Zim's head slammed into the back of his locker with a clang; the slick green skin on his forehead split where it had impacted the metal and he bit his lip so hard it bled.
Boiling rage instantly replaced any pain there might have been. Zim slammed the door closed and lunged after Dib. The human had already bolted to the end of the hall, trench coat snapping. Dib made his decision and took a hard left, and Zim, seething, followed him.
The crowd of students instantly brought him up short, and Zim hissed and flailed and frustration. It was like pushing down on SAND, just wasting energy… the grains gave under pressure and there was no PROGRESS! And Dib was still getting AWAY!
In a fit of despair Zim pressed out his spider legs and braced them against the lockers, wincing at the horrible screechy noises they made. Then he scrabbled madly to lodge the pointed tips into the dingy school wall. The legs left little holes in the plaster as he took off after the human; the pressing cow-herds of students below brushed irritably at their heads and bits of the walls fell down on them.
It was easy to gain on the Dib traveling this way; soon Zim spotted the human's narrow back through the press. The alien could also see older, bulkier males shoving at Dib as the boy passed and grinned madly. Dib's fellow Hi Skoolers were doing Zim's work for him!
Almost from above, Zim saw the boy trip, and instantly the alien snapped the spider legs back into his pak and dropped into the crowd. Dib had instantly caught himself and starting up again but the other students had already seized upon the boy's weakness. Males that held higher places than Dib's in the strange tribe structure of Hi Skool swarmed down upon their vulnerable classmate with an animal roar. Zim laughed at the sight of it; no one even noticed.
A ragged ring had formed; Zim jabbed and fought his way to the edge of it, ignoring the cursing and light slaps his aggression prompted. When Zim saw who Dib was facing he grinned.
Torque Smacky hadn't grown any nicer when he hit puberty, and he hadn't grown any fonder of Dib either.
The pale human didn't even notice his enemy in the "audience"; he had eyes only for Smacky. Zim was jealous for a moment that the meaty Smacky human could inspire more fear in Dib then he could; and then the alien showed his teeth in a snarl of amusement. See how well you can surprise attack HIM, stinkbeast! Dib was incredibly fast- Zim knew this from experience- but the boy was also light and his strength was no match for Smacky's. With his classmates hemming him in there was no place for Dib to run.
Not that the boy would fight back anyway. He turned pathetic and oozy-spineless when threatened by his classmates.
The noise from the surrounding students rose to a feverish roar and then cut suddenly to silence. Zim pulled his hands from where he had clamped them down on his wig to muffle to wave of sound, realizing that Smacky had started to speak.
"Do you think you're too good to walk with the rest of us, fag?" Torque glared at Dib, his blocky jaw set tight. Jessica stood at his shoulder; her lower lip was pushed out in a pout but her eyes glinted nastily. "He pushed me, Torque," she squealed, batting at her boyfriend's shoulder. "He made me drop my books!"
Torque's blocky jaw set. Nothing Dib said or did would save him now; all that remained in the human's fate was complete humiliation. And pain. Zim stifled a laugh; he didn't want to draw Smacky's attention to himself.
Dib backed away slowly. Zim could see his hands shaking. "No," he said, "I just wanted to get out of the school- I'm sorry, I'll pick up your books-" The human was so desperate to get out of a beating that he would offer almost anything. Zim wished that his threats to Dib worked that well.
Smacky lunged towards Dib suddenly; the other human wasn't prepared for the attack and caught the force of the blow head on. Dib fell into the crowd; his classmates laughed and shoved him back. The boy fell.
"I don't care, dumbass!" Torque bellowed, clenching his meaty fists. "You should know not to get in the way of people better then you! You're brain is crazy in you're big head!"
Now Dib looked up, ire flashing onto his face. Just like that, the head remark set him off. Zim rolled his eyes. One would think the boy would be used to it by now. "My head's not big! And I didn't hurt anyone, so back off!"
Five years of torment- no, even more- for speaking his mind, and the Dib-beast still hadn't learned to shut up.
