Dib drifted back to consciousness as the sedatives wore off. Still slightly out of it, he didn't think much of the sensation he was feeling at first. Then, as the world around him came into clearer focus, he began to question the sensation of someone touching his head. More like…someone was touching the inside of his head. Reality and logic returned in a cruel flash; Dib's eyes shot open and his body stiffened. Someone was poking around in his head. Vaguely he heard the voice of one of his father female assistants.
"Professor, sir, he's coming out of it. Shouldn't you stop?" She seemed genuinely concerned. His father's cold response chilled Dib to the bone.
"No. Not until I'm done with the implant. Just put him under again and ready the memory modifier." Another jab to the arm and, blissfully, Dib was sucked back into darkness.
Zim sat in class, alternating between staring at the clock and at the door. Where was the Dib human? The only thing the purple haired female, Gaz, had been able to tell him was that she had no idea where her brother was, nor did she care. Which meant the boy hadn't gone home. He glanced at the clock again; Skool was almost out. He scratched at the healing scars on his wrists as his thoughts returned to his nemesis. Maybe the human was planning something? No. That couldn't be right…and that stupid glitch in Dib's system. What was that anyways? It was almost as if something was destroying the human from the inside out…Where the hell was he! Wetness slid down Zim's arm. He glanced down and cursed extensively when he realized that he had been scratching his wrists for a while. The scars had reopened under his gloves and now his blood was seeping down his arms. Using his shirt to stanch the flow, he walked out of class without a word to anyone and set off across town. Maybe the weird earth monkey who was Dib's friend would know where he was. Squee should be out of class by the time he got there.
Todd was, in fact, out of class. Granted, he and Pepito had only managed to show up for the last hour…but hey. They were in class, were they not? That's all the school cared about. Not that it mattered much since Squee taught himself at home. After that Columbus incident, he had lost all faith in the educational system. Well, that and the fact that Pepito was a horrible influence. He smiled and leaned on a tree outside his skool, waiting for the Antichrist to make his appearance.
Pepito walked out of the front skool entrance and spotted Squee. He was halfway through a wave when the other boy was tackled by a green blur. Chuckling at Zim's clumsiness, he made his way over to the ranting alien and the bewildered Todd the Irken sat on.
"Where is he!" I know the earth creature didn't go home so that leaves you. Where is the Dib!"
Pepito picked Zim off of Todd, and then helped his friend to his feet. Squee brushed himself off. Damn. Zim had pushed him into a mud puddle. Wait…did he say Dib was missing? What?
"Ummm, I haven't seen Dib since yesterday. He left me a note this morning saying he was going home. He didn't go to skool?"
Zim ground his teeth, annoyed that the human couldn't figure that out for himself. "Obviously not." He sneered, only to be whapped in the back of the head by Pepito. The alter boy of doom (wow that's long to type) muttered in Spanish that it wasn't Todd's fault that he couldn't read the Irken's thoughts. Zim didn't hear, however (not that he would have understood it anyhow), a horrid thought plaguing him. He went home to his father…No.
Squee watched the alien turn a sickly shade of palest green. "Zim?" No response. "Zim!" The Irken glanced up at him, scratching at his wrists for some odd reason. "Zim, what's wrong?" Squee had a hold of Zim's shoulders and was shaking him slightly. The distracted invader just vaguely responded with a "Yeah, sure." His frown and eyes gave evidence to his worried state. He pulled himself away from Todd. Damnitt. Dib shouldn't have gone home…he shouldn't have.
Pepito watched as purple blood slid down Zim's arms once again. He grabbed a roll of gauze bandages out of Squee's ever present first aid kit he kept in his backpack. He handed them to Zim who only glanced down at what was being given to him before rushing off in the direction of Dib's house. The antichrist and Squee stared after him.
"You think Dib is okay? I mean, we really should help Zim find him, don't you think?" Squee gnawed on his bottom lip, worried.
"Nah. Those two'll be fine, they always are. ((He speaks!)) If anything, Nny should be home and he likes Dib. He'd probably be willing to play the Calvary if needed. Let's go." Pepito grabbed Squee's hand and tugged him in the opposite direction of where Zim had gone. Todd sighed, still worried.
"You're probably right."
Across town, Dib was waking up…and about to prove Pepito wrong. He was going to be anything but fine.