(A/N: 16 reviews for one chapter? WOW! Sorry for the lag in updating, but I was having fun writing Alienated. Anyway, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I still don't own Professor Membrane, his awesomeness or anything else in this fanfic.)
Chapter Two
"Get back here, ZIM! I'll stop your evil alien plan! Wallabies or no wallabies!" Dib hollered, racing after Zim as quickly as his small legs could carry him. As he stopped to catch his breath, a distance ahead of him, Zim stopped to gloat.
"HAH! Inferior stink-beast! You don't stand a chance against the INGENIOUS plans of ZIIIIIIM!" Laughing, Zim pulled Minimoose out of his Pak, hopped on it and flew away.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT AGAIN!" Seething, Dib gave up and stomped toward home. Blocky and bizarre, with its built-in stargazing roof and lawns surrounded by laser fields - home. Dib invited himself in and, acknowledging his thirst, headed for the kitchen.
"Hey Dad," he greeted, seeing his father at the kitchen table, fiddling with what looked like a transmission device.
"Son!" His father snapped to attention. "I'm expecting some very important visitors, and I need to make a good first impression. That means, if I see any walking dead..."
"I know, Dad, I know," Dib muttered, opening the fridge and helping himself to a Poop cola. He had long ago ceased caring about what his father did. He was just climbing the stairs to his room, when he was startled by the noise of a large aircraft coming from outside.
"ZIM!" The name leapt to his mind as he scrambled to get outside as quickly as he could, nearly tripping down the staircase in the process. Once out, staring up at the sky only confirmed his suspicions. Dib's heart caught in his throat as he watched the clouds part unnaturally. Throughout the neighborhood, people stopped whatever they were doing as a shadow spread across the urban settlement for miles and miles. Whatever was coming in for a landing... it was massive.
Completely oblivious to the gusting wind being caused by the turbulence, not to mention the sight of his son paralyzed with fear, Membrane came out of the house and looked up brightly. "Oh, good! That must be them now," he said. Right out of a scifi film, an immense red spacecraft lowered toward them.
"It's going to crush everything!" Dib cried. Fortunately, he was wrong; the spacecraft came to a stop about 50 feet off the ground, completely disobeying gravity and probably several other laws of physics. A circular opening appeared in the ship's broad underside, and a swirling ramp (shaped almost like a DNA strand) twirled out of it for a while, only stopping when it touched the ground fifty feet below. A scarlet conveyor belt ran its length, like an escalator with no steps, and though so far up Dib could make out little, he suspected something would be joining them very soon.
And this time, right he was; several figures, somewhat taller than himself, in high-collared crimson robes, by and by came closer into sight as they rode the red belt down. And, standing guarded in the center and more than twice as tall, were two figures, one in red and one in purple. By their green skin and insectoid features, Dib recognized their species immediately.
"DAD!" Dib shrieked, pointing to the creatures frantically as he looked to his father. "DAD! Those are Zim's leaders! I told you they were coming, I TOLD you! But you didn't listen, nooo, no one EVER listens, but I was right, I was RIGH - "
"Greetings, and welcome to planet Earth!" Professor Membrane said cordially, holding out a hand as the rulers hovered lightly off the ramp, still circled by suspicious guards. Red eyed the gloved hand ponderously, then let his eyes trail down and then back up the length of Membrane's stature studiously, lastly meeting the Professor's face with a grin.
"Oh, it's great to be here... Membrane, right?" Red replied, grinning more at the Professor's nod. Dib wiped some spittle from the sides of his mouth (he tended to get a little worked up on these "YOU'LL-ALL-SEE-HOW-RIGHT-I-AM-SOMEDAY" rants) and viewed this exchange with no small amount of puzzlement.
"Um... Dad. Those aren't your visitors, are they?" he asked dryly, even as he knew the answer.
"Well of course we are, little big-headed thing!" Purple said to Dib, then to Membrane: "This your, uhh... customary pet monkey?"
"DAD!"
"Son, actually," Membrane corrected, though not overly concerned by the mistake.
"Close enough," Red resolved. Dib looked back and forth between his father and the aliens, disbelieving of his father's polite diplomacy toward these space monsters. Before he could object, however, a high-pitched voice in the distance caught his attention.
"MY TALLEST! MY TALLEST! YOU'RE HERE!" Zim came running up on foot, causing Dib to wonder why he wasn't riding on GIR or Minimoose. "I saw that your ship had arrived! This is the wrong house, though... my base is down that way." Zim pointed that way.
"Hello, little foreign child!" Professor Membrane turned to the Tallest. "This is my son's little foreign friend."
"Uh... right," Red said, recognizing Zim's voice immediately. "Hello there... foreign child." Purple chuckled a little.
"My Tallest! Oh, I see. You must not recognize me with my INGENIOUS disguise on," Zim concluded, removing his contacts and wig.
"SEE DAD! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOOOOOUUUUUUU!" screeched Dib, who had been too overwhelmed by this... overwhelming evidence of alien life to speak previously. Even some of the neighbors were looking over at immense spectacle hovering overhead in trepid curiosity. In fact, his paranormal sense was now experiencing extreme overload, and he was soon reduced to pointing all around wildly while foaming at the mouth and making "A-HA" noises. No one, including Membrane, bothered to pay attention.
'Well, you must be tired after your journey through COLD HEARTLESS SPACE," Membrane commented, gesturing dramatically where it was appropriate. "So, why don't you come inside and make yourselves at home?"
"Yeah, that sounds great," Red replied, following Membrane inside as his fellow Tallest and personal guards trailed after.
"That's GOOD, my Tallest!" Zim shouted helpfully as they left. "Lure the pitiful human inside... then DESTROY him!"
"A-HA! A-HA! AAAAA-HAAAAAAA!" Dib frothed, spasming frenetically on the ground and pointing at Zim intensely. "Aaaaaa-HHAAAAAAAAAAAA." Zim flinched and stepped back carefully.