Smacky reached down, grabbed the collar of Dib's trench coat, dragged him up, and punched him in the face. Dib fell hard into the crowd; his glasses dropped onto the floor by Zim's feet. One earpiece was snapped off. Without really thinking about it Zim picked them up, twisting the slim pieces of metal in his claws.
The humans around Zim hurled Dib back into the makeshift ring with a rumble of animal noise. The blow had instantly launched them into a frenzy of violence. Fists pumped in the air and they all pressed closer; Zim let the current carry him forward and deliberately stepped hard on the fallen human's hand. There was no chance for Dib to get up, although Zim could see him trying to struggle to his feet. The students pressed closest to Dib hit him and kicked at him, and Zim heard his enemy cry out- the higher pitch of his scream cut through the humming noise of the others. Under his wig, Zim pressed his antennae even closer to his scalp. It tuned the raging voices down to a low buzz. A warm body thumped against his leg and Zim stumbled and almost fell himself; he extended his spider legs because he knew to fall would be to join Dib as a victim. He looked to see who had almost made him trip and saw it was Dib.
The human was clamping one hand tight to his shoulder. His face was slick and red, and Zim could smell the blood- warm and juicy like pulped Horrlen fruit. His mouth watered and Zim swallowed with disgust. Then he gave the child a hard kick at the base of his ribcage, filled with a roaring hungry triumph.
Dib had watched Zim as he did it.
Now his eyes squeezed shut. His face scrunched with agony. The stinkbeast actually reached out to grab at the edge of Zim's boot to help pull himself up; Zim kicked him away. Dib's mouth moved. Was he saying something? Zim leaned closer.
"PLEASE, Zim!" he heard, just barely over the noise. He didn't say anymore but Zim knew they rest: Help me.
He gave the human a twisted grin. You dare to ask me, Zim, your ENEMY, for help? Then he put a boot on Dib's shoulder and shoved the boy away. Other humans covered him almost instantly. Faces flashed by the alien's vision; they were contorted with an animalistic joy.
"Hey, what are you all doing?"
A shrill voice sliced cleanly through the cacophony. Zim felt suddenly as though he were coming down from a "high" on one of those drugs the humans so loved to destroy themselves with: sick and empty and wanting more.
The teacher who had yelled stared at all of them now, her face empty with horror. Iced coffee spread across the carpet at her feet; she had dropped it when she saw the mob. Her nails were long and red.
Something in him twanged, and Zim looked to her right.
Gaz was standing there, burrowed into the shadows. She looked enraged. Zim gazed blankly at her. The girl had never seemed to care much for the Dib, but Zim knew enough of human families to see how she watched out for her brother in subtle ways. Dib never saw her defending him.
A mutter passing through the crowd drew Zim's attention back to the students around him. The children were shifting and shuffling around each other; Zim could taste guilt in the air now, and shame. Some at the back began to steal away, filtering into the confusing skool halls, and then the entire pack turned tail and ran.
The momentum of their flight carried Zim back too. Their cowardice made his lip curl with contempt. You're all so brave when nobody's here to stop you worms. Then one of those teachers comes along and you all run. Filthy humans, a true warrior would face any challenge that came to him!
He could hear shouting starting from the teacher. Zim jostled his way to the edge of the fracturing mob and pulled out to lean against the lockers. Their metal doors were cool, and he pressed the back of his head against one to calm the feverish pounding in his brain. He would wait here for the students to pass; he wasn't finished with the Dib-worm yet.
The stragglers of the mob that had existed only a few minutes before passed him now, and teachers were chasing them. Zim roused himself to activate the cloak in his pak. A misty veil obscured his vision, but now he faded into the lockers, practically invisible to the prying gaze of any human.
Zim sat down now, feeling more relaxed. He watched Dib narrowly. The boy was stretched limply on the nubbly orange carpet, one arm cramped awkwardly under his body. Dib let out a choked, gaspy sob as Zim watched. The stinkbeast began the torturous effort of trying to lift himself. Zim's jaw tightened and he felt metal cutting into his hands. For some reason he was still holding onto Dib's broken glasses.
The female teacher returned to crouch at Dib's side. Her nails flashed like blood. "Don't try and get up, honey," she cooed. Zim gagged inwardly at the syrupy tone of her voice. "The nurse is coming, and then you can tell us who started to beat you up and we'll take care of that."
