Woo, here we go again! Yet another chapter. ::bows:: Watch as things get stranger by the second. I have mops in the closet, just in case someone's brain explodes from the trauma.

Chapter 6
(Strange Gifts)

I quickly stood up from the couch, my eyes locked on Zim's inhuman face. He stood there casually, a faint smile on his lips, observing me as a scientist might observe a prize lab rat. I backed up against the green-print wallpaper, my fingers pressing against the cold plaster. I could feel the Pak pressing against my sore spine, not allowing me to lean all the way back. My breath came shallow, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. On the inside, I was screaming at myself to run, but my legs didn't seem to want to obey. My hand brushed against the doorknob and grabbed for the cold steel. I swung around so I was facing the door, fumbling with the knob, but it wouldn't turn… Zim stood behind me, still watching me calmly. I turned to him, terror written across my face like a neon sign at midnight.

"Foolish girl…"

My eyes widened as a metallic gleaming spider leg rose up from his Pak behind him, tipped with a small, sharp device pointed right at me. With a tiny puffing sound, the device let loose a small dart, which soared straight to my neck. It jabbed itself into my skin, and I grabbed at the tiny thing, pulling it from my flesh. I looked down at it, a tiny drop of blood on the needle-like metal tip, glistening in the afternoon light that poured from the window next to me. My vision began to cloud, and I leaned against the door, suddenly extremely dizzy. I looked over to Zim, who seemed to be swaying back and forth across the room. My arms went limp and the dart fell out of my hands, my sight quickly going black from the bottom up. I slumped on the ground and closed my eyes, the pain suddenly leaving my body completely…

As I slowly came back to consciousness, the first thing I noticed was how incredibly sore I was. I was lying on my back, the Pak digging into my already aching spine, and the thing on my chest was poking me in the face. Wait, thing on my chest? My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring right into the two huge bug-eyes of some tiny purple creature. With all the strength I could muster (Which wasn't very much, since I was so groggy) I tossed the thing off of me and sat up, rubbing my forehead where it had been poking me. I looked around, realizing I was in my own room lying on my bed. I looked over to the creature, my vision still cloudy from the tranquilizer. It was hovering in the corner, looking at me with some confusion on it's fairly blank face. It was almost perfectly round, and had tiny antlers sticking out of purple-pink fur. The four little nubs it had for legs pawed at the air, and it squeaked faintly. It was still staring at me, slightly cock-eyed, when it drifted over.

"Squeak."

"Umm… Hello?"

"Squeak!"

It smiled goofily, floating around my head and finally coming to rest a few feet in front of me.

"Erm… What… Are you?…" I blinked, fairly dazed, and looked back at the creature. It bobbed up and down, hanging in the air and refusing to talk, if it could talk at all.

I bent my head sharply to the right, my neck cracking audibly. I closed my eyes and rubbed my sore neck, taking a deep breath of air. I casually ran my fingers around the collar on my neck, toying with the metal attachment in the front.

Waaait… Collar?

Once again, my eyes snapped open, and I wheeled around to look in a nearby mirror. The collar was smooth and black, a metallic device fixed to the front and blinking a small red light every few seconds.

"Dammit…" I mumbled under my breath, tugging at the collar and searching for a clasp or some way to get it off. Even though the strange black material it was made of stretched and fit around my neck comfortably, it seemed impossible to lift over my head. I moaned somewhat, leaning back against the wall and clutching my sides. I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears that were welling up once more.

"Zim, why? Why me? Why are you doing this?" I mumbled to myself, breathing heavily, a vicious knot in my throat.

"Squeak!"

I opened my eyes slightly, looking over to the pink thing now hovering over by my desk. I looked below it, noticing an oddly placed piece of paper leaning against my computer. I shakily stood up, wandering over to the desk to examine the note, sloppily scrawled in reflective black ink.

Remliss, meet Minimoose. I've left him to watch over you.
Try anything to resist me, and prepare to meet your ultimate demise. The collar
I've affixed to your neck will keep you from running away... I've attached a
tracking device to it, so don't even try. You'll also come to find that
its superior Irken technology makes it indestructible. Go ahead and try
to find help... You can't stop the inevitable, pitiful Earthenoid.

I frowned, crumpling up the note in disgust and tossing it pointlessly at the wall across from me, screaming in frustration.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"

I flopped on my bed, Minimoose hovering over to me, a concerned look on its face.

"Squeak?"

"Shut up."

The door clicked open, Minimoose quickly scooting underneath my bed. Mom stood in my doorway, smiling slightly.

"Everything okay, hun?"

"Yes, fine…" I lied, staring up at my ceiling. "I just… bumped my elbow on the desk."

"Oh, alright, there's some ice in the freezer if you need it." She smiled again, closing the door behind her as she turned to leave.

I sighed, Minimoose floating out from underneath my bed and looking at me oddly. It seemed to constantly look at me oddly, in fact, its eyes slightly tweaked into looking two directions at once. I stared stupidly at the creature, wondering how it could focus on anything... Suddenly I was hit with a wave of dizzy nausea, my vision fading quickly to black and then back to normal in the course of three seconds. I gagged and stumbled out of my bed, swaggering across my room to the bathroom. My bare feet stumbled across the wood floor of the bathroom and I slid down the wall, head between my knees to try and stop the constant lightheadedness. I coughed, hoping I wouldn't throw up and sliding down the wall sideways until I lay huddled on the cold floor, eyes shut tightly.

"Squeak!"

I opened my eyes and blinked several times, suddenly noticing they were clouded with tears. Painfully raising my head, I gazed at Minimoose as it drifted into the bathroom, it's rendition of a concerned expression on it's face. With a small sound that was neither a grunt nor a moan, I slid my hand towards the door and closed it shut, causing my heavy breathing to echo slightly in the small bathroom.

I coughed again spasmodically, choking on my own saliva. Groaning and rolling over onto my back, eyes shut tight, I sniffled quickly, silent tears running down the sides of my face. I felt Minimoose brush past me, its short fur irritating the skin on my hand where it touched. A quick shiver running down my spine, I pulled my hand away and rubbed it where Minimoose had passed. Somehow, the very presence of that creature disturbed me. I seemed to see it as a constant reminder that Zim had this sudden hold on my life, a constant reminder that I was slowly changing.

I breathed slowly and evenly for a few minutes, trying to clear my head of the constant dizziness it was in. When I was sure I had cleared my thoughts, I slowly crawled to my knees, then rose to my feet. Minimoose drifted over and circled me serenely, like a tiny pink planet orbiting its sun. I stared into the mirror, leaning my weight on both hands that rested on the counter in front of me. My short black hair was tousled, my face was blotchy from crying, my eyes were bloodshot, and I suddenly realized I was looking ever so slightly green. I sniffled again, wondering if it was simply my soon-to-be skin color showing through, or just the tones of an ill face.

"Squeak!" Minimoose circled me again, completely blissful.

I sighed, leaning on my left arm, face resting on my hand, the small magenta planet orbiting it's dying sun...
And that wraps up part one. Be sure to tune in next episode, same bat time, same bat channel, for Part Two: Results May Vary!

cough What was the title of Part One, you ask? Erm... Heh, I guess I didn't name it. Let's just call it Part One: Strange Beginnings. wanders off to go write up chapter 7