a naïve nature. It caused unease to worm its way deep into his mind; he shuddered, a lock of raven hair fastened to his damp skin. Noticing how dreadfully sodden the girl's dress was he began to feel a little guilty for keeping them out in the rain.
But wasn't it just as much her fault? Wasn't it her own damn fault that she wanted to know his name?
Try as he might, Dib couldn't bring himself to spite the girl, and it crippled him mentally....he couldn't explain himself..maybe he didn't want to; wasn't he always interested in the unknown anyway?
"My name..my name is Dib," finally spouting the reply the girl had been seeking, Dib was quickly beginning to see the effects the rain had on the girl, as her entire body was starting to tremble. Why couldn't he call her foolish...why was he standing here?
A thousand conflicting actions were fighting a war within him, and when it was finally resolved, Dib slid out of his trench coat, mouth closed tightly, as if he wanted to say the words that would stop himself, but couldn't. Draping it over her small shoulders, Dib helped the girl slide into the garment, and although the sleeves were too long and the shoulders were horribly misplaced, it sure beat standing in the rain in a periwinkle dress.
"I can't..." Nel started to take the coat off, lips barely parted, blond bangs nearly overshadowing her eyes they were so water-laden.
"Don't worry about it...." Dib felt like laughing, at how chivalrous he was acting, at how stupid he was for lending out his jacket like this; perhaps if it were anyone else he would have been more reluctant..but there was that certain something..that familiar sadness he had felt at one time or another? "Just make sure you return it, okay?"
Saying nothing but letting a nod instead express her thanks, Nel started to walk away, hugging herself, warm in Dib's trench coat. An urge to speak trembled in her throat, halfway from being emitted, and Nel stopped in her tracks, turning around, a hand raised. A smile that was creeping up on her faded the moment quickly after it had begun to materialize.
Dib was already well out of ear-shot, walking in the opposite direction, away from her, hands shoved into his pockets and the rain beating on his back, his form shuddering every few steps from the cold. He wasn't going to stop and look over his shoulder.
But she waved anyway, waved without a smile, without a purpose.
A black car pulled up beside her on the road, and one of the passenger doors opened mechanically. Taking one last peripheral glance down the sidewalk, Nel slowly entered the vehicle, whispering to herself.
"I'm sorry...Dib..can you forgive me? I didn't make it rain.."
Down beneath the Earth's muddy shell, where there was no need for a plastic bubble of security or a shield of paste, Zim was patiently waiting, antennae twitching with expectancy. His surveillance probes had been gone for more than 24 hours, more than enough time to scan and locate any alien remnants; what was keeping them? He hoped GIR hadn't screwed things up again, sending them to find him an unlimited supply of tacos or chocolate. With a growl, his sharp Irken teeth bared, Zim swiveled his chair around, checking to see if any crafts had returned. There were none, just as it had been five minutes ago when he last had checked.
~Perhaps I've sent them on a wild goose chase...there might not be any other extraterrestrial artifacts on this filthy planet after all..~ ruby eyes shining with malice, the invader began to tap a single clawed finger on the metal console, the rhythmic beat droning out the steady whirr stemming from the machinery that swamped Zim's secret base. ~I guess I'll have to devise another plan to eradicate the huma-~
"Sir!" a clear-cut voice rang through the fortresses' intercom system, and Zim at first had forgotten that his faulty SIR unit would sometimes lapse into a more dependable robot slave.
"What is it, GIR? Have the probes found anything? Tell me!" Zim spoke eagerly, back rigid, hands clenching the armrests with the force of a pit bull's bite.
"They have, Sir!" the little automaton responded swiftly, "They have already started to download the requested information!"
"Good work, GIR..it's good to see you not being so incredibly stupid for once.." mouth curling into a feral smile, Zim input various commands into his computer's keypads. Pressing a large circular button, several separate windows started to appear before him, each making a faint "blip!" noise at it was uploaded. "Let's see...one of the probes found a very cleverly hidden station..Excellent! The coordinates show that it's not far away..actually, it's..it's.."
On the screen, there was a very odd looking home with a purple roof, a host of cheesy lawn ornaments dotting the front lawn. Zim slapped his forehead.
"By Irk! This is ~our~ base!" eyebrows jerking simultaneously, Zim quickly viewed the rest of the pictures one by one, finding that each one was almost exactly identical. "GIR, why are all these images of the base?! I give you a simple order and you go mess it up!"
In an instant's time frame, the very same robot Zim was seething at had zoomed into the war room, sitting on his lap with a guilt-stricken look on its face. Zim glared down at him, about ready to back-hand it off of his knees and into a pile of trash.
"But, Master, I did what you told me to..I didn't even tell them to buy me food or stuffed pigs!!" he divulged with a whining tone of voice, his now blue-eyes sloped sorrowfully, "And looky! The last picture thingy isn't of the house, see?"
Examining the photographs more carefully, Zim couldn't believe his alien eyes that what he was seeing could be true: it was a picture of some desolate sidewalk, the potholes in the ground as real as the horrible grey clouds above.