Zim narrowed his eyes. Do you really think that will give him any satisfaction?
Dib quit his movement at her words, letting his body settle to the floor. As Zim watched, the boy's shoulders loosened slightly and then tensed again as another sob wrenched him. Zim toyed with the broken glasses, folding and unfolding them with almost inaudible clicks. The nurse and an assistant principal arrived to pull Dib to his feet and lead him down the hall. Zim rose to follow them, padding a few steps before he noticed a ragged black lump pushed into the entryway to a boy's bathroom. Curiosity piqued, Zim took a brief detour to inspect it, and when he came closer to the object he recognized it as the beaten black pouch that Dib sometimes carried on his back. One shoulder-strap was torn to shreds but otherwise it was fine… and still neatly Zipped.
Zim snickered, filled with devilish glee. Well what have we here, Dib? Let this get away from you? The alien knelt next to it and unzipped the pouch eagerly. I guess I'll take care of what's in here for him. When he saw what was inside, Zim crossed his arms over his chest and weathered an internal quake of glee.
Inside, there was some loose change, a book about stars- written by some foul human expert that Dib should really know not to trust- a crumpled lunch bag, and Dib's precious laptop.
Zim hardly had to think before the computer was in his hand. The metal shell was buffed to a soft silver, and it's compact weight fit neatly into Zim's hand. He set the machine reluctantly aside for a moment, and scraped all of Dib's change into his claws. After that he resealed the pack then kicked it deeper into the corner. Now when Dib found and inspected the backpack, as Zim had no doubt his rival would, the human would have no evidence that it was Zim that had taken his things, and not just some pitiful human thief. The change and the computer were the only valuable things in there, after all.
Dib would know who had taken his things, of course. Zim had no doubt of that. But there was also nothing the boy could do.
That done, Zim darted after his wounded rival.
The nurse's office was cool and smelled faintly of sick human and mold. Zim observed his rival from where he crouched in the ventilation shaft. The fit was tighter then it had been before; somehow he had grown in the past few years. The alien had to force himself not to shift every few moments. The cold metal pressing against his pak unsettled him.
He had found Dib in one of the small recovery rooms; it was sparsely furnished, with an uncomfortable-looking cot and a little side table. Some attempt at cheer had been made: there was a little vase of plastic flowers on the table too. The bright colors just made the room look more pathetic, and anyway Zim couldn't imagine why the humans, even stupid as they were, would put the dead sexual organs of plants in a room for the purpose of cheering someone up.
Dib sat below and slightly in front of him, totally unaware of Zim's scrutiny. The human was a mess. The coppery scent of his blood had spread to fill the room and was filtering to Zim. The alien licked his lips and could almost taste it. The human's lip was split as well, but at least his nose had stopped bleeding; there was still blood all down his front. The nurse would probably bring him another shirt eventually. For now Dib languished in his sticky shirt, which had gone purple from the blood. His breathing was hoarse and loud in the quiet of the room, and the human sat gingerly on the cot, leaning his back against the wall. He was probably a mass of bruises.
Zim touched the cut on his forehead- clotted over now- and drew back his lips in a silent snarl. Dib deserved his pain for attacking the noble head of ZIM!
The alien lowered his hand to glare at the human. The rage that had infused him just moments before submerged itself, to be dealt with later. Dib, unaware of Zim's scrutiny, reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed. Zim ground his teeth. You… you pitiful creature! How DARE you think that you know pain now?! How DARE you think that this is the end of your suffering?!
Zim slid his claws under the edge of the metal grate he was looking through, preparing to drop down in front of the unsuspecting human. When the door swung open he jerked his hands back, glaring at the nurse as she walked across the linoleum to Dib. The woman carried a bag of ice cubes and had a new t-shirt folded under one of her arms.
"Here you are, honey," she said, handing him the ice. "Now put that on your face. Then you can change into a fresh shirt. I'll give your parents a call now and they can come take you home."
Dib accepted the ice and garment put didn't lie down. His ochre-colored eyes were open again. "Thank you, ma'am," he said. "I'm fine though. You don't need to call my dad, I can walk home just fine."
Zim could almost read the boy's thoughts: I don't want dad to know about this.
The nurse looked shocked. "Walk home?! In your state?! Don't be silly, young man! You just lie down and let me take care of your father."
She bustled out without letting Dib protest any further. The skinny human sighed, setting the ice down on the cot and pulling off his cotton t-shirt. Where his skin showed Zim could already see the flowering blotches of bruises. You're gonna HURT tonight, Dib, he thought maliciously, and then realized that for Dib to hurt tonight the human would still have to be alive.
Which would not be likely.
Zim held himself back for a few moments more, waiting for Dib to get the new shirt on. He planned an ambush but he wouldn't let himself catch his enemy THAT off-guard. If there was no challenge at all to this there would be no fun either.
Dib pulled his new shirt down around him and turned to sit again. Zim saw what was pictured on the t-shirt and almost laughed; it was a band. Then he pushed his claws under the grate, ripped the metal up, and dropped.
Dib reacted almost instantly to the sound of tearing metal but it still wasn't fast enough to evade Zim. The boy's big head clanged into the metal frame of the cot and Zim saw big tears welling up in his eyes. Dib dropped the bag of ice to claw at Zim's eyes; the Invader twisted his face away and Dib's fingers caught in his wig, tearing the hairy black mat right off. Zim almost sighed with relief at the feel of air, no matter how stale, caressing his antennae.
The alien caught his enemy's narrow hand in his own clawed one and squeezed; Dib let out a harsh gasp and his face twisted. There was a high keening coming from deep within the human's throat, and Zim realized that the hand he had trapped was also the one he had stomped on.
Got you, Dib! This time I've got you!
Zim pressed his advantage, squeezing the human's abused hand even tighter. Dib squirmed, actually removed his other hand from Zim's shoulder to pry at where his injured hand was trapped. He squirmed frantically. Zim's tongue lolled as his grinned, watching the human with an almost clinical interest. And here the specimen is in pain… observe this being's reactions to confrontation, how he tries to evade attack…
Zim pushed the human back further towards the wall, using the force on Dib's hand as a prod. Dib was now trying frantically to pry Zim's fingers off him, and the Invader let his own hand loosen just slightly, only applying enough force to keep a sharp edge of pain biting at his enemy's hand. Dib stopped quickly enough once he realized his bones weren't in danger of being ground to power, and watched Zim through narrow, slightly crazed eyes. The human would listen to Zim this time. That was something.
Zim licked his lips and grinned even wider. He felt so powerful…! The taste of his own blood in his mouth had been blotted out by Dib's. "You see, human," Zim whispered. "I warned you, I warned you what would happen if you challenged me!"
"Screw you, Zim!" Dib shot back. "You still haven't beaten me! You'll never beat me!" He was so sincere that Zim almost laughed. What have I done to you here, then?
"Oh you really think so?" Zim sneered back instead. "Well, dirt monkey, I really don't see how you've won this fight here! Face it, stinkbeast, there's no way a little smeet like you can overcome the might of Zim!"
Dib slid to sit on the floor. It was as though all his bones had suddenly dissolved. Zim sank with him, increasing pressure on the human's hand as he did so. He could feel Dib's bones creaking; the human sucked in a little gasp and froze, body straining with tension. He did not look comfortable. All for the good, Zim supposed.
"Do you really think so, Zim?" the boy demanded in a low voice. Zim's antennae perked at the change in tone. "You're always so overconfident! You underestimate me all the time, space boy! If you're so smart and superior how come earth isn't enslaved right now, huh?!" Dib's voice almost crackled with rage. Zim watched, entranced, as his rival's face transformed. "I'll make you regret everything you've ever done to me!" Dib continued. "You don't know anything! I'll keep earth safe forever!"
Zim laughed, low and grating. "You can just keep thinking that, human! Maybe if you do, you inferior piece of moose, you'll eventually find some way not to humiliate yourself in front of me-"
Dib jackknifed his torso to the right, whipped the bag of ice up off the floor, and caught one edge of the plastic in his teeth. Zim had already started to recoil but the thin plastic tore instantly, spilling ice and filthy, freezing water everywhere.