"How can this be..I was not in this area on the date this picture was taken..it was taken just 3 hours ago and there's not even a building here, just a street.." he ruminated, scratching his soft, green flesh carelessly, not caring that every time he accidentally scraped one of his wiry feelers, it would send a minute jolt of pain through his entire body. "Computer, tell me if there were any life forms in this vicinity of this particular probe at the moment it collected this information! Also, see how much alien vestige is in the area..I want to make sure this piece of information is viable enough to pursue.."
"Processing..the probe number 38643 has detected that there were 2 Earthinoids in documented area," a metallic voice answered in a matter of seconds, which did not shed any light on Zim's predicament. "1 possible alien artifact found."
"2 worm-babies? I only see a blur of pavement..curse this planet's scummy weather conditions!" Zim scowled, livid with displeasure and not at all liking how his plan was slowly coming undone. "Computer, I don't ~see~ anything here! Are you sure the probe didn't make a mistake?"
"Probe 38643 was in working condition at time of data retrieval."
"There's nothing here! Nothing except cement and that little black spot in the top, left-hand corner of the screen!" Zim abruptly ceased his harangue, mouth agape at this sudden revelation. "Little black spot..what is that..Zoom out from that sector of the image, slowly!"
An obscure blob of could at first been considered nothing insignificant suddenly became a bit of tire, which then turned into a tire belonging to some vehicle. Out of the blue, a black car emerged onto the screen, a small person just about to enter it, cloaked in an all-too familiar black trench coat.
"Computer..is...is ~this~ the piece of Alien matter?!" Zim, for the first time in ages, felt a tremor of fear, not doubt, bore its way into his head, as a dry gulp rolled down his throat.
"Cannot discern."
"My suspicions might have been right after all...it felt all too...unnatural at first.." falling restlessly into his chair, fingers intertwined, Zim's eyes darted up to the picture that was causing him so much unease. "I never thought one could make their disguise so..eerily accurate.."
He painstakingly remembered the first things that had crossed his mind when the girl had entered his classroom: ~She does not belong. ~ Everything about her was not human; she reeked of the abnormal with the same stench Zim himself permeated, although it went unnoticed to the ignorant. It surprised Zim that the Dib-human hadn't caught on as quickly as he did, but what could he expect? He ~was~ just another worm-baby, even if he had seen through what Zim considered to be a superior costume. She had entered and exited that particular Friday and been safe from discovery.
"But no more.." Zim said, with a tint of anticipation rising within him, "I should have known better than to think such a prime target of the Irken Armada like Earth would have gone unnoticed by any other alien race.."
"What's that?" GIR absentmindedly pointed at the screen, a puddle of drool formulating out at his metal feet, as he sat on the back of Zim's chair, head lolling about inanely like an idiotic sock puppet.
"That GIR, is the Nel-human..our new rival.." entering a few commands so that the screen focused in on the girl's withdrawn face, Zim began to carefully inspect her features, and seemed not too impressed, "She's not much..but we can't let our guard down. It seems as if she's come into contact with the Dib-human; who knows what Earthly rubbish he's implanted in her mind..it's such a pity that another Alien race has to be subject to such an thick-headed example of the human-race..
"Although I must say I find this a formidable challenge for my untouchable skills, I can't take any risks..if she is indeed not of this Earth's population, then I must find out her origins, and use that as lead to expose her weaknesses..weaknesses that will lead to her undoing..
"This planet was assigned to me..it is mine for the taking, and no other legion will take it out of my hands, or else be crushed like giant..giant wiggly substances under the sole of my mighty boots! Look at them! Are they not mighty?"
Shaking one of his feet defiantly in the air, GIR seemed to be at a loss for words, which for GIR wasn't that uncommon, as he was still looking at the screen, and not his Master.
"GIR!" shouting the robot into obedience, Zim brought his elevated foot down with an unexpected stomp, "We have much to do, so much with such little time to waste doing wasteful stuff! Let us prepare.."
"How about we just make some pie!" a pink tongue hanging from his mouth, GIR outstretched his arms emphatically. "We can make meat pie!"
"No, GIR, we aren't going to make pie; we're going to the equipment room to prepare. Now let's go!" Zim ordered, marching over to the elevator. GIR gave a hearty sigh as he followed suite.
"Awwww, but I love meat pie..." he whined with the drone only a half-witted robot could produce, as he stepped into the transport tube with his Master, the door nearly closing on his tail.
Inside, Zim pondered his position with harsh scrutiny, lips pursed and eyes squinted as his mind went rapidly to work. The Tallest had been right to call him counterproductive at times, but no one could ever deny the fact that Zim possessed one of the most twisted and brooding brains of the entire Irken Empire; he was never one to leave any detail untouched, anal- retentive to a fault.
~How did this piece of inferior trash go undetected..that's what I can't understand. My advanced technology should have traced any signals of otherworldly substance or matter at the point of landing..and why didn't the Tallest inform me of any potential threats to my secret mission? ~ the Irken thought, not paying attention to the spastic contraption that was GIR bouncing off the elevator walls noisily, squealing like a piglet. ~No Matter...I will dispose of this nuisance like the piece of galactic trash that it is, and teach her planet's leaders that no one call interfere with me, Zim!~
A nefarious smile painted on his face with inks and paints of pure wickedness, Zim rubbed his hands evilly, wondering just how unprepared his opponent would be when the time came...