Spider legs erupted from Zim's pak to propel him across the room. Dib rolled to crouch on the linoleum, grabbing madly at the ice cubes that slithered through his fingers.
Zim spared a moment to be amazed that the nurse hadn't yet returned, and then he lunged.
Dib just managed to get his fingers around a pathetically small chip of ice before he looked up to see Zim bearing down on him. For a moment the human froze in the face of his enraged enemy, then Dib raced almost into Zim's arms. The alien saw one spider leg tear through the thin cotton and carve a neat gash down Dib's back, and then the boy was hanging on hard to the front of Zim's coat, crushing the ice cube into his skin. The water from it incinerated Zim's nerve endings instantly, and the Invader screeched like a cat, clawing at the frantic human to get him off.
In the chaos Zim's spider legs folded themselves down into the pak to allow for greater maneuverability on his part; the metal appendages had been suspending them both about two feet off the floor and now they fell with a thud. Dib landed on top. The human had height and weight on his side and instantly Dib crammed the cube down the front of Zim's shirt, then contorted his hands into claws and tore again at his enemy's eyes and antennae. Zim folded his antennae down close to the slick green skin on his scalp and ripped his claws brutally up Dib's belly. The human yelped and went limp and stunned for a moment, Zim clawing wildly at his chest.
Dib had fisted his hands tenaciously into the front of Zim's shirt now- the tough fabric of the collar cut into Zim's neck and was almost strangling him. "Let GO-" Zim managed to bellow, slapping Dib hard across one pale cheek. The boy's head snapped back and his hands loosened slightly, and Zim took the opportunity to tear himself free. Then he bolted, forgetting his wig, shoving out the door, and racing pass the nurse, who was just now setting down the phone.
Dib shot after him. The human was wearing his trench coat again. It was amazing what powers a surge of adrenaline could grant to the normally frail human body, Zim thought distractedly. When they're injured and chasing their worst enemy they still take time to get dressed. So… WEIRD.. He burst through the skool doors and sprinted towards his house. Dib was hard on his heels.
Zim fell into a steady rhythm, running almost as if her were hypnotized. The burns on his face throbbed with every step he took. The streets were actually beginning to crowd now, with the advent of evening, and it slowed both him and Dib down. People yelled at them as they flashed by; Zim saw them only as frame after frame of open mouths. His wig had been left in the recovery room. Zim wished there had been time to pick it up.
Dib was slowly losing ground; Zim could tell from the sound of his footsteps and leather creaking. His antennae were perfectly tuned to every sound the boy made now; he was the only enemy worthy of ZIM'S concentration so Zim had learned his signature noises by heart. The human had taken a much more severe beating than his rival, and the breakneck pace Zim had set was taking it's toll. Now Dib was falling back.
Zim abruptly turned left to scamper across the street. Car horns roared at him and he dodged several hurtling metal constructs before reaching the other side; a rush of air from a passing semi hurled him the last few feet. Zim let himself crash down on the pavement; pedestrians stepped over him without interest. Somebody dropped a coin on his head and it slithered down the back of his shirt, leaving a trail of cold skin.
Slowly, Zim hauled his arms under him and stood up, letting out a hiss as air brushed across the burns on his face. There were more burns too, under the slick fabric of his uniform where Dib had dumped the ice cube.
Zim growled under his breath and turned to stare back across the street. Dib was hardly more then a silhouette now- a skinny black scarecrow boy disappearing around a street corner. Looks like he's had enough today. He'll be easy to catch…
Zim took a slow step after his enemy-
-and stopped.
You're a worthy enemy, Dib.
END CHAPTER 3
The subtitle for this chapter should probably be "Action at Last".
Well… this update came in record time, for me at least. I hope you enjoyed it… this chapter came out fast. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'd like to thank everyone who read and reviewed, or just read. And I'm very happy to be put on anyone's favorite list. Not to mention any names. ;)
Also I'd like to thank my beta reader and the people who invented spellcheck, without which Dib might occasionally have worn a "trench cat" in the course of this chapter.
Finished May 19, 2004